Números 31
Warren Wiersbe · Citado em PreceptAustin
Números 31
Wiersbe - Though the people of Israel were wrong in getting entangled with the Midianites at Baal Peor, Midian was wrong in following Balaam's counsel and trying to destroy Israel. Those who curse Israel, God will curse (Gen. 12:1-3), and the time had come for God to punish Midian (25:16-18).[Moab had also been involved in the seduction at Baal Peor (Nu 25:1), but since the Moabites were relatives of the Jews, God spared them (Deut. 2:8-9). For the same reason, God wouldn't allow Israel to engage the Ammonites.] This battle would be a "dress rehearsal" for the battles Israel would fight in the land of Canaan. But this would be Moses' last battle; then he would meet "the last enemy" which is death (1 Cor. 15:26). (Be Counted) Numbers 31:2 "Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people." Avenge: Nu 31:3 25:17,18 De 32:35 Jdg 16:24,28-30 Ps 94:1-3 Isa 1:24 Na 1:2 Lu 21:22 Ro 12:19 13:4 1Th 4:6 Heb 10:30 Rev 6:10 Rev 18:20 19:2 the Midianites: Nu 25:6,14-18 Ge 25:1-4 Ex 2:16 gathered: Nu 27:13 Ge 15:15 25:8,17 Jud 2:10 Ac 13:36 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Justice and Divine Vengeance Pursuing Crime by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, c. 1805–1808 Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites - Paul taught about the Lord's vengeance in Romans "Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY,” says the Lord." (Ro 12:19) Here God uses His chosen people to extract justice and vengeance. Take full vengeance in Nu 31:2 is a combination of the verb naqam and the noun neqamah which emphasizes the necessity of Moses and the sons of Israel following through on Yahweh's command! Vengeance (noun)(05359)(naqam - click for detailed study from the verbal root nqm which expresses the notion of revenge) is the act of taking revenge (harming someone in retaliation for something harmful that they have done). It refers to punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong and can refer to punishment beyond what is physical. Naqam is translated in the Septuagint in this verse with ekdikeo (ek = out or from + dike = right, justice; see cognates = ekdikesis and ekdikos) is literally that which proceeds from justice. The idea is to vindicate one's right or to do one justice. In Isaiah 61:2+ naqam is translated with the Greek noun antapodosis (from antí = in turn + apodídomi = render. cp related verb = antapodidomi = give back in return for something received) which describes the action of recompensing, repaying or rewarding and stresses the action of giving back an equivalent which depending on the context can be positive or negative "payback." In the case of Isa 61:2a the sense is negative and speaks of God's coming judgment on Israel. Take vengeance (verb)(05358)(naqam) means to avenge, take vengeance, revenge, avenge oneself, be avenged, be punished. (Qal) to avenge, take vengeance, to entertain revengeful feelings. (Niphal) to avenge oneself, to suffer vengeance (Piel) to avenge. The first use in Ge 4:15 has "whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold." In Lev 19:18 individual in Israel are instructed "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people" On the other hand Yahweh has the right to vengeance declaring "I will also bring upon you a sword which will execute vengeance for the covenant." (Lev 26:25). The last OT use in Nahum 1:2 gives us a good sense of the meaning as it applies to divine vengeance - "A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies." God allows and uses men to take vengeance as Numbers 31 and also in the case of Samson when he "called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time, O God, that I may at once be avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes.” (Jdg 16:28) That God is a God of righteous, just, holy, perfect vengeance should comfort all who have been unfairly treated, injured, etc in this life, for Deuteronomy 32:43 says “Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge (verb naqam) the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance (noun naqam) on His adversaries, And will atone (kaphar) for His land and His people.” Naqam (verb) - 31v - avenge(9), avenged(5), avenger(2), avenging(2), exact(1), execute(1), punished(1), revengeful(1), take(2), take revenge(1), take vengeance(4), taken(1), takes vengeance(1), taking(1), vengeance shall be taken(1), vengeance will be taken(1). Gen. 4:15; Gen. 4:24; Exod. 21:20; Exod. 21:21; Lev. 19:18; Lev. 26:25; Num. 31:2; Deut. 32:43; Jos. 10:13; Jdg. 15:7; Jdg. 16:28; 1 Sam. 14:24; 1 Sam. 18:25; 1 Sam. 24:12; 2 Ki. 9:7; Est. 8:13; Ps. 8:2; Ps. 44:16; Ps. 99:8; Isa. 1:24; Jer. 5:9; Jer. 5:29; Jer. 9:9; Jer. 15:15; Jer. 46:10; Jer. 50:15; Jer. 51:36; Ezek. 24:8; Ezek. 25:12; Ezek. 25:15; Nah. 1:2 Vengeance (noun)(05360)(neqamah from naqam - vengeance) is a noun means avengement, the taking of revenge, punishment. The first two uses are in Numbers 31:2-3 in context of the sin of the Midianites against Israel at Baal of Peor (Nu 25:1-3+) TWOT - Although this root, including its derivatives, is only used about seventy times in the OT, it expresses a truth that is theologically important, but greatly misunderstood. Vengeance and revenge are ideas that would appear to have no good ethical validity whether coming from God or man. But such is not the case when the use of this root is properly understood in its OT setting and NT application. The concept of divine vengeance must be understood in the light of OT teaching about the holiness and justice of God and its effect on man as a sinner. In terms of the presuppositions of some modern “Christian” theologies, such a God of vengeance will be labeled unchristian and unethical. Understood in the full orb of biblical revelation, balanced as it is by the mercy of God, divine vengeance is seen to be a necessary aspect of the history of redemption. VENGEANCE — punishment in retaliation for an injury or offense; repayment for a wrong suffered. The Levitical law prescribed, “You shall not take vengeance” (Lev. 19:18). Only God was qualified to take vengeance, because His acts were based on His holiness, righteousness, and justice, which punishes sin and vindicates the oppressed and the poor in spirit (Deut. 32:35; Rom. 12:19). (NNIBD) Num. 31:2; Num. 31:3; Jdg. 11:36; 2 Sam. 4:8; 2 Sam. 22:48; Ps. 18:47; Ps. 79:10; Ps. 94:1; Ps. 149:7; Jer. 11:20; Jer. 20:10; Jer. 20:12; Jer. 46:10; Jer. 50:15; Jer. 50:28; Jer. 51:6; Jer. 51:11; Jer. 51:36; Lam. 3:60; Ezek. 25:14; Ezek. 25:15; Ezek. 25:17 Afterward you will be gathered to your people - This is a euphemistic way (a "poetic expression") to say he is going to die, but otherwise the meaning is uncertain. The reference from 2 Kings below certainly suggests that it at least in part refers to literally being buried in a grave (Hebrew word geber means grave, tomb, sepulcher and same verb asaph is used for "gather" in both passages). Three other times Moses is told he will be gathered to his people... Deuteronomy 32:50 “Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, Numbers 27:13 “When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was; Deuteronomy 32:50 “Then die on the mountain where you ascend, and be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people, Gathered to (one's) people - (to his) Gen. 25:8; Gen. 25:17; Gen. 35:29; Gen. 49:33; Num. 20:24; Num. 20:26; Deut. 32:50 (to your) Num. 27:13; Num. 31:2; Deut. 32:50; 2 Ki. 22:20; 2 Chr. 34:28 (to their) Jdg 2:10 2 Kings 22:20 “Therefore, behold, I will gather you (KING JOSIAH) to your fathers, and you will be gathered (asaph) to your grave in peace, and your eyes will not see all the evil which I will bring on this place.”’” So they brought back word to the king. Gathered to his people - G A Lee in ISBE (Revised) has this note on gather - Of the significant or unusual uses of the term, perhaps most interesting is its use in contexts of death. Most frequent in these contexts is the expression “to be gathered [Heb neʾĕsap̱, lit “to be added”] to one’s people.” This expression is used of Abraham (Gen. 25:8), Ishmael (25:17), Isaac (35:29), Jacob (49:29, 33), Moses (Nu. 27:13; 31:2; Dt. 32:50), and Aaron (Nu. 20:24; Dt. 32:50); perhaps it was intentionally restricted to this select group. A similar expression, “to be gathered to one’s fathers,” occurs only in Jdgs. 2:10 and 2 Ki. 22:20 (par 2 Chr. 34:28); the former passage concerns all of Joshua’s generation, who “served the Lord” (v 7), and the latter passage is about Josiah (note that this passage adds the phrase “be gathered to your grave in peace”; for the significance of this and other apparent references to burial see below). The qal of ʾāsap̱ is used in apparently abbreviated forms of these expressions (Jgs. 18:25; 1 S. 15:6; Job 34:14; Ps. 26:9; 104:29; cf. Nu. 20:26, where the niphal of ʾāsap̱ occurs alone, with apparently the same meaning as the fuller expression; cf. also Isa. 57:1). The meaning of these expressions is debated. Archeologists have found family graves with evidence of secondary burial and have concluded that these expressions refer to such group interment (see Kenyon, p. 263). This idea finds biblical support in several passages that mention the “gathering” (Heb ʾsp̱) of bodies or bones (Jer. 8:1f.; 25:33; Ezk. 29:5). Some, e.g., Meyers, add that the expression “to be gathered to one’s people” reflects not only a family burial but also a belief in the afterlife—in SHEOL the whole family of Israel is assembled (see also BURIAL IV). Tromp (p. 168) holds that this sense of reunion in Sheol developed from the practice of family burials, and that this development occurred before the biblical texts were written. For Heidel and others the expression refers only to the afterlife; it cannot refer to burial because other terms for burial occur in the context (cf., e.g., Gen. 25:8f.; 2 K. 22:20) or the burial is clearly a later event (cf. Gen. 49:33 and Ge 50:3–13). That the expression is used of those who were not buried in an ancestral grave, e.g., Abraham, Moses, and Aaron, seems a telling point (on these points see Alfrink; but cf. J. Skinner, comm. on Genesis [ICC, 1910], p. 352 ) (Here is Skinner's note on Ge 25:8 = "gathered to his kindred (see on Ge 17:14)] Originally, this and similar phrases (Ge 15:15; 47:30; Dt. 31:16 etc.) denoted burial in the family sepulchre; but the popular conception of Sheôl as a vast aggregate of graves in the under world enabled the language to be applied to men who (like Abraham) were buried far from their ancestors.—Isaac and Ishmael] ). (Bold added) What Does “Gathered to His People” Imply? What was the Old Testament saints’ concept of life after death? Did they have a clear belief in life after death? If so, what did it involve? For example, was it a ghostly existence? Did it involve personal, conscious awareness? Did they expect the spirit to be joined with a body? At what point? All of these questions are relevant to understanding this text about Abraham. The expression “to be gathered to one’s people” is similar to another expression, “to go to one’s fathers,” found in Genesis 15:15. The former phrase is found frequently—for example, here in Genesis 25:8, 17; 49:29, 33; Deuteronomy 32:50; and 2 Kings 22:20. Do these phrases simply mean, as many scholars claim, that the Old Testament individual was laid to rest in the family grave? Is it true that there was no thought of an afterlife? By Abraham’s time, the human life span had been so curtailed, due to the physical effects of the Fall, that 175 years was regarded as a “good old age.” What happened after Abraham died? Was he simply buried with his ancestors, end of story? Unfortunately, too many carelessly conclude that this is precisely the case. Actually, the expression “he was gathered to his people” or “he went to his fathers” cannot mean that he was buried with his relatives and ancestors. In Genesis 25:8–9 such an analysis is impossible, because we know that none of Abraham’s kin, except his wife, was buried at the cave of Machpelah. In the Old Testament, those who have already died are regarded as still existing. The event of being “gathered to one’s people” is always distinguished from the act of burial, which is described separately (Gen 25:8–9; 35:29; 49:29, 31, 33). In many cases only one ancestor was in the tomb (1 Kings 11:43; 22:40) or none at all (Deut 31:16; 1 Kings 2:10; 16:28; 2 Kings 21:18), so that being “gathered to one’s people” could not mean being laid in the family sepulcher. Readers of the text should not infer something special from the use of Sheol in some of these texts. In every one of the sixty-five instances of Sheol in the Old Testament, it refers simply to “the grave,” not to the shadowy region of the netherworld. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament supports the notion that the patriarchs expected an afterlife: All these people [from Abel to Abraham] were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. (Heb 11:13–16) Here is a clear testimony that through faith these early participants in the promises of God were fully expecting to enjoy life after death. While the full revelation of the life hereafter and the resurrection of the body awaited a later unveiling in the Old and New Testaments, the common assertion that the Old Testament saint knew nothing at all about such a possibility is an error caused by preconceptions. In Genesis 17:8 Abraham was given a promise by God: “The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you.” The rabbis reasoned that since Abraham never actually enjoyed the fulfillment of this promise, he would be raised from the dead to possess the land. While this reasoning is curious, it is not all that far off. It is no more fanciful than the reasoning of our Lord in reminding the Sadducees—who did not believe in the resurrection—that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was not the God of the dead but of the living. Thus the patriarchs were not to be counted out of the hope of resurrection (Mt 22:23–32). The believer’s relationship to God carries with it life in the body now and immortality in the future. If some object that such concepts are too “developed” for the primitive times and minds of Old Testament people, we need only remind each other that life after death was already the overriding passion of the Egyptian culture. It was to be a life of material things, with real bodies, real wine, women and song. That concept had been imaged in the pyramid monuments for a thousand years before Abraham arrived in Egypt. How, then, could the afterlife be an impossible concept for him? Other evidences of the belief of a real life after death are afforded by the stern warnings from Mosaic times about any dabbling in necromancy, the cult of contacting the dead. What harm would there have been in fooling around with something that had no reality? Already in the middle of the second millennium B.C., the Israelites knew the afterlife was real, and thus they were warned not to be involved in any contacting of individuals who had passed beyond this world. Abraham died and was buried. But he also joined a community of believers who had gone on before. No details of the nature of that community are given at this point. But these expressions, “to be gathered to one’s people” and “to go to one’s fathers,” are not a mere euphemism for death without any clear theological import. The evidence argues to the contrary. (Walter Kaiser - Hard Sayings of the Bible - recommended resource) Numbers 31:3 Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD'S vengeance on Midian. Arm : Ex 17:9-13 LORD'S vengeance: Nu 25:11,13 Ex 17:16 Lev 26:25 Jdg 5:2,23 2Ki 9:7 10:30 Jer 46:10 Jer 50:28 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them.’ HOLY VENGEANCE IS MINE SAITH THE LORD Moses spoke to the people, saying, "Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD'S vengeance on Midian - The men over 20 were numbered in Numbers 26 and now are going to have a little "spring scrimmage" as we say in football, so they will be ready when the "big leagues" come as they enter the Land of Promise. Why the LORD'S vengeance? Because ultimately all sin is against Yahweh and in this case jeopardized the fulfillment of His covenant promises to the patriarchs of giving them the promised land. TSK on the LORD'S vengeance on Midian - It was God's quarrel, not their own, that they were now to take up. These people were idolaters, and had seduced the Israelites to practise the same abominations. Idolatry is an offence against God; and the civil power has no authority to meddle with what belongs to Him, without especial directions, certified, as in this case, in the most unequivocal manner. Private revenge, ambition, or avarice were to have no place in this business: Jehovah is to be avenged; and through Him, the children of Israel, (ver. 2,) because they were nearly ruined by their idolatries. If Jehovah, instead of punishing sinners by earthquakes, pestilence, or famine,is pleased expressly to command any person or people to avenge his cause, this commission justifies, nay sanctifies, war, massacre, or devastation. Though none at present shew such a commission, yet the Israelites could; and it is therefore absurd to censure Moses, Joshua, and Israel, for the dreadful slaughter made by them. God himself passed sentence of condemnation, and employed them merely as ministers of his vengeance; and unless it could be proved that the criminals did not deserve their doom, or that God had no right to punish