Jumping to Conclusions
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For some people, the most exercise they get is from jumping to conclusions.
[A Young Couple on the streets of New York]
We all do it from time to time.
We look at someone and just “know” they’re trouble.
Or a friend or family member says something and we “know” there’s something else going on there.
Or we see a press conference and just assume they’re lying,
Especially if it’s a politician.
Instincts are one thing, but have you ever considered how often jumping to conclusions gets you in trouble?
Or how many “close calls” you’ve had because of it?
Because two groups of Israelites jumped to conclusions,
And it almost started a war!
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Home
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Home
In Joshua 22, Israel had just conquered the Promised Land.
As they had agreed with Moses, the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh had taken land on the eastern side of the Jordan.
They and Moses agreed that these tribes could settle the land, as long as the men fought until the rest of Israel had settled their land.
Joshua recognized that these tribes had fulfilled their side of the agreement, now it was time for them to go home.
But a funny thing happened while these men went home.
And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar.
Why would the eastern tribes build an alter by the Jordan river?
After all, the Tabernacle of Meeting was with the rest of Israel,
So why build an alter there?
Before we find out why, the rest of Israel finds out about this alter.
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 children of Israel’s side.”
It’s not so much THAT Israel finds out about the alter, but how they reacted to it.
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.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…
The eastern tribes build an alter and Israel gathers for war?
Overreact much?
Yes, there was a law that only the sons of Aaron were allowed to make offerings on the alter of the Tabernacle of Meeting,
But was there a law against building another altar?
Then the children of Israel sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from 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.
OK, now Israel is sending people to the eastern tribes.
Maybe now they’ll start seeking information before they actually go to war.
Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of 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, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, that you might rebel this day against the Lord?
Now THAT is a mighty high-jump to a conclusion.
Just days after helping the rest of Israel conquer the land God had promised them, the western tribes find out the eastern tribes have built and alter,
And the ONLY conclusion they can come to is that the eastern tribes have turned their backs on God.
Then again, it’s not as if Israel hadn’t turned the back on God before.
Is the iniquity of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, 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.
OK, OK, Israel has shown this tendency in the past.
Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
But does that mean that this altar is for the eastern tribes to start worshiping other gods?
After all, the eastern tribes built the alter on the western side of the Jordan.
Not very convenient for worship, is it.
Maybe there’s another reason why the eastern tribes built this alter.
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 an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. Did not Achan 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.’ ”
Maybe the eastern tribes built the altar on the western side because the lands east of the Jordan are unclean.
That would explain building the alter on the other side.
But if that’s the case, why would the eastern tribes want to remain in unclean lands?
Shouldn’t they just cross over with the rest of Israel?
After all, we’ve seen before when the trespasses of one person led to many being punished.
Remember Achan?
Response of the Eastern Tribes
Response of the Eastern Tribes
Picture this from the view of the eastern tribes.
After years fulfilling their promise to Moses, they’re finally going home.
Suddenly, they’re approached by an Army of those they call brethren, accused of apostacy and of bringing a curse upon all Israel.
I don’t know about you, but I bet these men had their backs up,
If for no other reason then to defend themselves against this mob.
Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of 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.
In the modern vernacular, “Hold your horses! Who said anything about rebellion? If we this is rebellion or treachery, then yes we deserve to die. But…
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.
The Lord knows what we’re up to.
If He thinks we built this altar to turn from following Him, to make offerings to Him here, then let God call us to 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? 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.’
In fact, we built this altar because WE are afraid that your descendants will turn us away from worshiping the God of Israel!
Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, but that it 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 the 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.’
Now, maybe it would have been nice for the eastern tribes to let the rest of Israel know what they had in mind when they decided to build this altar.
Not that doing so would necessarily have worked.
[Church elders turning my words against me.]
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, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”
Do you see how jumping to conclusions, then acting upon those conclusions, can lead to a lot of mistaken jumping around?
The eastern tribes were concerned that the descendants of the western tribes would one day turn them away.
But rather than telling them, “Hey, were going to build this alter as a remembrance between us.”,
They just build the alter and hope the western tribes understand?
The western tribes see the altar and assume it can only be rebellion by the easter tribes.
So they build an army first and talk second.
Well, at least they finally did talk.
Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”
Oooo, so THAT’s why you built that altar.
And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.
Now that the two groups have finally talked, everything has settled down.
Might have been nice to have talked first.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Our instincts are important to our survival.
In the case of the young couple in New York City, their instinctual fear could save their lives one day.
On the other hand, assuming you know why someone did what they did more often than not leads to trouble.
There’s a reason why, when you’re not in fear for your life, you should start by asking questions.
Imagine if the western tribes showed us and asked:
“Hey, nice altar. Why did you build it?”
That would certainly had led to different conversation.
It’s also a pretty good idea, before doing something that could be misinterpreted, to say something first.
Like the Eastern Tribes saying:
“He brothers. We know things are all good right now,
but since we’re going to be on the other side of the river, we want to make sure both sides remembers what’s going on here.
So how about we build an altar of remembrance here.
Of course that doesn’t always work…
I tried that once at a church, and the conclusions the elders jumped to could have won an olympic gold medal.
All in all, I think the advice of Paul in Romans 12 18 is wise.
If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.
