God Offers the Promised Land, but 2.5 Tribes Say "No Thanks."

Numbers Chapter 32: Division of the Land East of Jordan

Numbers 32:1-42

Day 90. It is wonderful, even in an area of the province where things are still not fully opened up, to watch people ease up a little. Few masks, less worried about crossing the street when you approach them, more cars on the road, and more and more retailers opening. Life will slowly return to some point close to where it was before all this Covid-19 concern started. But it will not likely go all the way back in every respect. The government has managed to move its needle of control in the direction where individual freedom continues to decrease. They accomplished their fine-tuning towards a societal reset, a goal they are getting closer to with each ‘pandemic’ or its equivalent. Christians, however, know that God is fully in control and while the globalists and OWG (one-world-government) pushers think they’re winning, the truth is they’re bringing their treasured possession (world domination) closer to eternal doom. We continue to study our Bible and to keep alert, knowing how this all ends. Thanks for joining us.

The Passage

32 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that ^[a]it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, ² the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying,³ “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, ⁴ the land which the Lord ^[b]conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” ⁵ They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”

⁶ But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? ⁷ Now why are you ^[c]discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? ^8 [d]This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. ⁹ For when they went up to the ^[e]valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they ^[f]discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. ¹⁰ So the Lord’s anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, ¹¹ ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, ¹² except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord fully.’ ¹³ So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed. ¹⁴ Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel. ¹⁵ For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
¹⁶ Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; ¹⁷ but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. ¹⁸ We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance. ¹⁹ For we will not have an inheritance with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this side of the Jordan toward the east.”
²⁰ So Moses said to them, “If you will do ^[g]this, if you will arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and all of you armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven His enemies out from before Him, ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you shall return and be free of obligation toward the Lord and toward Israel, and this land shall be yours for a possession before the Lord. ²³ But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out. ²⁴ Build yourselves cities for your little ones, and sheepfolds for your sheep, and do ^[h]what you have promised.”
²⁵ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, “Your servants will do just as my lord commands. ²⁶ Our little ones, our wives, our livestock and all our cattle shall ^[i]remain there in the cities of Gilead; ²⁷ while your servants, everyone who is armed for war, will cross over in the presence of the Lord to battle, just as my lord says.”
²⁸ So Moses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ²⁹ Moses said to them, “If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross with you over the Jordan in the presence of the Lord, and the land is subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession; ³⁰ but if they will not cross over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” ³¹ The sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answered, saying, “As the Lord has said to your servants, so we will do. ³² We ourselves will cross over armed in the presence of the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us across the Jordan.”
³³ So Moses gave to them, to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Joseph’s son Manasseh, the kingdom of Sihon, king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, the land with its cities with their ^[j]territories, the cities of the surrounding land. ³⁴ The sons of Gad built Dibon and Ataroth and Aroer,³⁵ and Atroth-shophan and Jazer and Jogbehah, ³⁶ and Beth-nimrah and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and sheepfolds for sheep. ³⁷ The sons of Reuben built Heshbon and Elealeh and Kiriathaim, ³⁸ and Nebo and Baal-meon—their names being changed—and Sibmah, and they gave other names to the cities which they built. ³⁹ The sons of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. ⁴⁰ So Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he lived in it.⁴¹ Jair the son of Manasseh went and took its ^[k]towns, and called them ^[l]Havvoth-jair.⁴² Nobah went and took Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah after his own name.

Footnotes

1. Numbers 32:1 Lit behold, the place, a place for
2. Numbers 32:4 Lit smote
3. Numbers 32:7 Lit restraining the hearts of
4. Numbers 32:8 Lit Thus your fathers
5. Numbers 32:9 Or wadi
6. Numbers 32:9 Lit restrained the hearts of
7. Numbers 32:20 Lit this thing
8. Numbers 32:24 Lit that which has come out of your mouth
9. Numbers 32:26 Lit be
10. Numbers 32:33 Lit borders
11. Numbers 32:41 Lit tent villages
12. Numbers 32:41 I.e. the towns of Jair

Thoughts on the Passage

So, the Israelites are on the east side of the Jordan, down east of the Salt Sea. The Jordan River runs primarily from the Sea of Galilee (in the O.T. a.k.a. Sea of Chinnereth; other names include Lake or Sea of Tiberias; and Luke calls it by its Greek name, and is the only one to use the title of ‘Lake’ Gennesaret in Luke 5; we also note that there is in Hebrew there is one word for lake and sea) down to the Salt Sea, which is quite a distance north of the Red Sea.  Canaan, the Promised Land, is on the west side of the Jordan.