his rebellious creatures, such objectors only shew their enmity to God by becoming the unsolicited advocates of his enemies. This is a reiteration of Yahweh's words in Numbers 25:16; 17+ "Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them." Numbers 31:4 "A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war." Of every tribe a thousand: Heb. A thousand of a tribe, a thousand of a tribe a thousand: Lev 26:8 Jdg 7:2 1Sa 14:6 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries TWELVE THOUSAND MEN OF WAR A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war - We don't know the size of their enemy but God does and 12,000 was just fine with God. As discussed below remember Gideon's band of men who won the battle not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit. Who get's the glory when the numbers and "human odds" are aligned against us? God of course. And that is our purpose on this planet in this short time God has granted each us, that He might be greatly glorified in and through our lives! As Paul rightly said, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31). Numbers 31:5 So there were furnished from the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries TWELVE THOUSAND ARMED FOR WAR So there were furnished from the thousands of Israel- Numbers 26:51 said there "were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730" who were " able to go out to war in Israel." (Nu 26:2) A thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. - Not just going to war, but were also armed for war! Where did they obtain the accoutrements for carrying out war? The text does not make this clear. THOUGHT - If this verse does not "preach" I don't know what will! Beloved, we are in a war, a spiritual war, a war against an intractable, malicious, deceitful, lying, destructive invisible enemy! Like these brave 12,000, we must also be daily "armed for war," because when we leave our house in the morning (probably even before we leave!) we are entering the battlefield and the enemy does not want to take any prisoners alive, but to destroy the army of the LORD. You and I are "in the army now," but we must be armed for war. If you have not memorized Ephesians 6:12-18+, then here is your encouragement/exhortation to do it now! Don't say you cannot memorize! That will be a weak excuse at the Bema Seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10+). By God's gracious Word and Spirit may we daily (and continually throughout the day) put on the full armor of God and walk forth as more than conquerors in Christ Jesus for the glory of our Father. Amen. Numbers 31:6 Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. Phinehas: Nu 25:7-13 the holy vessels: Nu 14:44 33:20-22 Ex 25:9 Jos 6:4-6,13-15 1Sa 4:4,5,17 1Sa 14:18 1Sa 23:9 2Sa 11:11 to blow: Nu 10:8,9 2Ch 13:12-15 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Phinehas takes a spear in Nu 25:7,8+ FAITHFUL PHINEHAS "HOLY WARRIOR" Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe - This is a small number compared to those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730, (Nu 26:31+). Compare Gideon's army (incidentally also against Midianites as well as Amalekites) where he had too many as described in Judges 7:2-7+ The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ 3 “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained. 4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. 7 The LORD said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” COMMENT - Do you see the principle that also applies here to the "numbers" in Numbers 31:6? The crux of the issue is when the victory is won, who gets the glory, God or the people (cf "‘My own power has delivered me.’ Jdg 7:2) Centuries later Paul echoed this timeless principle writing "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do (present tense = continually this is only possible as we depend on the Spirit) all (HOW MUCH?) to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31). This principle is still in force. Do you give God the glory for the "victories" in your life? Try it and watch what God will do! “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts. Regarding the trumpets earlier we read about the purpose for sounding trumpets -- it was not just a call to war but an appeal to the LORD: "When you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that (TWOFOLD PURPOSE) you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and be saved from your enemies.." (Nu 10:9+) To the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand - This is not like human wars in general, but is a legitimate "Holy War" of God's people for God's honor ("vengeance" Nu 31:3) fighting against the troops of the Adversary, in this case "disguised" as Midianites. Satan has always tried to destroy Israel and this would be no exception, but he is always underestimates God, for here we find that the battle is the Lord's (1 Sa 17:47) and He would win the victory with the 12,000 led by a holy priest with holy vessels and a holy trumpet (cf priests with trumpets in Battle of Jericho in Joshua 6:13) Let's ask the sixty four dollar question -- Did the Ark of the Covenant go out with the "holy vessels?" I think it (HE) did. Let's reason this out -- In Israel's first "battle" once they had entered the promised land of Canaan we read... “Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 5 “It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people will go up every man straight ahead.” 6 So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven priests carry seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD.”....13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the LORD went on continually, and blew the trumpets; and the armed men went before them and the rear guard came after the Ark of the LORD, while they continued to blow the trumpets. 14 Thus the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp; they did so for six days. 15 Then on the seventh day they rose early at the dawning of the day and marched around the city in the same manner seven times; only on that day they marched around the city seven times. (Joshua 6:4-6, 13-15) The Midrash on the holy vessels concluded that Numbers 31:6 refers to the Ark of the Covenant, to which Numbers 7:9+ refers when it says, “theirs was the service of the holy objects.” Another piece of evidence supporting that the Ark of the Covenant went out before the warriors (none of whom were killed, clearly a miracle wrought by Yahweh) is the story of the sinful, unbelieving sons of Israel in Numbers 14:39-45+ where the Ark of the Covenant did not go with the rebels and they were struck down by the enemy. When Moses spoke these words to all the sons of Israel, the people mourned greatly. 40 In the morning, however, they rose up early and went up to the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Here we are; we have indeed sinned (REMORSE NOT REPENTANCE!!!), but we will go up to the place which the LORD has promised.” 41 But Moses said, “Why then are you transgressing the commandment of the LORD (IN OTHER WORDS YOU JUST CONFESSED YOUR SIN SO WHY ARE YOU CONTINUING TO SIN?!!!), when it will not succeed (A PROPHECY)? 42 “Do not go up, or you will be struck down before your enemies, for the LORD is not among you. 43 “For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will be there in front of you, and you will fall by the sword, inasmuch as you have turned back from following the LORD. And the LORD will not be with you.” 44 But they went up heedlessly to the ridge of the hill country; neither the ark of the covenant of the LORD nor Moses left the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down, and struck them and beat them down as far as Hormah. THOUGHT - This begs a simple question -- do we go out to battle with the Ark or without the Ark (so to speak)? In NT terms, do we go out to battle filled with the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17+, cf Col 3:16+) and filled with the Spirit of Christ (Eph 5:18+) or filled with our self? Beloved, "thanks be to God, Who gives (present tense - continually gives) us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor 15:57). Numbers 31:7 So they made war against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. all: De 20:13,14 Jud 21:11 1Sa 27:9 1Ki 11:15,16 the males: Jdg 6:1,2,33 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD So they made war against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male - The text just as the LORD had commanded Moses suggests complete obedience, but was it truly "complete?" I don't think so, because they killed all the men but spared the women and children and Moses, as God's representative, because angry. And this time it was righteous, not sinful anger like at Meribah. Numbers 31:8 They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. the kings: Nu 22:4 Jos 13:21,22 Zur: Nu 25:15,18 Balaam: Nu 22:10 24:25 Jos 13:22 Ps 9:16 10:2 1Ti 6:9,10 2Pe 2:15 Jude 1:11 Rev 2:14 19:20 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Five Kings of Midian Slain by Israel (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible) ALL THE KINGS AND BALAAM THE DIVINER SLAIN They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword - Remember this is the Midianites, so Balak king of the Moabites is not in this grouping. What were Balaam's "wages of unrighteousness" (2 Peter 2:15+; unrighteousness = sin - 1 John 5:17+)? The same wages God always pays to sinners Ezekiel writing that "The soul who sins will die." Paul adding that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23+, cf John in Rev 21:8+). Recall that King Zur had a personal connection with Israel's sin at Baal of Peor... Numbers 25:15+ The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.....25:18 for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.” COMMENT - Do you know what Cozbi's name means? Lying, deceitful, false, "my falsehood." Wow! The proverb says "Charm is deceitful," (Pr 31:30) and Cozbi lived up to her name and died because of her "name!" Hebrews 3:13+ warns us to "encourage one another day after day (EVERY DAY - DO YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER WHO DOES THIS AND YOU FOR HIM/HER?), as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." Recall Balaam's "prayer" or "desire" in Numbers 23:10+ “Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his (JACOB - ISRAEL)!” It is one thing to mouth righteous words, but the proof is in living righteously, something that Balaam had no interest in resulting in his death in his sins, the wages" of which "earned him" eternal punishment James Hastings - THE WAGES OF UNRIGHTEOUSNESS Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.—Num. 31:8. 1. Driven with disgrace and dishonour from the presence of him at whose bidding he had undertaken this ill-omened journey, having offended God without pleasing men, like so many who forfeit heaven and yet fail to win earth, who, letting go the substance, snatch at the shadow, and miss shadow and substance alike, Balaam makes one last and desperate effort to obtain the favour and the rewards which he sees escaping from his hands; and he, the man to whom and by whom God had spoken, who saw the vision of the Almighty, whose eyes God had opened, is the author of the devilish suggestion that the children of Israel should be seduced to uncleanness, and so robbed of their righteousness. Their crime and punishment are related in Deuteronomy and Numbers. And from the narrative given in Numbers, it appears that Balaam was the contriver of the whole matter. It is also ascribed to him in the Book of Revelation, where he is said to have taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel. 2. This was a man who would not for lucre or for influence disobey his conscience, yet laboured to corrupt his conscience. He saw the good and the blessing of goodness, yet longed and strove to transfer that blessing to the evil, and “paltered with eternal God” for leave so to bestow it. He saw that the endless victory must rest with the children of God, and he yearned to attain to it through a death like theirs; yet he set himself to defraud God of His children, and His children of their God, by the fiercest temptation of their flesh. We are not to suppose that Balaam now threw off the mask and became openly a bad man. It would appear that he still kept up his self-deceit and dissimulation, as if what he was doing were but lawful and right, so that he not only led them into practices of sin, but corrupted and perverted their principles also, persuading them that they might thus hold with God and yet with sin and the flesh. ¶ The moral law of Jehovah and the comparative purity of the Israelites as His people kept them separate from the other nations, gave them dignity and vigour. To break down this defence would make them like the rest, would withdraw them from the favour of their God and even defeat His purposes. The scheme was one which only the vilest craft could have conceived; and it shows us too plainly the real character of Balaam. He must have known the power of the allurements which he now advised as the means of attack on those he could not touch with his maledictions or gain by his soothsaying. In the shadow of this scheme of his we see the diviner and all his tribe, and indeed the whole morality of the region, at their very worst. 3. But retribution came, and swiftly. The due reward of Balaam’s works was given him. The death of the righteous was not destined for this corrupting traitor, for this apostate seer. It is no wonder that a little later he is entangled in the doom of those with whom he has made common cause against God; and that, when the Midianites perish beneath the sword of Joshua, he should perish with them. There is something very significant in the brief parenthetic notice which records his doom: “Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.” So on the blood-stained turf, so amid the routed ranks, so by the pitiless swords of the men whom he had seduced to their ruin, so after the wasted life and desecrated gifts, his blows frustrated, his curses foiled, his name degraded into a by-word, died one who, had he but been faithful to his own best convictions, might have been almost as great as Moses himself. For the hope of a handful of paltry dross he had sold his eternal jewel to the enemy of man, and he had earned the dreadful twofold epitaph which the New Testament inscribes with ceremonious reprobation upon his name. One epitaph is “Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.” The other is, “Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication.” ¶ It is to be noted that it is neither by us ascertainable what moments of pure feeling or aspiration may occur to men of minds apparently cold and lost, nor by us to be pronounced through what instruments, and in what strangely occurrent voices, God may choose to communicate good to men. It seems to me that much of what is great, and to all men beneficial, has been wrought by those who neither intended nor knew the good they did; and that many mighty harmonies have been discoursed by instruments that had been dumb or discordant, but that God knew their stops. The Spirit of Prophecy consisted with the avarice of Balaam. Could we spare from its page that parable, which he said, who saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open; though we know that the sword of his punishment was then sharp in its sheath beneath him in the plains of Moab?… Selfish in their industry, unchastened in their wills, ungrateful for the Spirit that is upon them, men may yet be helmed by that Spirit whithersoever the Governor listeth; involuntary instruments they may become of others’ good; unwillingly they may bless Israel, but short-coming there will be of their glory, and sure, of their punishment. THE DOOM OF THE DOUBLE-HEARTED "Balaam also, the son of Bear, they slew with the sword." – Numbers 31:8 Balaam had taken the field against Israel– against a people whom he had pronounced blessed– whom he had pronounced invincible both by earth and hell. Yes; Balaam "the son of Beor,"– he, and not another of the name– he rushes on the bosses of the Almighty's buckler; he defies Israel and Israel's God! But he fails. He would sincerely have cursed Israel; but he could not. He counseled Moab to seduce Israel by temptation, and his device succeeded too well. He now fetches his last stroke. In vain He perishes ignobly. He is slain with the sword which he had defied. Such is the end of the backslider; of one who knew the truth but did it not; who once said, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his." It was certainly not the end he prayed for; yet it was the end to which his whole life had been tending. He reaped what he sowed, and in him "God was not mocked." He died as he lived, in fellowship with Moab, yet in heart persuaded that Israel was the beloved of the Lord, and that Jehovah was God. His life had been with Midian, and so was his death. His grave is with the unclean. He passes from earth with none to soothe his death-bed and close his eyes; none to lament for him or to build his monument. Sad end of a life of halting and indecision, and resistance of the Spirit, and braving of conscience, and rejection of light, and wretched covetousness. He loved the wages of unrighteousness, and verily he had his reward. Let us see what he wanted and how he failed; how ambitious he was, yet what a life of utter failure and disappointment was his. He would sincerely