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Numbers Chapter 32

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¹ 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;

² 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,

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

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

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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?

⁷ And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD hath given them?

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

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ And the LORD'S anger was kindled the same time, and he sware, saying,

¹¹ 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:

¹² Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the LORD.

¹³ 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.

¹⁴ 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.

¹⁵ For if ye turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and ye shall destroy all this people.

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

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance.

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war,

²¹ And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him,

²² 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.

²³ But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.

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

²⁵ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth.

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

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

²⁸ 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:

²⁹ 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:

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

³¹ And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As the LORD hath said unto thy servants, so will we do.

³² 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.

³³ 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.

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

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

³⁶ And Bethnimrah, and Bethharan, fenced cities: and folds for sheep.

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

³⁸ And Nebo, and Baalmeon, (their names being changed,) and Shibmah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded.

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

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

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

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

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View All Numbers Chapter 32 Comments...

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 32 comment about verse 23 on 8/20/2023, 5:29pm...

Continued.

So, if my understanding is correct, Gad and Reuben were not asking to inhabit land outside of what was promised to Abraham. If I am wrong in my understanding and the great river is the Jordan, then these tribes did not want to possess the land promised, but found the land adjacent to Canaan favorable for cattle. If this is the case, then it may seem like they made a decision similar to Lot, who chose land east of the Jordan river also which eventually brought much vexation to him due to the sinfulness of the inhabitants who worshipped idols and were sexually immoral. Will Gad and Reuben run into a similar vexation as Lot?

And it doesn't say when the half-tribe of Manasseh joined up with Gad and Reuben, but perhaps this was a given if all three were cattle ranchers.

I, for one, do not want to settle for less than what God has promised to those who of us who live by faith like Abraham. I don't want to stop short of receiving the fullness of deliverance and redemption from the kingdom of evil, the forgiveness of ALL my sins, and salvation from the wrath of God for my sin. I want to receive the "place" Jesus promised He was going to the Father to prepare us who follow Him. I want to receive the full inheritance as an adopted child of God. Therefore, I do not want to fall short in any way.

We shall see if these tribes actually made a decision that was based on the lead of God or by their own wisdom. Perhaps God intended this to be so that the eastern flank adjacent to Canaan was protected as a buffer from the strong nations in this eastern section or even farther eastward beyond the Euphrates. Maybe these tribes that raised cattle did need this expanse of land to have enough grazing land that was naturally replenished with forage for their cattle. Perhaps cattle need far more range for grazing than sheep or goats. Cattle on the west side of the Jordan would leave too little land for the remaining tribes to raise their crops and herds.

GiGi's Numbers Chapter 32 comment about verse 23 on 8/20/2023, 5:12pm...

In this chapter we find that the tribes of Reuben and Gad saw that land around where the Israelites were camped east of the Jordan River was excellent for raising cattle. They approached Moses to ask if it was possible for them to take possession of this newly conquered land as their inheritance. Moses was concerned about the effect of this decision on the whole of Israel as it seems that Gad and Reuben were willing to settle for less than the land in Canaan. Moses referred back to the time of the spies sent to assess the land of Canaan and how this bad report affected the faith of the people, causing them to disbelieve that the land promised would be best for them. This disbelief led to the nation wandering in the wilderness for forty years instead of entering the land at the time of the spying. The generation who came out of Egypt died in the wilderness being disinherited by God for their disbelief. The next generation is now on the brink of entering the promised land once again. Moses is concerned that the actions of Gad and Reuben will discourage the other tribes from entering and conquering the peoples in order to possess the land promised to Abraham.

Moses also is concerned that the members of the tribes of Gad and Reuben will not accompany the other tribes into Canaan and participate in warring against the inhabitants of Canaan to take the land for their brethren. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh promise to go into the land with the other tribes as warriors, but their wives, children and cattle will be secured in the land east of the Jordan in fenced cities that will keep their families safe. Moses agreed to this plan but warned these tribes how breaking their promise to fight with their brethren would be sinful and would bring judgment from God upon them.

I'm not sure, but I remember that Abraham was promised the land he saw in all directions including east to the great river, which was the Euphrates. I may be wrong on this.

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