“And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. 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. When Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the heads of the families of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh spoke, it was good in their eyes. The people of Reuben and the people of Gad called the altar Witness, ‘For,’ they said, ‘it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.’ ” (v10,12,30,34)
This fascinating account tells of the Eastern tribes building a large altar on the Israel’s side of the Jordan on their way home. The leaders of Israel came to confront those tribes because they thought the altar was designed to replace the Altar of God which stood before the tabernacle. It turns out the Eastern tribes simply built it as a “witness” for all those who saw it to know that both the Eastern and Western tribes served the same one true God of Israel (they didn’t intend to make sacrifices on the altar, it was just symbolic). Upon learning the true intention behind the altar, Israel’s leaders were satisfied and no longer inclined to wipe out the Eastern tribes for “rebelling against God”.
How easy is it to jump to wrong conclusions? Back in my younger/dumber days I jumped to thousands of conclusions at the drop of a hat – 99.9% of the time my conclusions were incorrect. Israel’s leaders took a fact (the building of a large altar on their side of the Jordan) and set out to war against their own people because they assumed the altar was built out of ill intent. Israel took a single fact and told themselves a story based upon that fact (that the Eastern tribes were rebelling against God’s commands).
Thankfully, the priests and elders were wise enough to take the correct path to action – before launching an assault they talked to the Eastern tribes. They basically said “Hey guys, we noticed you built this big altar and it looks like you’re going against God’s laws. Just a reminder, God got angry when we rebelled at Peor and when Achan kept the devoted things. What are your intentions here?”
By stating “the story they told themselves”, and then asking for the tribes to clarify their intentions, these elders opened the door for true understanding. This is a critical step we need to remember before we solidify our conclusions. In my experience my ill-informed conclusions are flawed conclusions, so I need to remind myself to hear the intent behind the facts before making a final conclusion (I may even find out the “facts” upon which I told my story, are not even “true facts”).
My challenge for today is to learn when we are “telling ourselves stories based on facts”, and then find out the real story before metaphorically going to war, or before harboring resentment. It’s not fair for us to write someone off based on a conclusion made on incomplete/incorrect information (we’re supposed to leave judgement to God anyway). Let’s learn to hear the full facts and both sides of the story before acting, because the stories we tell ourselves are almost always incorrect.
Father God, our wise and omniscient King, holy is Your name. All honor, praise and glory be to You our Lord, for You alone are worthy of praise. Thank you for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for through Him we have true wisdom and discernment. Thank You for helping us understand ourselves, and how we’re wired to make sense of the “facts” we observe. Thank You for giving us the courage to dig into the true nature of the facts and stories before we run amok with incorrect conclusions. Father please help us to love our neighbors in this way, honoring and respecting them, and not causing them undue harm based on incomplete/incorrect information. In the name of Jesus, the one who honors and respects every person, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training