have risen, but he sunk. He would sincerely have been rich, but he lost everything. What a wasted life! Yet the life of one who knew better things but did them not; who knew that the world was vanity, yet followed it; who knew that Israel's portion was the best, yet chose that of Moab; who knew the true God and the true Messiah, but preferred the idolatries of Israel's enemies. He saw Him from the top of the rocks, but that was all. He got a passing glimpse of the cross, but no more. It was all he saw of the way of life, before he plunged into death and woe. I. He wanted to serve two masters. These were the same as the Lord in after days designated God and mammon. He wanted not to offend either; to please both. He was like Issachar crouching between two burdens. But it would not do. He failed. Such is the certain failure of all who make the like attempt. "You cannot serve God and mammon." He loved the one master, mammon; and he dreaded the other; but would sincerely do the will of both. He could not afford to lose the favor of either. Miserable life! More miserable death! The life and death of one whose whole career was one long attempt to do the bidding both of God and the devil. II. He wanted to earn two kinds of wages. The wages of righteousness and the wages of unrighteousness (2 Peter 2:15) were both in his eyes; he would sincerely have the pay both of God and of the devil. He was unwilling to do or say any which would deprive him of either. He was as cautious and cunning as he was covetous. He would not work without wages; and he would work for a hundred masters if they would only pay him well. How like many so-called "religious" men among ourselves. III. He wanted to do two opposite things at the same time. He wished both to bless and to curse. He was willing to do either according as it might serve his interests. The only question with him was, "Would it pay?" If the blessing would pay, he would take it; if the curse would pay, he would take it. If both would pay, he would take them both. Blessing and cursing were both alike to him, confessing and denying the true God, worshiping Baal or Jehovah, it mattered not, if by "this craft he could have his wealth." So with many among us. If Sabbath-keeping will pay, they will keep the Sabbath; if Sabbath-breaking will pay, they will break the Sabbath. True Balaams– without principle, without faith, and without fear! IV. He wanted two kinds of friendship. He would sincerely be friends with everybody. Perhaps he was timid; of those whom Scripture calls "fearful" (Revelation 21:8); perhaps, also, he was ambitious, and sought great things for himself wherever these could be obtained (Jeremiah 45:5); certainly he had before him "the fear of man which brings a snare," and the love of man's approbation which brings no less a snare; he dreaded Israel's God, of whom he knew much, but he dreaded also Moab's gods, though whether he really believed in them we know not. Made up of these contradictions, and acting not by faith but unbelief, he tried to secure the friendship of all whom he counted great, whether in heaven or in earth. He shut his eyes not only to the sin but to the impossibility of such a course; he saw not that the friendship of the world is the enemy of God, and that whoever will be the friend of the world must be the enemy of God. V. He wanted to have two religions. He saw religion to be a paying concern, a profitable trade, and he was willing to accept it from anybody or everybody, to adopt it from any quarter if it would but raise him in the world, and make his fortune. Perhaps he thought all religions equally right or equally wrong, equally true or equally false. He would rather not offend any god if lie could help it. He would make concessions to "religious prejudices" of any kind if the prejudiced people will only help him on. He was like Erasmus of old, whom a German writer thus describes– "Erasmus belongs to that species of writers who have all the desire to build God a magnificent church; at the same time, however, not giving the devil any offence, to whom, accordingly, they set up a neat little chapel close by, where you can offer him some touch of sacrifice at a time, and practice a quiet household devotion for him without disturbance." Such was Balaam; two gods and two religions he wanted to have. But this double service, and double friendship, and double religion would not do. He could make nothing by them. They profited him nothing either in this life or that to come. His end was with the ungodly, his portion with the enemies of Israel. And his soul, where could it be? Not with Israel's God, or Israel's Christ, or in Israel's heaven. He reaped what he sowed. He was a good specimen of multitudes in these last days. An educated and intelligent man, shrewd and quick-seeing, of respectable character, high in favor with the rich and great, a religious man, too, after a fashion, not unsound in creed so far, for he acknowledges Jehovah as the true God. But he is fond of the world, fond of money, fond of preferment; one that would not let his religion stand in the way of his advancement; who could pocket all scruples if he could pocket a little gold along with them; hollow of heart, but with a fair outside; just an Erasmus; no Luther, no Calvin, no Knox, no confessor, no martyr. His worldly interests are the main thing to him. He would rather not risk offending God, but yet he would not like to lose Balak's rewards and honors. He would rather not take up his cross, nor deny himself, nor forsake all for his God. Religion with him is not just a thing to be suffered for– at least if he can help it. So is it with multitudes among us. They want as much religion as will save them from hell; not an atom more. The world is their real God; gold is their idol; it is in mammon's temple that they worship. Love God with all their heart! They don't so much as understand the meaning of such a thing. Sacrifice riches, place, honor, friends to Christ! They scoff at the thing as madness. Oh, be on the side of God, out and out. Don't trifle with religion. Don't mock God and Christ. Love not the world. Be religious in your inmost soul. Don't mistake sentimentalism for religion, or a good character for the new birth. You may go very far and yet not be a Christian. You may follow Christ in some things; but if not in all, what is your following worth? This world or the world to come, that is the alternative; not this world and the world to come. Christ all or nothing. The soul more precious than worlds, or utterly worthless. No middle ground; no half-discipleship; no compromise. No. The friendship of the world is enmity with God. Come out and be separate. The new birth, or no religion at all. Look to your latter end! What is it to be? Where is it to be? With whom is it to be? Anticipate your eternity. Is it to be darkness or light, shame or glory? Oh make sure, make sure! Do not sear your conscience by praying Balaam's prayer, "Let me die the death of the righteous." What will that avail you? It is the life of the righteous that God is calling you to lead and he will take care of your death. Decide, halt not; else surely yours will be a wretched life and a still more wretched death. What will gold, or purple, or honor do for you when you lie down to die, or rise up to be judged? Numbers 31:9 The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered. Nu 31:15,16 De 20:14 2Ch 28:5,8-10 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries The Women of Midian Led Captive by the Hebrews Watercolor by James Tissot WOMEN AND CHILDREN TAKEN CAPTIVE The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods they plundered - Spare the women! Are you kidding me! These are the women's compatriots who resulted in 24,000 dying in the plague at Baal of Peor! (Nu 25:9+) What were they thinking? Short answer they were NOT thinking soberly (cf 1 Pe 1:13+, 1 Pe 5:8-9+), they were looking and lusting! (The same basic heart problem that cost Achan his life - Joshua 7:21 = saw > coveted > took > concealed!) And don't say you might not have done the same thing dear male reader! Remember that the acts and actions of Israel in the OT are often a very sobering depiction our our fallen flesh even as believers! PONDER THIS -- This sparing of the adult Midianite women is very surprising in view of the fact that a priest named Phinehas was with the army and he was the very priest who had killed the Moabite woman (read Nu 25:7-8+). So apparently either he made no protest or was overruled by the armed men! Numbers 31:10 Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. Jos 6:24 1Sa 30:1 1Ki 9:16 Isa 1:7 Rev 18:8 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BURNED THE CITIES Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire - Burning the cities would have completely eradicated all of the elements (images, etc) associated with their abominable idolatry. Of course, they had spared the human elements, the women, who undoubtedly were familiar with the idolatrous practices. Israel not only burned the cities but claimed the Midianite territory, later giving it to the tribe of Reuben (Josh. 13:15-23). Numbers 31:11 They took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast. De 20:14 Jos 8:2 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries The Oblation Out of the Spoils of the Midianites (illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible) Related Passage: Deuteronomy 20:13-14 When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. 