Let’s dig in a bit into the mindset of Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manessah (the Trans-Jordanian tribes).
What exactly was going on inside their minds when they decided to inherit land OUTSIDE of what God had promised to Israel?
This is an important topic that affects all of us today as well.
Here’s what was going on inside their heads.
Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh most certainly wanted the same blessings their brothers living in the Promised Land got.
There’s no doubt about that.
The problem was they wanted those blessings IN ADDITION TO what they thought were the economic advantages of living on the east side of the Jordan River.
Remember, Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh fought alongside their brothers to conquer Canaan.
During that time, there’s no doubt they sensed there was something different about that land that separated it from any other piece of real estate on earth.
And they also witnessed God supernaturally acting behind the scenes to give them victory over their enemies.
Yet, in spite of all that, worldly temptations pulled them away from doing what they knew deep down inside they should have done…which was to move into Canaan with their brothers.
After all, this was the land of rest God had promised to them since the days of Abraham.
Feeling guilty about their decision, the 2 1/2 tribes decided they could be sneaky and get around the problem by building their own unauthorized altar inside the land thinking that somehow that would buy them favor from God.
Wrong move.
It never worked out for those 3 tribes who decided to live in the Trans-Jordan.
In fact, they lost both of the things they lusted after.
They lost the economic benefits they thought they would get from living outside of the land and neither did they receive the blessings that came from living close to the Lord.
In other words, they lost everything.
Remember the words of Yeshua.
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it,
while anyone who hates their life in this
world will keep it for eternal life.”
-John 12:25
Consider how many clever ways we try to keep one foot in the Promised Land while having one foot outside of it?
For example, you decide to marry an unbeliever.
Deep down inside, you know it’s the wrong thing to do but you reason with yourself by saying, “I’ll lead him or her to the Lord later“.
Or if you’re a Jew who’s not living in the land God has set apart for you, you make excuses why you can’t go telling yourself “it’s unsafe”, “I won’t be able to find work there”, “I can’t speak Hebrew”, “I’m too old”, “I don’t have enough money”…blah, blah, blah and all the millions of other excuses people make when they procrastinate and put off important decisions.
Bottomline, we try to compromise thinking we can somehow get the blessings of God without 100% surrendering to Him in full obedience.
It never worked for Israel and it’s not going to work for you.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“No servant can be
slave to two masters,
for he will either hate the first and
love the second, or scorn the second
and be loyal to the first.
You can’t be a slave to
both God and money.”
-Luke 16:13
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