Numbers 32

Hey, good morning, morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at Numbers chapter 32, the two and a half tribes who are going to settle on the Transjordan, the eastern side of the Jordan River. Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for this day. Lord, what a blessing it is to get to read your Word, to sit at your feet. Lord, we need your Spirit, so please help us. As we read this passage, we pray, Lord, that you would help us to understand it. Lord, work it into our hearts and apply it in our lives. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, so we're at Numbers chapter 32. We're gonna read the whole chapter together, one whole section, one whole story. So I hope that you'll stick around with me because we're gonna do our A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse? And C, what are we called to do? But we need to read the whole thing to kind of get through it. So let's go ahead and read Numbers chapter 32.
Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had very great multitude of livestock. And when they saw the land of Jazzer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eliezer the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, Atoroth, Debon, Jazer, Nimrah, Eshpon, Elialah, Sheba, Nebu, and Beon, the country which the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock. And your servants have livestock. 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 to Jordan. So this seems logical, right? We're gonna stop kind of each paragraph and just talk about for a moment. Seems somewhat logical, right? Hey, we defeated these nations, the land is ours. It's really good for our animals. We got a whole bunch of them. Is this okay with you? Can we just settle here rather than keep going? Well, let's see how Moses responds, verse six.
And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Now why would you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the valley of Eshkol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they did not go into the land which Jehovah had given them. So the Lord's anger was aroused on that day, and he swore an oath, saying, Verily, none of the men who came 20 years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not fully followed me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Genizite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the Lord.
So the Lord's anger was aroused against Israel, and he made them wander in the wilderness 40 years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of Jehovah was gone, And look, you have risen in your Father's place, the brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again lead them in the wilderness, and you will destroy these people.
What is Moses saying here? He's saying, don't you remember what happened 40 years ago? You're doing the same thing your dads did. They discouraged the heart of the people when I sent out the 12 spies, and only two of them came back. 10 of them said, hey, we can't do this, and only two of them, Caleb and Joshua said we can. And the Lord's anger was aroused. It's caused that whole generation to die. Are you doing the same thing?
Verse 16, then they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones. 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.
We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. We will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.
What do they tell Moses? They're telling him, no, no, no, no, no, that's not what we're doing. We're gonna set up our barns, we're gonna settle our families here, this is our inheritance, but we swear to you, right, they're taking an oath, they're saying, we will, we will leave our families, we'll go cross at Jordan, and we'll be the first fighters, we'll be the shock troops, and we'll make sure that we clean everything up, and we'll make sure everybody has their inheritance, and then finally, when everybody's settled, then we'll go home. We're not doing the same things our fathers did. We're recognizing this as God's good, By the way, just so you know, I have verse 18 double underlined in my Bible. Indeed, in the book of Joshua, they do this.
Well, verse 20, Then Moses said to them, If you do this thing, if you arm yourself before the Lord or 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 him. Then after you, or you may return to 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."
Moses says, all right, I'm gonna take you at your word. If you're gonna say it, you better do it, right? Because the Lord's gonna find it out. Moses knows he's gonna die. He's not gonna enter into the promised land. There's no way for him to ensure this actually happens. It's gonna be up to the next generation, up to the next leader.
We'll get there some other time in the book of Joshua, but he's saying, all right, if that's your intent and if you're true and you're not being deceitful, go ahead. Go ahead and then you'll be blameless if you're really gonna follow through with still helping your brethren on the other side.
Well, verse 25, 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. Your servants will cross over every man armed for war before the Lord to battle, just as my Lord says.
So Moses gave command concerning them. Eleazar, the priest, right? Moses knows, again, he's gonna die, so he's gonna send Eleazar, he's gonna let Eleazar know this. The Joshua, the son of Nun, again, that's going to be the next leader, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel. So he's publishing this to all the leaders, right? All the leaders, the next military ruler Joshua, as well as to the high priest Eleazar.
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 possession among you in the land of canaan So the only way they're going to get that land is if they go in with you If not, you guys take their land and they're forced to come on the other side of the jordan.
I gotta keep their word. He's saying Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, this is where they take their vow. As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. We will cross over arm 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 the half tribe of Manasseh, the two and a half tribes on the other side of the river. Now he gives them the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites. a land with its cities within the borders, the cities of the surrounding country, and the children of Gad built Diban and Ataroth and Aror, Ataroth and Sophan and Jezer and Jogvah, Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, fortified cities, and folds for sheep. And the children of Reuben built Heshpon, and Elela, and Kir, Jathim, Nebo, and Balneon, their names being changed, and Sibma, and they gave other names to the cities which they dwell. 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. Athajar, the son of Manasseh, went and took its small towns, and called them Havothajar. Then Noba went and took Kinnath and its villages and he called it Noba after his own name. Well, I think we just need to summarize this, right? A, what is this about?
This is the two and a half tribes. So Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, right? They want this Transjordan. So they come into the tent with Moses or wherever Moses was at. They make this agreement. They take vows. It's published to everyone. And then they actually go and they take that land, whatever's left of the inhabitants and the cities and things like that. That was the very last part. So they're taking possession, right? This is the first possessions of children of Israel. Now, this was their first inheritance, possession, ever, ever, ever, right?
They were allowed to live in Goshen. They were allowed to be in Egypt by the Egyptians, but it wasn't their land as a permanent possession. The only spot of land anywhere was the cave of Mecbala where Abraham had bought. This was not something normal. They were a nomadic people over 400 years ago. from the Chaldeans down into the promised land God had made in these promises. And for generations and generations and generations, they had hoped for one day that that land would be theirs.
And now they're getting just a taste of it. But it's not the heart of it, right? Canaan still needs to be conquered. The Transjordan has now been brought in as the Two and a Half Tribes inheritance, but the other side is still yet to be conquered. And they promise that they're going to do it. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I think my Bible, I've already alluded to this. I have verse 18, double underlined it. That's really important. Well, what do we see called to do? What are we called to do? Where do we see Christ versus covenant connection? This is God keeping his promises once again. Proves himself faithful. He made this promise hundreds of years ago to Abraham, Now he's making it good. This is just the first day. And the Lord proves himself this way time and time and time again.
I think we find ourselves in that spot now, don't we? Where we know God has accomplished so many good promises and the best promise of the Old Testament that he accomplished was that he brought forth the shoot from David. Jesus himself, the Lion and the Drive of Judah. But yet we still are almost in the same spot, right? We know that Jesus has a kingdom, not of this world.
And we know that he's gone to the Father to prepare a place for us. We just get tastes of it. We don't have it in all of its reality, all of its fullness. So we're almost like these Israelites, right on the cusp of it, right before they're going into Canaan. I just want to remind you, right?
The promises are still good. He's a covenant-keeping God. So don't give up hope. Don't settle for less. He's promised us an eternal kingdom to dwell with Him in righteousness forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much that you have given us Jesus Christ. We thank you for your covenant-keeping nature. We thank you that you are true and your words are always true. We pray that you would give us faith and give us endurance, that we trust in you and love you and follow you all the days of our lives. We pray these things in Jesus's name. Amen. May the Lord bless you as he makes you endure, as he gives you hope, and as you look forward to that great day when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ returns again. I'll see you next time.