Now the sons of two of the twelve tribes, that is, the tribes of Reuben and Gad, look at this land on the east of Jordan, and given their large flocks, decide this is good enough for us. They decide to approach Moses and Eleazar, plus other leaders of the congregation with their thoughts. They point out that this land had already been captured by the Lord and it was most suitable for livestock. So, they asked permission to given that land as their possession and they would not cross over the Jordan to Canaan.

But Moses wasn’t born yesterday and right away pointed out the injustice of that. The implication was that while all the other tribes were to across the Jordan to take the Promised Land (and risk getting killed), these guys and their people would stay at home sound and safe. And furthermore, these leaders were discouraging their own warriors from crossing over and possessing the land God had given Israel. Sorry, says Moses, “not a good deal and the optics stink.”

Furthermore, Moses reminds them of what their ‘fathers’ had done when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, saw the land before them, and discouraged the Israelites from going into the land God had given them, just as their request now might encourage them again. And that made God angry. That was when God swore none of the men (except Caleb and Joshua) who were 20 years old and up when the Israelites left Egypt would see the Promised Land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They caused God’s anger to force the Israelites to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all those people 20 and up at the time of the Exodus from Egypt had died.

Moses was really hot now. These guys were adding more fuel to the fire and could easily have gotten God even angrier now that they were so close to the Promised Land. In fact, Moses tells them that the very lives of all the Israelites could be lost. So, basically, it’s a “no deal” situation.

But of course, the sons of Gad and Reuben would not give up. Clearly Moses’ anger had surprised them, and they had drawn back because verse 16 says they now “came [or drew] near to him”. But they must have correctly surmised that his anger was based on his objecting to the fact that their men not fighting next to their brothers and so they pressed on.

They came up with their next proposal. How about if they were to build cities for their livestock, and their families on the east side of the Jordan, but the men would go over to help the rest of the sons of Israel possess the promised land, fight with them to that end, and not return until all the others got their land, and there would be no inheritance for them (Reuben and Gad’s tribes) on the other side. Clever plan, and fair compromise I would say. Although, it seems strange to me that in verse 16 they seem to place the building of cities for their livestock ahead of the needs of their little ones. But of course, it was very much a pastoral farming culture where livestock determined many things.

So, Moses agrees that if they do as they have sworn, all will be well. If not, they will have sinned against the Lord, and that their sin would find them out. Moses passed that on to Eleazar and to Joshua, and the other heads of the various tribes. And the Reuben and Gad boys verified that in front of all. At least, this way, no one would be encouraged not to fight to take the land since even those of the tribes who would not possess the land would be fighting with them.

Now for some reason, in verse 33, where we are told what cities, etc., Moses gave to Reuben and Gad, we are also introduced to a third party added to those two. This is the half-tribe of Joseph, headed up by his son Manassah. Perhaps, in seeing what a deal Reuben and Gad’s leaders worked out, thought they’d like in on it as well.

Robert Jamieson suggests that it is possible that Moses himself invited them to partake of this deal as he observed that the land on the east of the Jordan would be sufficient to support not only the tribes of Reuben and Gad, but also that of Manassah. And he may have favored them in this way due to the role they had played in fighting the Amorites.

You will remember as we read in study.com:

“When Jacob blessed Joseph's sons, while on his deathbed, he set the two up as the replacement for Joseph's tribe, which then became called the ''House of Joseph.'' Because of the symbolism of the number 12 to Judaism (the 12 tribes of Israel, totality, wholeness), the tribes were not considered whole tribes but were instead called half-tribes. Jacob gave them double the territory the other tribes received so that, even though they were technically half-tribes, they would each have the same amount of land as Jacob's other sons.”

You will remember that Moses carried Joseph’s bones out of Egypt at the time of the Exodus as was Joseph’s desire.

The rest of the verses to the end of the chapter describe the various cities, etc., that each of the three groups represented – Reuben’s, Gad’s, and Manassah’s – built their homes and ranches in. We should note that Moses agreed to give them this land, before they actually went into battle to take Canaan. Those were the days when someone’s word meant something.

Now Chuck Smith suggests that we may see in these three tribes a lot of Christians today. They got out of Egypt which represents the bondage of sin, but they aren’t quite eager to get into the fullness of Christ – the Promised Land. They’re happy somewhere short of there. They have it nice there --- why take a risk to go for the Promised Land?

David Guzik says, based on Wenhan’s comments, that for these tribes to ask for this arrangement is “to show a disturbing indifference to the divine word, the word on which Israel's existence entirely depended."

