GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DEUTERONOMY 3:12-20
12 Of the land that we took over at that time, I gave the Reubenites and the Gadites the territory north of Aroer by the Arnon Gorge, including half the hill country of Gilead, together with its towns. 13 The rest of Gilead and also all of Bashan, the kingdom of Og, I gave to the half tribe of Manasseh. (The whole region of Argob in Bashan used to be known as a land of the Rephaites. 14 Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, took the whole region of Argob as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites; it was named after him, so that to this day Bashan is called Havvoth Jair.) 15 And I gave Gilead to Makir.
A longer account of this is told twice, one in Numbers 32 and again in Joshua 1. Here Moses just summarizes the result of the request of the three tribes we refer to as “Transjordan,” or “Across the Jordan.” The half tribe of Manasseh received the northern part, or Bashan, to the east of the Sea of Galilee. In the days of Jesus, this was generally the same area as the Decapolis where our Lord performed some of his miracles, especially the healing of the demon-possessed man (Matthew 8:28-34; Mark 5:2-20).
The lower and southern part of this same region was given to Reuben, as far as the Arnon Gorge; this is mentioned more in passing in verses 12-13, since Reuben is covered in more detail below.
The Makir in verse 15 is a tribe, descended from Makir son of Manassah and the grandson of Joseph; he was one of the children “placed at birth on Joseph’s knees” before the old Patriarch died (Genesis 50:23). Perhaps that passage is a reference to Joseph’s being made aware that his children and grandchildren were all circumcised on the eighth day– something that Israel was not always so scrupulous about and sometimes provoked God’s wrath, as Moses remembered only too well from his own life (Exodus 4:25). Makir’s family received as portion of Gilead as their inheritance.
16 But to the Reubenites and the Gadites I gave the territory extending from Gilead down to the Arnon Gorge (the middle of the gorge being the border) and out to the Jabbok River, which is the border of the Ammonites. 17 Its western border was the Jordan in the Arabah, from Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
Here a few bodies of water are given as simple border lines for the tribes. The center of the Arnon Gorge (that is, the middle of the river) was one of these borders. The Ammonites were to the east, and Gad nestled between the heights of Ammon and the Jordan.
Reuben and Gad counted Sihon’s old city of Heshbon as being the dividing point, and Reuben, as we are told here, included the slopes of Pisgah. These slopes ran parallel to the eastern shoreline of the Dead Sea’s northern half. This was the very place where Moses was preaching this sermon (Numbers 21:20).
18 I commanded you at that time: “The LORD your God has given you this land to take possession of it. But all your able-bodied men, armed for battle, must cross over ahead of your brother Israelites. 19 However, your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you, 20 until the LORD gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they too have taken over the land that the LORD your God is giving them, across the Jordan. After that, each of you may go back to the possession I have given you.”
Here the Lord gives marching orders to the fighting men of the three tribes. They were commanded to go west ahead of the rest of the Israelites, since they had promised to fight for Israel provided they could have the land east of the river (Numbers 32:17-18). They were not relying on their own strength, but rather giving their strength to the Lord to use. Luther says, “What, then, are human powers, where faith and the Word reign, except masks of God, as it were, under which he hides and does his wonders, while through their weakness he stirs up the proud, brave, wise, and holy against himself? Blessed he is whose members and arms thus serve God” (LW 9:41). This is an expression of fellowship in the Church of Israel, and in the same way the Holy Spirit wants us to help and work with and wage spiritual warfare with those in our fellowship today. “Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 1:5-8).
Note this important aspect of fellowship. “Your wives, your children and your livestock (I know you have much livestock) may stay in the towns I have given you…” (3:19). The things that family members do to support the work of the church are still an expression of fellowship even when those people are not there personally. When a husband gladly watches his children so that his wife can go to choir practice, when a wife does not complain if her husband goes to make calls on straying members with his pastor; when parents gladly make arrangements for their children to attend a youth event– all of these are examples of expressing church fellowship even without actually being there for the event. “One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts, O Lord” (Psalm 145:4). We walk together in these things even when we take a supporting role. For “Whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son” (2 John 1:9), and even “Endure hardship” for the ministry (2 Timothy 4:5).
If we have worried whether we do enough for the kingdom of God, consider the little things that your Lord asks of you, ways to serve him by serving one another, and the comfort that he gives for the sake of these things. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Now on Spotify: “God’s Word for You with Pastor Tim Smith”
Listen or watch Bible classes online. https://splnewulm.org/invisible-church/. Archives at St Paul’s Lutheran Church https://splnewulm.org/daily-devotions/ and Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: www.wlchapel.org/connect-grow/ministries/adults/daily-devotions/gwfy-archive/2026
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Deuteronomy 3:12-20 Fellowship at work