CHAPTER 32

(1452 B.C.)

REUBEN AND GAD

¹Now the Children of Reuben and the Children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle;

²The Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben came and spoke unto Moses, and to Eleazar the Priest, and unto the Princes of the congregation, saying,

³Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,

⁴Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle:

⁵Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in your sight, let this land be given unto your servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. (Gods Plan for Israel was, first, to conquer Canaan, and second, the vast region between the Jordan and the Euphrates. Reuben and his allies elected to reverse this; the result was present suffering and future loss. Self-will always, and without exception, leads to loss.)

⁶And Moses said unto the Children of Gad and to the Children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall you sit here?

⁷And wherefore discourage you the heart of the Children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? (There is always a tendency in the heart to find a resting place in the blessings on the Wilderness side of Jordan rather than to desire eagerly the richer inheritance beyond Jordan. If the Believer would enjoy the highest possible life, there must be a passing out of the Wilderness of a stunted Christian life into the Canaan of a life of joy and of power in the Holy Spirit. In other words, the Believer must cease all self-will, thereby placing our Faith exclusively in Christ and His Cross, which then gives the Holy Spirit latitude to work within our lives, and thereby to bring about the desired results, which He Alone can do [Rom. 8:1-2, 11].)

⁸Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land.

⁹For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the Children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them.

¹⁰And the LORDs anger was kindled the same time, and He swore, saying,

¹¹Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me:

¹²Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD (the Lord never forgets unbelief on the part of His People, and neither does He ever forget Faith).

¹³And the LORDs anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed (unbelief can never inherit the land [Heb. 3:11; 4:6]).

¹⁴And, behold, you are risen up in your fathers stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD toward Israel (in other words, Moses told Israel that they were little better than their fathers, if at all).

¹⁵For if you turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you shall destroy all this people (to leave the Perfect Will of God, even to the slightest degree, always has its negative results).

COMPROMISE

¹⁶And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:

¹⁷But we ourselves will go ready armed before the Children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land.

¹⁸We will not return unto our houses, until the Children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. (This meant that they were to immediately bid farewell to their wives and children and march away to a seven-year war, in which many of them would probably lose their lives. If we plan for ourselves, there is always trouble; if the Lord plans for us, everything falls into place, a good place.)

¹⁹For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side Jordan eastward (in a spiritual sense, the Promised Land side of Jordan symbolizes a death to self).

²⁰And Moses said unto them, If you will do this thing, if you will go armed before the LORD to war (it doesnt seem as though Moses sought the Lord about this decision, which, if correct, is always a mistake),

²¹And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven out His enemies from before Him,

²²And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD.

²³But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out (in essence, they had made a vow).

²⁴Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth.

²⁵And the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben spoke unto Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands.

²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:

²⁷But your servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord says.

²⁸So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the Priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the Tribes of the Children of Israel:

²⁹And Moses said unto them, If the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the LORD, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:

³⁰But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.

³¹And the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD has said unto your servants, so will we do.

³²We will pass over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be ours.

³³And Moses gave unto them, even to the Children of Gad, and to the Children of Reuben, and unto half the Tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about.

³⁴And the Children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

³⁵And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah,

³⁶And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.

³⁷And the Children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim,

³⁸And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they built.

MANASSEH

³⁹And the Children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorite which was in it.

⁴⁰And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein.

⁴¹And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair.

⁴²And Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name.