Assumptions

 DEVOTION

JOSHUA

ASSUMPTIONS

Josh 22:13-34

13 So the Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, to the land of Gilead — to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten of the chief men, one for each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans. 15 When they went to Gilead — to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh — they said to them: 16 "The whole assembly of the LORD says: 'How could you break faith with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the LORD and build yourselves an altar in rebellion against him now? 17 Was not the sin of Peor enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the LORD! 18 And are you now turning away from the LORD? "'If you rebel against the LORD today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community of Israel. 19 If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the LORD's land, where the LORD's tabernacle stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the LORD or against us by building an altar for yourselves, other than the altar of the LORD our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah acted unfaithfully regarding the devoted things, did not wrath come upon the whole community of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.'" 21 Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 "The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows! And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the LORD, do not spare us this day. 23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the LORD and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the LORD himself call us to account. 24 "No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, 'What do you have to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? 25 The LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you — you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the LORD.' So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the LORD. 26 "That is why we said, 'Let us get ready and build an altar — but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.' 27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the LORD at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings. Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, 'You have no share in the LORD.' 28 "And we said, 'If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the LORD's altar, which our fathers built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness between us and you.' 29 "Far be it from us to rebel against the LORD and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the LORD our God that stands before his tabernacle." 30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community — the heads of the clans of the Israelites — heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, "Today we know that the LORD is with us, because you have not acted unfaithfully toward the LORD in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the LORD's hand." 32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites. 33 They were glad to hear the report and praised God. And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived. 34 And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness Between Us that the LORD is God.

NIV

There is no way we could break up this exchange between Phinehas the Reubenites and the Gadites over the altar they built at the shore of the Jordan. The problem is that the whole assembly of Israel was prepared to war with the Reubenites and Gadites because of an assumption regarding this altar the Reubenites and Gadites built on the shore of the Jordan. Phinehas and a leader from each tribe came to accuse them of breaking faith with the LORD God of Israel, before even asking them why they built the altar and for what purpose. We do not have to recount the exchange, but we only need to see that our life lesson is about making assumptions before knowing the facts. Consider that an assumption is another word for judgment about someone’s thoughts or actions, which in essence is a judgment regarding their character. This is what the other tribes did to the Reubenites and Gadites. We cannot judge someone else’s motives without asking them anything if we even have the right to ask. However, making assumptions based on nothing factual cannot be pleasing to our Lord. The deeper problem is when we assume something about another, we are thinking more highly of ourselves than we should, thinking are we are right and the other person is wrong. Let us do what we should by loving each other per how love is defined for us in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Love should be patient, kind, rejoice with the truth, protect, trust, hope, and persevere. Love means we do not envy or become easily angered or that we keep a record of someone’s wrongs. Loving others also means we would not be boastful, prideful, rude, or look after ourselves first, known as self-seeking. If we were to love in this manner, we would never make an assumption.