Joshua 22:6-20: a reflection

6So Joshua blessed them, and sent them away; and they went to their tents. 7Now to the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given inheritance in Bashan; but Joshua gave to the other half among their brothers beyond the Jordan westward. Moreover when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much wealth to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the plunder of your enemies with your brothers.” 9The children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel out of Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they owned, according to the commandment of the LORD by Moses. 10When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great altar to look at. 11The children of Israel heard this, “Behold, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar along the border of the land of Canaan, in the region around the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the children of Israel.” 12When the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. 13The children of Israel sent to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest. 14With him were ten princes, one prince of a fathers’ house for each of the tribes of Israel; and they were each head of their fathers’ houses among the thousands of Israel. 15They came to the children of Reuben, and to the children of Gad, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, 16“The whole congregation of the LORD says, ‘What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away today from following the LORD, in that you have built yourselves an altar, to rebel today against the LORD? 17Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although there came a plague on the congregation of the LORD, 18that you must turn away today from following the LORD? It will be, since you rebel today against the LORD, that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19However, if the land of your possession is unclean, then pass over to the land of the possession of the LORD, in which the LORD’s tabernacle dwells, and take possession among us; but don’t rebel against the LORD, nor rebel against us, in building an altar other than the LORD our God’s altar. 20Didn’t Achan the son of Zerah commit a trespass in the devoted thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? That man didn’t perish alone in his iniquity.’”

When the eastern tribes build a great altar by the Jordan on their way home, the rest of Israel, assuming it is an act of rebellion against God, immediately gather for war; but before striking, they send a delegation to ask what it means. When the children of Israel heard of it, the account says, the whole congregation gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. And they sent Phinehas and ten princes to speak with them. Israel assumed the worst, that the altar was a rebellious act of false worship, and were ready to go to war over it. But wisely, before actually attacking, they first sent to find out what the altar really meant, and it turned out to be a memorial, not an act of rebellion at all. This shows the wisdom of seeking to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict. Seek to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict. Israel nearly went to war over a misunderstanding. Find out the facts before assuming the worst. Ask what something means before condemning it.

Notice both the danger and the wisdom in this account. The danger: Israel saw the altar and immediately assumed the worst, that it was an act of rebellion against God, and were so quick to condemn that the whole congregation gathered for war. They jumped to a conclusion, assuming the worst possible interpretation, and were ready to act on it violently. But there was also wisdom: before actually attacking, they sent a delegation to ask what the altar really meant, to hear the other side. And it turned out their assumption was completely wrong; the altar was not an act of rebellion but a memorial, meant to bind the tribes together in worship of the true God. Their rush to assume the worst had nearly led to a needless war. This holds a real lesson for us. We can be quick to assume the worst about others' actions, to jump to the most negative interpretation, and to condemn or move toward conflict on the basis of our assumption, before we actually understand what is going on. But things are often not what they seem; the action we assumed was hostile or wrong may have a very different explanation. The wiser course, as Israel finally took, is to seek to understand first, to ask what something really means, to hear the other side, before rushing to judgment or conflict. We do well to find out the facts before assuming the worst. Seek to understand before rushing to judgment or conflict. Do not assume the worst about others' actions before you understand them. Ask what something means before condemning it. Things are often not what they first seem; find out first.

That is worth taking to heart, for it is wise to seek to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict, as Israel nearly went to war over an altar they had assumed was rebellion but which proved to be a memorial. We can be quick to assume the worst about others' actions and to move toward condemnation or conflict before we understand; but Israel, before attacking, wisely sent to ask what the altar meant, and found their assumption wrong. Understanding first prevents needless conflict. Do not assume the worst about others' actions before you understand them; seek first to understand, to ask what something means, before rushing to judgment. Seek to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict, finding out the facts and hearing the other side before assuming the worst, as when the eastern tribes built a great altar by the Jordan the rest of Israel assumed it was an act of rebellion against God and gathered for war, but wisely, before actually attacking, first sent a delegation to ask what it meant, and found it was a memorial, not rebellion at all; for Israel jumped to a conclusion, assuming the worst possible interpretation and nearly acting on it violently, but there was also wisdom in their sending to ask what the altar really meant before attacking, and their assumption proved completely wrong, so that their rush to assume the worst had nearly led to a needless war, which holds a real lesson for us, since we can be quick to assume the worst about others' actions, to jump to the most negative interpretation, and to condemn or move toward conflict on the basis of our assumption before we understand what is going on, but things are often not what they seem and the action we assumed was hostile may have a very different explanation, so that the wiser course is to seek to understand first, to ask what something really means and hear the other side, before rushing to judgment or conflict.

Lord, when the eastern tribes build a great altar by the Jordan on their way home, the rest of Israel, assuming it is an act of rebellion against you, immediately gather for war; but before striking, they send a delegation to ask what it means. When the children of Israel heard of it, the account says, the whole congregation gathered themselves together at Shiloh, to go up against them to war. And they sent Phinehas and ten princes to speak with them. Israel assumed the worst, that the altar was a rebellious act of false worship, and were ready to go to war over it. But wisely, before actually attacking, they first sent to find out what the altar really meant, and it turned out to be a memorial, not an act of rebellion at all. This shows the wisdom of seeking to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict. Show me both the danger and the wisdom in this account. The danger: Israel saw the altar and immediately assumed the worst, and were so quick to condemn that the whole congregation gathered for war. They jumped to a conclusion and were ready to act on it violently. But there was also wisdom: before attacking, they sent to ask what the altar really meant. And it turned out their assumption was completely wrong; the altar was a memorial, not rebellion. Their rush to assume the worst had nearly led to a needless war. This holds a real lesson for me. I can be quick to assume the worst about others' actions, to jump to the most negative interpretation, and to condemn or move toward conflict before I understand what is going on. But things are often not what they seem; the action I assumed was hostile may have a very different explanation. The wiser course is to seek to understand first, to ask what something really means, before rushing to judgment. Take that to my heart, for it is wise to seek to understand before rushing to judgment and conflict. Keep me from assuming the worst about others' actions before I understand them; help me seek first to understand, Lord, to ask what something means and hear the other side, before rushing to judgment, as Israel wisely asked before attacking and found their assumption wrong.