1 Chronicles 5:18 - Meaning and Application

The leaders of the half-tribe of Manasseh, who lived on the east side of the Jordan, are named here (1 Chronicles 5:23, 1 Chronicles 5:24). At first, their land was only Bashan, but later they grew so much in wealth and strength that they spread far north, even to Mount Hermon. Only two things are recorded here about these tribes east of the Jordan, and both involved them together.

First, they shared in a great victory over the Hagarites, who were also called Ishmaelites to remind Israel that they were descended from the slave woman who was sent away. We are not told exactly when this victory happened. It may have been the same one won by the Reubenites, which is said to have taken place in Saul’s days (1 Chronicles 5:10), or it may have been another campaign, sparked when one tribe’s success encouraged the others to join in. Even though the kingdom as a whole was weak in Saul’s time, some tribes that acted on their own still did well.

We are told what kind of army these border tribes brought against the Hagarites. They fielded 44,000 men and more, all strong, brave, and skilled in war, ready men who knew how to use their weapons (1 Chronicles 5:18). If all Israel had worked together, how much greater they might have been, especially in the days of the judges.

We are also told how they sought God’s help. They cried out to God and trusted in him (1 Chronicles 5:20). In this, they acted like true Israelites. As descendants of believing Abraham, they did not trust in their large army. They relied on God’s power and on his direction for war, since he had allowed his people to fight for land when needed, even against distant nations, apart from the nations set apart for judgment (Deuteronomy 20:15). They also depended on God’s providence to give them victory.

As descendants of praying Jacob, they cried out to God, especially in battle, perhaps when they first faced danger and seemed likely to be overpowered. A similar thing happened in (2 Chronicles 13:14). In times of trouble, God expects us to cry out to him. He, as it were, requires that tribute from us. In our spiritual struggles too, we must look to heaven for strength, and believing prayer is the prayer that prevails.

We are then told the result. God answered them, though their need drove them to him, and he is always ready to hear and answer prayer. They were helped against their enemies, because God has never failed those who trust in him. They routed an army far larger than theirs, killed many (1 Chronicles 5:22), took 100,000 prisoners, gained great riches from the spoil, and settled in the enemy’s land (1 Chronicles 5:21, 1 Chronicles 5:22). All this happened because the war was of God, begun in his fear and carried on depending on him. If a battle belongs to the Lord, there is good reason to hope for success. We can expect to prosper in any undertaking only when we take God with us.

Second, they later shared in a shameful captivity. If they had stayed close to God and faithful in duty, they would have kept both their old inheritance and their new gains. Instead, they sinned against the God of their fathers (1 Chronicles 5:25). Because they lived on the border, they had more contact with the surrounding nations, and they picked up their idol worship. They also spread that corruption to the other tribes, and for this God contended with them.

God was as a husband to them, and it is no wonder that his holy jealousy burned when they went after other gods. A woman who is unfaithful rightly receives a bill of divorce. So God stirred up the spirits of the kings of Assyria, one after another, against them. He used the plans of those proud rulers to punish these rebels first, and then, when that did not humble them, to pull them down completely (1 Chronicles 5:26). These tribes were the first settled, and they were the first removed.

They had wanted the best land, but they did not think about how exposed it was. People who are guided more by what they can see than by reason or faith often find that they suffer the consequences.