Biblestudy: Joshua 22: The Altar of Witness
#1899bs
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 31-Oct-26; 69 minutes
description: Joshua 22 highlights the spiritual fidelity and dangerous misunderstandings of the conquest generation of Israelites who successfully entered Canaan under Joshua. Following the land's division, the 2.5 eastern tribes were commended and sent home to Gilead, where they constructed a large altar near the Jordan River as a non-sacrificial witness of their lasting unity with the western tribes and shared devotion to God. Misinterpreting the monument as an act of apostasy, the western tribes hastily assembled for civil war based on unverified reports; however, a confrontation led by Phinehas was defused when the eastern tribes responded with profound humility and clarity, ultimately averting bloodshed. This narrative serves as a timeless cautionary tale against the destructive forces of gossip, hasty assumptions, and rash judgment, underscoring the vital imperative within faith communities to exercise discernment, verify facts, and pursue truthful, peacemaking communication.
transcript:
If you'll remember, stretch your memories back uh, a year to the feast. I did two sermons at the feast on the miracles of Joshua, and we, we were in the book quite a bit, the book of Joshua. Well, I had an idea for a er a Bible study. Uh, after the feast and had to have one because I was going around the country you know, to, on these church visits, so I I kind of extended that series a little bit, but this one is not a miracle. It's just uh, about a chapter in the book of Joshua. Um, but I thought I would begin by just giving you a running start on the perspective I have on the generation of the children of Israel that came into the land under Joshua. I called it the book The Second Wilderness Wandering, um. They, like the Israelites coming out of Egypt and crossing the Red Sea, the generation under Joshua came out of the wilderness of unbelief and crossed the Jordan River. Again, the river was divided and they walked over much like their fathers had done, fleeing Egypt. Um, but we know that they are different. They are different people. In the slave generation under Moses, the people continued in their unbelief. They were rebels through and through and very disobedient to God. They were never faithful, and so that generation was allowed to die. They did not reach the promised land, and as Hebrews 3 says, their bones were scattered in the wilderness. It was because of unbelief. Their disobedience to God. The next generation, the one that was under the leadership of Joshua. Was made of better stuff. They had learned some lessons. And we can see through the book of Joshua. That they are pretty good at following God and following Joshua's instructions. They're, they are faithful generally also generally obeyed God's voice and, and God used them to accomplish the conquest of the land. Now, granted they are not perfect people. Uh, nobody is except Christ. But they did Uh, give us a record that they overcame many of the obstacles that they faced. In faith They let God fight their battles for them. They kept their hands off the things that God had designated for Himself or for destruction. Um Of course, you had Aiken in, in that he Stole some stuff from, from Jericho but he's kind of an outlier and shown very early there in the conquest at Jericho that God was not going to put up with that sort of thing and it proved a good object lesson for those people and they, as far as we know, did not have a problem with that after AI. So we find in the book of of Joshua and in the book of Judges that this generation uh. As well as Joshua himself, were highly commended by God for doing what God had said and for remaining faithful. But like I said, they were not perfect. They did make mistakes. They did have problems. Um They did, like all of us have human nature. And it, it reared its ugly head every once in a while in the things that they did. Consider that the fact, it's consider the fact that they were 13 tribes, 13 different groups within Israel. Um, they all had differing views on things about this, that, and the other thing. I mean, you look at the the 13 nations that they are now, and, you know, they may be related by blood across these Borders in Europe and America and Australia, Canada, wherever. Uh, but they are very different culturally. They're very different in the way they think and uh. You had the beginnings of that at that time in the conquest. There was also. A very major division developing at the time they crossed over Jordan. They were two different two different groups, one that did not cross over and took their land on the east side of Jordan, and then there was that was actually 2.5 tribes, and then the rest of them. Crossed over and took lands on the west side of Jordan. And you might say, well, you know, it's just, it's just a river. But in those times crossing that river. Uh, it was difficult. It was a barrier. Uh, it took quite a bit of effort to, to cross that river. Uh, in many, many places along its banks, and so it definitely separated them east to west, and we find out later beyond this point that they were also divided north and south, but that's a different Bible study altogether. So you had on the east side of Jordan Reuben Gad and half of Manasseh. And then the 10.5 tribes that are left over in the land of Canaan. Now we do know that. The 2.5 tribes that had land on the east side of Jordan. Sent their army across with the rest of the tribes. And they faithfully fought for their brethren on the other side of Jordan, and they stayed. I do not know, they must have had a rotation of