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Revelation

Daily Reader for Day 55: Numbers 32 - 34


by Dave Moore

As we approach the end of Numbers, the new generation of Israelites is approaching the day when the LORD opens the Promised Land to them.  Today’s readings center on this, beginning with a crisis of national unity. 

Chapter 32 is a dialogue-rich story concerning the tribes of Gad and Reuben.  As Israel has settled the East Bank of the Jordan River, representatives from these two tribes approach Moses with a proposal: “Let this land be given to us for a possession.  Do not take us across the Jordan.” 

This raises serious questions for Moses: “Are Reuben and Gad giving up on God’s promise?”  “Will you allow the other tribes to fend for themselves in Canaan?”  And “Isn’t this the same kind of self-seeking that bought us 40 extra years in the wilderness?”  Echoes of Numbers 13 and 14 abound as Moses warns forcefully about rekindling the wrath of the LORD.  But then Reuben and Gad make an appealing promise, and a peace is made that will be tested later. 

You might notice here that the LORD is absent from this negotiation, and the author offers no commentary on the resolution.  He only presents the characters and dialogue.  Remember that most Biblical narratives don’t offer an obvious “moral of the story.”  On the one hand, Reuben and Gad appear to be settling for less than what God has promised them.  On the other hand, this is a substantial expansion of Israel’s territory.  It’s possible that we’ll have to be patient to see if this was a good idea or not. 

Chapter 33 is a history lesson and Chapter 34 is a geography lesson.  First, the entire journey from Goshen to the banks of the Jordan is recounted.  Next, the boundaries of the land are set.  Of keen historical note is that these boundaries of Canaan match those found in Egyptian records of the same time period. 

But in the middle of these is an ominous warning:

“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell.  And I will do to you as I thought to do to them.” 

This warning, attached to the command to drive out all the inhabitants of Canaan, will stand in the background for centuries to come.  

Our verses for this week are Matthew 22:37-38: “And he said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.”

Numbers 32 through 34.  Now let’s read it!

Numbers 32 - 34

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. They saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead. Behold, the place was a place for livestock. Then the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, the land which Jehovah struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock; and your servants have livestock." They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Don't bring us over the Jordan." Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Jehovah has given them? Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Jehovah had given them. Jehovah's anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, 'Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed Jehovah completely.' Jehovah's anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in Jehovah's sight was consumed. "Behold, you have risen up in your fathers' place, an increase of sinful men, to increase the fierce anger of Jehovah toward Israel. For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all these people." 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 ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. Our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our houses until the children of Israel have all received their 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 eastward." Moses said to them: "If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Jehovah to the war, and every one of your armed men will pass over the Jordan before Jehovah until he has driven out his enemies from before him, and the land is subdued before Jehovah; then afterward you shall return, and be clear of obligation to Jehovah and to Israel. Then this land shall be your possession before Jehovah. "But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Jehovah; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth." 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 shall be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Jehovah to battle, as my lord says." So Moses commanded concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers' households of the tribes of the children of Israel. Moses said to them, "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle before Jehovah, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan." The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, "As Jehovah has said to your servants, so will we do. We will pass over armed before Jehovah into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan." Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-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, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land. The children of Gad built Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities and folds for sheep. The children of Reuben built Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim, Nebo, and Baal Meon, (their names being changed), and Sibmah. They gave other names to the cities which they built. The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its villages, and called them Havvoth Jair. Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name. These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Jehovah. These are their journeys according to their starting points. They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Jehovah had struck among them. Jehovah also executed judgments on their gods. The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days' journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Jehovah and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, "When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. "But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you." Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, "Command the children of Israel, and tell them, 'When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders), then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward. Your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and it shall pass southward of Kadesh Barnea; and it shall go from there to Hazar Addar, and pass along to Azmon. The border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the sea. "'For the western border, you shall have the great sea and its border. This shall be your west border. "'This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for yourselves Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the border shall pass by Zedad. Then the border shall go to Ziphron, and it shall end at Hazar Enan. This shall be your north border. "'You shall mark out your east border from Hazar Enan to Shepham. The border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain. The border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. The border shall go down to the Jordan, and end at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders around it.'" Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, "This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Jehovah has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers' houses, the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers' houses, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise." Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, "These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. You shall take one prince of every tribe, to divide the land for inheritance. These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. Of the tribe of the children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud." These are they whom Jehovah commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.

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