Numbers 32:7 - Forerunner Commentary

Numbers 32:7

5 Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

6 And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?

7 Now why will you ^adiscourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them?

8 Thus your fathers did ^awhen I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea ^bto see the land.

9 For ^awhen they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them.

10 ^aSo the Lord’s anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying,

11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, ^afrom twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because ^bthey have not wholly followed Me,

Commentaries:

No entry exists in Forerunner Commentary for Numbers 32:7.

Numbers 32:6-17

Now Moses reacts quite angrily. Why would he do that? Why would he act so angrily just because they asked for that land? He accused them of abandoning their brethren as the tribes approached the impending war for the land of Israel.

After they were chewed out by Moses, they change their mind and they back-pedaled and decided “we better go to war with the rest of the Israelites.” Once the two tribes explained that, of course, they meant to settle in the trans-Jordan only after helping fight the war of acquisition, Moses was still not placated. He remained critical of them.

So, what still bothered Moses? They betrayed their true interests when they told Moses that they would build enclosures for their animals and cities for their children before joining the war alongside their brothers. When Moses responded, he reversed the order, pointing out that their priority should be their children and not their wealth.

Excerpted from Outside the Normal Pattern of Order by Martin G. Collins

<< Numbers 32:6

Numbers 32:8 >>