Another thing I’m learning from my son Matt is not to assume I know someone’s motives. The Bible speaks to this issue very clearly in the story of the Eastern Tribes in Joshua 22. The story begins in Numbers 32 as the Israelites are preparing to cross the Jordan. Still on the east side of the Jordan, after a successful battle, the leaders of Reuben and Gad approach Moses:

“The land that the LORD struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan. (Numbers 32.4, 5, ESV)

Moses was vehement in his response:

But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the LORD has given them? (Numbers 32.6, 7, ESV)

In short, “You’re not going to sit here with your cattle while everyone else goes to war!” (That’s a lesson right there.) So the leaders of Reuben and Gad agreed that they would participate in the war effort and then return to the land east of the Jordan. And that’s what they did. In Joshua 22, they are ready to go back.

At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the LORD your God. And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. (Joshua 22.1 – 4, ESV)

And then we have what turns out to be a huge misunderstanding:

And when they came to the region of the Jordan that is in the land of Canaan, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar of imposing size. And the people of Israel heard it said, “Behold, the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built the altar at the frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region about the Jordan, on the side that belongs to the people of Israel.” And when the people of Israel heard of it, the whole assembly of the people of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war against them. (Joshua 22.10 – 12, ESV)

The tribes on the west side reasoned this way: “They have built an altar. Therefore, they intend to worship a different God or worship God in the wrong place. We must stop them!” They could have asked what the intent was. That would have saved a lot of time. Here’s part of their response (you can read the whole story in Numbers 32 and Joshua 22):

Then the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said…,“The Mighty One, God, the LORD! The Mighty One, God, the LORD! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the LORD, do not spare us today for building an altar to turn away from following the LORD… No, but we did it from fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, ‘What have you to do with the LORD, the God of Israel? For the LORD has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you people of Reuben and people of Gad. You have no portion in the LORD.’ So your children might make our children cease to worship the LORD. Therefore we said, ‘Let us now build an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice, but to be a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us, that we do perform the service of the LORD in his presence with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings,…” (Joshua 22.21 – 27, ESV)

An entire chapter of Joshua is devoted to this event. It must be an important lesson.

So resist the temptation to pronounce premature judgment on anything before the appointed time when all will be fully revealed. Instead, wait until the Lord makes his appearance, for he will bring all that is hidden in darkness to light and unveil every secret motive of everyone’s heart. Then, when the whole truth is known, each will receive praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4.5, TPT)