Joshua 22:11-12 (ESV) – The people of
Israel said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the
half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of
Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people
of Israel.” And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole
assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them.
Someone has
wronged you. Someone has hurt you. What did you think when that happened? Most
of us immediately assume that other person intended to cause us to suffer.
While that may be the case sometimes, more often than not we misinterpret why
others have done what they have.
As Israel made
its way from slavery in Egypt to occupying the Promised Land that is the Nation
of Israel today, they first came to the other side of the Jordan River, to what
is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Israelites subdued those empires
and claimed that land as part of their future territory. The tribes of Reuben
and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh asked Moses if this could be their
land. (See Numbers 32.) Moses agreed if their men would fight to conquer the
rest of the Promised Land before they settled there. The two-and-a-half tribes
agreed. Many years later in Joshua 22, the Promised Land was conquered, the
two-and-a-half tribes returned home across the Jordan River, settled in their
homes, started farming their land, and built a large altar right by the river
that the Israelites west of the Jordan could see.
Those tribes
immediately assumed that the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan had
built the altar as a place of worship in direct violation of God’s established
law only to worship at the one place God approved (Deuteronomy 12). They were
convinced the two-and-a-half tribes wanted to form their own nation with their
own system of worship, and they were not about to allow that to happen. They
got ready to go to war to make things right.
The problem
was their assumptions of the Eastern Tribes’ motives were mistaken. They explained
in Joshua 22:22-29 that they did not build the altar to be a place of worship
or a symbol of division between the two parts of the Nation of Israel. Instead,
their motive was the exact opposite. The altar was to be a witness – a reminder
– that they were one nation and that worship was to happen at one place.
Had the two
sides not taken time to determine the real motive behind the action, war would
have followed with many unnecessary deaths. That probably would have led to the
permanent division neither side wanted.
We each will
have situations that will lead us to make assumptions about others’ motives. We
may be tempted to assume the worst. That can lead to relational destruction and
bitterness. Don’t pay that price if you don’t have to. Take time to hear their
story before you judge others.
