THE FORWARD WALK ¡V PART FOUR
¡§THE WALK OF WITNESS¡¨
JOSHUA 22:9-34 (NIV)
¡§So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses. [10] When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan. [11] 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, [12] the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.¡¨
[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.¡¨
[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.¡¨
[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.¡¨
Introduction:
Explanation of text: Tribes of Ruben, Gad and half tribe of Mannasseh requested from Moses the fertile land east of the Jordan for their inheritance. Moses agreed providing the men fight with the rest of Israel until the land is conquered on the west side of Jordan. Five and half years later the men from these tribes return home and upon arriving on the other side of the Jordan they build a memorial altar similar to the altar of the Lord used by the people of God to worship the Lord at Shiloh in the Promised Land. Word gets out to the other tribes regarding this altar and there is a misunderstanding and the potential for war. The bottom line of this situation is that the tribes on the east simply wanted to build an altar that they would give the name ¡§WITNESS¡¨ that would serve to remind future generations of the fact they are united with the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD.
Explanation will be provided for FORWARD BY FAITH ¡§Tent of Witness¡¨ that will be used for our Prayer Journey in preparation as we seek the Lord¡¦s will concerning our commitments that will be made June 1st. Key points to remember in the Prayer Journey Tent of Witness:
„X Families and Friends will come to the Tent of Meeting to pray for God¡¦s leadership in their lives and to ask for His Blessings.
„X Tiles will be provided to record your witness for future generations
„X Children will draw pictures or put their hand print and name on tiles to provide their witness
„X One outside wall of the new Community Life Center for our Families will be dedicated as the WALL OF WITNESS for all future generations to see the witness of the Lord and the legacy of faith that was given by the sacrifice of God¡¦s people.
God confirmed this direction as I read in our Daily Walk this passage of scripture, Monday, April 21, 2003. The Spirit of God prompted my heart to lead us to create a wall of witness however; we must first be committed to the wall of witness of our life. We will join together to build a legacy for future generations and it applies to our personal legacy and witness that we are building each day in our life, in our marriage in our families, in our neighborhoods, our schools, our marketplace and our world.
Three obvious biblical truths appear in this vitally important message regarding our FORWARD WALK OF WITNESS:
I. THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR WITNESS (22:9-10)
¡§So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in Canaan to return to Gilead, their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses. [10] When they came to Geliloth near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar there by the Jordan.¡¨
This very pronounced river boundary and may have contributed to the fear of these tribesmen that they and their brethren would permanently drift apart. After all, ¡§out of sight¡¨ is often ¡§out of mind.¡¨ What then could be done to keep alive the ties of comradeship forged by those long years of united struggles? The families realized their responsibility to build a memorial that would be an ¡§altar of witness¡¨ for their children and their children¡¦s children. These were parents and a generation of leaders who were more concerned about their legacy than their resume. The legacy lives for tomorrow but the resume is only useful for today. The families realized they had both the responsibility for their own spiritual growth but also for the witness to the future generations.
¡§Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, ¡§I find no pleasure in them.¡¨
Ecc. 12:1 (NIV)
They wanted to avoid the tragic indictment that many parents face in regards to their legacy that it would be said of their children and grandchildren¡K
¡§They did not keep God’s covenant and refused to live by his law. [11] They forgot what he had done, the wonders he had shown them.¡¨ Psalm 78:10-11 (NIV)
The question that we must ask as we face this day in our FORWARD WALK BY FAITH is this: What is my responsibility to my witness to my children, grandchildren, church, home and our nation? You will have a witness, a memorial in your life and it will either be one of blessing or one of curse.
Joshua 24:14-15
¡§Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. [15] But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.¡¨
Joshua 24:27
¡§See!" he said to all the people. "This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.¡¨
The truth is we all have a responsibility for our witness and we will all have a witness. Our witness will either serve as a blessing for those who follow us or will be a curse. We will have a witness.
II. THE REACTIONS TO OUR WORK [22:11-12; 22-23; 27]
[11] 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, [12] the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.¡¨
Joshua 22:12 reveals how often our motives are misinterpreted or misrepresented. Their own brothers and sister were ready to go to war before they had ever spoken to them personally. How tragic for a misinterpretation to lead to broken fellowship and division of unity.
What are some of the reactions that Christians have today that create barriers to true spiritual unity? Worship styles, race, culture, denominations, etc.
While there are some ungodly and carnal people that will always look for the ¡§worst possible report¡¨ the truth is the majority are not trying to hinder the work of God, they have just misinterpreted or misunderstood what they have heard. The guilt of the later group is in the biblical truth that we act on what we hear as truth instead of following the example in this text and seek to know truth.
