Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 31:1
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying,
1 18. The utter destruction of every Midianite, with the exception of the virgins who are to be kept as spoil.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Num 31:1-12
They warred against the Midianites.
The vengeance of Jehovah on Midian
I. That in the administration of the Divine government the punishment of sin is certain.
1. The sin which the Midianites had committed.
2. The Author of the punishment of the Midianites.
3. The executioners of the punishment.
4. The severity of the punishment.
(1) It fell upon an immense number.
(2) It tell upon persons of every rank.
(3) It involved the destruction of their towns and villages, and the loss of their property.
II. That God can work by many, or by few, in the execution of His purposes. The accomplishments of the purpose of God by this small force was fitted to answer three ends.
1. To teach them that this expedition was, in a special manner, the Lords.
2. To teach them that He can effect His purposes by many or by few (1Sa 14:6; Jdg 7:1-25.).
3. To check any temptation or tendency to self-glorification on the part of the soldiers.
III. That God honours the holy zeal of His servants by employing them as leaders in the execution of His purposes.
IV. That God enriches His people with the spoils of their enemies. (W. Jones.)
The Midianites reckoned with
1. God would have the Midianites chastised, an inroad made upon that part of their country which lay next to the camp of Israel, and which was concerned in that mischief, probably more than the Moabites, who, therefore, were let alone. God will have us to reckon those our worst enemies that draw us to sin, and since every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lusts, and those are the Midianites which ensnare us with their wiles, on them we should avenge ourselves; not only make no league with them, but make war upon them by living a life of mortification. God hath taken vengeance on His own people for yielding to the Midianites temptations; now the Midianites must be reckoned with that gave temptation ; for the deceived and the deceiver are His (Job 12:16), both accountable to His tribunal; and though judgment begin at the house of God, it shall not end there (1Pe 4:17). There is a day coming when vengeance will be taken on those that have introduced errors and corruptions into the Church, and the devil that deceived men will be cast into the lake of fire. Israels quarrel with Amalek that fought against them was not avenged till long after, but their quarrel with Midian that debauched them was speedily avenged, for they were looked upon as much the more dangerous and malicious enemies.
2. God would have it done by Moses in his life-time, that he who had so deeply resented that injury might have the satisfaction of seeing it avenged. See this execution done upon the enemies of God and Israel, and afterwards thou shall be gathered to thy people. This was the only piece of service of this kind that Moses must farther do, and then he has accomplished, as a hireling, his day, and shall have his quietus. (Matthew Henry, D. D.)
Vengeance executed on Midian
This is a very remarkable passage. The Lord says to Moses, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites. And Moses says to Israel, Avenge the Lord of Midian. The people had been ensnared by the wiles of the daughters of Midian, through the evil influence of Balaam the son of Peer; and they are now called upon to clear themselves thoroughly from all the defilement which, through want of watchfulness, they had contracted. The sword is to be brought upon the Midianites; and all the spoil is to be made to pass either through the fire of judgment or through the water of purification. Not one jot or tittle of the evil thing is to be suffered to pass unjudged. Now, this war was what we may call abnormal. By right the people ought not to have had any occasion to encounter it at all. It was not one of the wars of Canaan. It was simply the result of their own unfaithfulness–the fruit of their own unhallowed commerce with the uncircumcised. Hence, although Joshua, the son of Nun, had been duly appointed to succeed Moses as leader of the congregation, we find no mention whatever of him in connection with this war. On the contrary, it is to Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, that the conduct of this expedition is committed; and he enters upon it with the holy instruments and the trumpets. All this is strongly marked. The priest is the prominent person; and the holy instruments, the prominent instrumentality. It is a question of wiping away the stain caused by their unholy association with the enemy; and, therefore, instead of a general officer with sword and spear, it is a priest with holy instruments that appears in the foreground. True, the sword is here; but it is not the prominent thing. It is the priest with the vessels of the sanctuary; and that priest the selfsame man who first executed judgment upon that very evil which has here to be avenged. The moral of all this is, at once, plain and practical. The Midianites furnish a type of that peculiar kind of influence which the world exerts over the hearts of the people of God–the fascinating and ensnaring power of the world used by Satan to hinder our entrance upon our proper heavenly portion. Israel should have had nothing to do with these Midianites; but having, in an evil hour, been betrayed into association with them, nothing remains but war and utter extermination. So with us, as Christians. Our proper business is to pass through the world as pilgrims and strangers; having nothing to do with it save to be the patient witnesses of the grace of Christ, and thus shine as lights in the midst of the surrounding moral gloom. But, alas! we fail to maintain this rigid separation; we suffer ourselves to be betrayed into alliance with the world, and, in consequence, we get involved in trouble and conflict which does not properly belong to us at all. War with Midian formed no part of Israels proper work. They had to thank themselves for it. But God is gracious; and hence, through a special application of priestly ministry, they were enabled, not only to conquer the Midianites, but to carry away much spoil. God, in His infinite goodness, brings good out of evil. (C. H. Mackintosh.)