One lesson for us to learn from this passage is that, as Guzik says, “It is a terrible thing to be used of the devil to discourage other believers to walking deeper and further with the LORD. We should ask God to guard us from ever discouraging the heart of another child of God.”

Once again, we look at our One and Only Hero of the Bible – God – when we consider this chapter. We note that He is silent in it. He is mentioned three times – once when those proposing the deal concede that God had won the land east of the Jordan for them; secondly when Moses reminds them how they had given rise to God’s anger; and finally, when Moses reminds them that if they continued they would make Him so angry, He might wipe all of Israel out. So, we see our God really forging, even when He takes no active part in the negotiations, the outcomes that result.

Here is what I take from all this. God, and God’s values and character, once imbedded in the hearts and minds of men can, without a doubt, impact our dealings and interactions.  And after all, isn’t that what being a Christian is all about.

The gems from the book of Numbers continue to be found.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.

The Exodus Numbers and Other Details -- Exodus 12:37-39

Now the sons of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, aside from children.  A mixed multitude also went up with them, along with flocks and herds, a very large number of livestock.  They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.
 
In this portion of the chapter under consideration, we are provided with considerable factual data – some which gives rise to more questions.  Based on what we have in Genesis 47:11 and in Strong’s Lexicon, we know that Rameses (Ramses) was indeed a city in lower Egypt built by Hebrew slaves; probably in Goshen.  Succoth was, according to Genesis 33:17 the place where Jacob had travelled to after he was reunited with Esau.  There, Jacob built a house and settled his livestock.  According to Strong’s Lexicon this was east of the Jordan and the first stopping place for the Israelites when they left Egypt.  The experts differ on how far the Hebrews could have travelled on their journey each day.  If we accept the Word as written, this first stop was about 25 miles from Goshen, or at least the Rameses part of Goshen.  Was this possible in one day?  Yes, but difficult to comprehend since they were not trained walkers.   One alternative was this was not done in one day and nothing in Scripture stipulates it was.  Another is that we are not exactly sure of where Succoth was located (and there are varying opinions on that as well).

The next fact of interest that we need to grapple with is the numbers of those leaving Egypt.  Our text says “about 600,000 men on foot, aside from children”.  I think we can safely assume that almost everybody departed on foot.  That means we are not talking about 600,000 men on foot and an unknown number riding.  One assumes that some who were disabled were carried or rode on animals or in carts of some sort, but for the most part – they all walked.  But we note there is no direct mention of “women” – only men and children.  So did the women not go?  They very much did, but in keeping with the culture and times, Moses chooses not to identify them specifically.  The assumption is that for a certain amount of men, there are a certain amount of women, on average.  On the other hand, some commentators believe the word “men” was used in a generic sense to imply “adults” and included women.  I personally prefer the former explanation, but I could be wrong.  Does it matter?  The fact is that anywhere between one million and two million (or perhaps higher) human beings, Children of Israel, left Egypt on that date.  Robert Jamieson says the following on this verse:  “It appears from Numbers 1:3 [which we hope to come to much later in our own study] that the enumeration is of men above twenty years of age. Assuming, what is now ascertained by statistical tables, that the number of males above that age is as nearly as possible the half of the total number of males, the whole male population of Israel, on this computation, would amount to 1,200,000; and adding an equal number for women and children, the aggregate number of Israelites who left Egypt would be 2,400,000.” And based on that thinking, even that upper number may actually be low.

We are also told “in addition (or ‘also’) a mixed multitude went up (out of Egypt) with them.  So, who were these people?  Matthew Henry writes about them, “A mixed multitude went with them. Some, perhaps, willing to leave their country, laid waste by plagues; others, out of curiosity; perhaps a few out of love to them and their religion. But there were always those among the Israelites who were not Israelites.”  And then Henry adds this stinger, “Thus there are still hypocrites in the church.”  Ouch, but true.

The Pulpit Commentary says this: “Kalisch [another commentator] supposes that these strangers were native Egyptians, anxious to escape the tyranny of the kings. Canon Cook [still another] suggests that they were ‘remains of the old Semitic population’ of the Eastern provinces. Perhaps it is more probable that they consisted of fugitives from other subject races (as the Shartana) oppressed by the Pharaohs.”  Some went because of inter-marriages that had taken place and they did not want to part with their loved ones.  Others saw that God was favoring the Hebrews and thus it was best to be with them than stay in desolate Egypt.  Robert Jamieson whom we have relied on before calls them “a great rabble” – “slaves, persons in the lowest grades of society, partly natives and partly foreigners, bound close to them as companions in misery, and gladly availing themselves of the opportunity to escape in the crowd.”  This all reminds me of the traveling group in the Canterbury Tales.  Could anything good come from, or to, this kind of crowd?

