When God has promised us so much, why do we settle for less? But we do for whatever reason. This devotion looks at the time some of the Wilderness Wanderers settled.
Nuggets
- The Reubenites and Gadites didn’t want to live in the Promised Land.
- Moses questioned if it was right that the rest of the tribes went to war and they didn’t.
- The tribes came back with an offer that, if they let them build cities and sheep pens, they would go fight with the other tribes.
- The Gadites and Reubenites were going to get one shot to keep their end of the agreement.
- When we become believers, we enter into an agreement with God.
God has promised us many things. However, we sometimes settle for something else, which causes us to sin.
Some of the Wilderness Wanderers settled for land on this side of the Jordan River. They didn’t firmly grasp God’s promises. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
“They said, ‘If we have found favor with you, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Don’t make us cross the Jordan’” (Num. 32: 5 CSB).
Moses may have known his time was short, and he may have known that Joshua was going to succeed him. But he wasn’t done yet.
The Wilderness Wanderers had some curve balls they wanted to lob. One such curve ball was from the Reubenites and Gadites.
They didn’t want to live in the Promised Land.
They wanted to stay on the other side of the Jordan River.
Seriously?
Moses came back with, “Don’t you remember God was really, really mad when your parents tried to pull a stunt 40 years ago?” I am thinking Moses was probably hot under the collar, too.
Can you believe those Reubenites and Gadites? How selfish could they be?
The Reubenites and Gadites were putting worldly gain above God’s provision. They saw that the land “which the Lord struck down before the community of Israel, is good land for livestock, and [they] own livestock” (Num. 32: 4 CSB). The dots connected in their mind.
They should be given the land.
They didn’t care about what God had in store for them. They didn’t care about the other tribes who were crossing the river.
I guess they thought an acre in hand was better than one they may or may not get.
Oh, it doesn’t say in these verses, but I would bet Moses talked to at least some of them about God always coming through with His promises. And He had promised them land — on the other side of the river.
How often do we tell God, “Oh, I know You’ve promised something different, but this is good enough. We’ll settle.”
Moses did hit them with a good argument. “But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, ‘Should your brothers go to war while you stay here? Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land the Lord has given them?’” (Num. 32: 6-7 CSB).
Were some of the troops going to go AWOL and leave the rest depleted? Were they going to start another exodus?
Because let’s face it. It doesn’t take much to discourage us at times. Life down here is hard, especially when Satan is attacking.
Wouldn’t it be discouraging for the others that these tribes chose to split the nation? We think about the nation not splitting until after David. But they chose to split here.
Bottom line, they didn’t want the gift God had for them. Should not God be angry? Were they doubting His word, His provision, or His goodness? Or did they just have a closed mind on religion?
Warning!
“Moses replied to them, ‘If you do this — if you arm yourselves for battle before the Lord, and every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the Lord until he has driven his enemies from his presence, and the land is subdued before the Lord — afterward you may return and be free from obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the Lord. But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord; be sure your sin will catch up with you’” (Num. 32: 20-23 CSB)
The tribes came back with an offer. Let them build cities and sheep pens, and they would go fight with the other tribes.
Moses accepted that but issued a warning.
- They forfeited any inheritance on the other side.
- Each one of the fighting men had to be in for the duration. None of them could cut out early.
- If they lied and didn’t keep their word, they would have to pay the consequences.
Let’s take another run at this. God had promised them the Promised Land. He was giving it to them.
- They still had to fight for it.
- They didn’t just get it handed to them.
- They had to show up and possibly get hurt — or killed.
One more nugget. “But if you don’t do this, you will certainly sin against the Lord; be sure your sin will catch up with you” (Num. 32: 23 CSB).
So many times, we focus on sins of commission — and they were sinning by willfully not following God’s direction to enter the Promised Land. But not following through on their word would also be a sin of omission.
Sometimes, it can be more devastating to not do something God is calling us to do. Why don’t we do what He call us to do?
Maybe we get lazy. Maybe we would rather do it our way. Maybe we have an issue with the other person. Maybe we are just selfish.
But we don’t do what God has called us to do. Consequences will follow.
Sins are routinely uncovered. God does punish. Plumer noted that sometimes the punishment is “… loss of respect, esteem, or confidence.” We tend to think monetary loss, job loss, illness, and death.
