Settling a Dispute
Joshua • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 5 viewsThis will be about the need for believers to live at peace with one another.
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
How many of you have watched a Hallmark movie or two? Typically what happens in Hallmark movies is simple, you just have the characters from the last Hallmark movie change clothes, names, and jobs and the you redo the script from the last movie.
Seriously though another thing that happens frequently in Hallmark movies is misunderstandings. Jane the independent toy store owner originally hates the corporate toy store representative who walks into her small store. Hurtful things are said and done and then as he attends the town’s toy festival, the corporate toy store guy comes to know and fall in love with the independent toy store owner. As he gets to know her and the town he can’t help but turn away from His mean corporate CEO girlfriend and embrace the small town life, toy store, and girl.
Don’t you wish all misunderstandings would resolve like Hallmark movies?
(Actually, the characters in Hallmark movies are pretty flat and unrealistic. So, no I kind of like the depth of knowing and wrestling with deep hurts and issues.)
Instead we live in a world where hurts linger for years. Grudges get held and they hold families up for decades. A fight over the color of carpet splits a church. We are very good at taking offense, aren’t we?
What about resolving offenses? Are we good at that?
What about resolving offenses? Are we good at that?
Today we will take a look at a big misunderstanding facing the nation of Israel. This misunderstanding didn’t just lead to ignoring people at Kroger, it almost lead to a civil war in the new country of Israel.
Ok, so here is a little background
The nation of Israel consisted of 12 tribes. 2 1/2 tribes made a request back when Moses led the country for permission to settle east of the river. They committed to carry on the war to the west to help the rest of the nation find their own space but then they would return to the land east of the Jordan. You see Livestock and farming were a big part of how they made a living. The land east of the Jordan was an is fairly fertile land.
Originally Moses thought the tribes were trying to refuse entering the land just like the people had done at a place called Kadesh Barnea. They tried to rebel against Moses’ leadership and turn back to Egypt. Yet, when Moses expressed this concern the two tribes relieved his concerns and promised to join in all the conquest of the land before returning back to the east side of the Jordan.
Moses heard their commitment and granted their request.
20 So Moses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war,
21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him
22 and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.
23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.
So that is kind of the back story to where we are today.
This is about resolving a dispute
This is about resolving a dispute
Right now we are kind of entering into the final chapters of the book of Joshua. Joshua has some final words for the country he led into the land. So these next few chapters that we cover over the next few weeks will be important messages that Joshua has for the people.
First of all Joshua starts with gratitude
Gratitude
Gratitude
Let's read this passage together:
1 At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
2 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 have commanded you.
3 You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God.
4 And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.
7 Now to the one half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua had given a possession beside their brothers in the land west of the Jordan. And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them,
8 he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”
9 So the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the people of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had possessed themselves by command of the Lord through Moses.
Joshua starts by commending this 2 1/2 tribes. As you can see he reminds them that they did exactly what Moses commanded them to do. In addition they obeyed joshua's leadership. And more than that, they didn't abandon their brothers and sisters. Joshua reminds them that God has given them rust. And he commends them to return to their land and to the place where their possessions were. The place on the East part of the Jordan that Moses gave to them.
He left them with a strong encouragement. He challenged them to be careful to obey the laws of Moses and to love and walk in God's ways. I love what he says in verse five. It's certainly worth rereading.
5 Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and to cling to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
Observe carefully God's commands, love God, walk in all his ways and keep his commandments, cling to him, serve him with all your heart and with all your soul. Such powerful words!
And so Joshua blesses them and Joshua sends them away.
What could be better? A moment of gratitude after a long and hard fought battle. Victory was there's! Time to rest. Or rather time for a misunderstanding.
Isn't it sad how easy it is for problems to come up when we stop focusing on the work at hand.? Whenever one has a mission that everyone is pursuing then we can unify around that mission. But when we stop living for the mission, we start looking around at each other and we get in trouble.
Let's read what happens.
10 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.
11 And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.”
12 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.
Now come on you really can't give the other 10 1/2 tribes too much grief because , well, these guys built a gigantic altar. And really, didn’t the Israelites spend a lot of time tearing down Pagan altars? really, if you spend anytime reading the Old Testament you're gonna see that making another alter or an altar to a different God is a really bad idea.
Biblically we know that there was supposed to be only one altar for sacrificing to God. Take a look:
5 But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose out of all your tribes to put his name and make his habitation there. There you shall go,
6 and there you shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, your vow offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock.
7 And there you shall eat before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your households, in all that you undertake, in which the Lord your God has blessed you.
God called for one altar of sacrifice. It mattered where and whom you worshipped.
It matters today where and whom you worship. Today just like people did throughout history we worship God with our money, our time, and our energy. When we invest these things in worshipping things that don't deserve our worship we take away from God.
At this point we don't hear of any specific place where God told Israel to build an altar yet. But by no stretch of the imagination was this land to the East of the Jordan supposed to be the capital of the country or where everyone would go to worship. It certainly seemed like this was an act of rebellion and the country was enraged.
I'm so glad we live in a time of profound unity in our country and don't face dividing issues like this ).
And so the nation gathered for war. This rebellion must be stopped.
Before plunging into full on war they decided to take a wise course of action . They decided to take and send a delegation.
13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,
14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel.
They started the meeting off with a huge accusation of sin.
