The tribes of Reuben and Gad went to Moses and asked him for the right to stay there on the east side of the Jordan, for the people that were there were all dead or fled, because the children of Israel had killed them off. There were good fields, water, and it was a good place to raise cattle, and their families. These tribes told Moses that this would be their land of milk and honey, and they would give up the rights to an inheritance on the other side of the Jordan.

This would also set up another problem that faced the children of Israel some 37 1/2 years prior, for when they sent the spies out, and the report came back negative, the people refuse to enter the land. So now that these tribes wanted to stay east of the river, it could start rumors in the rest of the tribes, and Moses could see all kinds of problems developing out of this situation. As far as the tribes of Gad and Reuben were concerned, this was their land of milk and honey, for they were cattle people. Moses took this problem to the Lord, and this was His instructions to Moses.

Numbers 32:1 "Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold the place was a place for cattle;"

Jazer and Gilead were on the east side of Jordan, and as the troops of these tribes were at battle, they looked over the land as they collected the herds of cattle and livestock to bring back to Moses, and they saw that it was perfect cattle country.

Numbers 32:2 "The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and sapke unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying,"

Remember that Gad and Reuben were together in the same division of the four divisions of the army. They camped together around the tabernacle, and fought the war together in battle. These two tribes made up the major portion of one of the division of the army; there is a war coming and this would have crippled the army of Israel, and Moses knew it. At this time that the leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben went before Moses, Eleazar the high priest, and the leaders of the other tribes, Manasseh was not part of this group that wanted to stay east of the Jordan. Yet, the tribe of Manasseh were the neighbors to the west side of the tribe of Gad. These three tribes played a big role in the taking of Jazer, and Gilead, and many other towns as they swept through the land to tare down those small communities in the outlining areas.

Numbers 32:3 "Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealah, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon,"

"Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer" were cities of kings Sihon and Og that were defeated by the Israelites. "Heshbon" was the capital of the Amorites, while mount Nebo is the place where Moses will be going shortly to die, "gathered to his fathers".

Numbers 32:4 "Even the country which the Lord smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle:"

When twelve thousand Israelites went up against thirty five thousand, it was the Lord that put the fear in the enemy to where they could not fight. The enemy was killed and God gave them into the hands of the Israelites to run their swords through the enemy. The Lord "smote" them before the Israelites, In the Hebrew text, "smote" as used here is "nakah", [5221], "to be strickened, give stripes, wounds." The Lord so disarmed these enemies and strickened them with fear, confusing their minds, and He prepared the enemy for the battle so that not one of Israel's army would be hurt.

Remember when the twelve thousand Israelites went out to war with the Midianites, not one man lost his life, yet 35,000 of the enemy were killed. These men knew exactly who gave them the battle, and this is why the men of war gave back to God so much of the gold, silver and booty that they took from the spoils of the battle.

Numbers 31:48, 49 "And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:" [48] "And they said unto Moses, "Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us." [49]

"And there lacketh not one man of us", not one man that went out to battle, did not come home from that battle. Get it? God placed the fear of the Israelites in their minds, and disarmed them from being able to fight the army of Israel. God fought the battle, and the army did the clean up after God's battle. Score, enemy 0, Israelites 35,000. These men of Gad and Reuben were their; they saw how God gave them the victory, and they gave God the credit for the victory. They knew that God would be with them no matter where they were or how far they were outnumbered.

There is another battle coming very shortly in these end times, and just as God protected every last one of His army east of the Jordan, He will protect His army of the Elect in these latter days.

Numbers 32:5 " Wherefore," said they, "if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan."

These leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben are requesting that, if we have found favor in your eyes, then let this land be given to us, and our land or inheritance will not be on the other side of the Jordan. There was another time when people decided that they did not want to enter into the promise land, and God killed that entire generation of cowards along the trails of the wilderness over the past thirty seven and a half years. Every person in the army and camp had their father's killed out there in the wilderness because they refuse to enter into the promise land. Those things that happened back in Numbers 14, are starting to appear here.

Numbers 32:6 "And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?"