14“Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. They took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast - The word (malqoach) for prey also refers to the spoils of war (used 7x in OT - Num. 31:11; Num. 31:12; Num. 31:26; Num. 31:27; Num. 31:32; Isa. 49:24; Isa. 49:25). Numbers 31:12 They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho. the plains of Moab: Nu 22:1 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THEY BRING CAPTIVES AND SPOIL TO MOSES They brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho Numbers 31:13 Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. went forth: Ge 14:17 1Sa 15:12 30:21 without the camp: Nu 31:12,22-24 5:2 19:11 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp - Note outside the camp because these men had blood on their hands and were ritually defiled from having potentially touched corpses. HCSB Study Bible - The purpose of holy war was to eradicate impure elements, whether persons or property, from society. This battle followed on the heels of the idolatrous activity of Baal-peor (chap. 25) that began with unholy sexual relations and resulted in the death of thousands of Israelites. It also set the stage for the instructions in Nu 33:50-56 for possessing the promised land by driving out the Canaanites and eradicating the sources of idolatry. Critics suggest this holy war mentality was a development among ancient peoples and not in keeping with God's purpose; but these instructions were specific in time and place at the critical point of the founding of the theocracy of Israel, where their survival as the holy community of faith was at stake. Numbers 31 is consistent with the instructions given in other pentateuchal passages, including Dt 7:5,24-25; 12:1-12; and Dt 20:16-19 (purging of idolatry) and Dt 21:10-14 (female captives) Numbers 31:14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. wroth: Nu 12:3 Ex 32:19,22 Lev 10:16 1Sa 15:13,14 1Ki 20:42 2Ki 13:19 Eph 4:26 battle: Heb. host of war Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries THE RIGHTEOUS ANGER OF MOSES Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who had come from service in the war - As Moses came outside the camp, imagine his horror as he saw these foreign women, which were the very reason 24,000 brethren had to be slain. The thoughts that must have flown through his mind - How could you? Are you crazy? Do you have short term memory loss? etc, etc. The nation had won the battle but was now in danger of losing the victory, a mistake that God's people have made more than once down through the centuries. -- Warren Wiersbe G Campbell
Números 31
Wiersbe points out that "Once the nation was established, a different law applied to the treatment of captives taken in victories over cities outside the land of Canaan (Deut. 20:1-21:14). However, the conflict with Midian wasn't a normal battle; it was God's punishment of Midian for trying to weaken and destroy His chosen people. He wanted the Midianites to be exterminated so they couldn't pollute the land anymore or tempt His people to sin." (Be Counted) TSK - It has been groundlessly asserted, that Moses here authorised the Israelites to make concubines of the whole number of female children; and an insidious objection against his writings has been grounded upon this monstrous supposition. But the whole tenor of the law, and especially a statute recorded in De 21:10-14, proves most decisively to the contrary. They were merely permitted to possess them as female slaves, educating them in their families, and employing them as domestics; for the laws concerning fornication, concubinage, and marriage, were in full force, and prohibited an Israelite even from marrying a captive, without delays and previous formalities; and if he afterwards divorced her, he was to set here at liberty, "because he had humbled her." CRITICISM OF MOSES - In the late eighteenth century, the deist Thomas Paine commented at length on Moses' Laws in The Age of Reason (1794, 1795, and 1807). Paine considered Moses to be a "detestable villain", and cited Numbers 31:13-18 as an example of his "unexampled atrocities".[171] In the passage, the Jewish army had returned from conquering the Midianites, and Moses went to meet it, saying angrily: "Have you spared all the women? “Behold, these caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the LORD. “Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man intimately. “But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourselves." Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins also made reference to these verses (Nu 31:13-18) in his 2006 book, The God Delusion, concluding that Moses was "not a great role model for modern moralists".[172] Numbers 31:19 "And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. Nu 5:2 Nu 19:11-22 1Ch 22:8 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: Numbers 19:11-13+ ‘The one who touches the corpse of any person shall be unclean for seven days. 12 ‘That one shall purify himself from uncleanness with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. 13 ‘Anyone who touches a corpse, the body of a man who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the LORD; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Because the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him. RITUAL PURIFICATION OF WARRIORS And you, camp outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. Though the Israelites had acted by the commission of God, yet they had contracted pollution by touching the dead; and the spoil having been used by idolaters, must also be purified in the prescribed manner. See related commentary on waters for purification in Nu 19:11-22 See also article in Wikipedia - water of lustration. Norman Geisler - NUMBERS 31—How can it be morally right for the Israelites to totally destroy the Midianites? PROBLEM: According to the record of events in Numbers 31, Moses commanded the Israelites to utterly destroy the Midianites. Verse 7 states that they killed every Midianite male. Verse 9 records that they took all the women and children as captives, and verse 10 states that the Israelites burned all the cities and camps of the Midianites. Again, in verse 17, Moses commanded the people to kill every male child of the Midianites and every Midianite woman who had intercourse with a man, leaving only the female children and young virgins. How can such a total destruction be morally justified? SOLUTION: First of all, it must be remembered that it was the Midianites who corrupted God’s people by leading them into idolatry at Baal-Peor so that 24,000 Israelites died in the plague (Num. 25:9). It was necessary to totally eliminate this evil influence from Israel. Further, it was not on the authority of Moses that Israel performed this destruction. Rather, it was at the direct command of God. Verse 2 records God’s command to Moses to carry out the Lord’s vengeance upon the Midianites. The abominable nature of the influence which the Midianites had upon Israel in leading them into idolatry merited the destructive judgment of God. God dealt severely and decisively with this cancer. The moral justification for this action is found in the fact that God has the right to give and take life. Since the wages of sin is death, and the Midianites engaged in a terrible sin, they justly reaped the consequences of God’s vengeance (see comments on Joshua 6:21). (When Critics Ask) QUESTION - What is the significance of a red heifer in the Bible? Is a red heifer a sign of the end times? Answer: To meet the requirements of the Old Testament law, a red heifer was needed to help accomplish the purification from sin—specifically, the ashes of a red heifer were needed. The red heifer was a reddish-brown cow, probably at least two years old. It was to be “without defect or blemish” and to have never borne a yoke. The sacrifice of the red heifer was unique in the law in that it used a female animal, it was sacrificed away from the entrance to the tabernacle, and it was the only sacrifice in which