Friday, April 5 – Numbers 32, 33
Study Questions:
1. What attracted the Reubenites and Gadites to the land of Jazer and Gilead? Numbers 32:1
2. Who did Moses compare them to regarding their request? Numbers 32:8-10
3. How were they supposed to distribute the land once they had possessed it? Numbers 33:54
4. What warning did the Lord give them regarding the inhabitants of the land? Numbers 33:55, 56
Commentary and Reflection:
In Numbers 32, the Reubenites and Gadites saw the land of Jazer and Gilead on this side of the Jordan, and it seemed desirable to them. So, they asked Moses to allow them to settle there.
Moses considered the request a deviation from God’s will and a threat to the plan to conquer Canaan. That’s why he reacted forcefully. He accused them of wanting to abandon the effort and trying to discourage the people.
There is a verb that stands out in the narrative, it is the verb “see”. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad, whom God had blessed with an immense number of livestock, “saw” the land and found it desirable. The word “saw” is equivalent to the Hebrew verb “וַיִּרְא֞וּ” or “vay-yir-u”, which is key in the story. It is used several times in the account (Numbers 32:1, 8, 9, 11).
In the Old Testament, this same verb is found in its variants more than 1,200 times. It is the same verb used when it says that Eve “saw” that the tree was pleasant and good (Genesis 3:6). It is the same one used in the account that tells that Lot “saw” the plain of the Jordan and felt motivated to settle there. It is the same verb used in the story that recounts that David “saw” Bathsheba and was drawn by temptation (2 Samuel 11:2), just to mention a few cases.
There are times when the verb has a positive connotation, for example, when the Genesis account says that God looked at the creation and “saw that it was very good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25).
In biblical narrative it is an important verb that not only means “to see” but also refers to the action of discerning or evaluating. It means to see and ponder.
Today’s story teaches us that it is not enough to “see” with our own eyes and consult our senses. It is necessary to consult the leaders and even more so the infinite wisdom that knows the end from the beginning. As the apostle Paul says, we must bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,” (2 Corinthians 10:5). That is a formula for success. Instead, how dangerous, and disastrous it can be to “see” and to make the wrong decision, based solely on our preference.
Moses exhorts them to preserve unity and the spirit of conquest, to complete the project, to be faithful and persevering, to finish the journey. The Reubenites and Gadites finally agreed to go with the rest of the people to conquer Canaan.
How important and relevant the lesson is for all of us today! Especially when we are within sight of the promised land. Let us not allow ourselves to be dazzled by the things we “see” here, let us march forward with the People of God, the Heavenly Canaan awaits us.
May God grant you a very blessed day.
Pastor Rodney Aquino