Moses came right back with a response; "Are you saying that you want your brethren of the other tribes are going to war to claim their inheritance, and you want to sit here on this safe side of the Jordan river?" After all the only reason that the land was safe from giants and the other enemy nations, was that the whole might of all the tribes made this land east of the Jordan safe. Moses is calling attention to these two tribes of Gad and Reuben, that they are a member of the nation of Israel, and as such they share the same burden as each of the tribes.

God doesn't like those that look for the easy way out, when there is a battle ahead. This is what is happening today, through this rapture doctrine. There is a spiritual battle coming when Michael and his angels thrust Satan and his fallen angels out onto the earth, and then comes the spiritual battle that ends with the end of this earth age of flesh man.

Revelation 12:7-9 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels," [7] "And prevailed not, neither was there place found any more in heaven." [8] "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [9]

John is writing this as Jesus is telling him what to write, looking back from the day of the Lord, that day when the seventh and last trump sounds. This time Satan arrives here on earth with all his fallen angels is at the sixth trump. The church of today know of this tribulation that Satan will bring on the earth, but they think of it as a physical battle. It is a Spiritual battle and that is why we have to have our Spiritual armor on and in place that is recorded in Ephesians. God has told us what that armor of protection is that covers all of our body, and in that description, not one word of wings is mentioned. Satan is coming to earth for a short five month period, and he and his angels bring their supernatural powers with them. Why? Because they are supernatural, and "not of this estate." [not of this physical human realm.]

Many Christians today just do not believe that God can protect them at this time, they do not believe that God would allow them to go through such a torment that Satan will put on this earth, because they just do not believe God, and take Him at His Word. They are like the children of Israel, listening to those false spies as they camped back in Kadesh-Barnea. Many Christians today are looking for some way to help God get his children into the promise land, into the Millennium age of Christ's kingdom, that follows this approaching time of the great deception, [called tribulation].

Many Christians have formed and created their own little doctrine that goes against the Word of God, to fly out of here, while this testing of mankind on this earth takes place. It just is not going to happen. God revealed doctrine that would come in the end times, in Ezekiel 13:18-21.

Ezekiel 13:18 "And say, ` Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of My People, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?"

This prophecy is direct to the generation living in "the time of the end", and we are living in that time today. It is directed to you and me, and this doctrine is very common amongst God's people today. These "women" are suppose to be "the bride of Christ", and the ministers of the gospel are preaching to a spiritually sick and dying world. God's arms are outstretched to all that will hear and believe on that saving gospel given in the Word of God. This warning of God is to the false preachers that fabricate false prophecies [make kerchiefs], that cover over the saving hands of Almighty God. The real work of God, the warnings to our generation, is covered over because of the so-called religious divine utterances [by these false teachers and priest] that God did not speak. These "pillows" of false doctrine cover over the truths from God's Word that would prepare God's Children [Christians] for Satan's coming, and these false doctrines give a false sense of security to the new born spiritual soul.

These Kerchiefs or false doctrine are being placed into the minds of every person, to hunt or win over to their doctrine, and cause these dear souls to build up a false sense of security. This then is aimed at those false teachers that like to promote fairy-tales of fly away doctrine, that has no place in His Word. God is telling us that we are to rip out those kerchiefs of every high place, every church or temple to give them the truth, to see what and where those false doctrines came from.

Ezekiel 13:19 "And will ye pollute Me among My People for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to My People that hear your lies?"

This is what God is telling us to say to those who are teaching these false doctrines. "Are you going to pollute My Word for money [barley] and for taking of vows [bread]?" Are you going to pollute the Word of God because of your budget, or pension program, or anything that causes you to peddle something you know to be a lie. Friend, "The souls that should not die", are those souls that are hungry for the truth and searching the Scriptures for the truth. Yet these false teachers are leading them astray with these false doctrines, for the sake of their many different earthly matters. In most cases it is done in ignorance, because they were taught to do so in their seminaries, and in their homes.

At the same time these false ministers are giving promises to many souls that God dies not want. These false ministers are creating a form of salvation, and false hope, that makes people believe they are saved, when they in fact are not. In fact they have no hope in this world age, and He will identify these people shortly.

