NUMBERS – From SINAI To The PROMISED LAND: Chapters 32

Contributing commentaries by pastors Sonny Islas, Albert Lopez, and James Fire

NUMBERS 32: “FIGHT FOR YOUR BROTHER’S BLESSING” by Sonny Islas, check out the complete audio teaching here!

INTRODUCTION: At this point in the story, Israel is at the borders of Canaan (what will become Israel/The Promised Land). They are stationed on the East side of the Jordan River.

Numbers 32 focuses on three tribes that want to stay and live where they are stationed, in the land of Gilead (on the East side of the Jordan River) because they have lots of animals and Gilead is perfect for raising livestock (for grazing).

The three Tribes are Ruben (1st), Gad (7th) and half of Manasseh (11th/Joseph). These three Tribes are the first to settle in and possess their land or portion BUT as we’ll soon read, no one was to settle in and enjoy their God given property without fighting on behalf of all Twelve Tribes. Once we get to the Book of Joshua, we’ll read about every other tribe getting their lot and land from God - except for the Levites, because their portion is the LORD. The Levites lived among the other tribes.

It’s important for us as Christians to know the history of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel because in one sense their story is our story. Our Savior came from them, making their Savior our Savior. It’s good for us to know and understand how God dealt with Israel just as it’s good for us to understand how God deals with the New Testament Church.

We can’t divorce what God is doing today from what God has done yesterday. From what God did in the Old Testament from what God did in the New Testament – it’s all one big powerful storyline.

NUMBERS 32:1-5
1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, 4 "the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." 5 Therefore 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 over the Jordan."

Insights and practical principles are always to be looked for and found in Scripture.

The three tribes (Ruben, Gad, and Half of Manasseh; NUM 32:39-42) with the most livestock realized that the land they were now in would suit them best, because, again, the land was perfect for livestock. So they asked Moses for the land that they NEEDED and at the end of this chapter we’ll find that God granted their request. What’s my point? In the same way, the LORD knows exactly what we NEED and what’s best for us and if we ask Him, He may grant our request.

You may have a growing family, so a raise at work or a better paying job would help – ask God for it. We have our sons in one school but think another school would suit them best so we’re praying for an open door.

I can guarantee you that God knew that the land of Gilead would serve the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh best and was more than ready and willing to give it to them when they asked for it – but - at the right time. It’s the same for us.

The part that bothered Moses greatly was when they concluded with “Do not take us over the Jordan (River).” NUM 32:5b

These words made Moses suspicious. First, because Gilead is not necessarily Canaan and Canaan was the land to be conquered and inhabited - as the LORD promised. And secondly, because of this, Moses thought that these three tribes wanted to drop out of the battle before Canaan was fully conquered and the rest of the tribes would enjoy their piece of the Canaanite pie.

So Moses replies with:

NUMBERS 32:6-15
6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? 7 "Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8 "Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9 "For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10 "So the LORD'S anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, 11 'Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, 12 'except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.' 13 "So the LORD'S anger was aroused 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 gone. 14 "And look! You have risen in your father's place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. 15 "For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people."

Again, Moses smelled something very fishy in their request - to stay back from crossing the Jordan. And I have a hunch that Moses was most likely reading them right. Because Moses did say in verse 14 “And look! You have risen in your fathers place, a brood of sinful men…” Yet Moses’ strong warning and rebuke caused a change of heart in the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh.

He basically told them “Look! If you’re planning on doing what the 8 spies did back in NUMBERS 13, in discouraging the rest to enter Canaan, God will keep you back from Canaan again! Moses says in verse 15 “For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you (they will be held responsible) will destroy all these people.”

And listen, Moses wasn’t bluffing, and neither was God.

Here we see that the LORD hates when His people – in our case, professing Christians stop from following Him, when they backslide, when they turn back or apostatize, because if we turn away from following Him, (like Moses thought these three tribes were planning on doing), we can cause our brothers and sisters to become deeply discouraged and even cause them to turn back to their old ways, to the world for a time.

Remember Jesus’ warning regarding this matter of making other believers stumble or sin?

MARK 9:42
“But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” That’s a serious threat!

HEBREWS 10:38-39
“Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who drawback to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”

NUMBERS 32:16-18
16 Then they came near to him and said: "We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 "but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 "We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.

