To the Reubenites and to the Gadites and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, “Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’ Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them, until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land, and possess that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.”
– Joshua 1:12-15
The world has a propensity for dragging a person into every struggle or skirmish that comes along. Social media is a prime culprit. If you aren’t feeling offended by something when you open Facebook, Facebook will quickly tell you what should offend you AND tell you what you should be doing about it. Anyone wanting to preserve some sanity will learn to guard against being drug into the mud for every cause. As a general premise, it is wise to guard against fighting battles that are not ours. No one has enough mental, emotional and physical resources to do otherwise. However, the Christian faith does establish times when another person’s battle does become our own as well.
Joshua had his hands full with a mass of people who were anxious to settle in a land to call their own. The tribes of Israel had suffered their 40 year wilderness wandering, and were now poised at the eastern banks of the Jordan River ready to cross and make Canaan their own homeland. Nine and a half of the twelve tribes were especially eager for this to happen. Two and a half tribes might have not felt as strongly about the battle ahead. This might sound odd to you, and you may be asking why. The answer is quite simple: their land of inheritance was already established on the eastern side of the Jordan. To put it another way, they were already home.
We read in Numbers 32 how Reuben and Gad approached Moses and asked for the area east of the Jordan (the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead) to become their inheritance because it was spacious and well suited for their livestock. At first Moses was not favorable to the idea, for obvious reasons. In so many words, Moses reminded them that the journey of Israel into the promised land was a team effort. It would not look good nor would it be pleasing to the Lord if part of the team decided to not participate in the looming struggle. Reuben and Gad had to agree to leave their wives, children and livestock in their land allotments and join their brothers of the other tribes in battle until all of the land for the tribes had been established. (One half of the tribe of Manasseh also got in on the deal.) When the time for conquest came, the Reubenites and Gadites could not claim to “not have a dog in the fight.” Their brothers’ battle was their battle as well.
Because this happened long ago in a land far, far away, we could be tempted to think there is no application for us. The witness of the New Testament would say otherwise. When it comes to the gospel, we are all in it together. Perhaps the best image to convey this truth comes from 1 Corinthians 12, where the apostle Paul describes the church as a body. We may be made up of many parts, but every part serves the whole and every part has an interest in the health of the whole. “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it” (1 Corinthians 12:26). Moses reminded the people of Israel of a truth that would continue to be relevant through the church age: you are all in it together.
One of the easiest and best things we can do for the global church is to pray. In that way we can put our shoulders next to those in other lands as they face their specific challenges. Something I have found useful is a smartphone app from Operation World. The resource provides a prayer calendar inviting the user to pray specifically for the church in countries around the world. Whether in Europe or Asia, known countries or countries I’ve never heard of, I am drawn into prayer reminded that their battle is also my battle. Whether the tribes of Israel centuries ago or the church of Christ in the present age, the people of God have a unified mission. Our work is not finished until all the work is finished.
Moses asked the sons of Reuben and Gad, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here?”
There is still power in that question.
See you along the Winding Path.
The Winding Path 