Israel's conquest of Canaan was God's work, done by a circumcised, holy people, and it changed how they worshipped. Deuteronomy 12 commands them to destroy every Canaanite worship site, altar, pillar, and idol, and even to eradicate the names of those places, so that no syncretic mixing could occur. God storms into the land as a conquering General who shows the weakness of the Canaanite gods. Once in the land, Israel could no longer build altars wherever they pleased. All sacrifices and festival rituals, including the waving of the sheaf, had to be performed at one central sanctuary of God's choosing, which protected loyalty to Him alone and the nation's unity. That sanctuary was not set up until the land had rest from its enemies, which came seven years after the crossing of the Jordan, when the Tabernacle was erected at Shiloh (Joshua 18:1). During those years of conquest, normal altar worship was not conducted. Seven years spent doing God's work of subjugation was small compared to other long works He commanded, and He wanted it done by a circumcised people, a case of "first things first." The altar on Mounts Ebal and Gerizim (Joshua 8:30) was a one-time exception because God commanded it for a covenant renewal. The eastern tribes' memorial altar (Joshua 22) was not an altar for sacrifice, and nearly caused a war because Israel held so firmly to the single-altar principle.

Crossing the Jordan did not give Israel possession of the land, because others held it and Israel had to take it from them. Numbers 32 confirms this: Gad and Reuben pledged to fight armed before the LORD until every Israelite received his inheritance. Deuteronomy 12 makes the centralized worship and its national offerings, including the Wavesheaf, depend on God giving Israel rest from all their enemies round about, so that they dwell in safety. Joshua 18 sets up the Tabernacle at Shiloh thirteen chapters after Joshua 5, yet seven tribes still had no inheritance and Joshua rebuked Israel for being slack to possess the land. Only in Joshua 21:43-45 did the LORD give Israel all the land and rest round about, with none of their enemies standing before them. That was about seven years after Joshua 5.