Numbers 32
The tribes of Reuben and Gad brought a surprising
request to Moses. They wanted to settle to the east of the Jordan
River in the area that God had recently given to Israel, an area that
was not in the promised land itself.
Moses was alarmed. Was this the story of Israel's
reluctance to enter the land all over again? Great trouble had come
to God's people on account of that rebellion. Were Reuben and Gad
going to bring more trouble upon Israel?
No, these tribes were committed to fight alongside their
brothers in the conquest. They were not rejecting the Lord's mission.
Only their families would remain on the east side of the Jordan.
Moses consented to this new plan. The people of Reuben
and Gad, and also the people of Manasseh with them would settle in
the eastern land known as Gilead. It was a good land for livestock,
and they had much livestock. Their families would remain there. But
the fighting men among them would go forth into battle across the
Jordan river. They would be a part of the conquest together with all
those who were numbered among the armies of Israel.
Moses would not have agreed to this unless He believed
that it was in accord with the Lord's will. God had moved the hearts
of the people of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh to put forward their
intentions that might have seemed out of accord with His commands.
Yet this new plan became agreeable to the mediator of the covenant,
Moses.
God had used Moses to win most of this land that would
now be the possession of these tribes. Moses would not be able to go
into the promised land, but he had walked in this land of Gilead, and
now the promised land seemed to grow larger through the impulse and
proposal of some of the Lord's people.
God knows the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. The
men of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh were not attempting to abandon their
duty to be part of the fighting force of the Lord's conquest of
Canaan. They were not abandoning the purposes of the Lord, but were
being used by Him to further reveal His purposes.
Jesus has won for the people of God a land far beyond
the borders of Israel. In the centuries following His decisive
victory through the cross and the empty tomb, the church has moved
forward with the gospel of Christ's love and justice to the ends of
the earth.
As the message of reconciliation has come to new people
groups, there have been countless times when the church was led to
make decisions that might first have seemed to be outside of what was
known to be the will of God up to that point. But God is with us, and
He knows the heart. Is our new desire an expression of true faith or
is it just ungodly fear? Are we pursuing the ways of the pride of man
or the glory of the Lord? God surely knows. Meanwhile He has not left
us without His wisdom. We have the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and
the Lord working through His church. On countless occasions the Lord
has provided His good direction through something that might seem
very unexpected. Then the people of God testify, “It seemed good to
us and to the Holy Spirit,” and the Lord blesses His church with
His providential “Amen.”
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