These lies are as such; "We can have real peace in the world;" it is a lie, for the Bible says there will be No real peace in the world outside of Christ. They say, "You don't need to study the book of Revelation or the Old Testament:" that is a lie, for that is where most of the instruction for God's elect in these end times comes from.

Ezekiel 13:20 "Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; "Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tare them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly."

Again, God is warning those that promote those fairy-tales of fly away doctrine that we call the rapture. They white-wash over the minds of those souls seeking the truth, and prepare them for this event that will never happen. There will be no rapture, except for the two witness of Revelation eleven, but they will be killed and lie in the streets of Jerusalem for three days when life come back into them, and then they arise. If you are peddling a rapture doctrine, then these verses are aimed at you.

This popular "rapture doctrine" also called the fly away doctrine didn't come into existance until May of 1830, and then it was a vision by Margret MacDonald, a mentally ill woman. She had this vision that she herself called evil, and you would think that most people would be intelligent enough that they could see through fairy-tales like this. Jesus didn't teach it, neither did any of his disciples, but those two Scottish ministers of the Brethren Church picked up the vision and and refined it into what you have today, a twisting of the Scriptures to make them fit their lie. Alexander Reese wrote a detailed and much quoted volume, "The approaching Advent of Christ." in 1937, that many people regarded it as a post tribulation classic. Then Edward Irving, a leading figure in the formation of the Catholic Apostolic Church of England in the 1830, picked up on this mentally ill woman's vision, refined it and carried it all the way to the United States Churches. The complete story of this fly-away doctrine is recorded in the book, "The Incredible Cover-up", by Dave MacPherson [ISBN 0-93160-806-6].

When you rely on I Thessalonians 4:15 to the end of the chapter, you can develop all sorts of false doctrine, but you miss the subject of what these verses are talking about, for to get the subject of these verses starts in verse 13. In verse 4:13 Paul is explaining to the Christians at the Thessalonian Church what happens when one of their loved ones die, and is buried in the ground. Paul did not want these Christians ignorant as the heathen are, that don't believe in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Thessalonians 4:13 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead], that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."

The heathen believe that the souls and spirits of past loved ones are out there in the hole in the ground, for they go there and talk to their spirits at the grave site. Many today even believe that in this so called time of the rapture, those souls will instantly rise first at that time. Friend, At death all souls go immediately to be with the Father. There is no soul sleep as is taught in the rapture doctrine. God placed that soul in the body of the individual at conception, and the moment that life leaves that body, that soul and spirit are instantly with the Lord. Ecclesiastes 12:7 "Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God Who gave it."

I Thessalonians 4:14 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [die a physical death] in Jesus will God bring with them."

If you are a Christian you had better believe that Christ died and rose from the dead, or you are no better than any other heathen that believes that when a person dies, their soul is out there in a hole in the ground. Common sense alone should tell you that when God does something, He works in a natural order. The whole reason for Satan and his fallen angels to come to this earth is to test the people that are on this earth. God gave us all the warnings of what to expect during that time, and Jesus gave us the authority and protection to be used for that hour when Satan is here. No harm will happen that will come or be a surprise to God's elect, those sealed with the truth in their minds from God's Word, of those events in those final months of this earth age.

Just as the "seal" of truth is being fixed in the mind of the Elect, so also "the mark of the Beast" will be fixed in the minds of those that are off in fairy-tales, and prepare themselves to fly away with Satan, the first Christ to come.

Ezekiel 13:21 "Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver My People out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."

It is sad to think that the very doctrine that people are placing their souls in for their redemption, is the very doctrine that will condemn their soul. That fly-away doctrine is strengthening the hands of the wicked one, for God's People will not be able to see and know which Messiah is the true Messiah. One is a fake, and this doctrine leads them to the wrong Messiah.

