Scripture Daily

Context No. 628 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 5:10-17: in context

10In the days of Saul, they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they lived in their tents throughout all the land east of Gilead. 11The sons of Gad lived beside them in the land of Bashan to Salecah: 12Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. 13Their brothers of their fathers’ houses: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. 14These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; 15Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of their fathers’ houses. 16They lived in Gilead in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of Sharon as far as their borders. 17All these were listed by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.

This is a genealogy of the tribe of Gad, one of the tribes that settled east of the Jordan River, and it notes where they lived: in Gilead, in Bashan, out on the far frontier, spreading through the pasturelands to their borders. There is a backstory to that location worth knowing. When Israel was approaching the promised land, the tribes of Reuben and Gad and half of Manasseh looked at the rich grazing country east of the Jordan and asked to settle there rather than crossing over into the land itself. The pasture was excellent; it suited their large herds. So they pitched their tents on the frontier, apart from the main body of the nation, farthest from the center of worship, and closest to the surrounding pagan peoples.

The Chronicler, writing much later, records the rest of that story elsewhere: these eastern tribes, out on the margin, were among the first to drift into the idolatry of the nations around them, and the first to be carried away into exile. The good pasture came with a hidden cost. By settling for convenience and prosperity on the spiritual frontier, far from the center and near the pagan neighbors, they placed themselves where drifting was easiest and faithfulness hardest, and over time it told. Where they chose to pitch their tents shaped what became of their faith.

That raises a quiet question about where I have chosen to settle. It is possible to make life decisions on the basis of good pasture, the better opportunity, the richer prospects, the more convenient arrangement, while paying no attention to what those choices do to my nearness to God and his people. Like Gad, I can end up pitched on the spiritual frontier, far from the center of worship and community, close to everything that pulls me away, all for the sake of the grazing. Have I settled somewhere, in my circumstances or my habits, that offers good pasture but leaves me on the margins of my faith, where drifting is easy, and what has that location been quietly doing to me?

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