AN ALTAR WITH NO SACRIFICE Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, those who represent the Church of the Old Testament, that strove in the days of Moses under the law, and with love partook of the strife of the New Testament; Joshua called them to grant them their inheritance, after all the rest of the tribes got theirs. He did not send them away empty-handed, but said to them: “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoils of your enemies with your brethren.” (Joshua 22: 8) Men of the Old Testament share the inheritance with us, and enjoy with us the divine gifts and the fellowship of glories. Some see in that action a prophecy about the anticipated return of the Jews to the Christian faith, in the end of days, after the fullness of the Church of the Gentiles; according to the words of the apostle: “For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that hardening in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11: 25, 26). As to building a replica of the great altar of the Lord on the other side of the Jordan, although not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; this refers to the great temple of the Jews, which, by the sacrifice of the New Testament, carried the appearance but not the essence; and being without burnt offerings nor a sacrifice, it became not more than an image. The tribes that represented the Old Testament, acknowledged that the true altar is the one set, where Joshua is; while the other altar is just a witness between men of the two testaments, a sign of the unity between them... But actually, there is only one true altar, one Shepherd, and one flock, where the true Joshua dwells among them.
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