King James Version

The Book of Numbers

Chapter 31

Commentary

Numbers 31

The Midianites are spoiled, and Balaam slain

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.
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. 

Before we get into the details about the counter attack, I want to bring up a detail that I had been missing during the past few chapters. In verse 2, God tells Moses what He wants done. He wants this Midianite nation to be avenged while Moses is still alive. It is significant that God would be so nonchalant, indifferent about the death of Moses. In the past few chapters we read that God is going to deliver Moses to the people, meaning that Moses will soon die in his age. It was made especially clear in Numbers 27:12-13. It’s not so much that God was being indifferent about Moses’ death, even while Moses is yet, still alive. What gets my attention here is that Moses is required to be and remain obedient to God, all the way to the very end, and as a result (more so than a reward), Moses will be able to experience justice for the attack made by the Midianites.

            God did acknowledge that the people were attacked where they are most weak, and that the Midianites did use that advantage against them. This has been found true in my own life. To be seduced by the flesh desires, and not only women, but also other desires that are not pleasing to God. The enemy has always aimed for my weakness when he attacked me. It’s not going to go as well for me as it was for the Israelites because I know the tricks, and I know when the enemy is spying out my camp, and I even know when he will attack most of the time. A lack of such knowledge could destroy me, but the destruction is far worse when I actually invite this accursed thing into my dwelling.

            Stronger and more threatening to my safety and survival is my own lustful heart, than any other source of threat in my Christian walk. Indulgence in the accursed thing is worse than a frontal attack by armies far greater than mine. God will stay the armies and set them to confusion. He can swallow them up in the Red Sea or cast plagues upon the enemy. When my heart reaches outside the camp and partakes of the lures set before me, I am defeated. Plague or punishment aside, I went for it. There were even times when there was no lures lurking about and I’d leave the camp in search for the accursed thing. This accursed thing could be anything. I could be looking for a drug, or a woman, or even just to follow after self-will. This has been known to be a common problem for me in the past… self-will.

            So the People get to see their enemies avenged, and they are the ones appointed to carry out the assault. Moses will be involved in the avengement. Then he will be laid to rest as was Aaron.

Moses is angry with the officers for saving the women alive

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. 

            It’s interesting that in the joy of victory and as a “last rites” sort of thing that Moses doesn’t get caught up in the moment and let something slip past. The whole assembly of Israelites forget on a regular bases how serious it is to follow God’s instruction and guidance. Moses does not. Moses takes morality and obedience very seriously, every step of the way, including his last ones. He hasn’t forgotten about the smiting of the rock, and how God punished him for it.

            Moses tells the victorious warriors, even while they have been away in battle, and happy to be home, that they can’t even come into the camp unclean; not even to wash up. The camp is expected to remain moral and clean in every way. This is something that is very important with God, and should always be equally important to us. How often do we repent from a life of drugs and other displeasures, and try to keep the paraphernalia or some of the trinkets that relate to the time of calamity? Don’t we rationalize this by thinking we can sell it, or give it to someone who can still use it? Now come on, you know what I am talking about. Sometimes a person will even hold onto some of the accursed thing just in case they backslide again! Moses checked them at the door, so to speak. Don’t bring these women home. They are the very ones who came into the camp whoring around. Moses especially don’t want anyone to get the idea that we went to war with the Midianites just as that they could get the women, the very ones who came in with prostitution and promiscuous sex.

            They are permitted to keep the virgin girls because they were not involved in the seduction. Moses didn’t want to take away the spoils from the victorious warriors, but he certainly won’t permit more sin.

The proportion whereby the prey is to be divided

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 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.
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:
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.
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 voluntary offering

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.

Num 31:1-54 (KJV)

Saturday, December 26, 2009 1:37pm

Introduction

Numbers 30     Journey Through The Bible     Numbers 32