I’m not preaching this message because I think it relates to what is going on at New Life Fellowship Church. Okay?
We’re going through the Book of Joshua and this is the principle God is showing us all. However, the principles in this chapter are essential for a healthy body, a vibrant body, and a successful church body and can also be applied to any relationship.
Ill. I want to begin by telling you a story. A woman was at an airport one night, waiting several long hours before her flight. She bought a book in the airport gift shop, she also grabbed a bag of cookies and found a place to sit down. She was engrossed in reading her book. Suddenly a man sitting beside her took a cookie from the bag between them. The woman tried to ignore it. So she took a cookie from the bag and began eating it. The man smiled at her and took another cookie from the bag. She was getting more irritated. So she took another cookie from the bag and ate it. Again the man smiled and took a cookie for himself.
With each cookie she took, he took one too. When only one cookie was left, she wondered what he would do. With a smile on his face, He took the last cookie and broke it in half. He offered her half, as he ate the other.
She snatched it from him and said…“Oooh, man. You got some nerve!” And after calling him a couple of explicative’s, She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate, refusing to look back at the man.
She boarded the plane found her seat and through her bag into the seat, and when she did her bag of cookies fell out. There was her bag of cookies.“If mine are here,” she moaned in despair,“ The others were his, and he tried to share. More on her later
As we look at making false assumptions, our passage today deals with one group of Israelites flying off the handle at another.
Joshua 22:10-12 When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.
So the fighting against the foreign armies was over. God had just granted peace to the land. –7 YEARS—COMMENDED
But, the western tribes seem to be doing something that looked a lot like turning away from God. The western tribes had built a large altar. The eastern tribes assumed it was to offer sacrifices to false gods.
So, immediately, the assembly of Israel prepared to fight their brothers and sisters because of their turning away from the Lord after all He had done for them.
We have to give the western tribes credit for their enthusiasm. They were passionate about serving the Lord. They were afraid that the eastern tribes were about to turn from the Lord. Their enthusiasm and devotion are commendable.
However, in their zeal they handled the situation completely wrong, charging right in making false assumptions.
It’s like the old saying: ”Shoot first, ask questions later.” They were ready to go to war with their people, simply because it appeared that something was wrong, and something had to be done about it.
Did you notice what it said in verse 11? And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side,… Who even knows who said this?
Do you know how many times in my life I have heard someone say, “I heard this or I heard that. . .”? Or, “It seems that someone might be upset about. . .”
This whole event in the life of Joshua’s leadership began because “someone” heard “someone” say.
Before you take a stance Get the facts. We can be quick to jump the gun when we hear something that doesn’t sit well with us. And when we jump the gun, we usually assume the negative. We assume the lesser scenario. We usually, assume the worst.
I do it. You do it. We all do it. If we don’t know the reason why something is happening, we often assume the worst possible motivation or reason as to why it is happening. Or at the very least, a negative one. Example
Look at Vs16 “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now?
There is no, “Hey guys, what’s going on?” It is straight to the accusation.
We are very good at jumping to conclusions. But, we don’t know what goes on inside a person.
We don’t know what they are thinking or feeling. We don’t know the whole story of someone’s life.
We don’t have the right to judge someone else’s faith, because we may not know their heart, their thoughts, and feelings. We may not know why someone is doing what they’re doing.
So, the western tribes fly off the handle on the eastern tribes. They criticize them and accuse them of their lack of faith, for wandering from the faith.
They listen and then the eastern tribes reply.
Joshua 22:21-29 Then Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. 23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account. 24 “No! We did it for fear that someday your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord. 26 “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ 27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings. Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’28
“And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.’ 29 “Far be it from us to rebel against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.”
You see, the altar was built for the Lord. It was not built to false gods! Their motives were pure. The altar was built, just in case someday the western tribes rebelled against God. The altar was a sign of faithfulness and gratitude, not of rebellion.
The western tribes, ready to declare war, on their fellow believers, all because of a misunderstanding. There’s that whole “jumping to conclusions” thing again. Shoot first, and ask questions later. You see, this is why we shouldn’t jump to conclusions. We could be very wrong.
Ill. It appears there was a hospital with regulations that required a wheelchair for patients being discharged, but a particular student nurse found one elderly gentleman, already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he didn’t need her help to leave the hospital. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let the nurse wheel him to the elevator. On the way down she asked him if his wife was meeting him. “I don’t know,” he said. “She’s still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.”
What we see in this illustration as well as our text is a communication breakdown! Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh failed to share their plans with the eastern tribes. They failed to communicate their plans and desires with their fellow Israelites…Communication is the key!
So where does all this leave us? Be careful with your words about people in and outside the church. Don’t make a judgment based simply on what you see or hear about a person. You probably don’t know all the facts. You don’t see the heart.
Don’t jump to conclusions about a person or make assumptions. It is our place to love them, help them, serve them, watch out for them, to get to know them. That’s the responsibility we have.
If we are working together towards the goal of bringing glory to Christ, and leading the lost to salvation, keep in mind that differences of opinion and process will arise. When this happens, do not act irrationally and swiftly; rather, resolve to take the time to understand where people are coming from, and guide others to do the same.
Be sure to always lead people to come together and communicate, and to lay their intentions out on the table, to reach common ground. If we will take this approach in all that we do, we will avert conflict, glorify the Lord, and continually usher in His presence among His people.
The Lady on the plane…
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