(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
Joshua 1:10–15, “Then Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the LORD your God giveth you to possess it. And to the Reubenites, and to the Gadites, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, spake Joshua, saying, Remember the word which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, saying, The LORD your God hath given you rest, and hath given you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle, shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side Jordan; but ye shall pass before your brethren armed, all the mighty men of valour, and help them; Until the LORD have given your brethren rest, as he hath given you, and they also have possessed the land which the LORD your God giveth them: then ye shall return unto the land of your possession, and enjoy it, which Moses the LORD’S servant gave you on this side Jordan toward the sunrising.”
After Moses died, and the people mourned his death in the appropriate way, it was time for the people to move forward to the next stage in their journey with the Lord God. Ever since Israel left Egypt the Lord had provided them with manna every day but, now that they were moving into the Promised Land, the Lord told them to prepare their own food. The Promised Land was to be a land flowing with milk and honey so they wouldn’t need to have any manna. (Exodus 3:8, “And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”) This also showed that they went in to fight a war and needed to camp along the way. The Lord’s promise didn’t change; they were going to possess the Land. Two and half tribes had opted to stay on the eastern side of the Jordan River because it was good land for their herds and flocks but they had a responsibility to go into the Land with their brothers and help them take the Land from the people who had debased the Land for many years. These men left their families behind and were obliged to stay with the armies till they had conquered the Land. When everybody had access to their promised inheritance then everyone was free from the obligation to take part in the invading force.
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