Gad in the Bible

The Fourth Book of Moses Called Numbers
Chapter 32

Gad in the Bible Study
Gad Bible Explanation

Greetings everyone, it's a joy to see you at Daily Bread. Last time we met, we learned about vows. Here's a little story about Reuben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh, who give their word to the Lord. Let's see what it was all about.

The children of Reuben and Gad had a lot of cattle. When they saw that the land on the east side of the Salt Sea (Dead Sea) and the Jordan River was a good place to raise cattle, they went to Moses, Eleazar and the princes of the congregation, and asked if they could have that land for their inheritance instead of going over the Jordan into the Promised Land.

Naturally, that upset Moses and he said, Should your brothers go to war while you stay here? And why do you want to discourage the children of Israel from going into the Promised Land? Your ancestors did the same thing when I sent them to spy out the land and it made the Lord angry.

Gad in the Bible Lesson
Gad Bible Event

That's when He swore that none of those that came up out of Egypt from 20 years old and up would see the Promised Land because they didn't completely obey Him, except for Caleb and Joshua. He made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years until the entire generation that had done wrong in His eyes was dead.

Now, here you are, following in your father's footsteps, the children of sinful men, to add to the Lord's anger toward Israel. If you turn away from Him, He'll leave them in the wilderness again and you'll destroy all these people.

They answered Moses, We'll build sheepfolds (pens) here for our livestock and cities for our children, but we ourselves will go fight for the children of Israel until we've brought them to their place in the Promised Land. Our children will live in the walled cities, but we won't return to them until every man of the children of Israel has his inheritance. We won't inherit anything west of the Jordan or beyond because our inheritance is given to us on this side of Jordan eastward.

Gad in the Bible Truth
Gad Bible Warning

Moses said, If you go over the Jordan and fight for the Lord until all His enemies are driven out and the land is at peace, then you may return guiltless in the eyes of the Lord and Israel and this land will be your possession.

But if you don't keep your word, you've sinned against the Lord, and make no mistake, your sin will be found out. Build your cities for your children and pens for your sheep, but keep your word.

Moses told Eleazar and Joshua that if if the children of Reuben and Gad didn't go fight for the Lord and Israel, their inheritance would have to be in the land of Canaan.

They all agreed and the land that was given to them along with half the tribe of Manasseh (the son of Joseph) is listed in Numbers 32:33-42.

Gad in the Bible Summary
Gad Bible Conclusion

Let's do a little math! Of course some of these numbers are not exact, but they'll give you an idea of why this issue came up. Israel is approximately 11,000 square miles. There were 601,730 children of Israel (able to go to war) who were going to occupy it. That gives each person an average of 11⅔ acres of land.

That's not a big chunk of grazing area if you own a lot of cattle! We'll see in future stories if they kept their word and fought for Israel in God's army to bring them into the Promised Land or not.

More great stories ahead, here at Daily Bread!