Haunted by the PastRead Joshua 22:13-15 again, but now in the light of Numbers 25. Why do the Israelites choose Phinehas as the head of the delegation to the two-and-a-half tribes?Before giving full credit to the rumors of what might be perceived as a declaration of independence, the nine-and-a-half tribes, labeled twice as “the sons of Israel,” send a delegation to clarify the intent and meaning of the altar. The delegation consisted of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, who would succeed Eleazar after his death (Josh. 24:33). Phinehas already has gained some visibility as the priest who put an end to the debauchery of Israel at Baal Peor (Numbers 25).“Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel” (Num. 25:7-8, NKJV).Phinehas surely had some influence. The other emissaries were representatives of the nine-and-a-half tribes west of the Jordan, each being the head of a tribal family (literally, “head of his father’s house”), within the clans of Israel.The delegation opens the indictment of sacrilege and rebellion with the official prophetic formula “thus says”. The distinction here is that it is not the Lord speaking but the “whole congregation of the LORD” (Josh. 22:16, NKJV). They launch the accusation that Israel committed trespass, treachery, and rebellion. The term “trespass” is the same Hebrew word that was used to describe Achan’s sin (Josh. 7:1) and appears several times in the first five books of Moses (for example, Lev. 5:15; Lev. 6:2; Num. 5:6, 12). The examples of Achan and Baal Peor serve as precedents: one for treachery and the other for rebellion. They also express the fear of the nine-and-a-half tribes that the act of building an unauthorized altar will lead to apostasy, idolatry, and immorality, which will incur the wrath of the Lord upon the entire nation of Israel.We all have negative experiences from the past that will shape the way we deal with similar incidents in the future. How can God's grace help to ensure that the tragedies of our past do not determine the way we treat our neighbors