Numbers 31

Verses 1-5

1. “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
3. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the LORD of Midian.
4. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war.
5. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.”

I can sense the intake of breath when modern Christians read this chapter! It is not about ‘Jesus meek and mild’, nor is it a show of God’s love (towards enemies). Instead, to the horror of modern people, it tells us of God Himself commanding the Israelites to go to war and kill people. God tells the people to take revenge on His behalf. This is the reality of God: He is both love and war, hatred and compassion. He absolutely hates all sin and those who live by it. Because the Midianite women, under Balaam’s wicked persuasion, communed with Israelite men and the men acted in sexually disgraceful manner, Israel’s link to God was broken. Now, God wished to punish the Midianites with death and capture. Each tribe was to send 1000 fighting men against Midian, 12,000 in total. They did not need more, because God had sent them.

Verses 6-12

6. “And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.
7. And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.
8. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.
9. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.
10. And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire.
11. And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts.
12. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.”

Moses then sent the army to war, by God’s command. Phinehas, a priest under his father, the chief priest, went with them as a representative of God’s Levitical laws and powers. He would act on behalf of the chief priest in the battle field. Each soldier carried a trumpet or shofar, the sharp sound of which would terrify the Midianites. It is common today for Christians to make God ‘palatable’ to the unsaved. References to His wrath are hidden in the hope that the sinner will somehow come to Christ by softness. But, God exceeds our every human error! People should be afraid of Almighty God! He is not a puppy to be played with!

The Israelites did battle against the Midanites and killed all the males, including the five kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. This was God’s command, though it is not to modern tastes. Also killed was Balaam whose advice to Midian women bore bitter fruit. He attempted to divide Israel by offering its men the subtle delights of illicit sexuality, made worse by showing interest in false gods.

The Midianite women were taken captive along with any children they had, all their cattle (cows, sheep and goats), and the usual spoils of war (clothing, jewels, gold, etc). Also, they burnt down the cities and castles/fortresses. All was brought before Eleazar,  Moses and the elders (congregation). At that time they were waiting opposite Jericho on the east of the river Jordan, in the northern part of Moab. Thus showing God’s might before the Moabites, who must have experienced great terror. But, more of God’s wrath would be shown very soon.

Verses 13-20

13. “And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.
14. And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.
15. And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?
16. Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
17. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19. And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.
20. And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood.”

Moses, Eleazar and the princes of the tribes went outside the camp to greet the soldiers, but Moses was angry with the captains and generals though they were successful in their task. Moses asked why they had brought the Midianite women alive. He told them that these same women, by Balaam’s wickedness, brought shame upon Israel, causing the people to suffer a plague. Even today, there is a growing plague amongst all people, when they enter into illicit sexuality… such as HIV-AIDS and other sexual diseases, that weaken any society, rebellion against God, hatred for God’s commands, and so on. Moses was pointing out that these same women brought God’s wrath upon the Israelites. And, though they may have been beautiful to look at, they were now ugly within before God. The crime included going after Midianite gods. Thus, all who seduced the people of God into sin had to be killed.

For these reasons Moses commanded the soldiers to kill EVERY male child and every woman who had experienced sexual sin with Israelite men. Only female children who were not guilty of prostitution were allowed to live, and to be added to the families of soldiers, some as servants. Because of the failure of the soldiers in maintaining the honour of God, they were to live outside the camp for seven days. Those who had killed Midianites or touched their dead were to purify themselves, along with any captives left alive, on the third day, and again on the seventh day. They also had to purify their clothing, including outer garments made of skin or goat’s hair, and all things they had made of wood (e.g. such as staffs). The same applied to the same items of the captives. This meant everything they brought was to be burnt or washed by water.

On occasions I have counselled people who were once occultist to burn everything they owned that had an occult use or influence. This was to be immediate, even if they were costly to buy. This then symbolically destroyed any link to Satan.

Verses 21-24

21. “And Eleazar the priest said unto the men of war which went to the battle, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses;
22. Only the gold, and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead,
23. Every thing that may abide the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean: nevertheless it shall be purified with the water of separation: and all that abideth not the fire ye shall make go through the water.
24. And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.”