men or something, but Ruben, Gad, and half of Manasseh was always there. With Joshua whenever they were going to the next city to conquer, um. But we will see that even at this time, they were already seen as separate from the rest of the tribes of Israel, different, and they were treated a little bit skeptically. By the rest of the tribes. And this came to a head in Joshua 22. So we are going to be studying Joshua 22 this evening and we will be considering what happens here. This is the chapter that discusses the altar of witness and building this altar of witness almost erupted into. Israelite civil war. Now, what I want us to do from our perspective today in this time is to think of ourselves. As well, think of the church as Israel. Think of the divisions that are in the church at this point. We have some on the east side, we have some on the west side. Uh, we have divisions between us and That causes problems. And we need to be wise about how we think through our problems, our differences, and come up with wise solutions. So I want you to see. Us, the church and ourselves in the Church of God as the anti-type to the faithful generation under Joshua. And by doing this, I think we can see some interesting parallels and learn some important lessons from this incident in Joshua 22. Before we get there, let's get some background information in Joshua 21. And we will be reading the last three verses of Joshua 21. Joshua 21:4345 Just to get a running start into the chapter. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which He had sworn to give their fathers. And they took possession of it and dwelt in it. The Lord gave them rest all round according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. So what we have here. In this short paragraph is kind of an end cap you might say of a long section on the apportionment of the land to the tribes and also the designation of the cities of refuge and the Levitical cities that were set up all around both sides east and west of the Jordan. So, what we have here is it sets the stage The land was now theirs by right of conquest. Um, and God gave them rest. This was not, we find in Hebrews 4, the true rest. It was a type of rest. Um But God certainly did give them peace. Uh, there was an absence of war in Israel at this time. So their enemies had been defeated, at least for the time being, and they were able to Live you do not have much chance to do any real living when you're always on the march to the next city and you're, you're going to conquer them and then you're going to go on to the next city and all, you know, you do not have a time to, to set up your house, your, you know, plow your fields you may have some happening behind you as you, uh. You know, pacify various parts of the nation, but you could not give out all the inheritance until the whole land was pacified. So now we get into a period of time when, when they can start doing their normal activities, normal being anything other than war. So we find here that in a physical temporal sense God has fulfilled all his promises to Israel and he has set them up perfectly for growth and prosperity. But almost immediately, I mean, just on the other side of, of giving them peace, uh. Huge crack appeared in their unity. This crack appeared because of assumption and gossip. And prejudice And they We're ready to drop their gloves and fight it out right there. Now Maybe this wouldn't have happened to another people. Uh, because at the time, they were still on a war footing you know, they were the armies of Israel, they were still in that mood, and the first thing they thought to do. When they had a problem was to go to war. Let's go into Joshua 22. We'll pick up the 1st 9 verses here. Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half and half the tribe of Manasseh and said to them, You have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. You have not left your brethren these many days up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren as He promised them. Now therefore return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you on the other side of the Jordan. But take diligent heed to do the commandments and the law which Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. I just want to stop here a minute because What Joshua says here to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half the tribe of Manasseh is just overflowing with gratitude. They had done a wonderful job. They had been faithful. They had been loyal. They had helped their brethren. He has nothing bad to say to them. He just says, you're going over there. It's a long way from the rest of us. Make sure you. Uh, keep the commandments. You do what God says, and all will be well with you. Let's Go on Joshua blessed them and sent them away. They went to their tents. Now to half the tribe of Manasseh, Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it, Joshua gave a possession. Among their brethren on this side of the Jordan westward and indeed when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them and spoke to them, saying, Return with much riches to your tents with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren. So the children of Reuben, Gad, Half Manasseh returned and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they possessed according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses. OK So he sent them off with not only a great deal of thanks, but he blessed them and he also gave them their share of the spoils of war, and they went home overburdened, if you will, probably they did not think so. This is what they deserved, but they were very rich at this time. And they went to