Rolling green-gold pasture with scattered oaks at evening, great flocks and herds grazing across it, and the deep Jordan valley falling away to the west.

The Book of

Numbers 32

Two tribes see good grass and ask to stay this side of the Jordan. Moses hears Kadesh all over again, until they make a promise.

42 verses≈ 7 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

In this chapter

Where we are

1–10Ready at SinaiCounted and ordered
11–14GrumblingTo Kadesh and refusal
15–21Forty yearsRebellion and mercy
22–25BalaamA curse turned to blessing
26–36A new generationReady for the landChapter 32

The Tribes East of the Jordan

Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, and said,

Reuben and Gad

“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon, which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”

“If we have found favor in your sight,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

Moses

But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?

A long thin line of people, flocks and laden donkeys seen far off from behind, winding into a vast, empty, sun-hard desert under a white-hot sky.

This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.

For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them. So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob— not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’ The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.

0:44

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”

because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly

Numbers 32:12

Reflect

Wholehearted

Out of a whole generation, two men walked into the land: “Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.” Reuben and Gad were not wicked for wanting good pasture, but their “Do not make us cross the Jordan” sounded like holding back. Where are you following God with part of your heart, keeping one foot on the comfortable side of the river? Write it down, and write one step of wholehearted trust you could take this week.

Reuben and Gad

Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones. But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance. Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”

Moses

Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle, and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him, then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

Moses

Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”

Reuben and Gad

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as our lord commands. Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead. But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.”

So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the family leaders of the tribes of Israel. And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession. But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”

The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do. We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”

Question

Quick question

Moses heard Reuben and Gad out, and then he set terms: the land east of the Jordan would be theirs on one condition.

What did Reuben and Gad promise in return for land east of the Jordan?

So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled there. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair. And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Stylised map · locations approximate

Where it happened

East of the Jordan

Gad and Reuben settled the high plain east of the Dead Sea, from the Arnon north past Dibon, Nebo and Heshbon to Jazer and the edge of Gilead. The half-tribe of Manasseh took the north of Gilead and the land toward Bashan, where Jair named his villages Havvoth-jair. Most sites are probable; Jazer is uncertain.

Pray

Do what you promised

Moses told the two tribes, “do what you have promised,” and they answered, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.” Ask God to make you someone whose word holds, at home, at work and before Him. Then pray for brothers and sisters who are still on the hard road, that you would stand with them until they too are home.

You’ve experienced

Numbers 32

0 of 36 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.

Numbers 32:23

or swipe left