The story in Num. 32 needs to be a warning to us, for if we care too much about ourselves and our enjoyment but not for God’s people, not being willing to go forward, we will not be able to fulfill God’s will and plan or reach God’s glorious goal.
Outwardly what the two and a half tribes requested seemed to be a reasonable settlement: they had a lot of cattle, and the land on the east of the river Jordan was good for their livestock, so why not get their inheritance then and there.
Also, they were willing to cross the river Jordan and fight with their brothers until they gain the land, and then the men would return to the land east of the river.
To one who has no spiritual insight or view of God’s purpose and goal, such a settlement (or compromise) may sound quite good, for it seems good that we should care for others and make sure their cattle have grass, etc.
But in God’s eyes and also in Moses’ eyes such a thing is not what God wanted, and eventually history proved that the choice these two and a half tribes made costed them everything.
When later the Bible mentions the borders of the land of Israel, Jordan becomes the border – the land beyond it is no longer considered as part of Israel.
Furthermore, whenever the enemy would come to attack the people of Israel, they would always take into captivity these two tribes, and the king of Assyria even brought them away into captivity.
In the church life it is easy for us to have our own choice in many things, including in our enjoyment of Christ, in what to serve in the church, and even who to be with in the church life.
It is easy for us to express our self-choice, especially since this “modern” world encourages us to express ourselves, follow our dreams, make our own choices, and stick to what we want to do.
But in God’s eyes, His desire is that all His people would enter into the good land of Canaan by passing through the river Jordan, that is, God’s desire is for us all to enter into the enjoyment of the resurrected and ascended Christ by passing through His death so that together we may enjoy Him.
Our self-choice is void of Christ’s death; rather, our self-choice will bring us under obligation to God and His people, and we will always suffer loss.
May the Lord really speak to us and bring us on with Him together with all the saints, so that together we may enter into the enjoyment of our inheritance of the good land, Christ.
Caring not only for our Enjoyment but having the Consciousness of the Body in Enjoying the Good Land
The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh thought only about themselves; they cared too much for their own enjoyment and situation, and they didn’t care for God’s will, plan, goal, kingdom, or testimony.
When they made this choice it is as if they forgot about their brothers, caring only for their own enjoyment and situation.
Our enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ is in the end the enjoyment of the church; yes, we do have our personal enjoyment, but this personal enjoyment is subservient to the enjoyment of God’s whole people, all the saints.
It’s almost as if we can’t enjoy something first before the whole church does…our gaining of Christ and possessing Him is in the end not for our attainment; it has to do with God’s goal, His will, His kingdom, and His testimony.
These two and a half tribes didn’t have the consciousness of the people of God; even in our spiritual pursuit and enjoyment of our allotted portion of Christ, we need to have the consciousness of the Body.
When Moses heard their request, he was very unhappy; twice he told them, By doing this, you discourage the heart of the rest of the children of Israel.
It is not a small thing for us to do something or make some choice that ends up discouraging the saints and the other churches. We may have our choice, but the others are discouraged.
Moses referred them back to the experience when the spies returned and ten gave them an evil report, causing the heart of the people to melt with unbelief, for they didn’t fully follow Jehovah. Oh Lord Jesus!
We may get all the way to the border of the good land, but we may not fully follow the Lord into the land past Jordan to conquer the land!
Our gaining of the all-inclusive Christ is not just for ourselves and our enjoyment – it is for God’s desire, having the goal that all His people would enter into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ, so that the Body of Christ may be built up!
Even in our local churches, we need to have this kind of view; we should not seek to get our choice first, neither should be satisfied with obtaining what we desire, but doing everything for the church and in the church, and having the consciousness of the Body in everything we do and in all our choices.
If we care only for our own salvation, our peace, our blessing, and our material things, and we’re not willing to go forward with all the saints, we will not be able to fulfill God’s will and plan, and we will not reach His goal, kingdom, and testimony.
We should never substitute the second best for the best; our choice may seem good, but it is second best, while God’s choice is always the best.
We live the church life, but we are not independent or individualistic; we cannot live our Christian life or fight the spiritual warfare on our own.
Rather, we need to fight for the Body, fight in the Body, fight for the churches, and fight for all the saints, so that together we may gain this land, so that we can enjoy what the Lord has allotted to us.
Lord Jesus, grant us to have the consciousness of the Body in our enjoyment of our allotted portion of the all-inclusive Christ as the good land. Save us Lord for caring only for our enjoyment and our need; may we care for the Body and seek to enjoy the Lord for the Body and in the Body. Oh Lord, may we not discourage the hearts of the saints by what we do or what we choose. May we care not just for our own salvation, peace, blessing, or material things, but be willing to go forward with the Lord and in the Body, so that we may corporately enter into the enjoyment of Christ as the good land!
Paying the Price to Go Forward into God’s Glorious Goal together with all the Saints
Moses permitted the promise of Reuben and Gad (Num. 32:16-19, 33), telling them that if they went to battle with their brothers, subdued the land, and freed themselves from their obligation, they could have the land at the east of the Jordan (vv. 20-22).
This may be a good settlement in which everyone wins, but actually, this situation is not that good. Here Moses represented God; many times God permits such promises as this – He doesn’t force us, but He allows this.
The fact that God doesn’t force us doesn’t mean that He is happy with what we do and with our choices; the fact that He permits certain things, this doesn’t mean that this is His will.
