Bird's-eye view
In this chapter, we come to a critical juncture for the people of Israel. After forty years in the wilderness, they are poised on the banks of the Jordan, ready to take possession of the land promised to Abraham hundreds of years before. But just as they are about to embark on this final, unified push, two and a half tribes come to Moses with a business proposal. Their request is pragmatic, logical, and born of blessing. It is also spiritually perilous. This is a story about the subtle temptation of settling for the good when God has promised the best. It is about the danger of allowing our earthly possessions to define our spiritual inheritance, and the deep-seated impulse to find a comfortable spot on this side of the Jordan, short of the real fight and the full reward.
Outline
- 1. A Pragmatic Proposal (Num 32:1-5)
- a. The Assessment of Abundance (Num 32:1)
- b. The Appeal to Authority (Num 32:2)
- c. The Logical Case (Num 32:3-4)
- d. The Critical Request (Num 32:5)
Context In Numbers
This episode occurs after Israel has completed its forty years of wandering and has just achieved significant military victories over Sihon king of the Amorites and Og king of Bashan. These victories gave them control of the Transjordan, the lands east of the Jordan River. The old generation of rebellion has died off, and a new generation stands ready to inherit the promise. The census has been taken, the land is in sight, and the momentum is entirely forward, toward Canaan. It is at this moment of corporate unity and forward progress that this request for a separate inheritance arises, threatening to fracture the nation before the central task has even begun.
Key Issues
- Pragmatism vs. Faithfulness
- The Dangers of Material Blessing
- Corporate Solidarity in Conquest
- Partial Obedience
- Defining the Boundaries of Inheritance
Verse by Verse Commentary
1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. And they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock,
The story begins not with a problem of scarcity, but with a problem of abundance. Reuben and Gad were blessed. God had prospered them in the wilderness, and now they had an "exceedingly large" portfolio of livestock. Blessings are a test, and material wealth brings with it a unique set of temptations. The first is that it causes you to start thinking like a manager instead of a warrior. Your primary concern shifts from taking new ground to consolidating and protecting what you already have. Their great wealth led them to evaluate the world through a new lens. They "saw" the land of Gilead, and their first thought was not about the unified conquest of Canaan, but about its suitability for their cattle. Their possessions were beginning to dictate their priorities. They were looking for a good ranch, not a beachhead for the kingdom.
2 so the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,
To their credit, they did not simply stake a claim and homestead. They followed the proper channels. They approached the constituted authorities: Moses, the prophet and civil magistrate; Eleazar, the high priest; and the leaders of the congregation. This is important because it shows us that the most dangerous temptations are often not wild-eyed rebellion, but rather well-mannered, reasonable, and procedurally correct proposals that are nevertheless out of step with God's revealed will. They are making their appeal look respectable. Sin is rarely so foolish as to present itself as snarling and ugly; it far prefers to come with a PowerPoint presentation and a cost-benefit analysis.
3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land, which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.”
Here is their argument, and on the surface, it is a solid one. They lay it out as a simple syllogism. Premise one: God has conquered this land for us. They rightly attribute the victory to Yahweh. They even frame it as a corporate victory, something God did "before the congregation of Israel." They are using theological language to buttress their request. Premise two: This conquered land is good for livestock. This is an indisputable fact. Premise three: We have the livestock to put on it. Another indisputable fact. The conclusion seems obvious, does it not? Let us match our assets to this available resource. But their logic is entirely horizontal. It is the logic of the spreadsheet, the logic of the earthly businessman. What is missing is the vertical dimension, the key question: What was God's stated purpose for the entire nation? Their reasoning was tribal and economic, not covenantal.
5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”
And here we have the heart of the matter. After the polite preamble, "If we have found favor," they state their true desire. First, they want this land as their "possession." They want to settle down. Second, and this is the kicker, they ask, "do not take us across the Jordan." The Jordan River was not just a geographical boundary; it was a spiritual line of demarcation. It separated the wilderness from the inheritance, the waiting from the possessing, the promise from the fulfillment. To cross the Jordan was to commit fully to the fight, to the shared struggle and shared victory of all twelve tribes. These men were asking for an exemption. They wanted the fruit of a recent victory without committing to the much larger war ahead. They were content with a blessing on the borderlands, willing to forgo the glories and trials of the heartland. This is the temptation to settle for a comfortable Christianity, one that enjoys some of God's benefits without engaging in the central mission He has given to His people as a whole.
Application
The request of Reuben and Gad is a perennial temptation for the people of God. We are blessed by God with resources, talents, or opportunities, and we immediately begin to think about how we can leverage them for our own comfort and security. We see a "land of Gilead" that is perfectly suited to our "livestock," and we say, "This will do nicely. I will settle here."
This passage forces us to ask what our "Jordan" is. What is the line of commitment God is calling our entire church, our entire community, to cross together? The mission of God requires corporate solidarity. The Great Commission was not given to individuals to be pursued in isolation, but to the Church as a body. There is a great battle for the true inheritance, for the heart of the land, and it is a grave error to settle in the suburbs of the kingdom while our brothers are fighting downtown.
We must not allow our blessings to redefine our calling. Our possessions are tools for the conquest, not an excuse to retire from it. The logic of faith does not ask, "What is best for my livestock?" but rather, "Where is the army of God marching, and where is my place in the line?" We are all called to cross the Jordan.