Numbers 28-35: Content In The Wilderness

Numbers 32:1-5   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, 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.

     The tribes of Reuben and Gad make what seems to be a pretty harmless request of Moses.  Their desire is to stay in the land they have been traveling through on their forty-year trip to the land that God has promised them.  The reasoning of these two tribes seems to be pretty solid.  They have a large amount of cattle and the land is a land that provides adequate pasture for cattle.  Reuben and Gad do not mention it but I believe we can also see a certain degree of security in this choice.  They already possess this land and they have seen it with their eyes.  Battles will have to be fought for the other land and they must take God's word for the goodness of the land.  Like us, they found security in walking by sight instead of faith.

Numbers 32:6-7   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?

   Moses sharply rebukes them for their request.  He points out two problems with this seemingly innocent request.  First of all, it will exclude them from the battles that their brethren will have to fight.  Secondly, it will discourage the hearts of the rest of Israel.  So here we see that other Christians' courage and confidence in God can be zapped by Christians giving up on the good fight of faith and settling for a life of sight instead of a life of faith.  I wonder how many times we have discouraged others and caused them to quit on God simply because we did not continue in the battle?  I don't think we give any thought to how our unfaithfulness in little battles like attending the public meetings of the church, gracious and consistent giving, and growth in Christ's likeness in our attitude and actions discourage other saints.  Perhaps others are discouraged and don't feel like they can go on because they have watched us choose to sit down and enjoy the pleasures of this wilderness instead of fighting on by faith to live a biblical life as the disciples of Christ.  All of the Jewish males who were twenty and older died when the ten spies found contentment in the wilderness.  I wonder how many will die and spend eternity separated from God because we are content in the wilderness and have discouraged their hearts?


Daily Devotional:  Luke 23:44-24:12   Jesus' Death and Resurrection