Ezekiel 13:22 "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hand of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:"

God will remove these false ministers where they can do no more spiritual harm to any congregation. This is a problem that we have today, just as those Israelites had back in Moses day. They wanted to enter into the promise land, and were diverted the first time by the lies of the spies sent out to seek the truth. In this problem of allowing the Gad and Rubenites to stay on the east side of the Jordan, may cause the same results as it did thirty seven years before.

Ezekiel 13:23 "Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver My People out of your hand: and ye shall know that I am the Lord."

That's exactly how this rapture doctrine started by "visions", "divine divinations" that went against the Word of God.

Numbers 32:7 "And wherefore discourage ye the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord hath given them?"

Moses is asking the people of the tribes of Gad and Reuben, "Why are you taking away the courage of your brethren?" Don't tempt God, for this very act of staying on the east side of the Jordan would cause the rest of the tribes to want to do the same thing, take the easy way out, and not seek to enter into the promise land.

Numbers 32:8 "Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land."

Moses is calling attention to those twelve spies that he sent out in Numbers 13, and the effect that their false reports gave to these people's parents, that died in the wilderness. They made up their false report by saying; "We are just grasshoppers at their side, for there are giants over there in the land."

Numbers 32:9 "For when they went up unto the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the Lord had given them."

Eshcol was the place where they took the grapes from, to being back to Moses. Numbers 13:23 "And they came unto the brook of Eshcol, and cut down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bare it between two upon a staff; and the brought of the pomegranates, and of the figs." Moses is reminding these men of Gad and Reuben of those things that happened back then. Moses is comparing these men of Gad and Reuben to those ten false spies that cause the Children of Israel such hardship over the past thirty seven years, when they took the courage away from the people.

Numbers 32:10 "And the Lord's anger was kindled the same time, and He sware, saying,"

Moses is talking here of the results of when they turned their hearts from entering into the promise land. God was angry over the mistrust that the people had for them, and God sware this oath against them.

Numbers 32:11 "Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed Me:"

This oath took the life for their fathers and mothers, and their bodies were buried along the trails that they were wandering on for the past thirty seven years. Each of these men and women witnessed the results of the anger of the Lord. God made the promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their seed would possess the land of Canaan for an inheritance. They should have been there now, but were still living in their tents.

Numbers 32:12 "Save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua the son of Nun: for they have wholly followed the Lord."

Only Caleb and Joshua, that gave a true report, will be alive to enter into the promise land, and take part of the land for their inheritance. Numbers 13:30 "And Caleb stilled the People before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it." " But the rest of the people rebelled against them, except Joshua.

Numbers 32:13 "And the Lord's anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was consumed."

Not one of those people that rebelled against the Lord and did not trust God at His Word lived to enter into the promise land.

In our generation, God has also made many promises to those that would trust Him, and just like in this time in the wilderness, very few will prepare themselves to be ready to go into the promise land.

Numbers 32:14 "And, behold, ye are risen up in your fathers' stead, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of the Lord toward Israel."

So now Moses is telling these men and women of Gad and Reuben to pay attention, [behold] You are doing the same thing that your father's did, and they are dead: They were a multitude of sinful men. What they did increased the anger of the Lord against all of Israel. What you are asking me to do will against sentence this entire generation of Israelites to die here in the wilderness. You want to sit here in safety while your brethren are going over into the land of Canaan to fight for their inheritance.

Numbers 32:15 "For if ye turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness and ye shall destroy all this people."

If you turn away from the will of God, and go after your own desires, God will use this to destroy all of your people here in the wilderness as well. If they did stay here on the east side of the Jordan, it would have meant total destruction of those tribes.

Numbers 32:16 "And they came near unto him, and said, "We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones:"

So this is the response that the elders of Gad and Reuben gave to Moses, concerning the going into the promise land. First of all, they would build sheep folds and houses and guarded encampments for their cattle and families. Moses sort of misread the children of Gad and Reuben, for they were willing to cross over into the promise land, but this land was exactly what would satisfy the type of living that these people were, farmers. So now these elders are stating exactly with they would be willing to do for the sake of the rest of the tribes.

Numbers 32:17 "But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitance of the land."

The agreement that they worked out amongst the two tribes, was that they would go out in front of the rest of the tribes of Israel, just behind the ark of the covenant. They would leave their families behind in protected cities east of the Jordan river, and fight the battles with them until they had their inheritance in the promise land. We will stay with you until you settle in your place of inheritance.

Numbers 32:18 "We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance."

We will not cross back to the east side of the Jordan river, until all of the enemies of Israel are defeated, and the people are settled on their lands.

Numbers 32:19 "For we will not inherit with them on yonder side Jordan, or forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward."

The people of Gad and Rueben are giving up what ever rights that they had on the west of Jordan, for the sake of receiving this land on the east side of the Jordan river. These two tribes are accepting this land east of the river as full payment for what they were entitled to west of the Jordan river. They saw the pasture land, and the waters and hills and they wanted this land to be their inheritance. This would be their land of milk and honey.

Numbers 32:20 "And Moses said unto them, "If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the Lord to war,"

Moses has placed a condition on accepting the terms that the elders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben had presented to him and the rest of the tribes of Israel. That condition was, that if they did exactly as they stated they would do, then it would be acceptable to everyone. However Moses is correcting them here, for they said that they would go before the children of Israel, but Moses is saying, "armed before the Lord to war." Remember that in that first conflict thirty seven years prior, after God passed judgment on the tribes of that generation, they had a change of heart, but God would not allow them to go at that point in time. God told them, don't go! Well here Moses is calling attention to the fact that it will be God that determines who leads out and where and when they go to battle. They will not be going out before the children of Israel, God will be going first, as the Ark of the Covenant, and the priests will proceed the tribes.

Numbers 32:21 "And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the Lord, until He hath driven out His enemies from before Him,"

Notice that Moses is correcting these elders of Gad and Reuben, that not be them that drives out the enemy, but God that drives "His enemies from before Him."

Numbers 32:22 "And the land be subdued before the Lord: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the Lord, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord."

Moses is calling attention that you would not only be guilty of sin before the Father, but before the other tribes also if you break your word on going to war. After you have completed your duty to the Lord across the Jordan, then you will be guiltless to return to your own possession.

Numbers 32:23 "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out."

However if you do not arm yourselves and go to fight with with brethren against our enemies, then you have sinned, and your sin will find you out. This is just as true today as it was in Moses' day; for your sins will find you out. God knows every sin you do when you do it, and even when you plan it in your mind. It is you that will know you sin, even when you are trying to make that sin right in your own mind. When you bow your head to tell the Lord that you sinned, He knows it even before you do. God knows your heart and mind, and there is no hiding from the Lord.

Numbers 32:24 "Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which hath proceeded out of your mouth."

They would take the cities that had been torn down, and Moses is telling them to rebuild their cities fortify them for their little ones, rebuild the fences for your sheep and herds, and do exactly as you stated that you would do from your own mouth; arm yourselves.

Numbers 32:25 "And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spake unto Moses, saying, "Thy servants will do as my lord commandeth."

The children of Gad and Reuben agreed with Moses, saying that they would do exactly as he [Moses] commanded them to do.

Numbers 32:26 "Our little ones, our wives, and our flocks and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead:"

Before they would return, they would make sure that their wives and little ones would be protected in the cities that they would establish for themselves. Remember that all the men and most of the people, women and children had been killed off by the Israelites by this time in the war that had just been fought. These women of Israel were not defenseless, for they had been use to the hardships of life and caring for themselves.

Numbers 32:27 "But thy servants will pass over, every man armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord saith."

Notice here that these men have it all in order; "Before the Lord [YHVH] to battle, as my lord [Moses] saith."

Numbers 32:28 "So concerning them Moses commanded Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel:"

Moses knew at this time that he would not be making the journey into the promise land, for God told him to go up on mount Nebo, to view the promise land, and he would die there. So Moses is giving Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, the man that will lead the Israelites across the Jordan river, to take the Land of Canaan, and the elders of the tribes exactly what God told him. These are the ones that would draw up the lots for division of the land, and see to it that the inheritance for each man or woman would be right. However their plans had to be expanded because two of the tribes will remain east of the Jordan, and this land also had to be allotted out for the men of Gad and Reuben's inheritance also.