Beishan and Gilead. OK, little geography lesson here, something I learned at Ambassador College in my geography of the Bible class, um. But the instructor instructor there said that it's very easy to, to memorize the, the lands east of the Jordan River if you're a sports fan or if you're not a sports fan with the acronym B game like baseball game or basketball game. Well, there are 5, lands. Regions on the east side of, of Jordan, and there are five letters in B game. So you have from the north to the south, Baishan, that's B G Gilead. A, Ammon, M, Moab, and E, Edom. OK, I got it right. So B Game, Beishan, Gilead, Ammon, Moab, Edom from north to south. Ruben, Gad, and half Manassa were in the areas of B and G, Beishan and Gilead, and they had hegemony over at least Ammon. And Moab, although they were their separate kingdoms at the time. And so most of them were in the northern area of the east across the Jordan. Um, that area up there the Baishan Gilead area, especially Baishan is what we know as the Golan Heights region above the Sea of Galilee. In that area east of there and, and down as you get toward Jericho, um, down the, the Jordan River. So they were going up there. It was a beautiful land for cattle. Um, Beishan and, and Gilead, uh. Kind of like a hilly version of our, of our Great Plains. Uh, just an area where you can run cattle to your heart's content. OK, they were going over there. Everybody was happy. Everybody was rich. They were feeling great because. The great commander Joshua had patted them on the back and given them his, his thanks for their loyalty and all their sacrifices that they had made. But we see something as we get into the last part of this in verse 9. Notice the um. The wording here So the children of Reuben, Gad, HafManasseh returned and noticed this and departed from the children of Israel. At Shiloh That can be taken two ways. I'm not saying that they actually departed from the The nation But it kind of gives you an idea of. What it seemed like. That they went their own way. Now It, it, can we look at this maybe as a bit of foreshadowing? Uh, um, I'm sure that this was written by somebody on the western side of Jordan. Uh, maybe this was put in there just to give you an idea of what was coming next. OK, let's read the next verse. Joshua 22:10. And when they came to the region of the Jordan, which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, Gad, HafManasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a great impressive altar. OK. They're happy, they are enthused. They're infused with a feeling of kinship for their brethren on the west side of Jordan. And so these easterners decide to build an altar. Next to the river. Maybe they decided to build it next to the pillar of stones. Remember when they came across you're, they were supposed to be carrying a stone, one for each tribe. It was probably most commentators think that they crossed over at Gilgal where they had come into the land and now they are going the other direction and perhaps seeing the 12 stones there made them think, ah, that's a memorial of our coming into the land. Let's build another memorial, a great altar at the same place where we can commemorate our kinship with the rest of the Israelites and our loyalty to them and to, and our devotion to God. And I'm sure that whoever had the idea thought it was great and he passed it up the line. Oh, this is a wonderful idea. Let's build this great memorial to let our, our brethren on the west side of Jordan know how much we value being a part of Israel and that we will always be there for them. I'm, it's totally innocent. As far as we can tell, there were no ulterior motives about doing this. They just wanted to build a memorial to express themselves saying how much they would be there for their brethren across Jordan. So, hey, let's build a huge altar as a memorial to our kinship with the rest of Israel. We'll put it here. And when we come into the land and cross over back and forth, it'll be a sign to us and to them of our unity. Isn't that what a memorial is supposed to do? It's supposed to help us remember great things and, and so they do that and everybody thinks it's a great idea, so they build it. And they cross over. All is right with the world. They had done a great thing. OK, let's go on. Verse 11 Now the children of Israel heard someone say, Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan in the region of the Jordan on the side occupied by the children of Israel. Notice how this is being said. The children of Israel Heard someone say, and then when they give the the quotation here. The ones on the west are called the children of Israel. Verse 12 repeats this, and when the children of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them. Wow, that escalated quickly. Just as a reminder, think about how this is related to us and our situation. The text fails to say. Who said Notice verse 11. The children of Israel heard. Say The translators put in the word someone. And it's fine. It gives us the idea of we do not have the identity of the person who said this. children of Israel heard an anonymous source. Tell them About this altar The author is undoubtedly indicating that someone or some group began spreading a rumor. Among the all the tribes of Israel on the west of Jordan, painting the erection of this altar as a symbol of pure apostasy. Our brethren across the Jordan have left the faith. They worship foreign gods. They are rebels and must be destroyed. Now we can't forget All of this is being built. On a tissue of assumptions. At this point, no one has asked anybody from Ruben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manassa on the east side. What this altar is all about. Somebody sees the altar, sees that is, it is an altar, and they go scurrying off to somebody at Shiloh. Maybe it was Um It was probably not Joshua, but it, it was probably like Phineas or somebody who, who We'll see comes into the story. And They have this juicy bit of gossip that the 3 tribes across the Jordan or 2.5 tribes across the Jordan have done a wicked thing. They have built an altar And the author here in Joshua 22 really piles it on in, in verse 12. It says the whole congregation. This is millions of people on the west side of Jordan. By the way, the word congregation here is the Hebrew equivalent of the word uh. Ecclesia Or ecclesia depending on how you pronounce it. It's the Hebrew word Eda. So he's saying the whole congregation, the whole church of the children of Israel. Gathered at Shiloh where the Tabernacle was, it was also the political center of Israel at the time. decided to go to war against their brethren. For this one thing Without proof Without even letting them speak for themselves. They're just going to up cross the Jordan and go to war with these 2 1/2 tribes. Why did they jump from hearing a rumor to excluding them from the congregation of Israel and assembling for war? Is this just crazy? Now they did have biblical support. But you know, it's pretty easy to find biblical justification for things. If you take things out of context or apply them in context that they do not apply. Or where you do not have all the facts. Let's go to Leviticus 17. This is verses 8 and 9. And you shall say to them, Whatever man of the house of Israel Or of the strangers who sojourn among you who offers a burnt offering or sacrifice and does not bring it to the door of the tabernacle of meeting to offer it to the Lord, that man shall be cut off from among his people. Pretty dire to offer a sacrifice at some place other than where the tabernacle or later the temple was. Let's go to Deuteronomy 13, Deuteronomy 13:12. Deuteronomy 13:12. If you hear someone in one of your cities which the Lord your God gives you to dwell in saying certain corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, gods whom you have not known, then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently, where was that? And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestocks with the edge of the sword. I do not know if they actually use these verses to justify what they were planning on doing, but I could see it happening. This is what they perhaps based their judgment on why they declared war so quickly. Wasn't it obvious they had built an altar? They had done something that was against the word of the Lord, and this was pure idolatry, was not it? And if you sacrifice somewhere that's not at the tabernacle. Then the sentence is death. They assumed A lot here they assumed that they had made a sacrifice. They assumed that the eastern tribes had turned to other gods. And had done this terrible deed. I could just hear they built an altar, hadn't they? Why else do you build an altar unless you're going to sacrifice something on it? So we must do what the Lord said. Right? We must cut them off from Israel. They do not deserve a place at our table anymore. They're not worthy Problem was they did not have all the facts. Did they even check? Did they send somebody down there to the altar to find out if A sacrifice had been made. You guys who grilled, no. You put a slab of meat. On a fire And you have evidence that something was cooked there. And you spend A long time trying to scrub it off the next time. You want to grill some meat. Or maybe you're diligent, you wait till a little bit later, you go out and do it that night, but. You can tell When you've killed and Uh, barbecued an animal on an altar. It was if it was a Holocaust, a whole burnt offering the whole animal. Would have been there burnt to cinders. You could tell if the altar had been used. So they were assuming a great deal, leaning on the weak reed of rumor. That had just been exploded all out of proportion. Wasn't there anybody in Israel that said, hey, whoa, just sit down, everybody. Let's think about this. Let's think this through. We need to verify the facts before we accuse our brethren of apostasy and bring down war against them. Did no one stand up and say, has anybody talked to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the Half-Basses? No, maybe we ought to send a delegation. And that's what actually what happened. Wiser heads must have finally prevailed. I mean, I would have hoped that the wiser heads would have prevailed way before this. Before all Israel gathered at Shiloh ready to go to war. I think there was probably days or weeks that they could have at least said, hold off on this, let's talk. Where was Joshua? You know what my, my answer to this is? I think he was in Ephraim. I think he was at his inheritance putting his feet up. After 47 years of walking across the wilderness and then up and down. Canaan He was an old guy. He deserved a vacation. He had been given his inheritance. He probably wanted to figure out where the house is going to go, you know, and where he was going to run his sheep and all these things. He was ready to be at rest. And I think he probably said to Phineas or whoever it was. Yeah, keep a lid on things for a while while I take a bit of a, a breather. I do not think that's outside the realm of possibility. Because he's not mentioned after verse 8. So he says, hey, you guys on the west or on the east side of, of Jordan did a great job. Uh, have fun. Take all these goodies that we collected over these past few years and I'll see you. I'm going home. I can, I can understand that. Maybe not as flippantly as I just said it, but I can see that he wanted to take a rest. As we go through this, it seems like Phineas was the one who was in charge at the time as a high priest. OK, let's go on from verse 13. We'll go down to verse 20. Then the children of Israel sent Phineas, son of Eliezer, the priest, maybe he was a priest in waiting at this point. Um, to the children of Reuben, Gad, half Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, and with him 10 rulers, one ruler from each of the chief house of every tribe of Israel, and each one was the head of the house of his father among the divisions of Israel. Then they came to the children of Reuben, Gad, half Manasseh to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord. What treachery is this that you have committed against the God of Israel to turn away this day from following the Lord and that you have built for yourselves an altar that you might rebel this day against the Lord. This sounds like Phineas. Is the iniquity of PR not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed until this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord? Of course he had to bring this up because he's the one who heroically stopped the plague. OK. But that you must turn away this day from following the Lord, and it shall be if you rebel today against the Lord that tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord's tabernacle stands, and take possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us by building yourselves in. Altar besides the altar of the Lord our God did not Aiken, the son of Zerah, commit a trespass in the accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel, and that man did not perish alone in his iniquity. Oh boy, uh. He's just firing all his barrels here. I mean, it's not just one, it's not just 2. It's, it's his bazooka and It's just pure accusation here against Ruben Gad and half Manasseh. I mean They had no proof. That these three tribes had done any of these things and yet they are slinging. These accusations against them, calling them apostates and you know, just reading them the riot act. This is really a sharp and stern and condemnatory attack on them. This is the kind of rash accusation and enmity. That happens when people act on rumor. Before getting the facts, because you know what rumor does. It always inflates. The evil that it's reporting and every time it gets reported it gets added on to I heard they sacrificed a young maiden on that altar you know it's kind of how it was when the real truth of the matter is. Uh, no animal or anything had been offered on that altar. It was a memorial. It was not an active altar. Where was the patience? Where was the assumption of innocence? Until proven guilty. I mean, you could say that's a modern notion, but not really. It's in the Bible. It was pure prejudice. In vitriol Against these Outlanders that dared to take land on the other side of the Jordan. Now we know that Phineas was very zealous before the Lord. And he was very quick to act for the honor of God, but it seemed like it was a hair trigger reaction, and he displays it here again. Now granted God did say that Phineas would always have a man to stand before before him, so his zeal was, was rewarded. It was good in that sense, but this shows the other side. This is zeal that acts without facts. Where he accuses the innocent brethren. Of Gad and Reuben and Half Manasseh, of treachery, of unfaithfulness, of apostasy and rebellion, comparing it to the idolatry and sexual license of Pure. And the sin of Aiken When it was nothing like that. I mean, these are really heavy accusations. To make without any foundation of truth. No proof So it was jumping to conclusions. And it's especially. Worse because of the eastern tribes, what the eastern tribes' warriors had done for the last 7 years. They'd left their homes and sacrificed themselves. Many of them sacrificed their lives. To help Joshua and the rest of Israel conquer the land, they did not deserve this kind of treatment. They were heroes of Israel. It was a thorough and undeserved defamation of their character. Now the eastern tribes were guilty of something. They were guilty of naivete. Thinking that the rest of the Israelites would see their altar as an innocent gesture of their devotion to the Lord. And their unity with the rest of the tribes. They thought, hey, make this altar. Everybody will understand that we are doing this out of the goodness of our heart, and we are doing it for, you know, good reasons. It's because we want to show how devoted we are to the Lord and how unified we are with our brethren across the river. Nah That's not how human nature works. You normally human nature looks at it. Why did they do that? Are they flaunting things? Are they saying that, that they could just do whatever they want and make an altar and sacrifice on it? And do their own thing over there where nobody will see them across the Jordan. And that's kind of how human nature works. It sees the worst in things rather than the best in things. But Yes, they were Naive and for their pains, they received accusations of having the exact opposite motives. It was just flipped. OK. Now we get to in verses 21 through 29. The Reuben Knights, Gadites, and Halfmanassites response to these accusations, and I've got to give whoever the the spokesman for them was huge kudos. For how he answered this. Verse 21 Then the children of Reuben, Gad, half Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the divisions of Israel, The Lord, God of gods, the Lord, God of gods, He knows. And let Israel itself know if it is in rebellion