Numbers 31 Vengeance
Now that those who sinned with the women of Midian are dead, God calls for vengeance on the nation of Midian. They acted deceitfully to entice Israel away from the Lord.
When the people come back from defeating the Midianites, Moses says that Balaam had advised the Midianites as to how to ensnare Israel. “Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord.” (Numbers 31:16)
We didn’t read Balaam’s words advising this, but God knew about them. He must have told Moses about them also. Let’s check in on the congregation as they settle the score with the Midianites.
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Moses has been thinking about the words of God concerning his punishment; his not being allowed to enter the Promised Land. He keeps hoping that the Lord will change His mind. “Maybe if I do everything right from now on, He will let me go in; if only just to see its beauty.” While Moses is mulling this around, the Lord speaks to him.
“Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” (Numbers 31:2)
Moses calls the people together to share the words of the Lord. The silver trumpets signal for the congregation to assemble. As soon as everyone is listening and paying attention, Moses speaks.
“Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” (Numbers 31:3-4)
The people are more than happy with this turn of events. They still carry the pain of loosing so many to the Midianite’s trick. Revenge sounds appealing. Right away the leaders of each tribe begin selecting the men that will go on this mission. They wonder why God is calling for so few of the people. The census is still fresh in their minds. They could easily marshal over 600,000 to fight against Midian, but the Lord only called for 12,000.
One man from the tent of Benjamine dares to ask Moses why the small number.
“My lord Moses, wouldn’t we have a better chance of success if we used all the men of war?”
“To the human eye, you might think so, but we are fighting for the honor of the Lord; not ourselves. He will show His hand in this victory.”
No more questions were raised. The congregation broke up into smaller groups by tribe and began to choose those who would fight for them. As nearly everyone was willing to go, lots were drawn to choose the 1,000 from each tribe. Those who remained were to guard the camp against any other attackers.
Twelve thousand men stood assembled before Moses and Eleazar. “Phinehas will go with you. He will bring the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm. Go forth in the name of the Lord and be victorious” instructs Moses.
The men let out a battle cry of their own and then set off on their mission. Using stealth, strategy, and the Lord’s favor, the 12,000 toppled all five cities of the Midianites. Every man was killed, including all five kings, their sons, and Balaam who had advised the Midianites on how to snare the people of Israel. The spoils, including the women and children was MORE than bountiful. They brought back their cattle and flocks and their goods. All their cities and camps they burned with fire.
A watchman in the camp brings word that the warriors have returned, and that they are bringing back captives. Moses and Eleazar go outside the camp to meet them. Moses surveys the captives and notices something that displeases him. There are male children and mothers among the captives. This spells disaster for Israel if they bring them into their congregation. That’s how they got in trouble in the first place. Moses addresses this immediately.
“Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the Lord. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.” (Numbers 31:15b-18)
Because of the nature of war, the men who went were ceremonially unclean. Moses gave them instructions on purifying themselves so they wouldn’t bring any of the uncleanness into the camp.
“Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.” (Numbers 31:19-20)
Eleazer also gave instructions concerning the spoils and purifying them. His orders had come directly from the Lord through the statutes that were given to Moses.
“This is the statute of the law that the Lord has commanded Moses: only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.” (Numbers 31:21-24)
The men raised no argument and began the work of purifying themselves and all they had brought back. It would be a long process as there was much plunder.
On the second day after the return of the army, the Lord spoke to Moses concerning the spoils.
“Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.” (Numbers 31:26-30)
Moses and Eleazar went out to where the men were camped and shared with them the words of the Lord. None of the plunder was ready to be brought into the camp yet because it had not been purified. But it needed to be separated out according to the word of the Lord. This the men did during the next seven days.
On the seventh day, Moses and Eleazar came back outside the camp to welcome the men back among them. Phinehas presented Moses with an accounting of the plunder at that time, and its designation of ownership.
The total plunder that made it through the fire and the water “that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, 35 and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him.” (Numbers 31:32-35)
Moses received from the commanders the tribute portion of the Lord and gave it to Eleazar, the priest. The half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, and the Lord’s tribute of sheep was 675. The cattle were 36,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 72. The donkeys were 30,500, of which the Lord’s tribute was 61. The persons were 16,000, of which the Lord’s tribute was 32 persons.” (Numbers 31:36-40)
What remained would be divided among the remaining members of the congregation, after Moses received the tribute of the Lord’s portion. That too would be given to Eleazar the priest to share with the Levites. the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, and 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 persons— from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts” (Numbers 31:43-46) The Lord’s tribute was 6,750 sheep, 720 cattle, 610 donkeys, and 320 persons.
After all the live tribute had been divided, the commanders of the army came to Moses and Eleazar with the amazing news!
“Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us.” (Numbers 31:49)
Moses and Eleazar are overjoyed to hear this. The Lord was truly on their side! But the commanders’ news is not done yet. They have gifts to offer the Lord of what the men had found.
“And we have brought the Lord’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” (Numbers 31:50)
The amount of riches offered to the Lord was staggering! “All the gold of the contribution that they presented to the Lord, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels” (Numbers 31:52) ALL of this was brought into the Tent of Meeting. It would be a memorial for the people remember the Lord’s favor.
Now it was time for Moses to deal with the second part of God’s original message to him regarding this battle. He now had to set his affairs in order, for he would soon be gathered to the Lord. There was much to do. And the first order of business would be appointing his successor. He would also ensure that the people KNEW ALL the statutes of the Lord. There were also logistical issues that needed to be established; such as the boundaries and division of the land. These would wait until another day though. For tonight, the people would rejoice and celebrate as they welcomed their men back into the camp.
(to be continued)
The Lord fought for Israel in this battle. He would fight for them many more times. But only when they followed HIS commands. I don’t know if the men were unclean because of the ‘additional captives’ they returned with, or if this was the result of any battle. God provided a way for them to be clean though.
He provided Jesus for our ‘cleanliness’. Not that we all do physical battle as in warfare, but we face spiritual warfare every day. We have to be aware of where we are standing, and by Whose power we fight. When we fail to follow His ways, we too need to be made clean; forgiven. We don’t have to wait seven days. He is ready to restore us to right relationship as soon as we ask for forgiveness. There may still be consequences that we have to walk through. But, even there, He will walk with us. We need to be CERTAIN to give Him His due. Praise Him for all He has done for you and render to Him his portion of the ’spoils’. Honor Him with what He has given you.
Father God, I’m glad I haven’t had to engage in physical warfare. My ex-husband did. That was close enough for me! I pray my sons never have to walk out on a physical battlefield. If they do, I PRAY with ALL my heart that they put themselves into YOUR hands.
I have a hard time with the death of the male children and women who had known a man. I know You had Your reasons, and I trust You. But it still hurts my heart today. This is spiritual warfare that I put in Your hands. Satan CANNOT make me doubt You and that You are a LOVING God by throwing these stories at me as examples of Your ‘cruelty’. He is a LIAR and I TRUST YOU; even if I don’t understand it all. You do, and that’s all I need to know.
