Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, who calls Your people to stand firm and fight the good fight of faith, forgive us when we grow weary or think only of ourselves. Strengthen us by Your Word and Spirit, that we may lift the hands of our brothers and sisters, and together press on toward the crown of life won for us by Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, “Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, the country which the LORD defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” Therefore they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan.”

And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: “Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the LORD has given them? Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the children of Israel, so that they did not go into the land which the LORD had given them. So the LORD’S anger was aroused on that day, and He swore an oath, saying, ‘Surely none of the men who came up from Egypt, from twenty years old and above, shall see the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, because they have not wholly followed Me, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun, for they have wholly followed the LORD.’ So the LORD’S anger was aroused against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation that had done evil in the sight of the LORD was gone. And look! You have risen in your father’s place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the LORD against Israel. For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all these people.”

Then they came near to him and said: “We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, but we ourselves will be armed, ready to go before the children of Israel until we have brought them to their place; and our little ones will dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. We will not return to our homes until every one of the children of Israel has received his inheritance. For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has fallen to us on this eastern side of the Jordan.”

Then Moses said to them: “If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the LORD for the war, and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the LORD until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, and the land is subdued before the LORD, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the LORD and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. But if you do not do so, then take note, you have sinned against the LORD; and be sure your sin will find you out. Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what has proceeded out of your mouth.”

And the children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying: “Your servants will do as my lord commands. Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our livestock will be there in the cities of Gilead; but your servants will cross over, every man armed for war, before the LORD to battle, just as my lord says.”

I want to tell you today the rather tasty tale of the Pastry War. Soon after Mexico gained independence, France—yes, France—declared war on Mexico. Why? Because of a pastry. You see, in 1832, Mexico was still a young nation. Law and order were scarce. Theft and looting were common, and one unfortunate French pastry chef named Monsieur Remontel had his pastries stolen by officers of Santa Anna’s army. So he wrote to his king—Louis-Philippe—about the injustice. In response, France demanded that Mexico pay 600,000 pesos (around $32,000). When Mexico refused, France went to war. Over pastries! Remontel’s whole shop was worth only about 1,000 pesos—roughly $52.

Was that an overreaction? Probably. But small things can stir up great passion when they touch something deeper—like national pride. “How dare they take French pastries and not pay for them!” was the cry that roused a nation.

And that brings us to Moses. When the tribes of Reuben and Gad came to him and asked not to cross the Jordan with the others, Moses’ temper flared hotter than an oven full of croissants. He accused them of being just like their unbelieving fathers—a brood of sinful men ready to bring down the wrath of God upon Israel once again. Was Moses overreacting too?

I don’t think so. Moses had carried a burden few could bear. He had spent forty years wandering in the wilderness, watching an entire generation die beneath the weight of God’s judgment. Why? Because that generation refused to go up and take the Promised Land when God told them to. Instead of trusting His promise, they listened to the fearful ten spies and despaired. Their disbelief cost them everything. God declared that none of that faithless generation would enter the land—they would all die in the desert.

Now, here comes a new generation. The Jordan River shimmers before them. Canaan waits beyond it. But Reuben and Gad, seeing the green pastureland to the east, decide they’d rather settle there. It’s perfect country for cattle, not crops—like the ranchland east of the Missouri here in South Dakota. They figure, “Why not stay? We’re herdsmen. This is what we need.”

But Moses—who was suffering from a bit of “post-wandering in the wilderness for forty years” stress—knew the danger. If the rest of Israel heard that Reuben and Gad weren’t coming to help, their courage might crumble. History could repeat itself. Once again, God’s people could be disheartened and punished with forty more years of wandering. No wonder Moses’ blood boiled!

To be fair, Reuben and Gad probably hadn’t meant any harm. They were just thinking practically: good land, good cattle, good life. But as Moses points out, not thinking about how your actions affect others can still be a terrible sin. It’s easy to put two and two together for our own benefit and forget the spiritual ripple effects. It’s selfish blindness—not malice—that often wounds the body of believers.

And that, dear fellow partakers of God’s promises, is a mirror we can’t avoid looking into. How often have we, like Reuben and Gad, chased what looked best for us—without thinking of how our choices might discourage someone else in their fight for faith?

Our battlefield is the heart. We fight— against our sin, against despair, against the whisper that says, “Give up.” Haven’t you felt that? The weariness after falling into the same sin again and again? The heaviness that comes when trusting God feels too hard? The cold breath of fear that brushes the neck of those battling disease or grief?

If you look around a church full of people, every person you see is fighting a battle. Some fights you know about; most you don’t. But we are all in the same war—the daily fight to hold onto the faith and the hope that God has promised. “Be faithful unto death,” our Lord says, “and I will give you the crown of life.”

And yet, sometimes, like Reuben and Gad, we make choices that look harmless but ripple outward like a stone thrown into a pond. Maybe it’s a family moving away for a job without a church nearby. Maybe it’s words spoken carelessly that dampen someone’s zeal. Maybe it’s the quiet neglect of fellowship. The danger isn’t just for us—it’s for those who might follow our example and fall.

Reuben and Gad learned that lesson from a tongue lashing. But to their credit, once Moses rebuked them, they repented. They promised to fight alongside their brothers until every tribe had received its inheritance. That was faith—a willingness to put the needs of God’s people above their own comfort.

And that is our call, too. God’s Word exposes us, calls us a brood of sinners, and yet—praise be to God— it also tells us that God forgives us. The same Lord who rebukes us in love also clothes us in His righteousness. The same Christ who shows us our sin also shows us His cross. And once we’ve been forgiven, like Reuben and Gad, we want to fight again—but this time together.

So, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us go up and fight—not with swords, but with faith, courage, and compassion. Let us fight for one another’s faith. Let us encourage each other, not discourage. Let us be careful that our words and actions never sap another’s strength, but instead remind them of the victory already won.

For we have this promise: the battle is already decided. Christ has conquered sin, death, and hell. He has gone before us into the true Promised Land and secured it for us by His blood. Those who died in the wilderness died in unbelief—but we have a Savior who died and rose so that we might believe, and live.

So, dear friends, go up and fight. Fight your battles with faith. Encourage your fellow warriors. Lift up the weary. Remind one another that the crown of life is not a maybe—it is promised. Believe it. Trust it. Live it.

And above all, do not discourage anyone from joining the fight of faith. For though we are sinners, we are forgiven. Though we fall, Christ lifts us. And though we struggle, the victory is already ours through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

—Pastor Aaron Ude

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Rapid City, SD

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