THE TRUTH IS FOUND IN A WILLINGNESS IN THE HEART OF GODLY PEOPLE TO SEEK THE FACTS AND A WILLINGNESS ON THE PART OF THE ACCUSED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH AND COMMU NICATE CLEARLY THE INTENTIONS.
NOTICE THEIR RESPONSE: (22:22-23)
[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.¡¨
Have you ever asked yourself this question, ¡§Why is our legal system based on the concept of ¡§innocent until proven guilty¡¨? Joshua 22:22 reveals their words are a direct appeal for God to be the witness of the truth; an interesting side note is that the Hebrew language would be exactly equivalent to often used phrase in the courtroom, ¡§So help me God.¡¨
Often we misjudge the motives of others based on actions or on cultural, racial, geographical or natural barriers. The tribes of Ruben, Gad and the half tribe of Mannasseh felt they would be excluded based on the natural barrier of the Jordan river and they were doing all they could to maintain their inclusion with the people of God. LISTEN:
[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.¡¨
This tremendous illustration is given to us regarding how we are to live and act in our fellowship and especially regarding God¡¦s work and preparation in our lives as we participate in FORWARD BY FAITH. When there is a problem between Christians the biblical response is to RESOLVE and not REACT.
We must learn to RESPOND to one another, without REJECTING one another and without arrogantly RETAINING unresolved doubts.
Personal Application regarding the reactions of others to our work:
ć Most often asked questions are listed on web site for your consideration.
ć Talk to those who KNOW not those who have simply HEARD
ƒá Never let a misrepresentation of motives to be your excuse for disobedience to God¡¦s will for your life. This is what I call the ¡§JUDAS PRINCIPLE.¡¨ When the woman broke the jar of perfume and anointed Jesus it was Judas who responded, ¡§We could have given that money to the poor.¡¨
Our love for God and our concern for other Christians call us at times to the place of confrontation, but never give us the license for critical condemnation.
CONCLUSION:
Why then was the second altar built? Their building program was designed and carried out because of the need that we present in the lives of the people. They earnestly explained that it was built only out of fear of spiritual and geographic separation and so that the generations that follow them would know the ONE TRUE LIVING GOD.
[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.¡¨
[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.¡¨
Joshua is a book that describes the occupation and distribution of the Promised Land. Why should this single incident in the life of the tribes of Israel be treated in such detail? Simply because it illustrates certain biblical truths that were vital to God¡¦s people living together harmoniously and under God¡¦s full anointing and blessing. The same principles apply to those of in God¡¦s family that is known as FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF FORT LAUDERDALE as we go FORWARD BY FAITH. We are building because of the need, not only for the needs of our church family and the community in which we live but for the needed witness for generations to come. They too will have their own defining moment. Some concepts for you to consider in building your own WALL OF WITNESS¡K
ć Commit to a daily quiet time and to read the Daily Walk with your church family through the year.
ƒá Start a journal to record God¡¦s direction in your life and the memory markers through prayer and personal relationship.
ƒá Commit to honoring the Lord on the Sabbath. Make your worship a priority for your family, friends, neighbors and work associates KNOW your heart¡¦s commitment Christ.
ć If you have children establish your own family altar.
ƒá If you haven¡¦t started begin immediately seeking the Lord for His direction in your faith commitment to Forward by Faith
ƒá Make a commitment to visit the Tent of Witness and pray for God¡¦s blessings and make your mark that will be a witness to others in generations to come.
While their concern for the spiritual welfare of future generations was admirable, it must be noted that there should be great concern that the ¡§Wall named Witness¡¨ NOT become the focus of worship instead of the one true living God. Remember, God had ordained in the Law that all Israelite males were to appear at the sanctuary three times a year, Exodus 23:17 ¡§Three times a year all the men are to appear before the Sovereign Lord.¡¨
Thus, if all obeyed God¡¦s directive then this action would preserve the unity of all the tribes both spiritually and politically. We must reject an easy shortcut of just building the WALL OF WITNESS and the Wall of Witness will condemn us and not commend us if FIRST the wall of witness is not established in our lives.
Together we must be a people united, together we must walk forward by faith, together we will build the wall of witness and our children and grandchildren shall pass by that wall and see our testimony and our witness but we will always be mindful that it is not our wall of witness that draws us to the place of worship and unites us as one¡Kit is our faith in Jesus Christ alone as our Lord and Savior¡Kthe Wall of Witness is merely the by product of that forward walk of faith.
