Chapter 32

The events of chapter 32 don’t seem all that interesting to the casual observer; but to someone living in ancient Israel they would have been very important.

This chapter tells us about why two and a half tribes of Israelites live on the wrong side of the Jordan River, and yet still get considered part of Israel!

A piece of terminology that is useful here is “Transjordan.” Literally, this just means “Across the Jordan,” and refers to the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh (the other half-tribe being on the Israel side of the Jordan river).

Let’s go through the passage quickly.

Verses 1 – 5 lay out the reasoning of the Transjordan tribes. “The land here is good for livestock,” they say. “And we have livestock. If you think we’ve done a good job so far, give us this land as our inheritance.”

Moses throws a wobbly here. Verses 6 – 15 lay it out a little – he’s upset because he thinks that these tribes are about to give up the fight and leave it to the rest of Israel. Not surprisingly, Moses is a little flummoxed. He (quite reasonably) challenges the tribes in question by basically asking them “Are you going to help conquer the rest of the land, or are you just going to go off and go home now?

In verses 16 – 29, then, Moses is reassured. The Transjordan tribes have no intention of depriving their brothers and sisters of their assistance; so their plan is for the wife and kids to stay at home while the armies travel with Moses (and later Joshua).

The chapter is rounded out by yet another list. of who went and who did not.

Is there anything we can learn, aside from the heritage that it grants the Jews?

I believe there is one little thing here. Moses here makes a mistake by going off half-cocked, though it is true that fortunately cooler heads prevail before he says anything really stupid.

Its quite easy to make snap judgements. Sometimes our judgements are good; other times, though, we can get things badly wrong.

And boy, has Moses ever screwed up here!

The lesson for us is so simple that for the first time since I started this commentary, it feels possible that I might not fill up this page and start on a second! Nah, I’ve nearly finished this page . . .

Seriously, though, we can make similar mistakes to Moses if we don’t watch it. Notice that Moses doesn’t attempt to listen to the real story at first; nor does he ask God about it. He just REACTS.

When we’re faced with information, the temptation to blow up instead of listening could be quite difficult to resist. After all, we know everything, don’t we?

Oh yeah, that’s right, you haven’t read ahead yet!

Well, Moses thinks he knows where this conversation is headed, and starts storming down from on high on them. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who makes such errors!

Which leads us to a very practical moment. What should Moses do?

Well, he should (and does eventually!) cool down and just listen. Whereupon he finds that the request is actually not so unreasonable after all.

Similarly with us, when we find ourselves in a situation where we’re tempted to go off as soon as we hear about it, we often make our decisions rashly. But if we just take a little time and listen to God, maybe, JUST MAYBE, we might avoid a big fight and be just a little more glorifying to Him.