Eleazar spoke to the returning soldiers, saying that what he said was “the ordinance of the law” to Moses… they were the rites demanded by God’s law. He told them to purify by fire items of gold, silver, brass (could also mean copper), iron, tin and lead. These could be kept as spoils of war. When it went through fire it was considered to be clean (especially as the items came from a false-god nation). If items would not survive the fire, they had to be washed with “water of separation”. That is, the water rite would separate what was sinful from what is acceptable to God. On the seventh day after returning home, the soldiers had to wash their clothes, so they were cleansed. Only then could they re-enter the camp, and go to their own tents. In our own day, we must separate from evil and sin and show it with an open indication of our wish to follow the Lord. In Eleazar’s time it was by washing and fire rituals. Today, it is by coming away from sin and the unsaved and committing ourselves to God, evidenced by a changed life and mind.

Verses 25-31

25. “ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
26. Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation:
27. And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation:
28. And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep:
29. Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD.
30. 30 And of the children of Israel's half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.
31. And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.”

God then gave Moses a command, to be shared by Eleazar and the tribal chiefs/elders. They had to “take the sum of the prey”. That is, those Israelites who went into battle were to be separated from everyone else who stayed home (the congregation). This was God’s privilege – for only He owns everything and can do whatever He wishes with it. The returning warriors could share between them the captive humans and animals, in readiness for taking the lands of Canaan and using them to live. Moses divided-up everything and gave an equal share to each tribe. The chiefs them divided it further to each family. No chief could take more than the share, to make themselves grander or wealthier. This is as it ought to be today – politicians and ‘rulers’ should not become greater by defrauding the people. The soldiers who came back had their own rewards from God – keeping the spoils for themselves. They were to see this as a tribute to Jehovah Who gave them the victory. Their tribute of the spoils was to be one in every 500, whereas the tribute by those who did not fight was one in 50. The soldiers gave their tributes to the priests, and the congregation (everyone else) gave theirs to the tribe of Levi for distribution. Today, we must remember that whilst we work to live, everything is owned by God, whether it is money, goods or anything else, and so we must not see our possessions as our own. Thus, if God requires something of us and we have the means (otherwise He would not require it), we must use it as God demands.

Verses 32-36

32. “And the booty, being the rest of the prey which the men of war had caught, was six hundred thousand and seventy thousand and five thousand sheep,
33. And threescore and twelve thousand beeves,
34. And threescore and one thousand asses,
35. And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him.
36. And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty thousand and five hundred sheep:”

The ‘booty’ or animal-spoils consisted of 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cows, 61,000 donkeys. The human captives numbered 32,000 women, kept alive because they did not prostitute themselves with the Israelites. The number of sheep given to the priests was 337,500.

Verses 37-41

37. “And the LORD'S tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen.
38. And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the LORD'S tribute was threescore and twelve.
39. And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the LORD'S tribute was threescore and one.
40. And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD'S tribute was thirty and two persons.
41. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the LORD'S heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.”

The tribute given to God was 675 sheep. Of the 35,000 cows, God was given 72. There were 30,500 donkeys, and God was given 61. Of 16,000 women, God was given 32. These tributes were given to Eleazar as heave offerings.

Verses 42-47

42. “ And of the children of Israel's half, which Moses divided from the men that warred,
43. (Now the half that pertained unto the congregation was three hundred thousand and thirty thousand and seven thousand and five hundred sheep,
44. And thirty and six thousand beeves,
45. And thirty thousand asses and five hundred,
46. And sixteen thousand persons;)
47. Even of the children of Israel's half, Moses took one portion of fifty, both of man and of beast, and gave them unto the Levites, which kept the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD; as the LORD commanded Moses.”

The congregation’s number of animals was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cows, 30,500 donkeys, plus 16,000 people (women). One out of 50 of all these were taken by Moses to be given to the Levites In this way the Midianite women who were spared were divided amongst the families as servants.

Verses 48-54

48. “And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses:
49. And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge, and there lacketh not one man of us.
50. We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.
51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels.
52. And all the gold of the offering that they offered up to the LORD, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
53. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)
54. And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.”

The military leaders came to Moses and said that all of them gained from the transactions. Therefore, they wanted to willingly give extra back to Jehovah, calling it an ‘oblation’ (sacrifice or offering), such was their piety and thankfulness. And so they all gave portions of their spoils – jewels, gold, silver bracelets, rings, earrings, and ‘tablets’ (golden ornaments – exact meaning is not known). They asked for such tributes to atone for their souls. Moses and Eleazar counted the tributes of gold to weigh 16,750 shekels… an enormous amount. It was all taken to be stored in the Tabernacle, probably to be used for Tabernacle use and repairs, etc.

© 21 December 2024

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