This where I want to campout for a moment:

Let’s connect verse 6b with verse 18, where Moses asked the three tribes “shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?”

This question teaches us that spiritual combat is a must in this Christian life. We cannot stand idly or indifferent when we ought to be fighting for the good of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We cannot just sit back and relax, when we should be praying for each other, counseling each other, encouraging each other in this good fight of faith.

Older and more solid Christians tend to take it easy because they’ve been there done that, but more should be expected from those who have been in Christ the longest.

God is displeased with those who don’t care about the spiritual advancement of others.

GET INVOLVED. GET IN THE BATTLE. DON’T’ STAY ON THE BENCH OR THE SIDELINES – GET IN THE GAME. Find someone to fight for. Someone to serve. Someone to help.

Let’s read verse 18 again, “We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.”

We are called to fight for our brother’s and sister’s blessing.

By fighting for others to advance in Christlikeness, we automatically advance in Christlikeness. Ruben and Gad got the land AFTER fighting for their brother’s land. To fight for the good of a brother or sister in Christ, is to fight for yourself because we are one family, one body, one team, one army. So, to do you good is to do me good!

PHILIPPIANS 2:4
“Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”

That’s what the tribes of Reuben, gad and Manasseh decided to do after all.

Listen to what Paul says:

GALATIANS 4:19
“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you,”

The three tribes said, “We will not return to our homes UNTIL everyone of the children of Israel has received his inheritance.” Paul says, ``I work hard UNTIL you are more like Christ!”

This everyone should be aiming at and fighting for – to see our brothers and sisters in Christ grow in the LORD. To get ahead in this fight of faith.

NUMBERS 32:19-42
19 "For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan." 20 Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, 21 "and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, 22 "and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 "But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 "Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep and do what has proceeded out of your mouth." 25 And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: "Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 "Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 "but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says." 28 So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them: "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

30 "But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." 31 Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: "As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do. 32 "We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan." 33 So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to 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 its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. 34 And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, 35 Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, 36 Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim, 38 Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. 41 Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns and called them Havoth Jair. 42 Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

For more commentary on this chapter, particularly from vs. 20 and forward to the end, check out the following from David Guzik! Pastor David picks up here in vs. 20-24 and onward:

2. (20-24) Moses receives their offer – providing they fulfill it.

Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

a. If you do this thing: If they do as they said, then they would be blameless before the LORD and before Israel. But if they did not, they would be guilty.

i. Before the LORD: “The phrase lipne YHWH (‘before Yahweh’) occurs four times in verses 20-22 and is highlighted.” (Cole)

b. But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD: If they failed to do as they said, they would sin. The sin specifically spoken of here is the sin of doing nothing. Failing to serve their brethren, to fight on their behalf, to join in their struggle, would be a sin, the sin of doing nothing. This was something Moses wanted them to take note of.

i. If the tribes of Reuben and Gad did nothing – if they stayed at home while their brothers battled to take possession of the Promised Land – then their sin of doing nothing would surely find them out.

ii. “If you take the text as it stands, there is nothing in it about murder, or theft, or anything of the kind. In fact, it is not about what men do, but it is about what men do not do. The iniquity of doing nothing is a sin which is not so often spoken of as it should be.” (Spurgeon)

iii. In his sermon titled The Great Sin of Doing Nothing, Charles Spurgeon mentioned several ways that doing nothing was and is a sin:

· This would be a sin of God’s people, not of the pagan nations.

· This would be a sin of idleness and self-indulgence.

· This would be a sin of selfishness and unbrotherliness.

· This would be a sin of ingratitude.

· This would be a sin of untruthfulness, breaking a promise made.

