Joshua 21-22, Acts 16
Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? – Joshua 22:16 ESV
One of the common characteristics of all men is their ability to misunderstand or misrepresent one another. Even people of God suffer from this very human quality. It seems that we have a certain amount of distrust built into our character that makes it hard for us to take one another at our word. We are too quick to judge from appearances and draw conclusions without having done our homework. That impetuous streak can lead to some seriously wrong conclusions. Such was the case with the tribes who had settled the land west of the Jordan. Not long after God had given them the land He had promised them and their major battles were over, the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh were allowed to return to the land that had been allotted to them on the east side of the Jordan. Upon arrival, they built an “altar of imposing size” (Joshua 22:10 ESV). When the other tribes got word of this, they immediately jumped to the worst possible conclusion, and “the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them” (Joshua 22:12 ESV). In their eyes, there could only be one reason for the building of the alter: they intended to rebel against God and create their own place of worship to honor their own gods. Fortunately, the 10 triibes were wise enough to send a delegation to warn their brothers against this serious breach of the nation's covenant with God. They knew that if it was true, ALL the people of Israel would suffer the same fate, just as had happened when Achan had sinned at Ai. But their conclusions proved wrong. Their assumptions regarding their brothers were false. The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had no intention of turning their backs on God. In fact, they had built the altar as a witness to the tribes beyond the Jordan that “we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings" (Joshua 22:27 ESV). The altar was not intended for sacrifice or offerings and was not built as another place of worship. It was a memorial and a reminder, designed to be “a witness between us that the Lord is God” (Joshua 22:34 ESV).
What does this passage reveal about God?
It's interesting that God is somewhat silent in this portion of the narrative. Surely, He knew the hearts of the the two and a half tribes who had built the altar. Joshua and his leadership team could have sought His will in the matter, but they chose to draw their own conclusions. They assumed the worst and took matters into their own hands. And while I appreciate their zeal to maintain the spiritual integrity of the people, it fascinates me that they never sought the Lord regarding the situation. I believe God prompted them to send the delegation, thereby protecting them from making an even greater mistake by going straight to war with their brothers. Misunderstandings can be dangerous. The need for open lines of communication with God and with one another are critical. The men of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, had faithfully kept their word and fought alongside their brothers until the land west of the Jordan had been given into their hands by God. All this in spite of the fact that their land already lie conquered and occupied on the other side. Their wives and children waited for them there. And when it came time to return home, and they wanted to honor God by the building of an altar, their actions were misinterpreted. Perhaps they would have been wise to tell the other tribes what they intended to do before the parted way. This might have spared everyone a great deal of trouble. Nowhere does it indicate that they sought God's will in the matter. They came up with an idea and implemented it, never stopping to consider how their actions might be taken by the tribes west of the Jordan. It was the hand of God that kept this whole affair from escalating into a sad and regrettable fiasco.
What does this passage reveal about man?
As believers, we must always be aware of our own propensity to misunderstand and to be misunderstood by one another. We are not immune to this trait. But we must also understand that we will be regularly misunderstood by the lost world around us. Paul and Silas knew that reality first hand. They were faithful servants of God, doing His will and spreading the Good News of His Son wherever they went. As we have seen already, on more than one occasion, the apostles found themselves in conflict with the culture around them, including the Jews and the Gentiles. They were constantly misunderstood and mistreated for their efforts. And when Paul and Silas made their way to Philippi, a Roman colony, they were confronted by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit that gave her special powers to tell fortunes. Her owners made a great deal of money as a result of her special, albeit demonic, ability. So when Paul cast the demon out and left her normal for the first time in a long time, his actions didn't exactly come across as beneficial to the owners of the slave girl. In their eyes, Paul was a meddler who had just radically and irreversibly influenced their financial future. So “they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers” (Acts 16:19 ESV). There they accused Paul and Silas of disturbing the city and of “advocating customs that are not lawful for as as Romans to accept and practice” (Acts 16:20 ESV). As a result, Paul and Silas were beaten with rods and thrown into prison. Talk about a major misunderstanding.
But God would use even this unfortunate circumstance for the good of Paul and Silas and the glory of His own name. He intervened in the situation, miraculously opening the gates of the prison and setting Paul and Silas free. But His real intention was not just to release two men from captivity in a cell, but to set an entire household free from captivity to sin and death. The release of Paul and Silas, witnessed by their jailer, was used by God to lead this man and his entire household to salvation in Christ. While their actions had been misunderstood and misrepresented by most, God had a purpose behind it all. He would use it for the good of man and for His own glory. And in a way, it may be that God was behind the whole scenario given to us in Joshua 22, because He knew the hearts of His own people. So did the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. They knew that there was a high likelihood that, in time, the western tribes would view their brothers across the Jordan as separate and distinct from them. They feared that the Jordan would act as a natural barrier separating them from their brothers and leading the western tribes to wrongly conclude, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of God. You have no portion in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord” (Joshua 22:24-25 ESV). They feared that the day would come when they would be refused access to the altar and, therefore, to God Himself. Perhaps God really did lay the idea of a replica altar on their hearts. Maybe this was all God's doing, in order to assure that all 12 of the tribes, on either side of the Jordan, remained united and at peace with one another.
How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?
As the people of God, we will be misunderstood by the world around us. Jesus warned us of this. But how vital it is that we go out of our way to understand one another. The key seems to be communication and giving one another the benefit of the doubt. We must do our best to not jump to conclusions and assume the worst. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed that we would be one just as He and His Father are one. He desired that we have unity. Unity requires communication. We must openly discuss our thoughts and share out opinions in an atmosphere of love and acceptance. Unity does not mean an absence of disagreements. It simply conveys the need for resolution and loving compromise. It requires that we seek the will of God. What would He have us do? We must constantly remind ourselves that we each have the capacity to misunderstand and misinterpret one another's actions. We must give one another the benefit of the doubt and seek to understand the heart behind our words and conduct. It is one thing to have the lost world misread our actions, but how sad it is when brothers and sisters in Christ jump to the wrong conclusions about one another and do irreparable damage to the Kingdom of God and bring shame to the name of Christ. I know I have been guilty of this far more times than I would like to think about. I am far to quick to judge based on what I see or hear, rather than to take time to seek the facts. Our wrong conclusions can have some seriously wrong consequences. How well King David put it. “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” (Psalm 133:1 ESV). Unity requires humility. It demands a listening ear, a receptive heart, a willingness to extend grace, to assume the best, to seek God's will, and to die to my own selfish preconceived notions.
Father, we live in a world filled with constant misunderstandings and misrepresentations. Help me to be less and less a contributor to the mess. Prevent me from jumping to the wrong conclusion regarding my brothers and sisters in Christ. And when I am wrongly misunderstood and misrepresented by them, allow me to show grace and kindness in return. AmeKen Miller Grow Pastor & Minister to Men kenm@christchapelbc.org