the color of the animal was specified. The slaughtering of a red heifer is described in Numbers 19:1–10. Eleazar the priest was to oversee the ritual outside the camp of the Israelites. After the animal was killed, Eleazar was to sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tabernacle seven times (Nu 19:4). Then he left camp again and oversaw the burning of the carcass of the red heifer (Nu 19:5). As the red heifer burned, the priest was commanded to add “some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool” to the fire (Nu 19:6). The ashes of the red heifer were collected and stored “in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp.” The ashes were used “in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin” (Nu 19:9). The law goes on to detail when and how the ashes of the red heifer were used in purifying those who came into contact with a dead body: “Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean” (Nu 19:11–12). The purification process involved the ashes of the red heifer in this way: “Put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle . . . anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death” (Nu 19:17–18). The imagery of the red heifer is yet another foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Christ for believers’ sin. The Lord Jesus was “without blemish,” just as the red heifer was to be. As the heifer was sacrificed “outside the camp” (Numbers 19:3), Jesus was crucified outside of Jerusalem (Hebrews 13:11–12). And just as the ashes of the red heifer cleansed people from the contamination of death, so the sacrifice of Christ saves us from the penalty and corruption of death. The red heifer ritual was established in the Mosaic Law; in the interval since that time, Judaism has added many standards to what was originally a straightforward, rather simple set of instructions. Talmudic tradition speaks of the type of rope the red heifer was to be bound with, the direction it was to face when being slaughtered, the words spoken by the priest, the wearing of sandals during the ritual, etc. The rabbinical rules listed many things that would disqualify a red heifer from being sacrificed: if she had been ridden or leaned on, if she had a garment placed over her, if a bird had rested on her, and if she had two black or white hairs, among many other conditions. According to rabbinical tradition, there have been nine red heifers sacrificed since Moses’ time. Since the destruction of the second temple, no red heifers have been slaughtered. The rabbi Maimonides (1135—1204) taught that the tenth red heifer would be sacrificed by the Messiah Himself. Those who anticipate the construction of a third temple are eager to find a red heifer that meets all the conditions, because the red heifer ashes will be necessary to purify the new temple. Many consider that the appearance of a red heifer will herald the construction of the temple and the return of Christ. According to the Temple Institute, a group advocating the construction of a third temple, a flawless red heifer was born in August 2018 in Israel. According to the futurist timeline of eschatology, there will indeed be a third temple of God in Jerusalem. Jesus prophesied a desecration of the temple during the tribulation (Matthew 24:15; cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:4); for that to occur, there obviously will have to be a temple in Jerusalem to desecrate. Assuming that those who dedicate the end-times temple follow Jewish law, they will need the ashes of a red heifer, mixed with water, for the ceremonial cleansing. If a blemish-free red heifer has truly been born, it could be seen as one more piece falling into place leading up to the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.GotQuestions.org Numbers 31:20 "You shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goats' hair, and all articles of wood." raiment: Nu 19:14-16,22 Ge 35:2 Ex 19:10 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries RITUAL PURIFICATION OF GARMENTS, ETC You shall purify for yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goats' hair, and all articles of wood." Numbers 31:21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses: Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries ELEAZAR PASSESS ON MOSES COMMAND FROM YHWH Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded Moses - This would be a new law Israel needed because they would soon conquering the abominable, defiled Canaanites. Numbers 31:22 only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin and the lead, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin and the lead, Numbers 31:23 everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water. abide: Isa 43:2 Zec 13:9 Mal 2:2,3 Mt 3:11 1Co 3:13 1Pe 1:7 4:12 Rev 3:18 it shall be purified: Nu 8:7 Nu 19:9,17 ye shall make: Lev 11:32 15:17 Eph 5:26 Tit 3:5,6 1Pe 3:21 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries RITUAL PURIFICATION BY FIRE AND WATER everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean, but it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire you shall pass through the water - Interesting that even after purging in fire God still commanded ritual purification with waters of purification. This emphasizes Yahweh's focus on absolute need for holiness in His holy people, down to the smallest detail! That is still true today beloved of God! There is a fascinating somewhat related passage where "fire" is used (primarily) figuratively to describe the purging of national Israel in the last days at the time of Messiah's return, the prophet Zechariah recording “And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are My people,’ And they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” (Zec 13:9+, cf Zech 12:10+, Da 12:7, 10+ where "holy people" = Israel) F B
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Wiersbe - The people and animals that Israel took as spoils of war were distributed three ways: the soldiers got half, the people in the camp got half, and both the soldiers and the people gave a percentage to the Lord. After all, it was the Lord who gave them the victory. (Ibid) Numbers 31:27 and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. divide: Jos 22:8 1Sa 30:4,24,25 Ps 68:12 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries DIVISION OF BOOTY and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation - Years later King David also divided booty between those who went to war and those who remained home. “And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. (1 Sa 30:24-25) Numbers 31:28 "Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep; levy: Ge 14:20 Jos 6:19,24 2Sa 8:11,12 1Ch 18:11 26:26,27 Pr 3:9,10 Isa 18:7 23:18 60:9 Mt 22:21 one soul: Nu 31:30,47 18:26 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BOOTY TAX Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep - The tax was 1/500th of persons and each type of beast. NET NOTE - The verb is the Hiphil, "you shall cause to be taken up." The perfect with vav (w) continues the sequence of the instructions. This raised offering was to be a tax of one-fifth of one percent for the LORD. Numbers 31:29 take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD. as an offering: Nu 18:26 Ex 29:27 De 12:12,19 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BOOTY TAX FROM WARRIORS TO ELEAZAR take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD - The offering (or "heave offering") was to be lifted up to Yahweh acknowledging it was His. The Septuagint translated teruman with aparche which means First fruits. Offering (heave offering) (08541)(terumah possibly from rum = to be high or exalted, depicts something being lifted up as one would do in an offering) is a feminine noun that means offering, and can be translated as “offering, portion, gift, contribution.” Biblical authors use this noun as a general term for various offerings. The word “contribution” is also used of all kinds of holy gifts given to the priests (Num 5:9; 15:19–21; 18:8, 19; Deut 12:6, 11, 17; 2 Chron 31:10, 12, 14; Neh 12:44; 13:5; Ezek 20:40). The first use referring to the contributions from the sons of Israel to God for the building of the Tabernacle (Ex 25:2-3). Terumah describes a number of different offerings - contribution of materials for building (Ex 25:2; 35:5); an animal for sacrifice (Ex. 29:27; Nu 6:20); the thigh part of the animal to the priest (Lev 10:14); a shekel as a contribution to the LORD (Ex 30:13-15 - the purpose of the offering being to atone); gold for the priests (Nu 31:52); land for the priests (Ezek. 45:6, 7); the offering of war booty (Nu 31:29) and materials for an idol (Isa 40:20)! In one instance, this word is used to describe a ruler who "takes bribes" ("demands