Numbers 32:6-13: a reflection

6Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? 7Why do you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? 8Your fathers did so when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. 9For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol, and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which the LORD had given them. 10The LORD’s anger burned in that day, and he swore, saying, 11‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me, 12except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, because they have followed the LORD completely.’ 13The LORD’s anger burned against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation who had done evil in the LORD’s sight was consumed.

The tribes of Gad and Reuben want to settle on the near side of the Jordan, and Moses confronts them with a pointed question: shall your brothers go to war while you sit here? He fears they will do what the ten spies did a generation earlier, discouraging the hearts of the people from entering the land God had promised. That earlier loss of nerve had cost Israel forty years of wandering.

Moses' concern is not just about these two tribes' comfort but about the effect their choices would have on everyone else. Discouragement spreads. When the spies came back afraid, their fear infected the whole camp, and a generation forfeited the promise. Moses will not let history repeat itself. He calls Gad and Reuben to consider how their decision would weigh on the courage of their brothers.

Your attitude affects the people around you more than you may think. Fear, cynicism, and reluctance are contagious, and so are courage and faith. Before you voice your discouragement or hang back from a hard but good work, consider what it will do to others' hearts. Ask God to make you one who strengthens the resolve of those around you rather than one who quietly drains it, so that together you press on into what he has promised.

Lord, my fears and reluctance do not stay with me alone; they spread to others. Keep me from being one who discourages the hearts of those around me from following you. Make me instead someone who strengthens their courage, who helps them press on into what you have promised. Let my attitude build up faith in others rather than draining it away. Amen.