And let us not forget all the livestock – every flock, every herd, every animal.  Can you imagine either what the length of this exodus sight was or how wide it was in order to accommodate all those who wanted to escape for Egypt?

Regardless of how long or hard they had traveled; two things were bound to happen.  First they were going to get hungry.  Second the unleavened dough they had taken with them when rushing out of Egypt was eventually going to ferment.  And the question arises as to whether or not they felt they were still in that “first week” of the memorial talked about in Exodus 12:14 or was this only to be celebrated “once they arrived in the land” which the Lord would give them (Exodus 12:25).  Interesting.  In any case, it was felt that they needed to bake with the unleavened bread and thus had to do it quickly – probably over coals in the wilderness as no ovens were available.  In essence this was the first “Passover night” meal celebrating their freedom from bondage.

As Christians, we celebrate this Passover in the form of Communion remembering Christ’s sacrifice on the cross as payments for our sins and purchase of our freedom from spiritual bondage.  One day, a Wedding Feast, a Royal Banquet, will replace all these Memorial Meals. At that time Christ will accept us as His Bride forever more.  I hope you’ll be there.

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Warning of The 7th Plague: Hail is Coming, Pharaoh -- Exodus 9:13-21

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and stand before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, “Let My people go, that they may serve Me.  For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is no one like Me in all the earth.  For if by now I had put forth My hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, you would then have been cut off from the earth.  Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go.  Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.  Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety.  Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”’”  The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; but he who paid no regard to the word of the Lord left his servants and his livestock in the field.
 

We now come to a portion of Scripture that once again poses some difficulties for the reader.  To begin with we note that this is the second time God has told Moses to rise up early and stand before Pharaoh.  Again, one would argue that is a straightforward request and not strange at all.  When I stop to think about it, I draw on my labor relations world and experience.  I picture Moses as a union leader (from the union’s head office, not an employee of the company) showing up at the corporate headquarters of a multi-national organization early in the morning, without an appointment, and walking into the CEO’s office.  The chances of that happening are next to none, let alone twice in a row.  Unless of course that union leader had such authority or power over the ‘welfare’ of the organization, that while all the management detested him, they knew they had to give him credence and access to themselves.  And I believe that is exactly how Pharaoh viewed Moses.  Thoughts of “Oh no, not him again” were intertwined with “I’d better hear him out and see what his God has in store for us next”.  All this to say that while some skeptics may find Moses’ free access to Pharaoh strange, a skeptical mind like mine, but with the desire to find a way to prove a Scriptural statement, can easily do so.

We next come to another puzzling phrase as God says, “For this time I will send all My plagues on you and your servants and your people . . ..”  Had He not already done this?  Or is the emphasis here on “all My plagues”?  Most commentators imply that up to this point God had not brought about fatal disasters upon the Egyptians.  He had not yet cut them (and their ruler in particular) off from the earth, but was giving Pharaoh every opportunity to obey the Lord.

And now, as Matthew Henry suggests, Moses has to deliver this “most dreadful message” to Pharaoh.  A message which relates that “he is marked for ruin, that he now stands as the butt at which God would shoot all the arrows of his wrath.”  Therein being the interpretation of “all My plagues”.  God had finally stated, as He had foretold Moses, that Pharaoh would not repent and thus his utter destruction had to be brought about.  Up to now God was attacking the temporal aspects of Pharaoh’s life, but now it was time to send plagues that would touch his heart and soul, making him feel hopeless and beyond relief.  There is no longer any opportunity of retreat for Pharaoh.  The time for that had passed.  He had hardened his heart one time too many.

And if you thought that was a hard message for Moses to deliver, take a look at the further request of what God wanted him to share with Pharaoh.  Try telling a “pharaoh” in your life (a spouse, relative, friend, manager, false church leader, or godless world leader, etc.) that his/her legacy, the way history would always see him/her from now on, would be as a everlasting example which brought about both God’s justice and wrath.  In verse 16, God wants Moses to tell Pharaoh that God allowed him to be on the throne of Egypt at this time for the very purpose of showing him (and others) His power and to proclaim His name through all the earth.  And that included Moses, Aaron and all the children of Israel.

As an aside, we note what Matthew Henry said on this very point:  “God sometimes raises up very bad men to honor and power, spares them long, and suffers them to grow insufferably insolent, that he may be so much the more glorified in their destruction at last.”  Henry wrote this commentary on this text back in 1706 (207 years ago) and I believe it is just as applicable today as we look around and see the various world leaders rattling their own sabers – ideologically, financially, militarily, and in some cases, spiritually.  Those of us that have lived a good number of decades have watched the worldly mighty (those that have defied God all their lives) fall from grace over and over again.  And each time the true believer in God is helped to realize that no one can take on the Almighty and win.  Each time we are shown exactly what He wants us to see, that there is “none like Him”.

