The Land East of the Jordan River

In short

Canaan is the land WEST of the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israel’s mission was to conquer Canaan and take that land as their own. And they did. But they also picked up some other land on the way, on the EAST of the Jordan.

Why it is important

I think this tends to be neglected in general study. I get it – Canaanite geography is a lot to deal with by itself. But this is part of the story of Israel.

It would be like ignoring the Louisiana Purchase in US history. It’s not the 13 colonies, but it’s still a really big deal.

In the last section you’ll see the effect of all this. Hang on.

What happened?

• The Israelites are on their way to conquer Canaan
• The path they take is along the EAST side of the Jordan River (Num 21:4, 10-13)
• They cross through two ancient city-states, Bashan and Gilead*
• They defeat the kings of those nations (Og and Sihon) and take their lands (Num 21:21-35)
• Then they cross over the Jordan River and take Canaan (Josh 4:1ff0

In time, all of the land is divided among the twelve tribes of Israel (like dividing into states, basically), to include this land on the east of the Jordan (as well as Canaan, Josh 14:1-5).

Theology and doctrine

Three things come to mind with the land east of the Jordan.

1. The Eastern “altar of witness” (Joshua 22:9-34). After the 2.5 Eastern tribes help the others conquer Canaan, they go back to their new home in the east. There they build a large altar by the Jordan (on their side) and the other tribes see it and are FURIOUS. But what seems like apostasy turns out to be simply a memorial of their faith.

• Eastern cities of refuge (Num 35:14; Deut 4:41-43; Deut 19:1-9; Josh 20:8). Since the eastern land is kind of bonus land, it seems that they get three bonus cities of refuge to with it, as there are three in the west as well. And then over and above that, they can get three more if they keep expanding. This is a big topic; we will cover the Cities of Refuge in April.

• Psalm 136. We are talking about this poem tomorrow (not a coincidence) and it mentions Og and Sihon (verses 19-22), and I wanted you to be prepared for that.

Footnotes

* Og is king of Bashan, and that’s for sure. My understanding is that Gilead is where Sihon is. It is never spelled out, though, as far as I know.