1. Answering a matter

a. Answering = to return

b. A matter = speech; a word; an account; a statement; a case; an event; etc.

c. Answering a matter means to reply to a story or a situation… giving a response, an answer.

2. Before he heareth it…

a. Hear = to hear with attention or interest; listen to; to hear and thus understand.

b. Thus, Solomon is speaking about answering a matter before we have heard it. (Various ways to fail here.)
→ We have heard about the subject, but have not HEARD the case (Tom struck Fred with a bat!)
→ Or we do not UNDERSTAND (Global warming).
→ Or we haven’t heard the OTHER SIDE (Alice and Jane are fighting—and you have heard Jane’s side of the story).
→ Giving a definitive answer before you have heard the case… or heard all of the case… or understood the case… is foolish.

3. Everybody wants to be FIRST in giving their opinion.

a. When a few details are revealed, it is human nature to want to be first to give our opinion… our view… our judgment.

b. Consider the TV game shows… they hear part of a question and are quick to push the button. They ASSUME that they knew what the rest of the question would be… but often their assumption was wrong. They give the right answer but to the wrong question… and they lose.

c. This is the phenomenon Solomon observed and wrote about in vs.13.

d. It is human nature to jump the gun, speak before you have all the facts, and to make assumptions based on a few pieces of information, and thus make up our minds on the matter… before we hear the whole question… or the whole story… or all the details.

e. We hear ONE side of the story… and assume we know enough to judge. We don’t “need” to know any more.

f. This is human nature: we are quick to draw conclusions; we tend to make snap judgments; quick to take sides; quick to condemn…

4. There is a perfect illustration of this aspect of human nature to be found in the book of Joshua.

a. Josh. 22:4-6 – Reubenites, Gadites, and ½ the tribe of Manasseh were being sent back to their homes after the conquest of the land.
• Their portion of the land fell on the other side of the Jordan River…
• Jerusalem, the Temple, and the sacrificial system were on one side of the Jordan. They were on the other side, cut off from the rest of the tribes.
• As they left, they were warned to take diligent heed to the law.

b. Josh. 22:10 – When they arrived at home, they built a great altar.

c. Josh. 22:11 – Naturally, word of the construction of this altar soon found its way to the rest of the tribes of Israel.

d. Josh. 22:12 – Thus, the children of Israel gathered together, ready to fight against Rueben, Gad, & ½ the tribe of Manasseh.
• And didn’t they have every right to be upset?
• The Jews were NOT to build altars or places of sacrifice outside of Jerusalem! The Temple of God was God’s place for sacrifices!
• Building a rival altar was what Jeroboam did… the son of Nebat who made Israel to sin!
• God was outraged for centuries over the sin of Jeroboam—in building an altar… a rival system of worship… built in opposition to the altar in Jerusalem!
• Building an altar for sacrifice was completely contrary to the Law of Moses.
• It’s not hard to see why the tribes of Israel were so upset at the news that an altar was being built on the other side of Jordan.
• Righteous indignation would cause people to become angry and ready to fight against their brethren if they saw a rival altar being built.
viii. God is pleased when righteous indignation is demonstrated by His people…

e. Josh. 22:15-20 – The children of Israel pleaded with them NOT to build the altar.
• Vs.15-16 – What trespass is this against the God of Israel?
• Vs.17 – They compare their altar to the sin of Peor.
• Vs.18 – They ask why they have turned away from the Lord… and rebelling against the Lord. They also warn that God’s wrath will be leveled against the whole nation for their rebellion.
• Vs.19 – Note also that they are sensible and will to accommodate them.

1. If they needed more land or better land, that could be arranged. The other tribes would give up part of their land.

2. They offer them a way around their rebellion.

3. Vs. 20 – Then they warn about the sin of Achan whose actions brought wrath upon all the congregation.

f. Josh. 22:21-29 – The response of the 2 ½ tribes
• Vs.2 2 – God knows that their actions were not done out of rebellion… even though the Jews did not know.
• Vs. 24-25 – Their REAL reason for building the altar was for their children…
• They were afraid that since they were geographically cut off from Jerusalem, that their children might not feel CONNECTED to the worship in Jerusalem.
• Vs. 25 – They were afraid that in the future, the other Jews might think of them as having no part in Jerusalem’s system of worship.
• They were NOT trying to rebel against the Lord. They were trying to PREVENT their children from ceasing to fear God.
• That which they were being accused of was the very thing they were trying to PREVENT!
• Vs. 27-28 – They wanted this altar to be a WITNESS for generations to come… that they too were worshippers of Jehovah God… just like their brethren on the other side of the river.
• Vs. 10 – This altar was not built to be a functioning altar—it was only an altar to “SEE”… to look at… as a witness…
ix. Vs. 29 – they were horrified at the thought of building an altar in rebelling against God… a rival system of worship! That was repulsive to these God fearing men who loved the Lord.

g. Josh. 22:30 – When the Jews heard this, they were satisfied.
• The war was averted. Peace reigned again.
• What was the difference?
• One piece of information that they did not possess before!
• They had gathered together for WAR because they heard only one side of the story…
• Thankfully they did not break out into war.
• They decided to TALK first.
• And in talking they discovered a missing piece of information that changed the whole dynamic of the situation.
• It would have been a FOLLY and a SHAME to them had they fought without talking.

5. The children of Israel initially jumped to conclusions…

a. They heard ONE simple fact—and were ready to start a war over it. (And came very close!)

b. They wrongly assumed:
• That the altar was being built to offer sacrifices.
• That it was built in defiance against God.
• That the people building it were rebels.
• That they were building a rival system of worship.
• That their sin was like that of Peor or Achan.
• That judgment from heaven would fall upon them all.

c. And the odd part of all this is that the conclusions they drew were so very sensible… logical… Why else would they build an altar!?! It’s hard to imagine any other purpose for building an altar.

d. Their conclusions seemed reasonable, but they were dead wrong.