It is also wise for us to realize that this applies to us as well.   If we are being defiant to God in any way; if we are disobeying Him and continuing to sin against Him in any way, we need to stop and realize what He was telling Pharaoh.  God says, “Oh man (woman), I could have finished you off at any time.  But I have not done so yet, for a reason.”  And then He goes on with Pharaoh as He might well be doing with us, “Even knowing all this, you still exalt yourself against My way, My people, and thus against Me.  I won’t allow this to continue.  Now hear this; hear what is going to happen next.”

God then proceeds to describe what will happen – the plague of hail upon Egypt.  And He says exactly when it will happen.  And not only that, God, in His sovereign grace, tells Pharaoh and all the Egyptians, through Moses, exactly what can be done about it so they might save themselves.  God has done the same for all mankind and us.  In our case, the plague of death will come and then we will be judged.  And because He loves us, He has shown us the way out of the consequences of that judgment.  He has provided His Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the “judgment sentence of death” for our sins, in our place.  The rest is up to us, as it was up to Pharaoh.

What is interesting is that verses 20 and 21 of this chapter tell us that some of Pharaoh’s servants took the advice God had given them through Moses to put their servants and livestock into shelters, thus protecting themselves and their cattle from death – even against the Pharaoh’s wishes.  Some did not, and they left their servants and their cattle out in the open, not believing God would do what He said He would.  I pray we would be in the first of the two categories, even going against the modern-day pharaohs in our lives.

At the beginning of our study on this portion of Scripture, I indicated there were some difficult parts and discussed two of them above.  But there is one more that perhaps may pose an even greater difficulty and it has to do with the Egyptian livestock.  Did we not read just earlier in this very chapter, in Exodus 9:6, that “all the livestock of Egypt died” as a result of a previous plague (the fifth one)?  If so, how then do we explain the availability of all the livestock for this plague of hail (the seventh one) that was about to befall the Egyptians?

This is an excellent question that has been raised before.  Several attempts at answering it apologetically have emerged.  One possibility is that the word “all” in Scripture has often been used to mean “for the most part” or “for the greater part” or “all of a particular category”.  And several examples both from Scripture and from life are given as to how that meaning is a viable possibility.  [For example, when a hockey player is taking a penalty shot in the last game of the championship series which, if he succeeds, gives his team the coveted trophy, the announcer may say, “All eyes are on him.”  Yet we know that is not literally possible.]

Another explanation offers the possibility that the fifth plague only fell on a particular group of livestock for in Exodus 9:3 we see God referring only to the livestock “which are in the field” (and then lists the types).  This also is a possibility.

A third possibility is that since we do not exactly know how much time elapsed between the fifth plague and the seventh, it is possible to assume that Pharaoh started to replenish his livestock by purchasing, or taking by force, livestock from the children of Israel.  Again, this is another possibility.

Finally, let me add my own thought simply as a possibility and not necessarily one that I would be a proponent of over the other possibilities.  It is possible that if we read the text carefully we see that the fifth plague is all about “Egypt” and the livestock of Egypt.  I remember reading or hearing elsewhere that in Bible times as well as today, a ruler of a nation was sometimes referred to using the name of the nation itself.  [Israel is a very good example here, as God called Jacob that and actually changed his name to be that.]   One possibility therefore is that the fifth plague applied only to the Pharaoh’s livestock and not the livestock of the people.  And now the seventh plague applies to all the livestock of the actual land.  Again, others may prove me wrong here.   But this we know for sure, one of these possibilities, or maybe one we have not even come up with, does indeed explain the apparent contradiction.  Cynics can be silenced and believers can give praise for God’s Word is indeed the Truth.   These temporal difficulties of language should never, however, prevent us from grasping the need to examine our own heart when it comes to our obedience to God as discussed above.

[Are you looking for a speaker at your church, your club, school, or organization? Ken is available to preach, teach, challenge, and/or motivate. Please contact us.]

Thanks for dropping by. Sign up to receive free updates. We bring you relevant information from all sorts of sources. Subscribe for free to this blog or follow us by clicking on the appropriate link in the right side bar. And please share this blog with your friends. Ken Godevenos, Church and Management Consultant, Accord Consulting.  And while you’re here, why not check out some more of our recent blogs shown in the right hand column.  Ken.

It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.