“These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Mo’av, beyond the Yarden and Yericho, eastward. But to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; Adonai the God of Israel is their inheritance — as he told them.”-Joshua 13:32-33
Some of you might be wondering…
…”Why are we spending all this freakin’ time talking about the land on the east side of the Jordan River?”
“I get it!”…you might be thinking.
“Okay, so the tribes of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh received the territory on the east side of the Jordan River”.
“And I get that it wasn’t officially Promised Land territory?”
“Well, so what?”
Why all this inordinate amount of detail devoted to this topic especially since we were already told about this in Deuteronomy?”
Well folks, here’s the deal.
If you recall, when Moses pronounced it was okay for Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of the tribe of Manasseh to receive the land they had just conquered in the Trans-Jordan, there was an important obligation placed on the 2 1/2 tribes.
Do you remember what that was?
It was this: Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of the tribe of Manasseh were required to supply troops to their Hebrew brothers in order to assist them in conquering the Promised Land that they would be residing in.
And it was Joshua who would be the judge of whether Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh had made good on their promise or not.
So that’s why we’re given a repeat from the Book of Deuteronomy that Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of the Tribe of Manasseh are getting their land on the eastern side of the Jordan (yes, it’s actually written in the present tense here).
What’s being communicated here is that the major battles to take both southern and northern areas of Canaan had not only been successful but that the 2 1/2 tribes had indeed made good on their promise to help their brethren out.
Therefore, under the Lord’s authority, Joshua is now making an official proclamation so to speak that these lands in the Trans-Jordan now belong to Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh.
And not only that.
From this point onward, Joshua is also declaring that Reuben, Gad and Manasseh have no more further obligations to their brothers who have now firmly moved into the Promised Land.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN JOSHUA CHAPTER 14
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