NOT REPEATING THE MISTAKES OF THE PAST

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, saw that the lands of Jazer and Gilead were suitable for livestock. So they came to Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and to the leaders of the community, and said, "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon - the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel - are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock. If we have found favor in your eyes," they said, "let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan."

Moses said to the Gadites and Reubenites, "Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. The Lord's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - not one except Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.' The Lord's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.”

"And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. If you turn away from following Him, He will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction."

Then they came up to him and said, "We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan."

Then Moses said to them, "If you will do this - if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, and if all of you will go armed over 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 from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord.”

"But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised."

The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, "We, your servants, will do as our lord commands. Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. But your servants, every man armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord, just as our lord says."

Then Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, son of Nun, and to the family heads of the Israelite tribes. He said to them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites, every man armed for battle, cross over the Jordan with you before the Lord, then when the land is subdued before you, give them the land of Gilead as their possession. But if they do not cross over with you armed, they must accept their possession with you in Canaan."

The Gadites and Reubenites answered, "Your servants will do what the Lord has said. We will cross over before the Lord into Canaan armed, but the property we inherit will be on this side of the Jordan."

Then Moses gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and 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 whole land with its cities and the territory around them.

The Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer, Atroth Shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah, Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran as fortified cities, and built pens for their flocks. And the Reubenites rebuilt Heshbon, Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, as well as Nebo and Baal Meon (these names were changed) and Sibmah. They gave names to the cities they rebuilt.

The descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there. So Moses gave Gilead to the Makirites, the descendants of Manasseh, and they settled there. Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, captured their settlements and called them Havvoth Jair. And Nobah captured Kenath and its surrounding settlements and called it Nobah after himself.

Numbers 32

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As we see in Numbers, chapter 32, Israel on the brink of entering the Promised Land. All of Israel, twelve tribes in total, was to cross the Jordan into Canaan and possess the land God was providing and this would most certainly include armed conflict as the present inhabitants of the land would seek to defend themselves.

It was into this scene that we find two of Israel’s tribes, Gad and Reuben, approaching Moses with the following request:

"Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon - the land the Lord subdued before the people of Israel - are suitable for livestock, and your servants have livestock. If we have found favor in your eyes, let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan."

The Israelites had already won victory over the “lands of Jazer and Gilead” and that territory was “suitable for livestock”, something that was very appealing to the “Reubenites and Gadites who had very large herds and flocks”.

As we see in the passage, the request for the land wasn’t as big an issue as what they said at the end of the request:

“Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

It was a rather short-sighted ask and one that Moses bristled over because it amounted to the Reubenites and Gadites getting out of helping their brothers and sisters fight for the land they would possess, the same people who had helped conquer the land they wanted.

Well, it doesn’t take Moses long to rebuke the two clans, reminding them of the sinful behavior of their ancestors, saying:

"Shall your countrymen go to war while you sit here? Why do you discourage the Israelites from going over into the land the Lord has given them? This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to look over the land. After they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and viewed the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land the Lord had given them. The Lord's anger was aroused that day and he swore this oath: 'Because they have not followed me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years old or more who came up out of Egypt will see the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - not one except Caleb, son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, son of Nun, for they followed the Lord wholeheartedly.' The Lord's anger burned against Israel and he made them wander in the desert forty years, until the whole generation of those who had done evil in his sight was gone.”

He then finished with this:

"And here you are, a brood of sinners, standing in the place of your fathers and making the Lord even more angry with Israel. If you turn away from following Him, He will again leave all this people in the desert, and you will be the cause of their destruction."

Moses had to remind the Reubenites and Gadites of how God had passed judgment on their ancestors before, making them wander an additional forty years in the desert for refusing to enter Canaan as He commanded the first time. He did it then and He could do it again now. That was the point Moses was trying to make. The request was only going to repeat the mistakes of the past and that was utterly unacceptable.

Do we do this as well, easily forget the mistakes of our ancestors and then end up committing the same wrongs in life?

If we’re truly honest, I’m afraid it happens far more than we would like to admit.

Well, going back to the scriptures, we find that Moses’ words resonated with the Gadites and Reubenites for they ended up revising their proposal, saying:

"We, your servants, will do as our lord commands. Our children and wives, our flocks and herds will remain here in the cities of Gilead. But your servants, every man armed for battle, will cross over to fight before the Lord, just as our lord says."

"We would like to build pens here for our livestock and cities for our women and children. But we are ready to arm ourselves and go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them to their place. Meanwhile our women and children will live in fortified cities, for protection from the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has received his inheritance. We will not receive any inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan."

So the Gadites and Reubenites were still interested in the land east of the Jordan but note that they would send all their men into battle and fight alongside the other tribes of Israel while their women and children would be protected in fortified cities they would construct. This revised plan was one that was obviously far more to Moses’ satisfaction as he said this to them:

"If you will do this - if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for battle, and if all of you will go armed over 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 from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel. And this land will be your possession before the Lord.”

"But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure that your sin will find you out. Build cities for your women and children, and pens for your flocks, but do what you have promised."

In other words, woe be it for the Gadites and Reubenites if they go back on their promise.

So after the tribes of Reuben and Gad accept Moses’ proposition, he informs Eleazar of the arrangement and then “gave to the Gadites, the Reubenites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og, king of Bashan”. This included “the whole land with its cities and the territory around them”. Then we read where the Gadites, Reubenites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built the fortified cities to protect their women and children as the men crossed the Jordan and went into battle.

This scripture passage for today underscores the importance of not repeating the mistakes of the past. For had Moses not spoken up, sparking the change of plans, the nation of Israel would have been destined for further consequences from God which could have included being turned away once again to wander the desert wilderness one more time. Fortunately, that didn’t happen as Moses performs one more act of strong leadership before he died, convincing the Reubenites and Gadites to make the needed corrections to their plan so the move to Canaan could stay on schedule. In the end translation, this new generation of Israelites would enjoy a life far better than their relatives, all because they focused themselves on being obedient to their God.

Friends, this same principle can be applied to our lives as well. For we all should step back and evaluate the lives of our parents, other family members, and friends, paying particular attention to how they have failed through sinning in life. Then, we should take whatever steps necessary within our own lives to make sure we don’t repeat their transgressions all over again, breaking what could be a vicious cycle of iniquity that could then be passed onto the next generation…and the next…and the next. You, I, and every other believer have the amazing power to establish change for the better and the Holy Spirit is ready to lead us there if we will only submit ourselves to His lead.

Indeed, we can only be successful in living in righteousness instead of wickedness if we surrender our will to the will of the Lord, asking Him to guide us each and every day while delivering us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13). Through Him, we can always guarantee that we won’t repeat the mistakes of the past as He directs us toward obediently fulfilling His blessed purposes that always bring Him the honor, glory, and praise that He deserves.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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