The Enticement of the Transjordan

Num. 32

As the Israelites were preparing to take over the land of Canaan, the Reubenites and the Gadites saw that the land of Jazer and Gilead seemed to be a good place for their cattle. They went to Moses and said, “Do not make us cross the Jordan” (Num. 32:5). Moses was disappointed and said, “Why will you discourage the hearts of the Israelites from going over into the land that the LORD has given them?” (Num. 32:7). But as they promised to go into Canaan and fight along with their brothers, Moses agreed to let them stay behind in the Transjordan.

As they lived in the Transjordan, they came to be harassed by the tribes around them losing their lands slowly. The Moabites, Ammonites and the Arameans had them surrounded. By the time Israel was defeated, they were gone.

They did not enter the land the LORD promised them.

Many of us today also say, “let this be enough” and “I do not want to go on any further.” Like the Reubenites and Gadites who were ensnared by the lushness of the land they were in, many of us are ensnared and entrapped by the riches and wonders of the world. What they did not know was the safety and richness of the land the LORD promised them.

This is one BIG reason why many people have stayed behind to suffer enormously.

Come now, let us cross the Jordan, and enter the promised land, the land the LORD promised us. The land of the free.