With each passing year the name “Billy Graham” becomes less recognizable to the younger folks. This seems strange to those of us who grew up watching Graham’s crusades on television, reading his Decision magazine, buying his books, hearing all about the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and thinking of him as “America’s pastor.” To paraphrase a line from Exodus 1:8 and put a modern spin on it, a generation is arising that does not know Graham.
Any generation that does not know Billy Graham doesn’t know Cliff Barrows, either. He was Graham’s right-hand man for close to fifty years, serving as Graham’s song leader for his crusades and as the host of Graham’s weekly Hour of Decision radio program. The two traveled the world together and became as close as brothers. Barrows died in 2016 at the age of 93. Graham died in 2018 at the age of 99.
The story of how Barrows began working with Graham is a classic example of God’s providence. In 1945, Barrows and his fiancée, Billie, scraped together enough money for a simple wedding, two train tickets, and a honeymoon in a resort hotel in Asheville, North Carolina. When they arrived at the hotel, however, they learned that it had been shut down. So there they were, newlyweds, stranded in a strange town, with no room and little money.
They didn’t even have a destination in mind when they thumbed a ride and happened to be picked up by a sympathetic local. He drove them to a grocery store that was owned by a woman he knew. She had a vacant room directly above her store. That’s where Cliff and Billie spent the night, in a room above a grocery store in a strange town.
The next day Cliff pulled out his trombone and began playing Christian songs. Not only was the store owner impressed with his musical talent, she took a liking to the young couple and arranged for them to spend the rest of their honeymoon at a friend’s house. Several days later that friend invited the couple to attend a Youth for Christ rally in Asheville. The featured speaker at the rally was a twenty-six-year-old evangelist named Billy Graham.
After arriving at the rally, Barrows learned that the song leader/piano player was sick and Graham was looking for a volunteer to fill in that night. Barrows’ name was submitted to Graham, and Barrows was awarded the job when Graham grabbed both of his hands and said, “No time to be choosy!” That’s how the two men first met, and that meeting began a lifetime ministry partnership that became the stuff of evangelistic legend.
Was it chance that brought those two men together? Fate? Destiny? Blind luck? Nope. It was a sovereign God who knows how to turn unplanned meetings into divine encounters. That’s why we shouldn’t question Him or get mad at Him when our plans get upset and things don’t go like we expect them to go. We never fully know what He is up to in our lives, and His plans can be infinitely greater than anything we would ever dare plan for ourselves. As the Bible says in Ephesians 3:20-21:
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (N.K.J.V.)
The Disciple's Road 
Choosing the East Side of the Jordan
Numbers chapter 32 provides us with a fascinating twist in the history of Moses and the Israelites. The twist involves the tribes of Reuben and Gad as well as half the tribe of Manasseh, and it holds multiple metaphorical lessons for us in regards to the spiritual life. That’s why every Christian should understand the story.
As the story opens, Moses and the Israelites are in the final stages of their forty years of wandering in the wilderness regions surrounding the land of Canaan. Those forty years had been God’s judgment upon the people for being too unbelieving and cowardly to cross over the Jordan river, go to war with the inhabitants of Canaan, and take the land forty years earlier (Numbers chapters 13 and 14). But now a new generation of Israelites was preparing to right the wrong of that previous generation.
God had already decreed that Moses himself would not be the one to lead the nation in its conquest of Canaan. A certain sin that Moses had recently committed at Kadesh had cost him that opportunity (Numbers 20:1-13). Joshua (Moses’ right-hand man, successor, and military General) would be the one to lead Israel in the conquering of Canaan. In the run-up to that full-scale invasion, certain territories on the eastern side of the Jordan river had already been conquered (Numbers chapters 21 through 31).
That set the stage for the events of Numbers chapter 32. As part of those recent victories, the Israelites had conquered the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead. Basically, this was all the territory between the Arnon river and the Yarmuk river (Joshua 12:1-6). What made those lands particularly appealing was the fact that they were perfect for raising livestock. This appeal hadn’t gone unnoticed by the Israelite tribes of Reuben and Gad, both of which owned large herds of livestock, most of which were the spoils of a recent plundering of the Midianites (Numbers chapter 31). The appeal of the lands caused the leaders of the two tribes to think, “No matter what the other side of the Jordan river holds for us, it can’t be better than what we have right here.”
So, the leaders of the two tribes went to Moses and asked if he would give them the lands as their inheritance and allow them to settle there (32:1-5). They even said, “Do not take us over the Jordan (v.5, N.K.J.V.) But Moses’ response, not unpredictably, was one of fury. He accused the two tribes of being cowards who wanted to remain in safety while their fellow tribes went to war in Canaan (32:6-7). He also told them they were acting like their ancestors had acted forty years earlier in refusing to take Canaan (32:8-14) and called them “a brood of sinful men” (32:14).
It was at this point that the leaders of the two tribes explained to Moses that they had no intention of not taking part in the fighting to settle Canaan. Was their response a “plan B” explanation they devised on the spot when they realized how appalled Moses was at their request? Perhaps. At any rate, their proposed plan began with them first preparing their requested lands by building pens for their livestock and cities for their women and children (32:16-17). Once those projects were completed, the fighting men from the two tribes would then take their place in Israel’s army, cross over the Jordan with the rest of Israel, and continue the warfare until Canaan was completely conquered (32:18). They would even take point by going “before” the children of Israel (32:17). Only when the land was conquered would they return to their families and herds by crossing back over the Jordan river (32:19).
After hearing this explanation Moses agreed to the request, but he warned them that they had better live up to their part of the deal (32:20-24). If they didn’t God would judge them harshly. Since Moses already knew that he wouldn’t be around to ensure that everything got handled correctly, he called in Eleazar the priest, Joshua, and the heads of all the tribes and explained the agreement to them (32:28-32). At some point, half the tribe of Manasseh got in on the deal as well because they also had livestock and liked the looks of the lands (32:39-42). A full listing of the lands and the cities that ultimately either got built, rebuilt, or conquered on the “safe” side of the Jordan river is provided in Numbers 32:33-42.
In the end, the fighting men from Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh did make good on their agreement with Moses, and they did return to their lands and settle there. Joshua 13:15-33 tells us that the tribe of Reuben settled in the southern portion of the lands, the tribe of Gad settled in the northern portions, and half the tribe of Manasseh settled furthest north in Bashan. (According to Joshua 13:1-7, the other half of the tribe of Manasseh settled in its allotted portion of Canaan.)
All this brings us to the question: “When all the dust was settled from the centuries that would follow, was the decision of the two and a half tribes to settle on the east side of the Jordan river a good one?” The answer to that is, no. Consider the results of the decision:
So, what spiritual lessons can we Christians learn from this story? Well, here are a few, and I offer them as the close to this post. Consider each one carefully and take heed that you don’t fall victim to it: