321 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a great number of cattle: and when they saw that the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead was a good place for cattle; 2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the meeting, 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4 The land which the Lord gave into the hands of the children of Israel, is a land for cattle, and your servants have cattle. 5 And they said, With your approval, let this land be given to your servants as their heritage: do not take us over Jordan. 6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and the children of Reuben, Are your brothers to go to the war, while you take your rest here? 7 Why would you take from the children of Israel the desire to go over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 So did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they took from the children of Israel the desire to go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 And at that time the Lord was moved to wrath, and made an oath, saying, 11 Truly, not one of the men of twenty years old and over who came out of Egypt will see the land which I gave by oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; because they have not been true to me with all their heart; 12 But only Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua, the son of Nun: because they have been true to the Lord. 13 Then the Lord was angry with Israel, and he made them wanderers in the waste land for forty years? till all that generation who had done evil in the eyes of the Lord was dead. 14 And now you have come to take the place of your fathers, another generation of sinners, increasing the wrath of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you are turned away from him, he will send them wandering again in the waste land; and you will be the cause of the destruction of all this people.
16 Then they came to him, and said, We will make safe places for our cattle here, and towns for our little ones; 17 But we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel till we have taken them to their place: but our little ones will be safe in the walled towns against the people of the land. 18 We will not come back to our houses till every one of the children of Israel has come into his heritage. 19 For we will not have our heritage with them on the other side of Jordan and forward; because our heritage has come to us on this side of Jordan to the east. 20 Then Moses said to them, If you will do this, arming yourselves to go before the Lord to the war, 21 Every armed man of you going across Jordan before the Lord till he has overcome and sent in flight all who are against him, 22 And the land is under the rule of the Lord: then after that you may come back, having done no wrong to the Lord and to Israel; and this land will be yours for your heritage before the Lord. 23 But if you do not do this, then you are sinners against the Lord; and you may be certain that your sin will have its reward.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 32:1-23
Commentary on Numbers 32:1-5
(Read Numbers 32:1-5)
Here is a proposal made by the Reubenites and Gadites, that the land lately conquered might be allotted to them. Two things common in the world might lead these tribes to make this choice; the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. There was much amiss in the principle they went upon; they consulted their own private convenience more than the public good. Thus to the present time, many seek their own things more than the things of Jesus Christ; and are led by worldly interests and advantages to take up short of the heavenly Canaan.
Commentary on Numbers 32:6-15
(Read Numbers 32:6-15)
The proposal showed disregard to the land of Canaan, distrust of the Lord's promise, and unwillingness to encounter the difficulties and dangers of conquering and driving out the inhabitants of that land. Moses is wroth with them. It will becomes any of God's Israel to sit down unconcerned about the difficult and perilous concerns of their brethren, whether public or personal. He reminds them of the fatal consequences of the unbelief and faint-heartedness of their fathers, when they were, as themselves, just ready to enter Canaan. If men considered as they ought what would be the end of sin, they would be afraid of the beginning of it.
Commentary on Numbers 32:16-27
(Read Numbers 32:16-27)
Here is the good effect of plain dealing. Moses, by showing their sin, and the danger of it, brought them to their duty, without murmuring or disputing. All men ought to consider the interests of others as well as their own; the law of love requires us to labour, venture, or suffer for each other as there may be occasion. They propose that their men of war should go ready armed before the children of Israel into the land of Canaan, and that they should not return till the conquest of Canaan was ended. Moses grants their request, but he warns them of the danger of breaking their word. If you fail, you sin against the Lord, and not against your brethren only; God will certainly reckon with you for it. Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us now to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, and forsake them, lest they find us out to our ruin.