All right, good morning, church family.
As you guys find your seat, if you would open your Bibles to
the Book of Numbers, chapter 32. We are going to be in the entire
chapter this morning. It's quite a long chapter.
It's 42 verses, so I won't be reading it up front.
We'll read it as we go through it.
There's quite a bit of information here.
The title of the sermon this morning is this comes directly
from the text, one of the verses what Moses says in this chapter.
Be sure your sin will find you out.
And so as we jump to the sermon this morning, you'll see where
that phrase comes from. So if you will pray with me as
we prepare our hearts to hear from the the word of the Lord
Father, I pray this morning as we continue our study, the book
of Numbers that you would teach us what you want us to learn and
what you want us to put into practice.
Got to pray that you would give us wisdom this morning as we see
a story that you know upon first reading probably seems like it
has nothing to do with our lives.
But upon further reflection, upon further meditation, Lord,
we recognize that there are lessons here for us to learn
and, and so God, I pray that you would help us to see them.
You would help me to bring them out, and that you would sanctify
us, God, through this text this morning.
I pray this all in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Be sure your sin will find you out.
I read a story the other day. You may have read it.
A woman has her digital scale to thank for revealing her
husband's cheating. A skeptical wife shared the wild
way she learned of her husband's ways and a viral Reddit post
detailing how she found two late night weigh insurance on her
digital scale taken while she was away and her husband was
home alone. She quotes.
I checked the digital scales memory out of curiosity and it
showed 2 unassigned weigh insurance at exactly 120 lbs
Logged in at 12:15 AM and 12:26 AM back-to-back.
For context, I do not weigh 120 lbs and I was not there on on
that date, just my husband. Be sure your sin will find you
out. Those are the words that Moses
says to the tribes of Reuben and Gad.
And this morning we're going to look at the context of those
words. So let's jump into our text this
morning. I'll be giving an exposition and
application of the text. I'll be weaving them together.
We'll look at it section by section.
So let's start looking at numbers 32 versus 1 to 5.
Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great
number of livestock, and they saw the land, the land of Jazzer
and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place
for livestock. So the people of Gad and the
people of Reuben came and said to Moses and Eliezer the priest,
and to the chiefs of the congregation, Ataroth, D Bond,
Jazer, Nimrah, Heshban, Eliath, Sabam Nebo, and beyond.
The land that the Lord struck down before the congregation of
Israel is a land for livestock. And your servants have
livestock. And they said, if we have found
favour in your sight, let this land be given to your servants
for a possession. Do not take us across the
Jordan. So the story this morning opens
with discussing 2 of Israel's tribes, the tribe of Reuben and
the tribe of Gad. Now both tribes have a problem,
but it is a good problem. They have an abundance of
livestock. That's a good problem.
In those days, they see the land of Jazzer and the land of
Gilead, which are both on the east side of the Jordan River.
So if Israel, you're looking at it from your vantage point, but
Israel is here, the Jordan River comes here, and on the east side
of the Jordan River is where this land of Jazzer and Gilead
is. Jazzer is just North East of the
Dead Sea and then Gilead is just north of Jazzer.
They notice they when they they're there, they look around
and they notice they're like this land is a perfect land for
livestock. Now we know geographically there
are rivers there such as the Yarmouk, the Jabbish and the
Jabbic and these rivers have tributaries as well.
There are numerous springs in the region.
And so this would be a provide ample water supply.
Livestock need a lot of water and this would provide a lot of
feeding grounds, so this is perfect for them.
So they approach Moses. They approach Eliezer, the
priest and the chiefs of the congregations whose names are
listed, and they have a proposal to them.
Now I want you to notice how they begin the proposal.
They say the land that the Lord struck down before the
congregation of Israel. Don't miss that.
I want to focus on that statement for just a minute.
Reuben and Gad acknowledge that Israel didn't win this battle,
the Lord did. We looked at this battle last
week. Proverbs 2131 reminds us that
the horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory
belongs to the Lord. How tempting it is to attribute
our victories, our successes to ourselves.