Today in the church many of the Lord’s lovers and pursuers remain “on the east of the Jordan”, that is, they only want to be under God’s blessing and care, but they don’t go on in the Body to reach God’s glorious goal.
There are so many believers who are redeemed, saved, forgiven, and reconciled to God; they have the Lord’s leading and enjoy somewhat of His presence, His blessing, and His care, but they are not attaining God’s glorious goal.
The choice of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh caused their descendants to lose the right to inherit the good land (vv. 18-19, 33).
This shows us that if we lust for ease and comfort today – caring only for ourselves, stopping halfway, and giving up our rights in the matter of pursuing the Lord – we will not be able to recover those rights.
Furthermore, there will not be any compensation for them, and this is an eternal loss. Our choice has a lasting effect, and even our descendants may be affected.
Just as Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup, so many choose ease and comfort today, and thus stop halfway, missing the enjoyment of God’s glorious goal, the glory of the riches of this Christ, and even the glorious kingdom of God. Oh Lord Jesus!
So we must be those who are willing to pay the price to go forward into God’s glorious goal so as to enjoy His fullness, and we will have an extremely rich and special enjoyment in the future (Phil. 3:14).
May we not be satisfied with God’s permissive will, His allowing us to have our choice; may we be willing to pay the price to go forward with all the saints into God’s glorious goal to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ together.
If we read in the Old Testament we see that there are two kinds of people in this sense, one kind who care for their comfort, ease, need, and blessing, and they have their choice of what their portion is in the good land, and the other kind is those who like Paul stretched forward to gain Christ in the Body and for the Body.
Those who remain halfway, being happy with God’s blessing and care but not reaching God’s glorious goal in the Body, they will be easily captured by the enemy. May we be those who bring this to the Lord and tell Him,
Lord Jesus, we are willing to pay the price to go forward continually into God’s glorious goal so as to enjoy His fullness together with all the saints! Amen, Lord, care not just for ourselves or being blessed and cared for by God, but we want to stretch forward and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ together with all the saints! Save us from giving up our right in the matter of pursuing the Lord, and save us from stopping halfway! Oh Lord, We want to go on with You all the way until we reach God’s glorious goal together with all the saints!
Cooperating with God’s Ordination to Destroy all the Idols within us for Christ to be our Everything
God has ordained Christ to be our portion for our enjoyment, but we must cooperate with God’s ordination today by dealing with and destroying all the idols within us (see Num. 33:50-53; 1 John 5:21).
In order to reach God’s glorious goal we must cooperate with God’s ordination by driving out everything within us that is other than God and Christ, and we must not leave any ground within us for the worship of idols.
Only then, only when we destroy and remove all the idols, can we have the genuine enjoyment of Christ for the church as His building and His kingdom.
The good land has been promised – it belonged to the children of Israel, yet they still needed to go to displace and defeat all the enemies and adversaries in the land.
The positive side of the good land is that it is the all-inclusive Christ; the negative side is that there are enemies – Satan, his hosts, the powers of darkness in the air, and the evil authorities in the heavenlies – who try to hinder us from enjoying Christ.
So we need to set our mind on the things which are above, and we need to cooperate with the Lord to destroy all the idols, all the things in the high places, all the things that are substitutes of God, and all things that seduce us and lead us away from Him.
We must cooperate with the Lord to reach God’s goal together with all the saints by driving out everything in us that is not God and Christ, and we need to fight to destroy all the idols, so that we may fully gain Christ! Amen!
May the Lord shine on us and show us that things such a degree, a good job, a nice house, a position, a rank, a good name, fame, and many such things can become idols occupying us.
We must destroy any idols that may be in us and not leave any ground within us for the worship of idols, for the worship of idols cannot co-exist with the genuine enjoyment of Christ.
Lord Jesus, we want to cooperate with God’s ordination to destroy all the idols within us so that we may enjoy Christ as the good land and reach God’s glorious goal together with all the saints. Shine on us, Lord, and show us the things that replace Christ in our being; show us what idols we have within us, and strengthen us to tear them down and destroy them. Amen, Lord, we wnat to have the genuine enjoyment of Christ for the church as His building and His kingdom today, so that we may together reach God’s glorious goal in the church life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Minoru Chen for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1960, vol. 1, ”Synopsis of Numbers,” chs. 32-33, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Numbers (2), week 7, The All-inclusive Christ Being the Allotted Portion of the Saints, according to God’s Choice, as Their Divine Inheritance for Their Enjoyment.
- Hymns on this topic:
# But we would hold to this reality, / Our Jesus Christ in us our all to be, / Enjoying all He is abundantly, / Content to have this One eternally. / Still He would seek those faithful saints who’d hear / His call to give up everything so dear, / To offer up their individual Christ; / To come together for the Body life. (Hymns #1202)
# Press on, press on toward the goal— / The all-inclusive Christ. / To gain the prize of God’s high call, / Press on, press on to Christ! / Pressing on! Pressing on! / Pressing on! Hallelujah for the prize / We’re pressing on! On and on! / To gain the Christ of God! (Hymns #1205)
# O Lord, You’ve called to us, and Canaan we would win, / To be Your corporate man and dwell with You therein; / But how the darkness of this world does hold us in— / O Lord, appear to us, we pray. / O Lord, appear to us today; / We see this is the only way. / The idols to forsake / And Canaan land partake, / O Lord, appear to us today. (Hymns #1190)
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