For forty years, Israel had looked forward to taking possession of the land of Canaan, but because Edom refused to allow them to cross their land, they had been forced to go East around the Edomite and Moabite land, and approach from the east side rather than the south. When they did, The Amorites attacked them and were defeated, with Israel taking a vast area east of the Jordan River. It was an area that was more suitable for raising livestock than for farming.
Some of the people saw the value of the land and asked Moses
to let them have their part there rather than in the Land of Canaan, in Numbers
32:1-5. “Now 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; The children of Gad and
the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest,
and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, Ataroth, and Dibon, and
Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon, Even
the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land
for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: Wherefore, said they, if we have
found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a
possession, and bring us not over Jordan.”
Forty years before, ten of the twelve spies had chickened
out at the thought of fighting the Canaanites and caused so much fear the
people refused to go into the land as God directed. Moses was concerned that this group was going
to do the same thing and stop them again, as he explains in Numbers
32:6-15. “And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben,
Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here? And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the
children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given
them?
Thus did your fathers,
when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea to see the land. For 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. And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same
time, and he sware, saying, Surely none
of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall
see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because
they have not wholly followed me: Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite,
and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD. And the LORD'S anger was kindled against
Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the
generation, that had done evil in the sight of the LORD, was consumed. And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers'
stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the LORD
toward Israel. For if ye turn away from
after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy
all this people.”
The people had no such intention. Instead, they requested permission for their
families to move into the cities they had conquered and to build corrals for
their livestock while the men went across Jordan to help the others conquer
Canaan, in Numbers 32:16-19. “And they came near unto him, and said, We
will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: But
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. We will not return unto our houses, until the
children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on yonder
side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side
Jordan eastward.”
Moses realized that they had already conquered this land,
and that if left unoccupied, the other countries would move in and take it
over. He agreed to let them have the
land if they would go and help the rest of the people get theirs, in Numbers
32:20-24. “And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go
armed before the LORD to war, And will go all of you armed over Jordan before
the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, And the land be
subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless
before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession
before the LORD. But if ye will not do
so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you
out. Build you cities for your little
ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your
mouth.”
The people committed to helping the others, so Moses gave
orders that they were to receive that land, in Numbers 32:25-33. “And
the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy
servants will do as my lord commandeth. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and
all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead: But thy servants will
pass over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, as my lord
saith.
So 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: And 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 ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: But if
they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you
in the land of Canaan.
And the children of
Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy
servants, so will we do. We 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. And 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.”
With that settled, the group that was planning conquered
other areas and built homes and facilities for caring for their livestock while
they were away. When God described what
their boundaries were to be in Numbers 34, he included this region as
well. While many had complained about
having to go the long way around to the east, it resulted in them getting
almost half again more land than they would have otherwise had. Frequently what we see as a problem turns out
to be a blessing from the Lord. Sometimes,
when people want to do things differently than we had planned, God is leading
them to resolve a problem w had not considered in our planning. If the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had
not been given that land the effort to conquer it would have been wasted as the
other countries moved in and took it over.
As our faith grows, we will become less concerned about changes to our
plans.
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