· This would be a sin that caused serious injury to others.

iv. “Spiritual self-indulgence is a monstrous evil; yet we see it all around. On Sunday these loafers must be well fed. They look out for such sermons as will feed their souls. The thought does not occur to these people that there is something else to be done besides feeding…. These people want pleasant things preached to them. They eat the fat and drink the sweet, and they crowd to the feast of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees well refined – spiritual festivals are their delight: sermons, conferences, Bible-readings, and so forth, are sought after, but regular service in ordinary ways is neglected.” (Spurgeon)

v. “A do nothing professor is a merely nominal member, and a nominal member is a real hindrance. He neither contributes, nor prays, nor works, nor agonizes for souls, nor takes any part in Christian service, and yet he partakes in all the privileges of the church. Is this fair? What is the use of him? He sits and hears, and sometimes sleeps under the sermon. That is all.” (Spurgeon)

c. Be sure that your sin will find you out: The sin of doing nothing would be exposed. In fact, there was something in that sin that would actively work to be exposed; in some sense the sin itself would find you out.

i. Your sin will find you out: “The language is striking: it is not just that their sin will be discovered but that their sin will be an active agent in discovering them.” (Allen)

ii. “Sin is like the boomerang…it comes back on the hand that has launched it forth. The brethren accused Joseph of being a spy, and cast him into the pit; and on the same charge they were cast into prison. King David committed adultery and murder; so Absalom requited him.” (Meyer)

iii. “The guilt will haunt you at heels, as a bloodhound, and the punishment will overtake you” (Trapp)

iv. Spurgeon suggested several ways in which our sin might find us out:

· We become ill at ease.

· We feel ourselves to be low and despicable.

· We become weakened by our own inaction.

· We have little joy in the progress and prosperity of the church.

· We lose our appetite for the gatherings of God’s people.

v. “When sin comes to find you out, like a sleuthhound on the track of the criminal, be sure that it finds you in Jesus. ‘That I may be found in Him.’ Nothing will avail to intercept the awful execution of sin’s vengeance, except the blood and righteousness of Jesus. Put Him between you and your sins, between you and your past, between you and the penalty of a broken law.” (Meyer)

3. (25-27) The tribal leaders of Reuben and Gad agree.

And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”

a. Your servants will do as my lord commands: This showed a surrendered, submitted attitude. The tribal leaders of Reuben and Gad did not try to negotiate with Moses, and work a more favorable agreement.

b. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead: This was also a step of faith. The other tribes had to trust God to fight the battles needed to occupy the land of Canaan. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had to trust God to preserve and protect their families while a substantial portion of their fighting men helped the tribes settling west of the Jordan River.

i. Adam Clarke notes that more than a third of the available fighting men went to help the tribes on the western side of the Jordan. “Now from Joshua 4:13 we learn that of the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, only 40,000 armed men passed over Jordan to assist their brethren in the reduction of the land: consequently the number of 70,580 men were left behind for the defence of the women, the children, and the flocks.”

4. (28-42) The agreement is settled, and cities are given to the tribes settling on the lands east of the Jordan River.

So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. And Moses said to them: “If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you, every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession. But if they do not cross over armed with you, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.”

Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying: “As the LORD has said to your servants, so we will do. We will cross over armed before the LORD into the land of Canaan, but the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us on this side of the Jordan.”

So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to 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 its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country. And the children of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer, Atroth and Shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. And the children of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kirjathaim, Nebo and Baal Meon (their names being changed) and Shibmah; and they gave other names to the cities which they built.

And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he dwelt in it. Also Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its small towns, and called them Havoth Jair. Then Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and he called it Nobah, after his own name.

a. If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben cross over the Jordan with you…then you shall give them the land of Gilead as a possession: The possession of the land of Gilead was on the condition of their faithfulness to their promise. Moses told Eleazar to make sure they honored their promise before granting them Gilead.

i. “The listing of towns such as Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth Shophan, Jazer, and the like are important, not just for cartography, but for theology. This land was now really theirs. The cities that had been destroyed were now being rebuilt, and in some cases they were being renamed (v.38).” (Allen)

b. So Moses gave to the children of Gad, to the children of Reuben, and to half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph: Numbers 32:33 introduces another tribe – actually, half the tribe of Manasseh – who were likewise content to settle on the lands east of the Jordan River. In total, two and one-half tribes received their possession on land east of the Jordan River.

i. “It could be that the representatives of Manasseh took no part in the negotiations until Moses had approved in principle a settlement in Transjordan.” (Wenham)

c. The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it: We don’t have a detailed explanation of why the tribe of Manasseh divided into two parts, with one part living on the east side of the Jordan and the other part on the west side. It like had to do with the children of Machir conquering significant and good land east of the Jordan and deciding it would live on that land.