Anytime we take credit for something in this life, you know
what it's like. Anytime that we attribute credit
to us for our own victories, our own successes, you know what
that's like. It would be like a cross maker
in 30 AD, boasting in how good of a cross he designed for the
Roman army. Imagine if he boasted of the
hours that he had spent carving out this cross from this tree,
boasting in the finish of the wood, boasting in his own
personal touches of design, maybe even sketched his initials
in it. And afterwards he finishes it,
he takes a selfie of himself next to this creation.
It's what it's like every time we take credit for what God has
done. We may be the ones who fight the
battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.
Israel did not win this battle because they were strong or they
were numerous or they were very well trained.
They won the battle because the Lord struck down their enemies.
And Reuben Gadd acknowledged this.
They say this land, we recognize God gave it to us.
God did it. He gave us the victory.
And so they go to the leaders and they say, listen, this land,
it's ideal for livestock. We have a large amount of
livestock. So they asked the leaders.
They say, if we have found favor in your sight, can you give us
this land as a possession? Do not take us across the
Jordan. Now, here's why this matters.
The consistent biblical definition of Canaan, the
Promised land, was limited to the territory West of the
Jordan. When you realize the land that
God promised Abraham, it is only the land West of the Jordan, but
they desire the land east of the Jordan.
How should we take this request? Is it selfish?
Is it shrewd? Is it just them calling shotgun?
Some commentators take it as 2 tribes who preferred material
prosperity over living in the promised land.
John Calvin took it as the enlargement of the Israelite
territory that resulted from their action as an example of
God's Providence bringing good out of human sin.
So some see it as just, purely just, you just want to be
wealthy and prosperous. And John Calvin says, no, this
is God's Providence. He's bringing something good out
of sin. In Deuteronomy 3321, Moses says
of Gad, before he dies, he says he chose the best of the land
for himself, but he gives no, no condemnation of Gad in saying
it. So how do we take this?
I want to be clear that the Bible is not clear if Reuben and
Gad's request was righteous or unrighteous or neutral.
It's just not clear. But here's what I think that we
can take away from this. Here's what I think we can take
away from this. Something can be technically not
wrong, but maybe unwise. Something could be technically
not wrong, but maybe unwise. Remember the story of Abraham
and Lot. Both men had grown wealthy,
especially in livestock. The land could not support all
of their land, their livestock. It was too much livestock in one
area. And their herdsmen were fighting
with each other, You know, like, hey, your sheep are eating all
my grass. And no.
And they're, they're just fighting.
Abraham sees this and he, he, he, he, he has the wisdom to
code a lot and say, listen, we should separate.
And Abraham tells Lot he's like, you can pick first.
You pick which land you want first.
So Lot looks around and he sees the fertile Jordan Valley looks
good to me. He chooses that.
It was a good land, except it was near the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Abraham stayed in Canaan.
Now here's the question. Was it wrong for Lot to choose
that land? Technically, no.
Technically no, Abraham said. You choose, But was it wise?
Probably not. It ended up costing his wife her
life. There was nothing technically
wrong about Reuben and Gad requesting this land, but it
probably was unwise because the decision to be on the east side
of the Jordan it caused several problems in their history.
Later there was a relational strain with the other 10 tribes
that happens in Joshua 22. Being on the east side meant
they were farther away from the temple, they were the first to
be conquered by the Assyrian army, and just like Lot, they
bordered Pagan nations like Amman, Moab and Iran.
And therefore the threat to spiritual apostasy.
What's much greater? See, brothers and sisters, in
the Christian life, we never simply want to ask the question,
is this wrong? Rather, we are to ask ourselves
a series of questions. Is this wise?
Is this godly? Is this in line with counsel?
Is this healthy? Is this holy?
Because there are many things that are technically not wrong,
they're probably unwise. Look at verse 6 and 9.
Moses said to the people of God and the people of Reuben, Shall
your brothers go to war while you sit here?
