After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the Lord let the children of Israel into the promised land.
They had escaped from Egypt and lingered in the desert of Sinai, some few hundred thousand people who today we call Jews. But their wandering was done, at least for a season, and they were given a land for their inheritance, a bountiful land, and it was divided up amongst their tribes.
Along one border ran the Jordan River, with most of the tribes on its far banks. But three tribes lived together on the near side. Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. It wasn't quite the promised land, but it was close, and it was theirs.
And when the time came to settle it and put down roots, they did.
Now, religion was very important to those people back then. It was their prime identification and biggest priority. And preserving their religious purity was very important to them. They feared that new doctrines or traditions might be picked up and incorporated into their faith and spoil it.
The center of their faith was the tabernacle, a temple of sorts made from a tent. They sacrificed there, and drew close to their God. It featured an altar where they did their rituals.
The tabernacle was with the tribes on the far side of the River Jordan,
some distance from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. The tribes that had the tabernacle saw themselves, it seems, as special protectors of their religion's orthodoxy.
some distance from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh. The tribes that had the tabernacle saw themselves, it seems, as special protectors of their religion's orthodoxy.
Which was fine. Everybody was happy.
Until word came that the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had built a huge stone altar on their side of the River Jordan.
This was scandalous. There was only one place the children of Israel could offer their sacrifices and perform their rituals, and it was not upon that foreign stone altar. The altar, as an expression of faith, was unseemly and alien to the other tribes. It appeared odd and freakish, an abomination.
So they decided to go to war. The several tribes on the far side of the
river, not wanting to anger God by allowing a perversion of their faith, set out to kill their brethren among Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.
river, not wanting to anger God by allowing a perversion of their faith, set out to kill their brethren among Reuben, Gad and Manasseh.
It was that important to them.
So off they set.
The tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, quite naturally, were surprised by this.
And the other tribes -- when they heard the explanation of Reuben, Gad and Manassah -- were also surprised.
Because it wasn't a perversion after all. It wasn't an apostacy. It wasn't a departure from the faith. It was, in fact, a memorial to the faith they both shared.
The three tribes, so far from the tabernacle and its altar, had built the
stone replica not as a substitute, but as a reminder. It was not for sacrifices and rituals, it was for remembrance of the tabernacle and its altar, and the central role they played in the tribes' shared faith.
stone replica not as a substitute, but as a reminder. It was not for sacrifices and rituals, it was for remembrance of the tabernacle and its altar, and the central role they played in the tribes' shared faith.
The problem was not about what people believed, but about what other people thought they believed. It was not about religious difference, it was about religious misunderstanding.
And sometimes it's still that way. Our various beliefs are not that alien or contradictory, though our perceptions of one another's beliefs can be unreconcilable and offensive. Often, the hard lines between our various religions are like the difficulty between the tribes, based on ignorance instead of fact. Often, like the tribes, with knowledge comes an awareness of shared and common faith. With knowledge comes brotherhood.
Certainly, there are differences, and they matter. Truth is absolute and
eternal. Our various conflicting religions and beliefs cannot all be right.
Some, maybe most, are at least partly in error. God is not a god of
confusion.
eternal. Our various conflicting religions and beliefs cannot all be right.
Some, maybe most, are at least partly in error. God is not a god of
confusion.
But the point remains.
When we see the other man's altar as a perversion, it is typically because we don't know what it means to him.
And, typically, if we made the effort to learn, we would see not how
different his beliefs were from our own, but how similar.
different his beliefs were from our own, but how similar.
Watch as Bob DOESN'T go down the side of the First Federal Plaza Building
