Numbers 32 EAST OF JORDAN When a goal has been clearly defined, to fall short of that goal is really a form of defeat. Not every defeat comes as a result of opposition or persecution, or even from the subtle undermining of the people of God by an implacable enemy. It is possible to be defeated, to fall short of a stated goal, because of our own doing. The tribes of Reuben and Gad, and half of Manasseh made a decision without considering God in any way. The consideration that brought about the decision to stay east of Jordan was their cattle and the grasslands they could see where they were. Their own interests governed their actions without any reference to God and His will at all.
When a child of God allows education, training, personal skills and financial considerations to be the source of decision making, that person has made a great mistake. There have been, and always will be, worldly attractions that call us to follow them and settle in a place short of where God intends. When we allow the circumstances around us to be the guide of our decision making, there will be all sorts of issues and questions that can be raised. True, we consider circumstances along with a number of other guidelines when we make decisions, but the will and promises of God are what should decide our actions, not circumstances.
The attractive pastures for their cattle kept the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh from entering the promised land and getting the inheritance God had intended for them. Only some of the men, the warriors, ever saw what God had promised. The wives, the children, those who were not among the warriors were all affected by the decision to let their possessions dictate their actions. It is possible that a person's occupation, their investments in the world, the promise of material goods to keep them from ever getting what God has promised. It is also important for us to remember that every decision I make has an effect on others besides me. Some have moved to places where wages are high and morals are low. In that place their children and the generations following them, become like those around them. Very seldom does someone ever escape the clutches of the ungodly world who have been brought there by parents who "want to get ahead so my children don't have to work as hard as I did."
When we make decisions and base our conduct on God's revealed will, that takes care of the complications that arise when the pressure is applied by the attractions of society around us and the opportunities of advancement in the ways and work of the world. Those things that appeal to our nature are overridden by our commitment to God and His promises. Both Reuben and Gad had mixed principles in the past. Their history was that of living on the border of right and wrong depending on what was happening or what they thought was advantageous at the moment. Without a commitment to scriptural guidelines, and a real desire for God, questionable things are looked at with favor in spite of the consequences the future may bring.
Moses condemned the request of those who wanted to stay east of Jordan. For years his heart had been fixed on, and longed for the promised land. But because of a wrong attitude and action on his own part, the judgment of God was that he could not enter. Now here were thousands of people who could enter the promised land but did not want to. The spiritual perspective of a child of God is based on what God wants from them and for them. How different that is from those who look at life from mere natural eyes. Moses' heart was in Canaan even though he could not enter. The hearts of those people east of Jordan were not in Canaan nor on God, but on their material possessions. That same attraction among God's people today weakens us and makes us vulnerable to the world and, as in the case of those east of Jordan, the first to fall when attacked by enemies.
Representatives of those who stayed east of Jordan were in the vanguard of the Israelites when they entered the promised land, and with that commitment Moses was satisfied. Bit the serious warning he gave them, "Be sure your sin will find you out," has been a commonly used phrase ever since for those who make promises but don't carry them out. Commitment to the terms of a covenant is demanded of us living in New Testament times as well as those who lived in Old Testament times. The promise of those men to Moses was in the form of a covenant. That seems honorable, and it was, but it still meant that many who could have lived in the land God promised, never would.
Moses rightly feared what would happen to the whole nation if those tribes rebelled and seceded from the nation of Israel. He had been at the borderland before and knew the consequences that would fall on every one of the people of God if these people disobeyed God's instructions. All of Christendom has been negatively affected by the man-made, man-inspired, man-centered decisions of a few people that has negatively affected true Christians all over the world. For those who seek to be faithful to the word of God and know the goal of a glorious church, complete, clean and composed of only true believers - and is God's intention, this counterfeit Christianity without true faith, has hindered the work of God immensely. The defeat of a few can negatively affect the whole family of God.
There were unfortunate results from making a decision based on the comfort of cows. It led to the building of an altar and strained relations between those east of Jordan and those in the promised land. God has given us the promise of His presence with us when we gather to our Lord Jesus Christ alone and in His name alone. Those who are content east of Jordan will never really enter into, nor understand the difference of living in the promised land today contrasted with living where it is most convenient to us, and where we can profit most materially. It is of utmost importance to the people of God to not stop short of where God wants us to be. We need to claim for ourselves the inheritance that those who live by faith can experience each day.