Why would you discourage the heart of the people of Israel
from going over into the land that the Lord has given them?
Your father's did this when I sent them from Kadesh Barnia to
see the land. For when they went up to the
valley of Escole and saw the land, they discouraged the heart
of the people of Israel from going to the land that the Lord
had given them. So Moses comes to the people of
Gad and Reuben and he says to them, listen, how is it fair
that your brothers, the other 10 tribes of Israel go to war while
you just sit here and play Stardew Valley and FarmVille?
If you remember, God was taking his people across the Jordan to
go to war against the Canaanites.
The whole reason they're going to cross the Jordan is to go to
war and to dispossess the Canaanites and inherit this
land. They would destroy them as God's
judgment upon the land and the people.
But if two of the 12 tribes just sit back and enjoy their lives,
it's going to discourage everybody else.
I mean, nobody wants to go to war.
If you see your fellow soldiers sitting on their front porch
drinking sweet tea, Moses reminds them, it doesn't take
much to discourage the hearts of these people.
Remember when your father's did this?
I sent them to spy out the land and they came back from the
reconnaissance mission and they said the land is great.
It flows with milk and honey and it flows with figs and
pomegranates and grapes. It is a a fertile land.
There's only one problem, though.
There are giants there and they discourage the people from going
into the land. Moses is telling Reuben and Gad.
He says, listen, if you stay here on the east side, your
actions are going to have the exact same effect.
Everybody else is going to be like, what?
Well, wait a minute, If we could have land and have farms and
have lives and build houses without going to war, let's just
stay here. This looks pretty good.
Why would we want to go over across the Jordan and fight?
Moses realized. This is going to discourage
them. Moses wants them to consider
that none of us live in a vacuum.
Our actions affect one another. Now we see this in the New
Testament, don't we? Paul says.
We have every right to eat food offered to an idol, but we need
to be mindful of how this action might affect our brothers.
He says if anyone sees you eating food and has a weak
conscience, won't he be emboldened to eat himself, thus
to file his conscience? Peter's actions in the early
church. Remember, Peter was eating with
the Gentiles, eating at their lunch table, but when the Jews
came in, he withdrew from the Gentile lunch table.
And what happened? It affected Barnabas.
Barnabas followed his feed, and Barnabas was led into hypocrisy.
We must always be mindful of how our actions and our words might
affect the body. Right now, we're going through a
process of forming 2 churches. Anytime a church is going
through something as significant as this, it is an opportunity
for the enemy to work. Anytime a church goes through
any major decision, it is an opportunity for the enemy to
work. And any time that a church makes
a major decision, there are always going to be people who
disagree with it. There are always going to be
people who disagree with how it's being done.
Always. And one of the greatest
temptations in the church when you have these kind of decisions
is to speak our minds without considering how it might affect
the body. Sometimes people will leave a
church and they will take every grenade that they have saved up
over the years, and they will just toss them into the church
as they walk out. I'm going to blow up as much as
I can. Brothers and sisters, we must
always be mindful that our actions and our words have an
impact. That was true for Reuben.
It was true for Gad, and it's true for us today.
And if I didn't write this, but I just want to make sure.
And if any of you are thinking that that's a plea for just
close your mouth, don't say a word.
That's not what that is. That's not what that is.
It is consider before you do say something how it might impact
others. Look at verse 10 to 15.
And the Lord's anger was kindled on that day.
And he swore, saying, Surely none of the men who came up out
of Egypt from 20 years old and upward shall see the land that I
swore to get to Abraham and to Isaac and to Jacob, because they
have not wholly followed me. None except Caleb the son of
Jefuna, and the Kinzenite, and Joshua the son of Nun.
For they have wholly followed the Lord.
And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them
wander in the wilderness 40 years, until all that generation
that had done on the side of the Lord was gone.
And behold, 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. For if you turn away from
following Him, He will again abandoned them and the
wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.
Moses is now going to take the time to remind them of the
people's discouragement. In the previous generation.
The people had doubted the Lord, and as a result of them doubting
the Lord, the Lord's anger was kindled that day.
