Did the Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad refuse to go into the Promised Land? Numbers Ch 32.

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Truth In Scripture Pastor Rick Kabrick Sunday, February 16, 2025 Numbers Part 32 Ch 32. Did the Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad refuse to go into the Promised Land?
Pastor Rick KabrickPO BOX 595 Tiverton RI 02878www.paypal.me/PastorRickkwww.truthinscripture.org
Moses is told to gather a thousand men from each tribe of Israel for the war. Accompanied by Eleazar the priest and the holy items, the army sets out to wage war against Midian.The Israelites fight against the Midianites as commanded by GOD, killing every male Midianite. They also kill the Midianite kings and Balaam dies in this battle. The Israelites capture the Midianite women, children, and livestock as plunder.
Moses is angered by the soldiers' decision to spare the Midianite women. He commands them to kill every male child and non-virgin woman but allows the virgin women to live.
The grand totals are given: 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 young girls.
These girls were NOT thrown into sex slavery. In fact, the Israelites in effect saved them from just that had they been left to fend for themselves. Later on such people were called servants of the temple. The term Nethinim means those set apart for service. The Nethinim were a group of servants tasked with assisting the Levites in manual labor of the tabernacle. Most translations of the Bible refer to this group as “temple servants.” The Nethinim originated with these Midianite women here in Ch 31.
Vs’s 48-54 describe how the officers who had led the battle, after receiving their part of the spoils, come as a group to Moses and Eleazar to present them with a gift they want to give to the LORD. This is over and above what Moses had withheld from their portion of the spoils. It was the gold jewelry they had received from the spoils of the battle. This is NOT some of the gold, they brought ALL the gold items as an offering of atonement to the LORD.
Israel’s officers, those who were in charge in the army, made this remarkable report to Moses and Eleazar. They took 12,000 men to battle against the Midianites, and not a man of them was missing.This was a miraculous show of the LORD GOD’s protection and would provide the armies of Israel with confidence for the remaining battles in the land of Canaan.
That would make the odds nearly 3 to 1 in favor of the Midianites. Even with the advantage of surprise, the battle would have been an uphill one with many expected casualties on both sides. Probably the heaviest anticipated would be among the Israelites because of the differences in the size of the fighting men.
Five types of gold ornaments are named. Five is the number of grace, and this offering is based on the grace granted to the warriors through their victory and the fact that they did not lose anyone in the battle.

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