or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself require an account. But In fact, we have done it for fear. For a reason, saying in time to come, your descendants may speak to our descendants saying, what have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? They were already beginning to feel it. You guys are those on the east side of Jordan, aren't you? You're departing from the children of Israel. Verse 25. For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord. So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord. Therefore we said, let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice. But that I may be a witness between you and us and our generations after us that we may perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, you have no part in the Lord. Therefore, we said that it will be when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, here is a replica. Of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but it is a witness between you and us. Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn from following the Lord this day to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices beside. Besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle. I also read a verse. 34 And the children of Reuben and the children of Gad called the altar witness, for it is a witness between us that the Lord is God. Now the whole tenor of this passage, this reply to Phineas and the other representatives of Israel, the 10 tribes. It's the whole tenor is whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. Wait just a second. You've got everything backwards. Where did you get this screwy idea? We did this out of fear to remind you in times to come that we are your brethren over here. We're the same as you. We're of your blood. We worship the same God. We're just separated by a skinny ribbon of water. They say we have no desire to turn from the Lord or make sacrifices at any other place other than at the tabernacle. We built it as a memorial, a replica. An altar of witness. That speaks to our devotion. And unity Like I said, I give Great congratulations to the person who answered because I would have been on the warpath, I think. Just angry at those accusations. How could you think that I was. Disloyal to the the nation, disloyal to God. What proof do you have? I would have gone on the war attack. So these Reubenites, Gadites, and Halfmanassites did an excellent job of not becoming offended and retaliating with their own accusations. They could have escalated this. Dispute like I probably would have saying that their honor had been diss besmirched or their martial sacrifices in the land had been totally unappreciated. But they kept a lid on it. and humbly responded. Our motives were pure, we still worship the Lord. and will only sacrifice At the Tabernacle. It says in verses 30 through 33 that the answer please the delegation. And they returned home to calm everyone down and disband the army, but When I read those verses, I will not read them tonight, but uh. The wording just sounds awfully weaselly to me. They were very much embarrassed by what they had come to do, and they were trying to cover their embarrassment and take as much respect, self-respect home as they could. But unsaid in this whole section is, where did you get that idea? Who put that cockamamie notion in your heads? Who deceived you into making this action against your faithful brethren? The ones who had sacrificed and bled with you all these years. Now the answer, of course, ultimately is found in Revelation 12:10 that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. And I think what was happening here was he found With their naive witness altar, a way to drive a wedge in Israel right at the beginning, right after the conquest. But There was enough character in that generation, at least on the east side of the Jordan. To keep this from erupting into all out war. Now, the overall problem here. Is talebearing, tattling, gossip, rumor. Slander However you want to call it. In general, it's the spreading of confidential, insubstantial, or even non-factual information. Usually with the intent. To harm the subject of the information. That's gossip It is roundly even harshly condemned in both the old. In New Testaments. Because we can do so much damage with the tongue. By saying things that we should not say. Proverbs 18:21 shows us just how important our speech is. Proverbs 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And those who love it will eat its fruit. Death on the one hand, life on the other. And whichever one of those you love, you will eat the fruit. If you use the power of the tongue for death. for evil You will reap Evil and death If you use it for life and good. You will reap Goodness And life Choose Didn't we go to Deuteronomy 30 today? God sets life on one hand, death on the other, blessing on one hand, curses on the other. Choose God wants us to choose life, and he wants us every time we speak, to speak to life, to speak to goodness, not to the other side. God, that just causes conflict. It causes division, it causes destruction, and ultimately death. It's no good Let's go back, go back to Leviticus. We're going to run through the scriptures very quickly. Leviticus 19. This is in the Holiness Code. Verses 16 and 17 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people, nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor. There is life. It's saying that talebearing and giving false witness against your neighbor is against his life. I am the Lord, he says. You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him. Let's go to Psalm 15. Mm. There are several in this Psalm that have to do with use