I am so sorry that you are suffering from the injustice of your sibling who is keeping the entire inheritance left by your parents.  Of course, if your parents had left a will, there would be no problem.  They did not, so now one is taking advantage of the others.  I am encouraged that you want to handle this matter in a way that does not go against God’s Word.  So…what does God’s Word say about such a situation?

Let’s read Luke 12:13-15, “And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.”  The Lord’s response to this man showed that He had not come to settle such small affairs in the lives of people. He had come to “save sinners.” (1 Timothy 1:15).  However, the Lord made a very important point.  It was not up to Him to settle this matter.  There were laws in place to handle this.  Besides, the Lord held no political or Jewish authority to make one man give the fair share of the inheritance to his brother. 

Under the Old Testament law, there was instruction about what to do in this type of situation.  We read in Deuteronomy 17:8-10, “If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the LORD shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee.”  In reality, this man should have gone to the priest and asked him to judge between him and his brother. 

What should we do today in such a situation?  In His Word, the Lord forbids us from taking a fellow believer to court to sue him for what is right.  Let’s read 1 Corinthians 6:1-3, “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?”

It is such a dishonor when Christians cannot settle matters between themselves and look to the unsaved world to decide.  As we read above, one day we shall judge angels, surely we can judge matters between ourselves.  Are we left no recourse?  Is there nothing we can do if we feel we are being cheated and cannot settle the matter ourselves? 

Let’s keep reading.  1 Corinthians 6:4 says, “If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.”

In the Old Testament, the people were to go before the priests to have their matters settled.  Today, in the Church Age, we are told to “set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.”  In other words, we go to a fellow believer, present our case before him, and agree to abide by his decision.  Even the LEAST ESTEEMED are qualified to settle a case like yours.  It does not take a law degree, a higher education, or even experience in handling such cases.  It takes honesty and common sense!  A fellow believer who does not stand out for his accomplishments or oratory skills is quite capable of helping you and your sibling come to a fair and honest decision. 

Paul goes on to say in verses 5-7, “I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?”  It is better to accept this wrong or allow ourselves to be cheated rather than take this matter to court and dishonor the Lord. 

I encourage you to gather with your siblings and express your concerns.  If you cannot reach a mutually acceptable agreement, then try to find another Christian who can be unbiased, fair, and use common sense and ask him if he would take on the unenviable task of judging between you all.  If your sibling refuses to listen and insists on having his way, you will honor the Lord by just stepping aside and praying for him to see things as he should…then wait on the Lord to work in his heart. (CC)  (513.2)