contributions" - HCSB) (Pr. 29:4). Numbers 31:30 "From the sons of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD." one portion: Nu 31:42-47 flocks: or, goats and give: Nu 31:28 18:24-28 1Co 9:13,14 keep the: Nu 3:7,8,25,31,36-39 18:1-5,23 1Ch 9:27-29 23:32 26:20-27 Ac 20:28 1Co 4:2 Col 4:17 Heb 13:17 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BOOTY TAX FROM SON'S OF ISRAEL'S HALF From the sons of Israel's half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD - Sons of Israel paid a higher tax (1/50th) and this went not to Eleazar but to the Levites to support their work in the upkeep of the Holy Tabernacle. Numbers 31:31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses - Unquestioning, unhesitating obedience. Numbers 31:32 Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries BOOTY TOTALS Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, Booty - It appears from the enumeration here, that the Israelites, in this war with the Midianites, took 32,000 female prisoners, 61,000 asses, 72,000 beeves, and 675,000 sheep and small cattle; besides the immense number of males who fell in battle, and the women and children who were slain by the divine command. (v17.) This booty was divided into equal parts, by which partition a far larger share was justly given to the warriors employed on the expedition, who were only 12,000, than to those, who being equally willing to go, were ordered to stay in the camp. Each party was to give a certain proportion to Jehovah, as their sovereign, in grateful acknowledgement that to him they owed their success. The soldiers to give to the Lord one out of every five hundred persons, beeves, asses, and sheep, (v28,) and the people, who by staying at home risked nothing, and had no fatigue, were to give one out of fifty of each of the above to the Levites, who were far more numerous than the priests. (v30.) The booty, its division among the soldiers and people, and the proportion given by each to the Lord and to the Levites, will be seen at one view by the following table: It does not appear that a single ox, sheep, or ass, was required by Moses as his portion; or that there was any given to him by the people; and though he had a family as well as others, yet no provision was made for them above the common lot of Levites! (TSK) Numbers 31:33 and 72,000 cattle, and 72,000 cattle, Numbers 31:34 and 61,000 donkeys, and 61,000 donkeys Numbers 31:35 and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000. Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000. Numbers 31:36 The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, FIFTY PER CENT TO WARRIORS The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500 Numbers 31:37 and the LORD'S levy of the sheep was 675; Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and the LORD'S levy of the sheep was 675 - This comes out to 0.2% or 1/500th. Numbers 31:38 and the cattle were 36,000, from which the LORD'S levy was 72; Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and the cattle were 36,000, from which the LORD'S levy was 72 - Again right on the "money" at 1 in 500 or 0.2%. Numbers 31:39 and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the LORD'S levy was 61; Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the LORD'S levy was 61 - Again right on the "money" at 1 in 500 or 0.2%. Numbers 31:40 and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the LORD'S levy was 32 persons. Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the LORD'S levy was 32 persons - Again right on the "money" at 1 in 500 or 0.2%. Numbers 31:41 Moses gave the levy which was the LORD'S offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. Eleazar: Nu 31:29-31 18:8,19 Mt 10:10 1Co 9:10-14 Ga 6:6 1Ti 5:17 Heb 7:4-6,9-12 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Moses gave the levy which was the LORD'S offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses - There is not evidence Moses kept any and of course he would not need any as he was soon to be gathered to his people (what about his offspring?) Numbers 31:42 As for the sons of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war-- Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries As for the sons of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war- Exactly as he was commanded by the LORD. Numbers 31:43 now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep - All split 50/50 with warriors and lay people. Numbers 31:44 and 36,000 cattle, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and 36,000 cattle, - All split 50/50 with warriors and lay people. Numbers 31:45 and 30,500 donkeys, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and 30,500 donkeys - All split 50/50 with warriors and lay people. Numbers 31:46 and the human beings were 16,000-- Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries and the human beings were 16,000 - All split 50/50 with warriors and lay people. Numbers 31:47 and from the sons of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. the Levites: Nu 18:21-24 De 12:17-19 Lu 10:1-8 1Th 5:12,13 kept the charge: Nu 31:30 Ps 134:1 Isa 56:10,11 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries TWO PER CENT TAX GIVEN TO LEVITES and from the sons of Israel's half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses Division of the Midianite Spoils Type of Spoils Total Booty Warrior Share Eleazar's Portion Congregation's Share Levites' Portion Sheep 675,000 337,500 675 337,500 6,750 Cattle 72,000 36,000 72 36,000 720 Donkeys 61,000 30,500 61 30,500 610 Persons 32,000 16,000 32 16,000 320 Numbers 31:48 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses, Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries LEADERS OF ARMY APPROACH MOSES Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, approached Moses - As subsequent passages show, these men were motivated by gratitude for God's supernatural protection and deliverance. Numbers 31:49 and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. 1Sa 30:18,19 Ps 72:14 Joh 18:9 Numbers 31 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: 1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes (present tense of nikao - gets the victory, conquers) the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world–our faith. CASUALTY REPORT: ZERO LOST! and they said to Moses, "Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing - Beloved, this is clearly supernatural protection by Yahweh! Beloved, you as a chosen one in Christ are protected by the LORD and nothing and no one can even touch you without your Father's permission. This reminds me of Psalm 105:15 “Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm.”
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Wiersbe - They brought a special gift for the sanctuary of God out of the spoils they themselves had received. It's one thing to bring offerings to God because it's our duty, and quite something else because we love Him and appreciate what He's done for us. (Ibid) Why did they make atonement? They had taken the adult Midianite women captive and brought them back to the camp and this was a sin! Another interpretation says "This spontaneous extra offering of the soldiers was “to make atonement,” i.e., to substitute for the lives of those soldiers who might have died in battle, but whom God had spared (v. 49)." (Believer's Study Bible) Notice that while they offer gold for the atonement, this exchange in no way suggests that they were "buying" forgiveness from God. The Psalmist is clear writing Even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches? 7 No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him– 8 For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever– 9 That he should live on eternally, That he should not undergo decay. (Ps 49:6-9)
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Wiersbe has another explanation for the atonement in this passage - According to Exodus 30:11-16+, each time there was a census in Israel (and one had just occurred—Numbers 26), the men twenty years and older were each to give a half shekel of silver as an offering to the Lord. This was known as "atonement money" and was originally used to make the sockets for the posts that helped to form the tabernacle frame (Ex. 38:21-28+). Realizing that their lives had graciously been spared, the 12,000 soldiers wanted to give extra "atonement money" in thanksgiving to the Lord. Instead of bringing silver, they brought over 400 pounds of gold, which Moses and Eleazar received and put into the sanctuary. (Be Counted) NET Note - The expression here may include the idea of finding protection from divine wrath, which is so common to Leviticus, but it may also be a thank offering for the fact that their lives had been spared. John