of the tongue. You know, who may abide in your tabernacle, who may dwell in your holy hill. He who walks uprightly and works righteousness, who speaks the truth in his heart, he who does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor does he take up a reproach against his friend, and we could go on, we will not. Let's go to Proverbs 6. Verse 16 Through 19, these 6 things the Lord hates. Yes, 7 are an abomination to Him a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. God hates these things. We should hate them too. Chapter 16 verse 28 1628 A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer, a gossip separates the best of friends. Chapter 17 verse 9, it's across the page in my Bible. On the other hand, he who covers a transgression seeks love. But he who repeats a matter separates the best of friends. Chapter 20 verse 19 He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets. Therefore, do not associate with one who flatters with his lips. Brings flattery into this. Chapter 26 verses 20 and 22 through 22. Where there is no wood, the fire goes out, and where there is no talebearer, strife ceases. Always got to keep things churned up. As charcoal is to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles. They go down into the inmost body. And what do they do there? Hm Not good. OK, that's, that's enough. We see this in both the law and in wisdom. In the wisdom parts of the Bible that God is very much against spreading rumors and gossiping. Uh, there is just no good in it. And I believe we have so many, so many warnings and cautions about this sort of thing because Our tongue, what we say, our words. Should be a chief area of our sanctification. We need to spend time. Putting a guard on her lipsBeing careful about what we say, what we pass on, being Super private. With information Especially information that is not yours to give to others. We could go to Romans one. I will not go there for lack of time. But in that section Paul lists a bunch of sins that sprang out of the rejection of God and God turning over humanity to a a reprobate mind and several of the sins that are listed there whisperers, backbiters, inventors of evil things, um, have to do with the use of words. use of our tongue. Um That last one I said inventors of evil things has to do with taking special delight in inventing original methods of destroying their fellow man. And it's often done. By a whisper campaign. Or something along that line. Sins of the tongue are grouped with the worst sins of humanity. And will receive God's severe judgment and wrath. We think that what we say doesn't mean a whole lot, doesn't matter. But God hears. Jesus says in Matthew 12:36 that he will judge us for every idle word. We need to control our tongues as children of God. And Jesus goes on in the very next verse, Matthew 12:37. He says, and this should make you very uncomfortable, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned. That's how important what we say is. Life Justification Or death Condemnation It goes that far Gossip is a primary cause of disunity in the Church of God. Not just Church of the Great God. But all the churches of God It acts as a sharp sword that wounds others. Whether it is by group or whether it is individually. Gossip is never done kindly. Some people think that it doesn't make a whole lot of difference or it doesn't hurt. But they are just blinding. Themselves to the repercussions down the road. Gossip causes destruction. It diminishes the person or the group under discussion. It actually degrades the speaker, the one who gossips. And it serves as a temptation for the listener. And then the listener has to deal with it. Does the listener pass it on and become involved in this growing sin? When it happens within the Israel of God. The church by brethren against other brethren or by groups against other groups, it can begin a process that creates a whole lot of misery. Distrust Accusations Disputes, antagonisms, offenses. And more destruction More division New groups Smaller Separated from their brethren. Our mouths can get us and our congregations into huge trouble with God. Cuz what did I say a few minutes ago? He's listening Every idle word. Let's go back to the book of Proverbs, Proverbs 11. Verse 13 A talebearer reveals secrets. But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. We love to talk, do not we? We love to exchange news. But we need to be far more discerning. About what we hear. And what we say and to whom we say it. We do not want to start a war in the body of Christ. Let's also read I Peter 4. Verses 7 and 8I Peter 4:7-8. Peter writes, but the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious. And watchful in your prayers. And above all things, have fervent love for one another. For love will cover a multitude of sins. We need to resolve. To do a better job of keeping things to ourselves. In love Things that you hear about other people. Now you know May not be true. But you know But you must in love. Shut your mouth. Say nothing Conceal the matter. Don't let it go any farther. We need to be those who in love cover or conceal matters. In love Not letting that juicy piece of information go any further. It does not need to be more widely known. And think about it Think about some bit of information you may have heard. You ought to ask yourself. First of all Do I have permission? Do I have authority? To pass the sun And even if you do, Is it wise? Or should you just clamp down on it and say nothing? Because it could get out of hand. The perfect time to start improving in this critical area of sanctification. is right now.
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