And they transgressed against the God of their fathers, and went a whoring after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.
Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh had settled east of the Jordan, and this verse names their sin just before the record of their captivity. Why does God single these tribes out, when the whole nation turned to idols?
Where the ESV has "they broke faith," older translations read "they transgressed." One writer traces that word back to Numbers 32. There these tribes asked for a home outside the promised land, and Moses agreed.
Reuben and Gad (Num. 32) are the two tribes that ask for an inheritance other than the one God had provided, and no doubt their influence drew half of Manasseh. So two and a half tribes make their choice apart from God… Moses said that if they went armed over the Jordan, then afterward "you shall return and be guiltless before the Lord" (the ESV has "free of obligation"). Guiltless! So said Moses, but not the Lord. On the contrary, here in 1 Chron. 5:25 the divine record is, "And they transgressed."… "And they transgressed" points to their great sin in choosing for themselves when God had chosen for them. If these words refer only to what follows — they "whored after the gods of the peoples of the land" — then they were no worse in this than all the other tribes. But they stand out here as men who despised God's gift, for they clearly thought they had chosen a better land than the one the Lord had chosen for them.
Another writer lists this verse among the sins that called for a trespass-offering. A trespass robs someone of what is owed to him.
A trespass-offering, then, assumed an act that had wronged the Lord or the man's neighbour. A wife unfaithful to her husband was guilty of a trespass against him, for she defrauded him of his rights. (Num. 5:12.)… But not only were people guilty of such a sin. The nation stood convicted of it too, when they turned to idolatry before the Babylonian captivity… (1 Chron. 5:25…) Separation to God should have marked them out.
Verse 23 has just noted how many the men of Manasseh became. One writer sets verse 25 beside that growth.
Its territory, compared to that of the other tribes, was immense. In His grace God had prospered the men of Manasseh: "They were many" (v. 23). But the blessings God's favour had won for them turned them aside instead of drawing them closer to Him: "And they transgressed against the God of their fathers" (v. 25).
Only a few verses earlier these same tribes had cried to God in battle and been heard (vv. 19-22). That earlier mercy makes verse 25 sharper, and one writer draws out the pattern.
God always hears those who put their trust in Him and call on Him in time of danger. He hears them even when they are in a wrong position, and forget Him in practice while things around them seem prosperous. And is not this one of His gracious ways of rebuking our unfaithfulness?
Yet His help was not His approval.
Though they transgressed like this, they are not left out of this genealogy, for they are sons of Israel, part of the chosen nation. But because of this sin, only a brief mention is made of them… They cried to Him in their need, a sort of faith in God; but where was their obedience? Where was His honour?
Their idolatry did not start from nothing. One writer points to what their position had already cost them. Ai and Gibeon were battles inside the land, where Israel watched God act.
These two and a half tribes did not stop being Israelites. But since they were outside the promised land, they lost the special privileges of the temple. They also lost the awareness the other tribes could have, that the power the Lord displayed in the battles with the Canaanites was for them… They became mere onlookers of the triumphs of Israel. The good lessons of Ai and Gibeon and the rest reached them only second-hand.
One writer applies the geography to believers today, and links their position to the captivity recorded next.
We may also see the Jordan as the boundary of the promised land. The two and a half tribes who stayed on its east side stopped short of their privileges. They picture many Christians who do not accept in faith the heavenly portion, through death and resurrection, that God intends for them. So they are more open to the attacks of the enemy, like the two and a half tribes who were the first to be carried away into captivity.
- Choice — Their sin ran deeper than idolatry. It was "choosing for themselves when God had chosen for them."
- Position — Living outside the land cost them the temple and the sight of God's power. They became "mere onlookers of the triumphs of Israel."
- Prosperity — God's own blessing became their snare. It "turned them aside instead of drawing them closer to Him."
- Mercy — God answered their cry in battle even in their wrong position. Yet the record still asks, "where was their obedience?"
- Consequence — Stopping short of God's portion leaves a person open to the enemy. These tribes "were the first to be carried away into captivity."
