Intro:
Have you ever been the victim of someone jumping to wrong conclusions.
A)Awhile back – Howard was standing by Dawn Hill [
Eddie’s Wife] after a service – She was holding daughter Emma – So cute looks like…
B) When I was kid – One Halloween – Indian – Mom made me an Indian Costume complete w/ Wig & Pigtails { Little girl
1)
Next Year I was a Soldier – Gun I will use it Pal
C) Now those were innocent mistakes – that didn’t cause
a lot of damage but that is not always the case –
1)Sometimes we in the Body of Christ who are
supposed to be spirit filled/ & spirit led believers – can be
guilty of Jumping to wrong conclusions that can cause great Damage.
D) Acting before we have all the Facts or before we
really Know the whole Story – and the Results can be very Damaging
1) In our Text tonight – we see a great Example of
that-
CH. 22 Deals with the return of the Reubenites, the Gadites and the
1/2 tribe of Manasseh { Going to the
other side – On the Fringe
A). V. 1-4) Joshua thanks them for a job well done.
Then Joshua called the
Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, and said to them: “You
have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord
commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have
not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the
charge of the commandment of the Lord
your God. And now the Lord your
God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return
and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the
servant of the Lord gave you on
the other side of the Jordan.”
B) So In the seven years they had been with
Joshua, helping the tribes west of the Jordan to conquer their enemies, they had been completely obedient
1)Now that the land was conquered and fully
distributed to the tribes, they could go back to their families and lands on
the eastern side of the Jordan.
C) But before
they leave, Joshua gives them an exhortation & a blessing.
V.5,6 “But take careful heed to do the
commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His
commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and
with all your soul.” So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went
to their tents.
Notice that
Joshua gives them 3 Exhortations
A)1st He tells them to take diligent heed to the word of God, in the sense
of carefully hearing it and knowing it.
B) 2nd He tells them to love the Lord.
1) 3rd He
tells them to obey God with all they have, to
serve Him with all your heart and soul.
C)We should not miss the order here. First we should take care to hear God. Then we give Him our love. Next comes a walk of obedience.
D)To mix this order up is to get off into HERESY (loving without hearing)
1)Free for all
E) LEGALISM: (obeying before loving). Duty Drudgery
So
these 3 tribes head back to the land of their inheritance – They go back
bearing rewards for those who stayed behind [ V. 7-9]
A)Here is Another good example – some fight – some
guard – both are honored – Similar 1 Sam 30 200 men grow faint – stay behind
B) Fighters come back – forget
these guys – David says No
they are part of us they have their place –we are going to share
1) Same thing here they were to share the Spoil
C)Now what happens
next is a huge misunderstanding – RD V 10
And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in
the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the
tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan; a great, impressive altar.
So Before crossing over the Jordan, the soldiers from the two and
a half tribes build a great,
impressive altar near the Jordan River.
A)This was significant not only because of its size, but because of the meaning of an altar.
B)An altar was a place of sacrifice, and both the
Israelites and pagans had altars they used for sacrifice.
C) This is where the Problems start – You see God had clearly commanded that there was one place of sacrifice and burnt offerings for Israel:
Also you shall say to them: Whatever man of the house of
Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among you, who offers a burnt offering or
sacrifice, and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, to
offer it to the Lord, that man
shall be cut off from among his people. (Lev
17:8-9)
D) We understand from
this that we cannot worship God any way we please, or justify a manner of
worship just because we like it.
1) First and always, our
worship must be pleasing to God. We
must worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
1 Cor 14:40 Let all
things be done decently and in order.
When
it comes to Worship – when it comes to approaching God there is always an way
and an Order –
A)The way is Jesus – His Blood – the order is the
Word –
Peter at
Pentecost - This is that ………
B) So the western tribes were concerned that the eastern tribes were messing w/ God’s order
1) They are erecting another place for worship or they
are becoming isolators –
C)
Their hearts are right because they are Concerned about the Holiness of God –
1) But because of the way that this situation was handled – it had the Potential of turning into a huge mess !!!
D) This story can serve as a lesson to us – about dealing w/ Confrontation & how not to Jump to wrong Conclusions
1st
This Situation Started w/ Here say:
11 Now
the children of Israel heard someone say, "Behold, the children of
Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar
on the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan -- on the
children of Israel's side
A)They heard
someone say: How often do we see Problems
start in the Body of Christ – because someone heard that someone said –
B) It is the age old Problem of Gossip – Right
information – that shouldn’t be shared or it is shared in a wrong way !!!
It isn't the
things that go in one ear and out the other that hurt as much as the things
that go in one ear, get all mixed up, and then slip out the mouth.
A gossip usually makes a mountain out of
a molehill by adding some dirt.
A man was said of his wife who was a gossip - First thing in the morning she brushes her teeth and
sharpens her tongue.