And God said that none of the people who came up out of the
land of Egypt 20 years and older would enter the Promised Land.
Nobody except for two, Joshua and Caleb.
In addition, God made them wander in the wilderness for 40
years until that entire generation.
Died off. And Moses accuses them of being
just like their fathers. He calls them a brood of sinful
men. Wow.
Imagine like telling somebody that.
Like imagine if I told you you brood of sinful men like it's
bold. You have risen in your Father's
place, meaning you are about to make the same mistake that your
father's did. Now, why is Moses doing this?
Why is Moses taking the time to remind them of their history?
Because past discipline should serve as a present motivation
for obedience. Past discipline should serve as
a present motivation for obedience.
The people make a simple request, right?
I mean, they just make a simple request and Moses delves into a
history lesson. You ever had someone that like
that in your life? Every time you ask a question or
make a request, they give you a history lesson.
As frustrating as that might be, history is important.
History is important. Paul writes in First Corinthians
10/6 and 11. Now these things took place as
examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.
These things happen to them as an example, but they were
written down for our instruction.
Moses is saying to them essentially, Reuben Gad, didn't
your father's tell you bedtime stories about wandering in the
wilderness for 40 years? Didn't they tell you stories
over breakfast about the earth opening its mouth and swallowing
people and snakes coming out and biting people and the fire of
the Lord consuming people and plagues, consuming entire
families? Didn't they tell you about this?
Do you want to repeat this all over again?
If you do this, the next book of the Bible will not be Joshua.
It'll be Numbers Part 2. Brothers and sisters, God has
given us a very good history book.
It's the best history book that exists.
And before we make any decisions or any request, we should read
it and we should ask ourselves, does history have anything to
say about this? I would like to do this.
I would like to request that. Does history have anything to
say about that? Moses says if you stay here, you
are going to increase the fierce anger of the Lord.
If you stay on the east side and just build your lives, you are
going to increase the fierce and of the Lord.
If you turn away from following him, he will once again
abandoned them. And look what he says.
And you, you see that that last verse 15 and you not God will
destroy all this people. Wow.
Wow, Moses is pretty worked up. You know what I love about this
rebuke of Moses? He's about to die.
He is about to die and he has not lost a step.
He has not grown soft in his old age.
Moses is warning them without mincing words.
He pulls no punches. He tells it to him just like it
is. Why?
Why is Moses so worked up? Why does Moses give them such a
harsh rebuke? Because although it is true that
God will never leave us or forsake us, friends, we can
leave God and forsake God. One of the greatest disservices
that modern Christianity has told the church is this Once
saved, always saved. What that phrase actually means
is this, Once you make a profession of faith, always
saved. That's what it really means.
Once you say I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus.
Once you make a profession of faith, I got my green card into
heaven can never be revoked. Moses says if you turn away from
following him, he will again abandoned them in the
wilderness. Listen to what David says to his
son Solomon. If you seek him, he will be
found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off
forever. Listen to what Azariah says to
King ASA. If you seek him, he will be
found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
Brothers and sisters, God will never.
God will never leave us or forsake us, but we can leave
God. We can forsake God.
Don't take that phrase. God will never leave us or
forsake us. Meaning to mean I can do
whatever I want, He will never leave me.
You can forsake God. You can leave God.
He'll let you leave unless you're elect.
You're like, see me after. Look at verse 16 to 19.
Then they came near to him and said, we will build sheepfolds
here for our livestock and cities for our little ones, But
we will take up arms ready to go before the people of Israel
until we have brought them to their place.
And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because
of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes
until each of the people of Israel has gained his
inheritance. For we will not inherit with
them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our
inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the
east. So the men of Reuben and Gad,
they, they actually listen to Moses's rebuke.
They take it to heart. They realize you're like, Oh,
yeah. OK, Huddle, guys, let's change
our request. OK.
All right. We have a new request.
They say, here's our request. We will build sheepfolds for our
livestock. Let us build areas to protect
our livestock. Let us build cities.
