Today, I am reading and commenting on  Numbers 32-33.

After the Israelites destroyed the Midianites who had been involved in seducing Israelites into worshiping Baal of Pear, the tribes of Reuben and Gad requested the land which Israel had taken from the kings Sihon and Og as their inheritance.  I cannot tell from the language used whether or not Moses was correct in surmising that they desired to refrain from fighting with the rest of Israel west of the Jordan.    However, even if they had thought to remain out of the fighting which was coming, it was not the reason for their request.  When Moses accused them of discouraging the rest of the Israelites from crossing over in the same way that the ten scouts had done, they quickly clarified their request.  So, perhaps the tribes of Reuben and Gad had intended to not send their warriors with the rest of Israel when Israel invaded the land of Canaan, but that was not what they were asking for when they requested that the land east of the Jordan be made their inheritance.  This whole exchange illustrates the importance of continuing dialog when conflict arises.  When the two tribes made their request, Moses became angry because of what he thought they really wanted, but he did not just react in his anger.  He told them that he thought they were trying to avoid crossing the Jordan to fight and why that made him angry.  The two tribes quickly agreed that they would send their warriors across the Jordan to fight with the rest of Israel.  Everybody spelled out what was being agreed to when Moses granted the request of the two tribes.  As a result when they agreed that the two tribes would settle east of the Jordan, but send their warriors to support the rest of Israel in their conquest of Canaan.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.