Numbers 32:29 "And Moses said unto them, "If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over Jordan, every man armed to battle, before the Lord, and the land shall be subdued before you; then ye shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession:"

So the land on both sides of the Jordan would not be allotted until all the land on the west side of the Jordan river had been taken. Then all the land on the east and the west side of the Jordan would be divided up to each man's inheritance all at the same time. Of course in this statement, if the men of Gad and Reuben didn't arm themselves and go into the battle, than that land of inheritance that they requested would not be their.

Numbers 32:30 "But if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan."

If they break their promise and don't go to war with you, than they will be forced into taking for their possessions an inheritance in the land of Canaan. This would then prevent the nation of Israel from being divided in the future.

Numbers 32:31 "And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, "As the Lord hath said unto thy servants, so will we do."

The children of Gad and Reuben now see that the reason for taking the promise land was to fulfill the promise that God, the Lord, had made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob must be fulfilled by them at this time. All the tribes must take part in the taking of the Land of Canaan, and each man must be given his rightful inheritance. They agree to follow the leading of the Lord, through the direction of Joshua, and Eleazar, and the elders. Joshua and Eleazar were present now, and the people of Gad and Reuben would hear and agree to the conditions stated here.

Numbers 32:32 "We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, that the possession of our inheritance on this side Jordan may be our." "

Although it was agreed that they would get this land on the east side of the Jordan river, there were also conditions attached to this agreement. The actual assigning of the land would be done later, as recorded in the book of Joshua and the dividing or lot lines would be drawn up them.

Numbers 32:33 "And Moses gave unto them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, even the cities of the country round about."

Notice that half the tribe of Manasseh will be added to these two tribes for receiving their inheritance east of the Jordan river. Half the tribe of Manasseh was not involved in the petitioning of this land east of the Jordan, yet they will receive part of the land also. All of this land, the cities and everything within that land would belong to these three tribes.

Numbers 32:34 "And the children of Gad build Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,"

Numbers 32:35 "And Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah."

"Athroth, Shophan" should read "Atroth Shopan" meaning "the crown or hills of Shophan".

Numbers 32:36 "And Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran, fenced cities: and folds for sheep."

Remember that there were hundreds of thousand of cattle and sheep that had to be penned in, as they continued into battle.

Numbers 32:37 "And the children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kir-jathaim,"

The rebuilding took place, and the other tribes focused on crossing the Jordan and entering into the land of Canaan. Heshbon was the land of the king Sihon, and the Amorites, and it would go to the Gaddites; but when the actual dividing of the land comes about in the book of Joshua, Elealeh and Ki-jathaim will be given to the half tribe of Manasseh.

Numbers 32:38 "And Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Shib-mah: and gave other names unto the cities which they builded."

Nebo and Baal-meon were renamed, and even the new names didn't last very long.

Reuben's land will actually be south of the land that will be given to Gad, with the half tribe of Manasseh getting the land north of these two tribes.

Numbers 32:39 "And the children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites which was in it."

In this battle all the inhabitants of the land at Gilead were killed by Manasseh, and the Amorites no longer existed in this land, and it became theirs.

Numbers 32:40 "And Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh; and he dwelt therein."

This should read, that "The sons of Machir took Gilead, and Moses gave it to them."

Numbers 32:41 "And Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the small towns thereof, and called them Havoth-jair."

Jair was the great grandson of Manasseh on his maternal side, for his grandmother was the daughter of Machir. The father of Jair was of the tribe of Judah, yet Jair was numbered with the children of Manasseh, on his grandmother's side.

I Chronicles 2:21 "And afterward Hezron when into the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was threescore years old; and she bare him Segub." [21] "And Segub begat Jair, who had three and twenty cities in the land of Gilead." [22]

Numbers 32:42 "And Mobah went and took Kenath, and the villages thereof, and called it Nobah, after his own name."

There is no reference to this family any other place in the bible, but is thought to have blended in marriage with the family of Machir, because they are listed with them here.