In This Together

GETTING STARTED

People sin. You do it, and I do it. Even on our best days, we all fall and miss the mark that God lays out for us. Our own sin is hard enough to deal with, but it’s even harder when someone we know is in sin. What often makes the difference in someone’s repentance and restoration is how we respond and engage them when they are caught in sin. Do we cast them off? Gossip about it? Ignore it? Scripture calls us to bring back the one who has wandered from truth (James 5:19-20), but that can be messy, scary, and uncomfortable.

  • How do you usually respond when you hear of someone you know caught in an area of sin?

READ THE WORD: JOSHUA 22:10-20 (ESV)

10 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. 11 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.” 12 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.

13 Then the people of Israel sent to the people of Reuben and the people of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, 14 and with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel, every one of them the head of a family among the clans of Israel. 15 And they came to the people of Reuben, the people of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them, 16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this breach of faith that you have committed against the God of Israel in turning away this day from following the Lord by building yourselves an altar this day in rebellion against the Lord? 17 Have we not had enough of the sin at Peor from which even yet we have not cleansed ourselves, and for which there came a plague upon the congregation of the Lord, 18 that you too must turn away this day from following the Lord? And if you too rebel against the Lord today then tomorrow he will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. 19 But now, if the land of your possession is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take for yourselves a possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord or make us as rebels by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 Did not Achan the son of Zerah break faith in the matter of the devoted things, and wrath fell upon all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone for his iniquity.’”

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. Who are the key characters in this story?
  2. What did the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh do wrong? How did the people of Israel deal with it?
  3. What reason(s) for turning from their sin did those confronting the offenders offer (vss. 16-18)?
  4. What steps are you willing to take to find out the truth and then lovingly confront sin?
  5. Is there a time you can point to when you did this well, or when someone confronted you? How did that look and what was the outcome?

RESPOND TO GOD

God had previously told the Israelites not to build altars unless he instructed them to do so (Deut. 12). The other Israelite tribes were gun-shy because of how God had dealt with their sin in the past (Num. 25), so this sin of the tribes in Canaan was especially unnerving. In spite of this, they didn’t attack the offenders. Instead, they sent a delegation to confront the sin and appeal to them on the basis of how their sin would affect not only them, but also the entire nation. 

In our own lives, we will have times when we can choose to attack someone or speak truth in love and seek to aid in their restoration.

  • Take a moment and ask God to show you areas in your life that aren’t meeting his standard.
  • Ask for his grace as you encounter people who are missing the mark.