We Have Agreement
“The Gadites and Reubenites answered Moses, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. Our dependents, wives, livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead, but your servants are equipped for war before the Lord and will go across to the battle as my lord orders’” (Num. 32: 25-27 CSB)
The Gadites and Reubenites agreed to the proposal. Those were things in which they could agree.
When we become believers, we enter into an agreement with God. We agree that we will:
- Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
- Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
- Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
- Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
- Love People (John 15: 12)
- Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
- Other Duties as Assigned (Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
We Have Accountability
“So Moses gave orders about them to the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes. Moses told them, ‘If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, every man in battle formation before the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession. But if they don’t go across with you in battle formation, they must accept land in Canaan with you’ The Gadites and Reubenites replied, ‘What the Lord has spoken to your servants is what we will do’” (Num. 32: 28-31 CSB)
Moses passed on the terms of the agreement. He knew he wouldn’t be around to execute it. Joshua and Eleazar were going to be responsible.
Let’s think about this a second. We had talked before about God giving second chances. Sometimes, He does — the Wilderness Wanderers got many chances. Moses didn’t — he hit the rock, and he was done.
The Gadites and Reubenites were going to get one shot. If they didn’t do what they said for the length of time agreed upon, they were done.
One way they could have tripped up was by not standing by their word. Some these days may think that is not as important as it was.
God still thinks it is important.
When we become believers, we give Him our word that we will follow the job description — that we will live for Him.
Yes, that is a huge job description. It has several hard duties on it.
God doesn’t give us just one chance. He gives us multiple chances. He will forgive us when we don’t perform perfectly.
That doesn’t give us license to not do the job description. We have to tell others about Him and make disciples. We have to love others His way (not according to the worldview).
God allows us to come to Him when we mess up and ask forgiveness.
Making the Connections
Oh, wow. So many times, we want our sins to stay covered up. We don’t want them uncovered.
Problem. God is so good at uncovering them.
God has to. He has to bring them out so we can eliminate them.
We’ve got to be people of integrity. If we say we going to cross the river and fight, we need to cross, fight, and help clean up.
A while back we talked about whether there was good sins or bad sins — did sins have different levels? I said, no, because all sin is against God.
I still think that. But I think our sins have different effects. The sin of murder would have a different effect than the sin of lying.
How Do We Apply This?
We are prone to discouragement. That means we have to encourage our fellow disciples. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to send cards, give them a hug, schedule a lunch — whatever.
The materials I use for the lessons with my Ladies generally end up with a question on some variation of “how are we going to encourage each other this week?” Now, my Ladies are pro encouragers.
A lot of times we don’t think we are encouragers. We know the value of encouragement but didn’t see ourselves as encouragers. Others might not see that as being that important.
Ooo, baby. It is. Never ever sell yourself short on the value of you encouraging a fellow disciple. That just may be God’s way of helping them to withstand Satan’s attack on them.
We probably acknowledge we aren’t encouragers because we see how inconsistent we are. We may take advantage of one opportunity but miss several. I pray that God will open our eyes and our hearts to see all the opportunities and that we don’t diminish the impact of our encouragement.
That is all wrapped up in our being sympathetic to others. It means that we are involved enough with others that that we know when and how to encourage them.
Moses called these Wilderness Wanderers on keeping their word. He just have thought this would be an issue along with shirking the duties to the others. He must have thought they wanted to take the easy way out.
Sometimes, we want to take the easy way out. We don’t want God to uncover our sins — at least not so that everyone can see.
We can’t pick and choose our job duties. We can’t just love others and not proclaim the gospel. We have to do all of them.
Father God. You are so good to us. You have promised that You will provide for us. Unfortunately, we do not always see how You are keeping that promise. Or You are providing something different — better — than we are expecting. Forgive us when we are so focused on this world that we don’t see how You are preparing us for eternity. Help us to always live for You. Amen.
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
If you have not signed up for the email daily or weekly providing the link to the devotions and the newsletter, do so below.
If God has used this devotion to speak with you, consider sharing it on social media.
Pingback: What Are Moral Sins? – Seeking God with Elaine
Pingback: Watching while Praying – Seeking God with Elaine