The third thing I want you to notice about this is that the eastern tribes immediately recognized the justice of the cause. They didn't say, as many people might say in our time, “Well, brothers, that’s just your opinion. You think there should be one altar, and we think there should be two altars.” They didn't do that. Instead, they replied at great length, “If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day.” And again: “If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord, and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord Himself call us to account.” You see, by responding in this way and not in the way that so many people respond today when the commands and requirements of God are made known, these people demonstrated that rather than being schismatic unbelievers, they were actually one with the rest of the tribes.

But there’s something else. The war that looked like it was on the verge of starting did not begin at once. Rash people might have simply rushed to the Jordan and attacked the other people; but these Israelites didn't do that. They were willing to fight for the Lord’s honor, but they were also willing to talk about the situation. So instead of just rushing off to the battle, they elected Phinehas, the son of Eliezer the priest, and ten of the chief men of Israel (one from each tribe) as a delegation. They dispatched this delegation to go down and meet with the others to see if it might not be possible to work to get some kind of peaceful resolution to this terrible error, as they assumed it to be.