APPEARANCES. By Pastor Mark Olson

SCRIPTURE - Joshua 22;11,12; 1 Cor. 10:23,24

And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others

OBSERVATION

When the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh went home on the other side of the Jordan after completing the wars on behalf of their brother tribes, they built an altar to the Lord on their side of the river. If they had used it for sacrifices it would have been rebellion against the Lord. The rest of Israel heard that they had built this altar and assumed rebellion. They then prepared for war to attack and destroy their brothers thinking they were in rebellion. In the end the brothers were not in rebellion, but only wanted to have a connection to the Lord since they were so far away from the real altar of sacrifice.

APPLICATION

The Israelites heard their brothers had built an altar on the other side of the Jordan and immediately assumed they were sacrificing on it, in direct violation of God’s laws. The ten tribes prepared for war and gathered all the fighting men together. They must have spread the word throughout the nation that their brothers across the river were in rebellion and they got the entire nation riled up, talking about it and then suited up to go to war. They all gathered at Shiloh and were ready to cross the river and “do them in”. Then it appears that someone finally had some sense and decided to send Phineas over to check it out. He inquired what the altar was for and only then did they avoid war with their brothers. Looking at the other side of this situation, though, maybe the Reubenites, Gadites and half Manasseh should have told their brothers ahead of time what they were doing since building an altar would obviously have been controversial.

What a great example for me on “appearances”. I know I do this a lot myself and I am sure many others do it also. We see something – a person, a situation – and we make assumptions and judgments about that person or situation based on our own preconceived ideas, thoughts, etc. And we often assume the worst. We seldom assume the good. Whatever interpretation I gain from my limited observation, I usually will assume something negative.

In 1 Cor 10:23,24, Paul is beginning his explanation about freedom by talking about “appearances”. He says that we have tremendous freedom in Christ, but that we can’t always use that freedom because it will appear to others like we are doing something wrong and it may injure them. He further explains that we don’t want to cause others to stumble - inside the church or outside the church by our actions (v 32).

Such a good balance in these two sections of scripture. We need to be aware of our actions so they don’t cause others to make wrong judgments (as the Israelites did) or cause others to stumble like Paul is talking about in 1 Cor. But we also need to not make those judgments toward other brothers and sisters when they appear to be doing something wrong without first checking the details to see what is actually going on.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus. Help me to live a balanced life. Living a pure and holy life before you and avoid using my freedom in ways that might cause others to stumble. And help me also to not make judgments of others when they may appear to be doing something “off track”. Help me to love them, maybe inquire as appropriate and then pray for blessings on them as they also grow in Christ. In Jesus name, Amen.