Now it says cities. You got to think like this is
like a makeshift city. Like, like, you know, it's not
like a fortified city. Let's build cities for our
little ones. Little ones here includes wives
and children. In other words, they're saying
can we please make sure that our livestock, our wives and our
children are taken care of. We'll do that.
And then after we make sure that's done, we will go with our
brothers. We'll cross the Jordan and we'll
take up arms and we will fight with them.
And notice how they said they're going to fight.
They say we will be ready to go before the people of Israel,
meaning we will even take a position of leadership in the
battle. We'll go before them.
We'll lead the battle. And they tell Moses we will not
abandon our brothers in battle. In other words, we will not
return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has
gained his inheritance. They further acknowledge that by
living on the east side, they will not receive any of the land
on the West side. In other words, they say, look,
if we take the east side, we acknowledge we have no right to
any of this land on the West side.
It will all be the other 10 tribes.
They agree to keep fighting until every last tribe has
received their inhibits. Now here's what I want to say.
Imagine if Reuben and Gad had agreed to crossover and fight
once they got over the river. They fought for maybe a week,
maybe a few months, maybe even a year.
And after that, they just said, let's call it a day, let's go
back home. I miss my wives, my wife or
wives miss my kids. I'll make sure my animals taken
care of. Let's call it a day, let's go
back home. The conquest of the Promised
Land would take a full seven years.
They were not to stop fighting till every last brother had
received their inheritance. Christian, we are called to
continue fighting until all our brothers and sisters have made
it home. I am not fighting simply for my
perseverance and my eternal inheritance.
I am fighting for yours as well. And by God's grace, there will
never come a day where I say, you know what?
I put in my time. I've been fighting this war for
40 years now. It is time to fight a new war on
Royal Caribbean. There is a great temptation to
go and settle in the plains, the fertile plains of this world, to
settle and lake houses and beach houses and Airbnbs, traveling
the world enjoying a peacetime mentality.
Everybody wants a peacetime mentality.
Church. God has called us to take up a
sword and to fight for our brothers and sisters until every
last one has made it home. We don't stop fighting until
everybody's made it home. 20 to 23.
So Moses said to them, if you will do this, if you will take
up arms to go before the Lord for the war, and every armed man
of you will pass 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 after that, then you shall
return and be free of obligation to the Lord and Israel, and this
land shall be your possession before the Lord.
But if you do not do this, do so.
Behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and here it is.
Be sure your sin will find you out.
In response to the terms of this new request, Moses says, very
well, if you will do as you say, if every man, if every armed man
will cross over the door and will fight the battle, if you
will fight until he has driven out all his enemies from before
him and the land is subdued before the Lord.
Once all of that's completed, if you do what you say, then you
can be, you can return, you can go back to the east side.
You'll be free of obligation to the Lord, free of obligation to
Israel, meaning your, your service will be complete.
I want you to notice this phrase before the Lord.
It occurs 7 times in this chapter.
It occurs in verse 20/20/21 twice and 22/27/29 and 32 seven
times. If it's reminding us that this
war that they're going to be fighting, it's not their war,
it's God's war. The reason that Reuben and Gad
have to go is because it's not their war, it's God's war.
Now Moses agrees to the request. Moses says if you do all this,
the land of Jazzer and the land of Gilead, it'll be yours.
You can have it. We don't have to cast lots.
You can have it. It's all yours.
But Moses gives them a warning. He says if you don't keep your
word, behold, you have sinned against the Lord and be sure
your sin will find you out. Now that phrase has become a
that's lasted till today. Even the world uses that phrase
today sometimes. What does that mean?
Be sure your sin will find you out.
Essentially it means this. You can't run from your sin, you
can't hide from it, you can't tame it, you can't negotiate
with it, you can't ignore it. Sin will find us out.
Remember in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve disobey God by
eating the forbidden fruit they hid in the bushes, God found
them. Remember when Cain killed his
brother and when the Lord asked him, where is your brother?
