Setting - The tribe of Reuben and Gad requested of Moses to posses the land of Jazer and Gilead for their livestock and not cross over the Jordan with the rest of Israel.
Content - This request would separate themselves from Israel and settling in the land of Canaan. Moses opposes this at first. One reason is that the two tribes would be removed from war with the rest of Israel. The second is that it was similar to the first time that Israel didn’t posses the Promise Land, which angered God.
The two tribes reassured Moses that they would support Israel in war and return once victory was accomplished. The two were granted their request and part of the tribe of Manasseh also posses Gilead.
Application - On the surface it does look like the two tribes wanted to separate them from Israel, but this was not the case. They were seeing an opportunity to posses a land that was ideal for their tribes, in which they had a great deal of livestock. We see that God didn’t say no to this request.
If I was in their shoes, I might have avoided making the request that Reuben and Gad had made. God has promised the land of Canaan not for ten tribes, but for Israel. So I would assume that a request to not join Israel would be denied on the bases that we would need to join them.
With that said, God may not deny requests based upon perception. Meaning, just because it was generally understood that Israel as a whole was to posses the land, doesn’t mean that a request to occupy another area is against God’s will. The two tribes would be ‘across the street’ or in this case ‘across the river’ if support was needed either way.
It’s good to know that God doesn’t have a ‘one size fits all’ type of will. We see that He does support individuality. As an example, if everyone in the church is bound for missions, it doesn’t mean that I have to follow suit. The body of the church has many members with different roles.
As long as our intentions and heart are right, God may say yes to our requests, even if would seem obvious that He would say no – He doesn’t get angry with a request, but rather a foul heart/intention.
Content - This request would separate themselves from Israel and settling in the land of Canaan. Moses opposes this at first. One reason is that the two tribes would be removed from war with the rest of Israel. The second is that it was similar to the first time that Israel didn’t posses the Promise Land, which angered God.
The two tribes reassured Moses that they would support Israel in war and return once victory was accomplished. The two were granted their request and part of the tribe of Manasseh also posses Gilead.
Application - On the surface it does look like the two tribes wanted to separate them from Israel, but this was not the case. They were seeing an opportunity to posses a land that was ideal for their tribes, in which they had a great deal of livestock. We see that God didn’t say no to this request.
If I was in their shoes, I might have avoided making the request that Reuben and Gad had made. God has promised the land of Canaan not for ten tribes, but for Israel. So I would assume that a request to not join Israel would be denied on the bases that we would need to join them.
With that said, God may not deny requests based upon perception. Meaning, just because it was generally understood that Israel as a whole was to posses the land, doesn’t mean that a request to occupy another area is against God’s will. The two tribes would be ‘across the street’ or in this case ‘across the river’ if support was needed either way.
It’s good to know that God doesn’t have a ‘one size fits all’ type of will. We see that He does support individuality. As an example, if everyone in the church is bound for missions, it doesn’t mean that I have to follow suit. The body of the church has many members with different roles.
As long as our intentions and heart are right, God may say yes to our requests, even if would seem obvious that He would say no – He doesn’t get angry with a request, but rather a foul heart/intention.
Comments