Today’s devotion comes from Numbers Chapter 32. Here is a link to this Scripture – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?dc=5&utm_expid=13466113-10.DRY5Q0U2TpaXvRe49bTgCA.5&search=Numbers+32&version=NASB&utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.biblegateway.com%2Fversions%2FNew-American-Standard-Bible-NASB%2F
I quote only the following verses.
“1 Now the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad had an exceedingly large number of livestock. So when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that it was indeed a place suitable for livestock, 2 the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben came and spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, 3 “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo and Beon, 4 the land which the Lord conquered before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 They said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession; do not take us across the Jordan.”
6 But Moses said to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to war while you yourselves sit here? 7 Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them? 8 This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the sons of Israel so that they did not go into the land which the Lord had given them. 10 So the Lord’s anger burned in that day, and He swore, saying, 11 ‘None of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob; for they did not follow Me fully, 12 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have followed the Lord fully.’ 13 So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the entire generation of those who had done evil in the sight of the Lord was destroyed. 14 Now behold, you have risen up in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to add still more to the burning anger of the Lord against Israel. 15 For if you turn away from following Him, He will once more abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”
16 Then they came near to him and said, “We will build here sheepfolds for our livestock and cities for our little ones; 17 but we ourselves will be armed ready to go before the sons of Israel, until we have brought them to their place, while our little ones live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our homes until every one of the sons of Israel has possessed his inheritance.” Numbers 32:1-18.
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We do know from verses 1-5 that the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad originally only expressed their intent to get the land east and north of the Jordan river and “do not take us across the Jordan.” It seems most likely that they had no intent to first go with their “brothers” into war to help clear out the land for them west of the Jordan river before they would settle into their own land, and that it took Moses’ harsh criticism of them in verses 6-15, to get them to do the right thing. But, they did eventually look out for the interests of others in their offer in verse 17.
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4.
Family and friends are integrated as a body, and each member relies on each other. We tend to think that our selfish actions only mean that we will not help others. But, we can see from Moses’ harsh criticism that such selfish actions do not only not help others, such selfish actions discourage others and hurt others.
Moses said: “Now why are you discouraging the sons of Israel from crossing over into the land which the Lord has given them?”. Verse 7. We do not read the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad expressly discouraging their brothers, but Moses knew that such selfish actions would have the effect of discouraging their brothers.
We tend to think of our selfish actions as only pleasing ourselves. But, our selfish actions have negative ripple effects all around like a stone thrown in the middle of calm waters.
And, our service to others can also do more than just helping the direct recipients of our help. Our service can encourage the direct recipients that we care about them which will encourage them to do more to help themselves. And, our service can encourage third parties (even though they are not receiving direct help from us) to help others. Thus, our service to others can also have positive ripple effects all around like a stone thrown in the middle of calm waters.
“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.” Colossians 1:3-8.
Reformed Doctrine Daily Devotions 