Cain tried to pretend like he had no idea where he was, but
his sin found him out. Remember when Judah learned that
Tamar was pregnant? He demanded that she be burned,
But when Tamar revealed his signet, his cord, and his staff,
he was exposed as being the father.
Remember Aiken, who stole the harem, the forbidden items from
Jericho? He buried them in his tent, but
he was exposed by the casting of lots.
Remember when David committed adultery and then he tried to
cover it up by killing Uriah? He was exposed by the prophet
Nathan. Remember Jonah, who tried to run
away from God, but God found him with a storm and a fish?
Remember Ananias and Sapphira, who gave the impression that
they had given the apostles all the proceeds from the sale of
their land, but Peter exposed their deception?
Brothers and sisters, you can't run from your sin.
You can't hide from it. You can't pretend it doesn't
exist. Sin will always find us out and
therefore we need a refuge. There is only one refuge where
sin can't find us, where the Grim Reaper does not have a key,
and that is the cross of Jesus Christ.
Be sure your sin will find you out, and be sure that for those
in Christ Jesus, He will hide you in the shadow of His wings.
Look at verse 24 to 27. Build cities for your little
ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.
And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses,
your servants will do as my Lord commands.
Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle
shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, But your servants
will Passover every man who was armed for war before the Lord to
battle as my Lord orders. So Moses gives them permission.
He says you may do as you as you asked.
You can build sheepfolds for your livestock.
You can build cities for your wives and your children.
And then he charges them. He says be sure you keep your
word. Do as you promised.
Reuben and Gad give Moses their word.
They say we will commit to do as you command our women and our
children, our livestock and our cattle.
They'll stay on Gilead on the east side while we go off to
war. Now I just want to point out
something. What would it take for Reuben
and Gad to send in this story to do nothing?
Moses makes it clear that doing nothing would be sin.
You see, it is not just the idolatry and the immorality that
we saw in Numbers 25 that is evil on the side of the Lord.
It is also doing nothing when we should be doing something that
is evil on the side of the Lord too.
Let this be a reminder to all of us that God is not merely
grieved by sins of Commission. He is also grieved by sins of
omission. It was not just the robbers who
beat up the Samaritan and stole his money who were in sin.
So were the Levite and the priest who did nothing.
It was not just the invading army who attacked God's people
who were in sin, but so was the Watchmen who failed to warn
God's people of the invading army.
We need to repent of our sins of omission just as much as our
sins of Commission. Look at verse 2832.
So Moses gave command concerning them to Eliezer the priest, and
to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers houses
of the tribes of the people of Israel.
Moses said to them, If the people of Gad and the people of
Reuben, every man who was armed to battle before the Lord, will
pass with you over to the Jordan, and the land shall be
just subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of
Gilead for a possession. However, if they will not
Passover with you armed, they shall have possessions among you
in the land of Canaan. And the people of Gad and the
people of Reuben answered, What the Lord has said to your
servants we will do. We will Passover arm before the
Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our
inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.
So Moses takes his covenant. So he has formed a covenant with
them. This is very much a covenant.
He's formed a covenant with Reuben and Gad, and he
communicates it with them. He communicates it in front of
Eliezer, Joshua, and the heads of the Father's houses.
Why? Because remember, Moses is not
going to cross the Jordan. Moses is not going to be there
to enforce this. Joshua's going to be taking
over. Joshua's going to cross the
Jordan with them. So the new leadership now knows
the terms of the covenant. The new leadership is going to
hold them accountable. He tells them if you uphold your
word, Joshua, you want to give them this land.
Don't cast law, don't have an argument over it.
Don't take a vote in a business meeting over it.
They are to take this land. However, if they don't uphold
their word, if they don't pass over arms, then they are to have
possessions among you in the land of Canaan.
What does that mean? It means if they don't keep
their word, they forfeit the whole Transjordan, which is the
east side. They get none of it.
And Ruben and Gad once again promised, they say we will do
it. We will do as the Lord
commanded. So there is now a public
accountability. This is there are witnesses to
this covenant, which means it's been ratified.