16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord?
After this starting accusation they spend the next 5 verses going over history of the country they remind these is stranged tribes of how God judged people in the past for their sins.
Honestly, when you read these verses it feels like the accuser is kind of venting historical frustration. After all that is done the two and a half tribes reply
21 Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said in answer to the heads of the families of Israel,
22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today
23 for building an altar to turn away from following the Lord. Or if we did so to offer burnt offerings or grain offerings or peace offerings on it, may the Lord himself take vengeance.
24 No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?
25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the Lord.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the Lord.
26 Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice,
27 but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the Lord in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings, so your children will not say to our children in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.” ’
28 And we thought, ‘If this should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we should say, “Behold, the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you.” ’
29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle!”
They explain that the purpose of this altar is not rebellion but reminder. It's not for an opportunity to disobey God but for a reminder of their identity in obedience to God.
At this moment peace breaks out
30 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.
31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the people of Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is in our midst, because you have not committed this breach of faith against the Lord. Now you have delivered the people of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”
32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the chiefs, returned from the people of Reuben and the people of Gad in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the people of Israel, and brought back word to them.
33 And the report was good in the eyes of the people of Israel. And the people of Israel blessed God and spoke no more of making war against them to destroy the land where the people of Reuben and the people of Gad were settled.
34 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.”
It's almost funny how the thing that agitated and caused so much pain quickly became a sign of faithfulness. When everyone really understood the truth, that truth really did set them free.
OK, what can we learn from this passage?
OK, what can we learn from this passage?
First of all, don't assume.
Don’t Assume (because you know what that makes)
Don’t Assume (because you know what that makes)
How often do we assume we know the motives of other believers? How often do we assume we know all the reasons why a brother or sister in Christ did something, response, or lives in a certain way? It's so easy to pass judgment on someone who is not yourself.
I love this Peter Jeffrey quote and I will insert it here
Opening Up Joshua Don’t Assume
Innocent actions can be misconstrued, exaggerated and blown up out of all proportion. Sometimes we misrepresent the action of a fellow believer because we do not like that person and are only too glad for an opportunity to criticize. That is evil and wicked. Sometimes we misrepresent an action because we disagree with it. That is dishonest because the motives can be right even when the action is wrong.
The Israelites were too quick to misconstrue and much too quick to be ready to fight, but we must pay tribute to them that before they did anything they sent representatives to talk with their brethren. When they came face to face and talked the whole business through the problems were resolved.
Our culture is chronically and tragically very quick to assume and judge. We must not be like that! As believers in Christ Jesus we must be extraordinarily quick to forgive. We must be diligently self perceptive remembering our own sins. We must allow our humanity not to drive us to sin but to lead us to humility.
The Israelites certainly do deserve credit for acting with wisdom rather than quick assumptions and judgments thinking they knew all was right.
Another lesson we learn here is the need to earnestly desire peace
Earnestly Desire Peace
Earnestly Desire Peace
Sadly, we don't naturally pursue peace.
Sadly we enter the world with a sinful nature. This nature puts us at odds with God an many times it puts us at odds with others. But the God we serve is a God of peace. Through the work of Jesus he purchased peace . He purchased a state of peace between us and him. He gives us peace in our hearts period piece that allows us to sleep on her sheets at night period piece that allows us to coexist with other sinful human beings Peace that allows us to forgive the worst and believe the best. Peace
The reality is that the people of the gospel must be people of peace. And when we fail to live at peace we deny the power of the gospel in our lives. Perhaps nothing so hinders the gospel as our lack of ability to live in peace with one another.
We live in an extraordinarily divided time. A time when Christians are at odds with one another over their politics and their beliefs. Where Christians are calling each other names based simply on what candidate they support for high or low office. We must be better and bigger than that. We must go out of our way to pursue peace.
Nothing limits the gospel quite like a lack of peace among God's people. Nothing promotes the gospel quite as much as warm hearted unity among God's people.
A few verses on peace.
A few verses on peace.
11 Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Paul finishes His second Corinthian letter challenging his people the followers of Jesus to shoot for restoration to agree with one another and to live in peace and God would be with them. But look at the first thing he said! He said, rejoice! Let's live joyful peaceful lives.
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Look at how Paul challenges Timothy . He tells him to flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. We must be diligent in our everyday lives to flee youthful passions and sins and pursue peace.
One more verse:
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I don't know about you but whenever I check in with national news I find reasons to be anxious. Then I remember that this shouldn't be surprising at all. I mean, throughout history there have always been times for anxiety there have always been reasons for unrest in the country. There has always been change.
And the time that Paul faced as a believer faced even more political unrest than we have today. He preached to scattered communities of Christians facing persecution of many sizes and shape. And yet he writes these words... Don't be anxious about anything but let your request be known to God. And when we do that the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
I've found the times that I am the worst husband, dad, pastor, friend are when I am not at peace in my own heart. When I'm likely to pick a fight or have a misunderstanding or get upset about something or someone as the time that I am not doing good in myself. I am not at peace in my heart. I want to encourage you believers to pursue peace in your lives.
When you do have misunderstandings don't assume you know what the other person is thinking or meaning. Ask questions and listen. And finally, remember to earnestly pursue peace. God has given us all we need to live a life of peace to forgive and love greatly. Let's be peacemakers this week.