Joshua 22:1-9
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”
9 So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, 2 and said to them: “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. 3 You have not left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the LORD your God. 4 And now the LORD your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you on the other side of the Jordan. 5 But take careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents. 7 Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, 8 and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”
9 So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Here the Eastern tribes returned to their lands on the other side of the Jordan as the agreed condition for settling outside the promised land’s original border (Numbers 32:1-5, 28-32, Deuteronomy 3:18-20). They did as they promised to support the others of Israel in their battles to take their lands, then were able to return to their families where they had settled before the other tribes settled in their lands. They showed faithfulness and were rewarded with the fertile grazing lands they were previously given by Moses’s hand in God’s Grace. Just as the LORD had faithfully promised rest and an inheritance to the other tribes, so these two and a half tribes faithfully stood by their promise of support in return. They were further exhorted to continue in God’s word, to love Him and live accordingly in a life of worship and obedience from the heart, just as we are called to do. Our calling in Christ is to an inheritance that is certain and immutable (1 Peter 1:4), and our faithfulness to live obediently out of love in His word should demonstrate our devotion to God which brings great eternal rewards (1 Corinthians 3:14, Colossians 3:24, Revelation 22:12). And so should we faithfully live in holiness, dedicated to His work (2 Corinthians 7:1) in His way in gratitude for our unearned inheritance. Let us do battle in the heavenly realm for the souls of men and women held captive in the darkness (Ephesians 6:12, 1 Peter 2:9, Acts 26:18, 2 Timothy 2:25-26). This is true faithfulness and its rewards.
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