Numbers 32:1-42
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,a 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 whollyb 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,c and Jogbehah,
36 And Bethnimrah,d 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 gavee 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.
Now as we get into chapter thirty-two, we find that Reuben, that is the tribe of Reuben, and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh came to Moses and they said, "Hey, we are quite content to stay in this territory we have conquered over here." Now, they had conquered the area that is present day Jordan.
So if you have any mind at all of the Mid East, the area that is presently Jordan is the area that was captured by the children of Israel before they ever went into the Promised Land. The area that was inhabited by Moab, the Midianites and the who? No, not the Canaanites this is another-the Ammonites, Gibeonites. The area that begins at about the southern end of the Sea of Galilee and going eastward on down to about midway through the Dead Sea eastward again. Now in the southern most part, the tribe of Reuben settled. In the middle area was the tribe of Gad and then up in the northern area the river Jabbok, that area eastward is where half the tribe of Manasseh took and desired as their inheritance.
It was great cattle-grazing country. They came to Moses and they said, "Look, we're very content to stay here. Give us permission". Of course they had all of these herds and flocks, they've taken of the spoil and they said, "We'd like to build houses and fences and all and we'd like to stay right here. We're perfectly content to remain on this side of Jordan and we'd like to have this for our inheritance. And that'll just give more land to the rest of the tribes on the other side." Moses couldn't believe it, he said, "What are you trying to do? This is the second time we've come to the border of the Promised Land. And forty years ago when we came to the border and the people, because of the spies, got fearful and wouldn't go in, it cost us this forty years and the death of all of those that came out of Egypt that are over twenty years old. What in the world is wrong with you characters? I can't believe you."
And so they rethought the thing and they said, "Well, I'll tell you what. We will arm our men for war and they will go over and they will fight. Let us build cities and all so our wives and children will be safe here. And we will send our men over to fight the battles and we'll stay with you until the land has been conquered. And then we'll come back and take our inheritance over here." And so the thing pleased Moses and he said, "All right. That's okay for you to go ahead and come over and help us take the territory and after it is taken then you can come back".
But Moses declared unto them,
But if you do not do this, behold, you have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23)
Now, the request is an interesting request when you look at it from a spiritual standpoint. These people are content to take their inheritance outside of the land on the other side of Jordan. As we're looking at the whole movement of the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, looking at it as typical history, which the Bible declares that it is, it all happened to them as examples for us. And Egypt typifies the old life of bondage in the world, the life in sin. Coming out of Egypt through the Red Sea typifies being born again and being baptized and entering in now to a new relationship with God; delivered from the bondage of sin, bondage of Egypt.
Now they are coming towards the Promised Land and their failure at Kadesh Barnea to enter into the land and the subsequent forty years wandering in the wilderness is typical of those Christians who have indeed come out of the life of bondage and sin but have never entered into the fullness of the life in Christ. They are in an in-between state, not yet entered into the fullness that they can know in Jesus Christ the full promises, the full life and walk of the Spirit. But still problems with their flesh, battles with their flesh, wandering in the wilderness, and so many people have a Christian experience that is sort of a wilderness experience, a barren experience.
Now the River Jordan typifies the death of the old life, the old man, the death of the life of the flesh. And coming into the Promised Land is typical of coming into the new life and the walk in the Spirit. Yes, we still have battles to fight but we have a Captain that is gone before us who is leading us and who strengthens us. And God has promised that every place we put our foot "That," He said, "I have given unto you for a possession". So the land is here in front of us, all we have to do is go in and claim it and possess it. The life of victory in Christ, the life of joy and blessing, a life of the spiritual relationship with God, it's yours for the claiming, the victory over the old life, the flesh, yours for the claiming.
Now, there were those who were content to remain on the other side of Jordan, Reuben and Gad, part of Manasseh. And they said, "We'll dwell on this side. We're content to remain here". It is significant to note that they were the first tribes to go into captivity because they had not the protection really of the Jordan River, which was a natural barrier against the enemy. The first to go into captivity. So often many people failing to enter into that which God has promised to us, that life of abundance in the Spirit. Their failure to enter in, content to just live on the other side of the cross, the death of the old nature, the old life, not willing to reckon the old man dead are often the first to go into captivity. So, an interesting spiritual parallel with the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Manasseh.
Now the statement of Moses-"all right see that you do it. I'm not gonna be here to see that you do it. I'm-the Lord's told me I'm not gonna go into the land. So you see that you do this. And if you fail you have sinned against the Lord and you can be sure your sin will find you out." My, what a powerful truth that is. You can be sure your sin will find you out.
Jesus said, "That which is done in secret shall be shouted from the housetop". The Bible says, "Everything is open and naked before Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13). There is really no secret sin; that's a delusion. You can be sure your sin will find you out. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap", come harvest time and it's very obvious the kind of seeds that you've been sowing. You can be sure your sins will find you out. Thank God for Jesus Christ having removed our sins and transgressions as far as the east is from the west. And so they made the covenant with Moses that they would pass over and help them to take the land.
"