George Meredith Gossip
is social sewage. – It stinks it pollutes
C) So it started w/ Hear say – Did you hear what
those 3 tribes did ….. they Proceeded to jump to conclusions – Idolatry or
False Worship
Next we see what
is often Peoples reaction to Here say: They
Jump to conclusions they get worked up in the flesh ." 12 And when the children of Israel heard of it,
the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to
go to war against them.
A)When People get worked up in the Flesh – they often REACT – instead of Responding – React in the flesh instead of Responding in the Spirit!!!
Prov 18:13 He who
[answers or acts] on a matter before he hears it,
It is folly and shame to him.
B) Ever do that – You hear something - get all worked up - Lash out – you call so & so – Give them a piece of your mind –
1)
Problem
is You didn’t have all the facts – they are like what are you talking about ?
- Jumped to conclusions
C) You know one thing that is always very easy to
FIND? FAULT –
1)
They
quickly found fault – didn’t take the time to check it out to see if it was
accurate
D) They Heard – they jumped to conclusions & they Reacted – War !!!!
3rd
Thing that often happens when Christians Jump to Wrong conclusions is they make False Accusations
A)Notice the Language here v.16 – What Treachery is this…….
B) Now what is interesting is these tribes hadn’t done
anything wrong – it was true they built an Altar but it wasn’t to sacrifice
anything [ Shall see]
1)They hadn’t forsaken God – but the way it was
interpreted is that they did
C)Phinehas reminds the
eastern tribes that Israel had been punished for rebellion against God before,
using the rebellion at Peor as an example.
1)
At Peor, Israel’s men
had sex with Moabite women, and they gave themselves over to the worship of the
Moabite gods.
2) In judgment, God sent a plague that killed 24,000
people.
Phinehas knew that the sin of these tribes would
reflect on the whole nation. He knew
that no one really sins unto himself.
[Ex. Achan]
A)Now in V.19 Phineas
makes a bold Gesture – one that shows the rightness of his heart – even though
actions were maybe wrong –
B)Take possession
among us: To Phinehas, anything
was better than seeing these tribes go off in rebellion against God.
1) If there was something
unclean in their land, he invited them to
come and live with the tribes on the western side of the Jordan.
C) This was an invitation made at great cost. It would
have meant a must smaller area of land for the western tribes.
1) But it didn’t matter,
because they were willing to sacrifice
to see their brothers free from this sin.
D) Too many of us lack
this willingness; we tell people to stop sinning, but are not willing to help
them if it costs us something.
Now in (21-29 ) The eastern tribes respond.
A)So They explain that
they have no intention-of forsaking the Lord or worshipping other God’s
B) And even went so far
as to say If we are doing
that feel free to punish us
1) They recognized the
rightness of what the others were doing in coming against them.
C) But These 3 tribes
recognized their distance from the center of worship in Israel, and that the
Jordan River WAS a natural barrier between them and the rest of the nation.
D)So they built the altar
as a memorial to link themselves to the rest of the nation
1)They built it so big and impressive so that it would
last. They wanted it to stand as a
memorial to future generations that the tribes on both sides of the Jordan
worshipped the same God. RD V.30-31
Here we see that The explanation of the eastern tribes is accepted
by the western tribes.
A)This story gives us
some insight into what should be our attitude in dealing with Confrontation or Misunderstanding
B)We should respond to
misunderstanding in the same manner, according to these same principles.
1) Our motivation
in responding should be with a concern
for God’s holiness.
C) 2nd Be
willing to hear the other persons heart and to see things from their
perspective – Having the Courage to confront in Love
I
once formed a mutual encouragement fellowship at a time of stress in one of my
pastorates. The members subscribed to a
simple formula applied before speaking of any person or subject that was
perhaps controversial. T -- is it
True? H -- is it Helpful? I -- is it Inspiring? N -- is it Necessary? K -- is it Kind? If what I am about to say does not pass those tests, I will keep
my mouth shut! And it worked! -- Alan Redpath
3rd Respond with a Desire for Reconciliation
A)The Purpose of
Confrontation & Rebuke – Purpose of Church Discipline –
4th Determine
that you are willing to sacrifice to help them; don’t confront unless you are
willing to help.
5th Determine that you will believe the best of
the other person – Know no man after the Flesh –
2
Cor 5:16 Therefore,
from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.
RDv.32-34
So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the
children of Israel blessed God:
A) Everyone is glad, and everyone enjoys the blessing
of having peace among the people of God.
B) Now The
altar is given the name Witness, because it was a witness to the tribes on both
sides of the Jordan that the Lord is God.
C) The altar was called
WITNESS This is significant:
1) Where is the witness
found? In UNITY
D) NOT in false witness
or put downs
1) Unity is found at the ALTAR of Calvary...
the cross
E) There all of our faults are washed away