I have moved to study the word “find” throughout God’s Word. I begin my study in the Book of Numbers with the negotiations of people of Reuben and Gad to stay and not cross over the Jordan River into the promised land. Seems a bit strange to not want to accept that which God had promised, but the reason made sense to the people.

The people of Reuben and Gad are not too different from you and me. They found something that was of benefit to them and that is where they found they wanted to be. When I find something that is of benefit to me, I am inclined to want that as well and am content in that finding. I will enter into negotiations to get/receive that which I found and in those negotiations will give up the prospect of something else to have what I have found. The people of Reuben and Gad did the same with Moses and with the promise of God, they negotiated to stay where they were and not accept the promised land of God.

“²⁰So Moses said to them, ‘If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, ²¹and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him ²²and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.’” “’²⁴Build cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.’ ²⁵And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, ‘Your servants will do as my lord commands. ²⁶Our little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, ²⁷but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.’”– Numbers 32:20-22 & 24-27 (ESV)

In the negotiations, everyone agreed that the people of Reuben and Gad would settle where they were and not in the promised land, in exchange for sending their armed men to fight for, alongside the other tribes in the acquisition of the promised land. Quite the negotiation to say the least. Fight for something that I have no stake in.

“²³But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.” – Numbers 32:23 (ESV)

And there it is, the other side of the negotiations. What happens if you do not uphold your end of the bargain. There are consequences. Where there are consequences to all negotiated terms that are not met, this negotiation is in the site of the LORD and you can bet they will be quite something. Although Moses does not outline what they are, the people had seen the anger of the LORD before, so I am sure that they were well aware of what those consequences were.

“¹At that time Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ²and said to them, ‘You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you and have obeyed my voice in all that I have commanded you. ³You have not forsaken your brothers these many days, down to this day, but have been careful to keep the charge of the Lord your God. ⁴And now the Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as he promised them. Therefore turn and go to your tents in the land where your possession lies, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.’” – Joshua 22:1-4 (ESV)

Yep, they upheld their end of the bargain and the negotiated terms were kept by all involved. The promised land was secured and the people of Reuben and Gad settled in the negotiated land.

This is but one example of negotiating and consequences of the negotiation. Here the people of Reuben and Gad avoided the consequences as the LORD and they held up their ends of the negotiation. The same is for you and me. When we negotiate, we are to do so in good faith with full intent on following through with our end of the negotiation. Regardless of who we negotiate with, it is our duty to uphold our end. Remember that the LORD will allow our negotiations. He did so with Moses and here we see with the people of Reuben and Gad. The LORD will always uphold His end, it is up to us to stick to ours.

What do your negotiations look like? Are you making promised that you may or may not intend to keep? What if you were to negotiate in good faith and stick to it as we know the LORD will stick to His?