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Unstable, Overcome, Rejected? Do your part, PRAY!

by Sheila Dougal  
1/21/2007 / Bible Studies

"And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh Joshua spoke, saying, "Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God is giving you rest and is giving you this land.' Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor, and help them, until the Lord has given your brethren rest, as He gave you, and they also have taken possession of the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and enjoy it, which Moses the Lord's servant gave you on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrise." Joshua 1:12-15


God's desire and plan for His children is never to die in the desert, but to die in the spiritual promised land this side of heaven. The desert wanderings of the Old Testament speak to us of the time, spiritually, when we go through day to day life without abundance in our soul; we are saved, we've been delivered out of "Egypt" - the world- but we have to go through a time of testing. A proving ground so to speak; a place where we learn to depend on God for everything, where we find God's word to be enough to feed our souls and His provision to be sufficient to meet our needs. It's a time of spiritual growth and learning obedience. The wounds and ways of the world we knew and practiced are healed and we're taken a new way. We learn that the ways of the world won't do a heap of good while stuck in the desert. The soul longs for water in the desert, it longs for food, it longs for shade, and it longs for rest. It's the journey every believer must make after they've be set free from sin and death by the blood of the Lamb. All the Old Testament happenings to Israel are examples to us spiritually. What they endured physically we endure spiritually (1 Cor.10:1-14, Hebrews 3:1-6).

There is a time in our journey as children of God, while in this world, where we come to a maturity of sorts; we leave manna and move on to meat. We leave the dryness and enter the refreshment; we leave the poverty of the soul and enter into the abundance; the land of promise, the land of overcoming giants, and leaving a testimony of the true God's power in us.

In my own walk with the Lord, I know this to be true. For years, I believed, I knew I was saved by Jesus, but I was dry. I was poor in spirit. I was childish spiritually. I obeyed, but I complained. I whined, I pouted, I cried, like a baby cries for milk. Though her mom is getting it, the baby doesn't know, all she can do is cry, complain, and whine until she gets her "manna." I was there for years. Like the Israelites, there came a time in my walk where I was face to face with the Jordan, the place I would have to cross, taking up my cross, that is, and follow Jesus. The place where I could choose to enter into a life, this side of heaven, and experience an abundance in my soul, a place where I would be empowered to see the victory Jesus gives me over my fears and leave a testimony for others; the place where God's beautiful, abundant blessing would bring glory to His name amongst the world. The place of the abundant life Jesus spoke of, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive." (John 7:37-39)

We all are led there by God at one point or another as we grow in Him. Even Jesus went through this as our Joshua, blazing the trail for us. He went to down into the Jordan, where the Father revealed His Son, the Holy Spirit came upon Him and He was filled with power. (Luke 3:21-22) Like us, He entered, this side of heaven, into a life of abundance and promise; a life of knowing who He was which allowed Him to face the Devil in the days of fasting, the religious leaders and their deceptive plots, the Roman government and their cruel punishments and to publicly show God's power in Him as the ultimate testimony to all who would believe. It's the power of the Holy Spirit that gave Him strength to go to the cross, the real "crossing over" place, knowing that He was the Father's and that He would not be kept by death, and that His death would bring an end to the grip of sin on humanity and His resurrected life would bring eternal life to all who believe in Him. (Luke 4:1, 14-21)

The Israelites journey and the journey of Jesus, both leave examples for us, Jesus' being the perfect one. These examples guide us in wisdom and instruction that our lives might also leave examples for others. The 2 1/2 tribes that Joshua tells about here, who chose to live on this side of the Jordan, not crossing over into the land of promise, leave us an example too.

When Jacob is on his death bed, leaving a blessing for each of his kids (a practice that was literally an announcing of the character and life of the child through their name) he said of Reuben, "Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it-- He went up to my couch." (Gen.49:3-4)

Of Gad he pronounced, "Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him, But he shall triumph at last." (Gen.49:19)

Manasseh the son of Joseph (Jacob's own son whom he thought was dead), he blessed as being his own, and though he was the older brother to Ephraim (Joseph's other son) Jacob pronounced that Manasseh would serve his younger brother. (Gen.48:12-20)

When it came to the point of crossing the Jordan, there was one last battle Israel had to fight, the battle against the Midianites. When they won this battle they took a tremendous haul of livestock, gold and treasure from those they were victorious over (Numbers 31). In Numbers 32, the Reubenites and Gadites asked Moses to give them the land that looked into the Promised Land, because it was good for raising the cattle they now had, but not to require them to cross the Jordan. Moses response is, "Hey, don't you guys go doing what your fathers did and discourage the children of Israel from going in to face these giants and receive the promise land God said was theirs. If you want this land then you have to send your men of war in until He has driven out all the enemies and your brethren get their land of rest, then you can come back here and have this land (my paraphrase)."

So here they are, finally facing the crossing of the Jordan and they ask Joshua to give them what they asked of Moses. Like Moses, Joshua reminds them if they want their rest, they have to go to war for their brethren until they get their rest, first.

Maybe some of us are like Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh. Maybe there's a history of sin with us that has left us "unstable" like Reuben, or "overcome", like Gad, or feeling like a ripped-off-from-your-rightful-position, adopted, half-breed, like Manasseh. Maybe some of us, though saved, having been through the desert years, facing the Jordan we're weakened and comforted by the victory we've had this far. Maybe we've just overcome a major battle, some strife in our lives (Midian means strife), and maybe that victory has brought us a richness, a sense of satisfaction. Maybe we've finally gotten to a place where the bills are being met, the "cattle's" bringing in the cash, and things are finally just good after all those years in the desert. Yeah, they're not perfect, but they're good enough. So we settle for less than total abundance. We look at the cross, the real Jordan, and say, "I just can't do that. I'm unstable, overcome, rejected and half empty. I just can't lay down my life and face those fears."

I see God's tremendous grace here. Unlike those who died in the desert the generation before because of their unwillingness to obey, though these tribes resistant to crossing the Jordan, they were willing to fight the battle for their brethren to get victory.

It says, "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war..."(Numbers 32:20) "Arm yourselves before the Lord," literally is to make yourself ready for war facing the Lord, in the Hebrew. If we are like Reuben, Gad and 1/2 of Manasseh, and we fail from instability, being overcome by the enemy and feelings of inadequacy and rejection; yet we face the time in our lives where we know it's time to take up our cross, and lay down our lives that someone else might see the way to abundant life, and we choose not to; the Lord would instruct us like Moses and Joshua. "If you won't go in, though that's My ultimate plan for you to experience abundance of the soul and leave a testimony for others, then you must be willing to arm yourselves for battle facing Me. Pray."

Paul said, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints..." (Eph.6:10-18)

If you're a Reuben, Gad, or Mannaseh-like, I encourage you, God wants to bring you into full abundance of life in the Spirit, but if you won't, He will in His tremendous grace give you a place of rest, this side of the Jordan if you will get on your knees, and face the Lord, equipped for the battle in prayer, praying for all the saints. Pray that those who do go the way of the cross, that those who do choose to lay down their lives to go slay giants and leave a blessing and testimony for others, may be victorious, strengthened and encouraged. They need your prayer! If you won't do this, then like those before who wouldn't obey God, you'll be living out your days wandering in the desert. Commit your remaining days to prayer! Be a warrior for others to be encouraged. Receive your rest by wrestling against spiritual forces before the face of the Lord in prayer.

Sheila Dougal is a 32 year old wife and mother living in Goodyear, Arizona with her husband James and their two sons. She enjoys serving in the women's and children's ministries at her local church, and writing on her website www.wifeofvalor.com.

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