Day 18

Joshua 21-22

A WITNESS BETWEEN US

A witness between us that the LORD is God – Josh. 22:34

            The 2 ½ tribes that settled on the east side of Jordan built an altar of witness by the Jordan River after they completed their military responsibility to the majority tribes.  This caused great furor because the altar was falsely interpreted as an act of apostasy.  No one wanted a second “Achan experience” (Joshua 6).  The feelings of hostility were so intense by the 9 ½ tribes that they gathered at Shiloh to invade the east-side brethren.  In the end all agreed that it was a good thing.  It was a memorial to serve as an everlasting reminder of their mutual faith and their powerful God.  In the coming years when the victories of this era had been forgotten, future generations could remember what God had done with their united effort in Canaan.

            There are lessons to learn from this narrative.  Even though the altar was a good idea, it was done thoughtlessly.  Many times right things are done for the right reasons and produce wrong outcomes.  Good intentions are not always understood.  The 2 ½ tribes were noble in their desire to memorialize God’s blessings, but they should have considered the possible confusion of the clueless majority.  Any time decisions for other people are made without consultation, irreconcilable damage can occur.  This almost caused a civil war. 

            The 9 ½ tribes erred in not consulting with the offenders.  A simple explanation could have saved a lot of time and agony that was wasted on a false presupposition.  It is easy to judge others’ motives.  Too easy!  It comes naturally.  Paul says we judge others by our own hearts (Rom. 2:15).  Maturity waits and then responds; the child in us reacts and then regrets. 

            I heard of a country grandma who always made her own bologna.  She would take great pains to prepare and wrap her delicacy.  One day she finished her dainty and hung it on a well handle in the back yard to cure.  In time she looked out and observed a crow eating her dinner.  He had devoured so much that she just watched him eat the rest while he sat on the handle.  When the timing was right, she picked up her broom, kicked open the door, and ran with broom in hand to one surprised crow sitting on the handle.   The crow flew off the handle, but not before she knocked black feathers in every direction.  The moral to this story is:  Never fly off the handle when you’re full of “boloney.”

            Wow!  How often have we done that?  The Israelites avoided a tragedy by a timely conversation with those they were sure had done wrong.  Until they got the story right they were full of boloney.  There’s no witness when we’re full of boloney.

I’d like to take my boloney back.  I can only ask for forgiveness.