A farmer had 600 chickens. Half of them died and the other half started acting sickly. He called the local agricultural agent, told him the situation, and asked, “What should I do?” The agent said, “You need to give the remaining 300 some penicillin.”
Not wanting to lose any more chickens, the farmer dutifully carried out his assignment. A few days later, though, another half of the chickens were dead. He called the agent again and said, “The penicillin didn’t work. Now I’m down to 150 chickens. What do you suggest?” The agent answered, “Give them some castor oil twice a day. That ought to help.”
So, the farmer did as he was told. Despite his efforts, though, another 100 of his chickens died a couple of days later. He called the agent again and said, “Now I’m down to 50 chickens. Please, you’ve got to help me.” The agent said, “You mean the castor oil didn’t work? Boy, that’s strange. Okay, give each chicken an aspirin twice a day. I feel confident that will do the trick.”
One more time the farmer did as he was told, but again his efforts proved futile and the last 50 of his chickens died. He called the agent again and said, “I just want you to know that all of my chickens are dead now.” The agent said, “Really? That’s a shame. I had a lot more remedies to try.”
Many times, we operate like that agricultural agent. Our marriages aren’t working? “Let’s try this.” Our relationships with our kids are broken? “Let’s give this a shot.” Our financial situations are a mess? “Maybe this will work.” Our churches are disasters? “The latest book says we should do this.”
We seem to never run out of plots, plans, schemes, and quick fixes. Our human logic is boundless, and our human reasoning knows no end. If one thing doesn’t work, we just try another. Then another. Then another. And there’s always a new book, a new video, a new movement, or a new fad that confidently claims to have the answer. But no matter what we try, our decline continues.
When will we realize that God is the one who has the answers we need? He is the one who can correctly diagnose the problem and tell us what to do about it. He is the great fixer. But isn’t it sad that we will act upon everybody’s advice except His? It reminds me of the married couple who were discussing a certain problem they were having. The wife said, “I think we need to pray about this.” Flabbergasted, the husband replied, “Pray? Has it come to that?”
For one thing, God instructs us through His written word, the Bible. For another, He instructs us through circumstances — closed doors, open doors, problems, and opportunities. Best of all, if we are born again Christians, He instructs us through His Spirit who dwells inside us. The fact is, though, that God can’t help us if we either don’t ask for His help or don’t carry out His instructions. You see, the breakdown occurs on our end, not His. And until we get our end in proper working order, our chickens will keep dying.
The Disciple's Road 
Choosing the East Side of the Jordan
Numbers chapter 32 provides us with a fascinating twist in the history of Moses and the Israelites. The twist involves the tribes of Reuben and Gad as well as half the tribe of Manasseh, and it holds multiple metaphorical lessons for us in regards to the spiritual life. That’s why every Christian should understand the story.
As the story opens, Moses and the Israelites are in the final stages of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness regions surrounding the land of Canaan. Those forty years had been God’s judgment upon the people for being too unbelieving and cowardly to cross over the Jordan river, go to war with the inhabitants of Canaan, and take the land forty years earlier (Numbers chapters 13 and 14). But now a new generation of Israelites was preparing to right the wrong of that previous generation.
God had already decreed that Moses himself would not be the one to lead the nation in its conquest of Canaan. A certain sin that Moses had recently committed at Kadesh had cost him that opportunity (Numbers 20:1-13). Joshua (Moses’ right-hand man, successor, and military General) would be the one to lead Israel in the conquering of Canaan. In the run-up to that full-scale invasion, certain territories on the eastern side of the Jordan river had already been conquered (Numbers chapters 21 through 31).
That set the stage for the events of Numbers chapter 32. As part of those recent victories, the Israelites had conquered the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead. Basically, this was all the territory between the Arnon river and the Yarmuk river (Joshua 12:1-6). What made those lands particularly appealing was the fact that they were perfect for raising livestock. This appeal hadn’t gone unnoticed by the Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad, both of which owned large herds of livestock, most of which were the spoils of a recent plundering of the Midianites (Numbers chapter 31). The appeal of the lands caused the leaders of the two tribes to think, “No matter what the other side of the Jordan river holds for us, it can’t be better than what we have right here.”
So, the leaders of the two tribes went to Moses and asked if he would give them the lands as their inheritance and allow them to settle there (32:1-5). They even said, “Do not take us over the Jordan (v.5, N.K.J.V.) But Moses’ response, not unpredictably, was one of fury. He accused the two tribes of being cowards who wanted to remain in safety while their fellow tribes went to war in Canaan (32:6-7). He also told them they were acting like their ancestors had acted forty years earlier in refusing to take Canaan (32:8-14) and called them “a brood of sinful men” (32:14).
It was at this point that the leaders of the two tribes explained to Moses that they had no intention of not taking part in the fighting to settle Canaan. Was their response a “plan B” explanation they devised on the spot when they realized how appalled Moses was at their request? Perhaps. At any rate, their proposed plan began with them first preparing their requested lands by building pens for their livestock and cities for their women and children (32:16-17). Once those projects were completed, the fighting men from the two tribes would then take their place in Israel’s army, cross over the Jordan with the rest of Israel, and continue the warfare until Canaan was completely conquered (32:18). They would even take point by going “before” the children of Israel (32:17). Only when the land was conquered would they return to their families and herds by crossing back over the Jordan river (32:19).
After hearing this explanation Moses agreed to the request, but he warned them that they had better live up to their part of the deal (32:20-24). If they didn’t God would judge them harshly. Since Moses already knew that he wouldn’t be around to ensure that everything got handled correctly, he called in Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the heads of all the tribes and explained the agreement to them (32:28-32). At some point, half the tribe of Manasseh got in on the deal as well because they also had livestock and liked the looks of the lands (32:39-42). A full listing of the lands and the cities that ultimately either got built, rebuilt, or conquered on the “safe” side of the Jordan river is provided in Numbers 32:33-42.
In the end, the fighting men from Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh did make good on their agreement with Moses, and they did return to their lands and settle there. Joshua 13:15-33 tells us that the tribe of Reuben settled in the southern portion of the lands, the tribe of Gad settled in the northern portions, and half the tribe of Manasseh settled furthest north in Bashan. (According to Joshua 13:1-7, the other half of the tribe of Manasseh settled in its allotted portion of Canaan.)
All this brings us to the question: “When all the dust was settled from the centuries that would follow, was the decision of the two and a half tribes to settle on the east side of the Jordan river a good one?” The answer to that is, no. Consider the results of the decision:
So, what spiritual lessons can we Christians learn from this story? Well, here are a few, and I offer them as the close to this post. Consider each one carefully and take heed that you don’t fall victim to it: