Joshua 22:1-34

Remember we just recently talked about how Manasseh could have served as a bridge to those tribes on the east bank of the Jordan River?  How easily misunderstandings could arise?  Case in point: the altar Gad, Reuben, and half of the tribe of Manasseh erected once on home soil again.  Upon hearing it, the rest of Israel stood up-in-arms and marched over to set these erring tribes to right.  However, upon confrontation, they learned that they were mistaken.  The altar had not been erected for the purpose of sacrifice, something those eastern tribes repeated again and again for emphasis (v. 26, 28, 29).  They had no intention of instituting worship at this altar; rather, it was to be a reminder to the people on both sides of the Jordan who the eastern tribes were to serve: the LORD, and none other.  Did they stay true to that?  We shall see.

Such misunderstandings are easy to come by, aren't they?  You see someone doing something, believe it is for one thing rather than another, and suddenly you've made a rash judgement.  And it's easy to act on those rash judgements, just as the Israelites did.  There's two reminders here, I'm thinking.  One, that we need to be mindful of how our actions might come across.  True, we are not responsible for what others think; they are.  However, we are responsible for the way we ourselves act, and we need to be mindful of how we comport ourselves.  Especially before unbelievers: we're not perfect, but we do want to be a good reflection of our Savior.  Two, we need to be mindful that we might not have the whole story when we see something happen.  We may assume a particular person is like this or that, we may assume that someone has done this or that particular thing with a particular motive.  And we could be dead wrong.  And the damage could potentially be catastrophic.  We can't live our lives walking on eggshells, but we can live it prayerfully, seeking the Lord above all things and praying that our lives and our actions would be a reflection of Him above all.  Don't you think?

Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 23:1-24:33