And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tilgath-Pilneser king of Assyria, and he carried them away, the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to Halah, and Habor, and Hara, and to the river Gozan, -- unto this day.
This verse closes the record of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh. It reports a political disaster — Assyria carries them off — yet it credits that to the God of Israel Himself. Two questions press. Why did God move foreign kings against His own people? And why did these tribes go into exile first?
Politics explain part of it. Menahem had submitted to Assyria, and Pekah had not. But Chronicles points past the politics.
Pekah had plainly not followed Menahem's rule of submission to Assyria. That would explain the political reasons for carrying these tribes away. The Word does not give us those political reasons. But one statement in Chronicles shows us the divine reason: "So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of Tiglath-pileser … and he took them into exile."
The previous verse charges these tribes with breaking faith. Older translations read "they transgressed." One writer traces that charge back to a choice Moses had allowed but God had not.
Moses said that if they went armed over Jordan, then afterward "you shall return and be guiltless before the LORD." Guiltless! So said Moses, but not the Lord. On the contrary, the divine record here in 1 Chronicles 5:25 is, "And they transgressed." Those words point to their great sin: they chose for themselves when God had chosen for them.
That choice brought two results.
The consequences are two-fold, moral and judicial. They went after the gods of the people of the land — they became idolaters. This was the moral consequence of their position. The judicial consequence is that the "God of Israel" brought the king of Assyria against them. He carried them into captivity, far from the land they valued above God's land.
God had been generous to the half-tribe of Manasseh.
In His grace God had prospered the men of Manasseh: "They were many." But His blessings turned them aside instead of drawing them closer to Him: "And they transgressed against the God of their fathers."
Why were these tribes the first to go? One writer points to where they had chosen to live.
The Jordan can also be seen as the boundary of the promised land. So the two and a half tribes who stayed on the east of the Jordan stopped short of their privileges. They are a picture of many Christians who do not accept in faith the heavenly portion, through death and resurrection, that God intends for them. So they are more open to the enemy's attacks, just as these two and a half tribes were the first taken into captivity.
Commentators differ here. Some hold to the plain reading of the verse, which lists two names.
This man has caused much debate among critics. They now seem to agree that he is the same person as Tiglath-Pileser, one of the greatest and best-known Assyrian kings. But if we keep simply to the letter of Scripture, we are led instead to see Pul, king of Assyria, as a separate person, as 1 Chronicles 5:26 tells us.
Others treat the two names as one man and say the verse still stands.
Pul was evidently one name of the Assyrian ruler, and later he assumed the title of Tiglath-pileser II. This does not clash at all with the statement in 1 Chronicles 5:26.
Their record here is short. One writer explains why, and says what God still did for them.
Though they transgressed, they are not left out of this genealogy, for they are sons of Israel, a part of the chosen nation. But because of this sin, the record gives them only brief mention. God did not forget them while He noted their sin. He helped them in their wars because they trusted in Him. They cried to Him in their need, a sort of faith in God. But where was their obedience?
The verse ends with the tribes still in those distant places, and with the words "to this day." That phrase tells us where things stood when the book was written.
When Chronicles was composed, these tribes were in captivity in the places named here. This passage, like many others, could well be used to establish the date of our book.
But the exile is not the last word.
Sovereign grace will bring them back at the end. Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh will take their place with the other tribes, in equal numbers (Revelation 7) — at least symbolically.
- Choice. Their exile began with an older choice. They asked for land God had not chosen for them. "They transgressed" marks that choosing for themselves.
- Drift. Living outside the inheritance, they took up the gods of the land around them. The moral consequence came before the judicial one.
- Prosperity. Wide territory and large numbers did not draw them nearer to God; the gifts turned them away from the Giver.
- Stirred. Armies moved and tribute changed hands. But the verse names the real mover: the God of Israel stirred the spirit of these kings.
- Grace. They were the first taken away, and the verse ends with "to this day." Yet sovereign grace will set these same tribes back in their place.