Jumping to Conclusions

 

Shortly after I became a Christian someone taught me that God gives you everything you need before you need it. He’s very generous in this way and I always related that teaching to money and material goods. This week though, He showed me that He even provides for our spiritual and emotional needs before we need it.

A couple of weeks ago I was working my way through the Book of Joshua. I sometimes use little study guides so that I can keep my mind focused on the study. This one concentrated one lesson on the tribes east of the Jordan building an altar.

Near the end of the book of Joshua, after the twelve tribes of Israel had received their allotted land and started to settle on it, there is a little incident that I hadn’t remembered studying before (though I had read it).

The tribes of Rueben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh were given land on the opposite side of the Jordan River from the rest of the tribes. Joshua sent them there with his blessing after they had helped their brother tribes and had completed the entire mission that the Lord had given them. When they got there they “built an imposing altar.” (Joshua 22:10). They were afraid that they would forget God because they did not have the same reminders of His faithfulness without the tabernacle that was on the other side. This altar had been built to help them remember God, not to make any kind of offerings to any other gods.

When the Israelites heard about this altar “the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.” (Joshua 22:12). They thought that these tribes were breaking faith with the God of Israel, that the altar had been built in rebellion. (Joshua 22:15-16).

In a moment of wisdom Phineas was sent to speak to the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh and ask why they had built it. They explained to Phineas that they feared future generations would need this reminder that the God of Israel is their God, too. Phineas reported this to Israel and they backed down from the threat to go to war against them.

There are several lessons we might take from this but what I saw as I was studying this time was the wisdom of Phineas going to the tribes to ask about their motives for building the altar. Too often I hear about something that has happened in the church, a decision that was made, perhaps an act of church discipline and I judge it. I have no more idea what the motives of the people involved were than the Israelites had about why these two and half tribes had built their altar but I decide who was right and who was wrong based on my own understanding.

This has come at a time when I needed to be reminded that most often people do not do or say things with any ill-will intended. I need to get the whole story (if it’s even any of my business) or not judge but assume that people are working with more knowledge than I have and doing the best they can with what information they do have.

 This principle of asking before judging has made me look at whether or not I need to know what’s going on in every decision that I want to know. When I am going to ask someone about their motives I must be careful to think about my role in the “knowing”. If I can offer nothing to the situation then maybe I need to let those who can ask the questions. Some things are better with fewer people knowing the details.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

When we stay in God’s Word He gives us plenty of what we need before we need it! Now, will we heed it?