One day, a certain Mr. Jackson picked up the wrong umbrella in a Hotel lobby and was about to walk out when the rightful owner called attention to his mistake. Embarrassed, he offered his apologies. Finding his own, he went on his way. However, the incident reminded him that he had promised both his wife and daughter an umbrella. To his delight he found that a local store nearby had them on sale, so he bought two.
Just as he was getting into his car with his unwrapped purchases, he saw the man he had encountered earlier. He was eyeing him suspiciously. Seeing the three umbrella's hooked over his arm, the stranger exclaimed, I see you had a good day after all. Although Mr. Jackson blushed, he was not guilty of any wrong doing.
As we look at the message this day using the book of Joshua, and coming to the end of it, the warfare is winding down. In the twenty-second chapter, we find the people of Israel were to face an interesting incident from which they, and we, will learn some important lessons. There are some things we heard about before, but here they pop up again, in this passage of scripture, so it must be an important lesson that God wants us to learn, maybe we need to deal with these things again, because
they are all things we all have a hard time learning.
For Israel it was an end of a conquest. The members of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had been given their territory east of the Jordan river. Yet their warriors fought along side the others for the conquest of Canaan, entering the promise land. For seven years these men left families and homes that were secure to fight along side their fellow Israelites west of the Jordan.
Now it was time to go home. Joshua dismissed the 40,000 soldiers with honor. In his farewell address to them, Joshua gave them six earnest exhortation : he said....
Take diligent heed to do the command of the law
.. To love the Lord your God
... to walk in the ways
... To keep His commandments
... to cleave unto him, and...
To serve him with all your heart and all your soul.
His greatest concern was that their separation from other tribes of Israel would cause them to drift away from the worship of Yahweh and instead to worship the Idols of the people around them.
This was the concern of the people as well, and so they built a huge altar, one that could be seen from a great distance, which symbolize their right to worship at the original altar at the tabernacle in Shiloh. When the rest of Israel heard about it, they jumped to a single conclusion: the eastern tribes were guilty of apostasy! What was a sign of unity became the source of division.
Their reaction first gives us a positive lesson: Don't compromise! Frances Schaeffer writes, " They thought holiness of God was being threatened. So these men, who were sick of war, said, " The Holiness of God demands no compromise.' I would to God that the church in the 20th century would learn this lesson. The holiness of God who exists demands that there be no more compromise in the area of truth.
This is the positive lesson, we too need to be uncompromising when it comes to God's truth., to God's standards. ( As long as we are sure that it is really God's truth, and not just our own idea!) More and more I see Christians who are willing to compromise their faith at the slightest excuse. Unlike the early Christians, who held steadfastly to their witness when confronted death, today Christians deny their Lord when there is even the hint of ridicule or inconvenience. Absolute standards have fallen, compromise is applauded, people with strong values are derided as "rigid" and 'narrow minded'
In Jude 3, the writer urges his readers to " Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints."
Paul felt so strongly about what he wrote to the Galatians (1:8) " But even if we , or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we preached to you, let him be accursed." And then to underscore the urgency of what he is saying, he repeats it a second time.
There is also going to be a price to pay if we surrender our convictions, either in terms of our spiritual health, or in the area of credibility of our witness.
Israel's stand for purity of truth and orthodoxy was the positive lesson, and a very laudable, but as I have already indicated, there is also the negative lesson of rash judgment. They were ready to go to war again, this time against their own brothers.
In Joshua 22, we find Israel made some rash judgements on why the tribes assumed that they knew why the altar was built, when they really didn't know at all. Proverbs 18:13 says, " He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him". Fortunately, the leadership of Israel went to them and talked first, rather than fight. This should be a reminder to us, always seek the facts. When we rush to conclusions, consequences! I read a article about a man who failed a driving test six times in a row. After trying once more, he almost got his license, but was arrested for assault. While the examiner was writing "passed" on his score sheet, the applicant thought he saw "failed" exasperated, he picked up a metal object and hit the examiner!
What trouble and distress we could avoid if we really thoroughly lean this lesson.: To check out the facts.... give benefit of the doubt. and withhold judgement until we are sure. Rash judgement is dangerous!
When the leadership of Israel went to talk to the leaders of the trans-Jordan tribes, their spokesman was Phinehas a man of great devotion and wisdom. Phinehas even suggested that if the eastern tribes felt that there land was too far removed from the tabernacle of the Lord. They would make room for them on the west side of the Jordan. This was a generous offer, one that could potentially involve personal cost: giving up some of their land.
Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 15:1. " A gentle answer turns away wrath. , but a harsh word stirs anger."
Once the two sides set down and talked out the situation, they were reconciled.
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