Monday, April 12, 2021

Were the tribes of Gad, Manasseh, and Reuben Out of God's Will?

In the past few years, I have sometimes heard (or read on social media) that the Israelite tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh were disobedient to God's command and will for them when they took as their possession the lands of kings whom Israel conquered on the east side of the Jordan River, rather than settling in Canaan with the rest of the tribes. Well-meaning people have tried to use these three Transjordan tribes as examples of people who didn't "press into all God had for them," and instead settled for a lesser relationship/blessing.