It's now binding. All right, I like it.
Let's look at 33 to 42 last section.
And Moses gave to them the people of Gad, to the people of
Reuben, to the half tribe of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the
Kingdom of Sion, king of the Amorites, the king of Odd, king
of Bashan. The land and its cities with
their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country.
The people of Gad built D Bond, Ataroth, Aurora at Atro, Chopan,
Jazer, Jagbaha, Bait, Nimra Bait, Tehran, fortified cities
and folds for sheep. And the people of Reuben built
Hespan, Eliela, Kira, Athium, Nebo, Bail Mian, Their names
were changed. And Simba, just if you want to
know why his names were changed, those are Pagan deities.
Nebo and Bail Mian. They want you to know we changed
the names on those Simba. They gave other names to the
cities they built. And the sons of Mahir, the sons
of Manasseh, went to Gilead and captured it, dispossessed the
Amorites who were who were in it.
And Moses gave Gilead to Mahir the son of Manasseh, and he
settled in it. And Jair the son of Manasseh
went and captured their villages and called them Haboth Jair.
And Noba when captured Kenneth and its villages and called it
Noba, Noba after his own name. All right, that's a lot there.
Looking forward-looking for Moses gives the land to them.
However, we are surprised to find out in this text that the
land was given not only to Reuben and Gad, but also to the
half tribe of Manasseh. If you remember, Levi did not
get any land. So in place of Levi, Manasseh
was considered a half tribe, son of Joseph and Ephraim was
considered a half tribe, and that they made-up the tribe of
Levi. They took their place.
So the half tribe of Manasseh is also given land on the east
side. And you may be wondering why is
this mentioned? Why is that peace mentioned?
We will learn down in verses 39 to 42 that Gad and Reuben were
not the only ones on the east side.
Manasseh was. So it's included here to
explain. If you look at a map of Israel
these days, you'll see 3 tribes on the east side and you're
like, well how did Manasseh get over there?
Well, because Manasseh fought people.
They claimed some of the land. I want you to notice how the
land is described. It's described as the Kingdom of
Sion, the king of the Amorites, and the Kingdom of Odd, the king
of Bashan. Why is it described this way?
It reminds the reader of how the Lord had defeated these two
powerful kingdoms. The people of Gad built 8
cities, which are listed in your text.
The people of Reuben built 6 cities which are listed in your
text. As I mentioned earlier, some of
the city names are changed because Nebo and Bale are Pagan
deity. So they would want to change
those names. The sons of Mahir, the sons of
Manasseh, they actually went to Gilead and they capture part of
it. They dispossessed the Amorite.
So part of the land on the east side of the very north of it
still had Amorites living there. Manasseh had conquered them and
so it was only right for them to be given that land as well since
they were the one who had done the hard work of capturing it.
So you, you have Reuben Gad and then part of Manasseh.
Manasseh will be split, part of Manassas on the east side and
part of Manassas on the West side.
So part is given to them. And this explains how Manasseh
too came to the east side. Now as we close, I want to close
with this thought. We're getting really close to
the end of Book of Numbers. We only have 4 chapters left.
Moses is about to depart. His time is is almost up.
He's 120 years old. He's about to depart and be with
the Lord. Despite 40 years of rebellion,
we see in this chapter that God is faithful to keep His promise.
We even see that God went above and beyond his promise because
he enlarged the territory of Israel.
He gave them more land than what He promised to Abraham.
These two and a half tribes, they possess a large portion of
the land on the east side of the Jordan.
How many times have we seen in the book of numbers We've been
going through for a year now. How many times in the book of
numbers have we seen such wickedness and and when you read
it, God should have said, you know what I'm done with you
guys. Many of the times he wanted to
he said let me start over. Let me choose a new people.
And yet over and over again, we see the never failing, never
ending patience of our God. He endured their 40 years of
rebellion and now with this new generation, they are finally
ready to inherit His promise. God was faithful to keep it.
Let's pray.