Israels progress
It is instructive to compare this warfare of the children of Israel with their earlier battles. There are many points of difference between them. In Egypt, when surrounded by their enemies, they were not called to fight. They were quite unprepared for war; but God fought for them, and they were still, and held their peace. Then again, subsequently they were attacked by the Amalekites. They did not begin the encounter, but only repelled the attacks; whereas on this occasion Moses said unto the people (Num 31:3). Their earlier encounters were all in self-defence–their later ones were aggressive. Here, then, we cannot but discern a mark of progress in Israels history. At first, when they were weak, and without experience of Gods power and unchanging love, they were more passive. Now that they had been formed into a more compact body, and trained to arms, and still more, had experienced the power and faithfulness of God, they were called to be aggressive, to attack and destroy the enemies of God. Now, we think, that this progress in Israels history is typical in the Christian life. In the first beginnings of the spiritual life the young Christians mind is chiefly passive. Gods work is to show him his own needs and what are his enemies. The very spirit of the gospel is aggressive, not in a worldly sense, nor indeed in the sense in which it was true of Israel, but in a higher and holier sense; for it is a spirit of faith in God-a spirit of holy jealousy for Gods glory–a spirit of deep compassion for perishing souls. Do you ever ask yourselves, What progress is my soul making? There are many signs; and it is safer not to try ourselves by one only. If you are living near to God you will be growing more and more dead to the world. But note another mark. When Moses sent them into the battle, a thousand of every tribe, he sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, with them, and the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. What these holy instruments were we are not informed, but doubtless they were meant to be symbols of Gods presence with His people. The priest, and holy instruments, and silver trumpets, were as needful as their weapons of war. These were a practical warning against a spirit of revenge, and an encouragement to depend wholly on God. They must have served to impress most powerfully on the minds of the Israelites that this war was a great moral act, and that in engaging in it they should depend wholly on God. And these accompaniments of war showed also progress in Israels history. Their earlier battles were always acts of faith; but then no priest went forth with their army, no holy instruments were carried forth, or trumpets blown; for it was subsequently that they were brought into covenant with God at Sinai, and had still brighter tokens of His presence–subsequently, that the two silver trumpets were appointed to carry terror into the hearts of their enemies, and to make them realise that they were remembered before Jehovah. And this may suggest to us one point of difference between the earlier and later conflicts of a Christian. When he is young and inexperienced in conflict, there is generally too much confidence in self. But when God has taught him deeper lessons in the work of war, he has lees confidence in self and more in God. Then it is not his own courage or skill, not his own strength or perseverance, but Christ his eternal and ever-present Priest, the holy instruments of the sanctuary, and the silver trumpet of the gospel, which are his great and only hope of victory. But there is still another point of progress discernible in this part of Israels history, and that is in the use that was made of the spoils of the Midianites. Jehovah gave them this victory. They all felt it. It was in His name that they went forth, and in His name that they triumphed. Here we find that they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses and Eleazar, the priest, and unto the congregation of the children of Israel (Num 31:12). And then a division of the booty took place. It was divided into two equal parts, one of which was given to those who went into the battle, and the other belonged to those who remained in the camp. Those who encountered the Midianites being but a small part of Israel, only twelve thousand men, had in reality the largest share; and this was but right, as they had been exposed to the dangers of war. But this was not the whole of the arrangement. The most important part remains to be mentioned. After this division had taken place, a part was to be consecrated to God. Of that which belonged to the warriors themselves one five-hundredth part was offered unto the Lord as a heave-offering, as we are expressly told, And Moses gave the tribute which was the Lords heave-offering unto Eleazar the priest (Num 31:4). This portion, then, came to the priests. Of the other part, which belonged to those who did not go into battle, one-fiftieth part was consecrated to God, And of the children of Israels half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, and of all manner of beasts (Num 31:30). This portion belonged to the Levites. And so, if we compare together the portion of the priests with that of the Levites, we find that was as one to ten. But even this is not all. When those who went into battle were numbered, it was found that there lacked not one man, not one was lost. This was a wonderful proof of Gods care and protection. No less than twenty-four thousand fell by the plague, and not even one in the war with a powerful people. This produced a strong impression on the minds of the officers. They were thankful, as well they might be, for Gods goodness; and they showed their gratitude by making an additional freewill-offering to God. We have, therefore, they say, brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten, of jewels, of gold, chains and bracelets, rings, ear-rings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord (Num 31:50); and this offering was brought by Moses and Eleazar the priest into the tabernacle of the congregation, for a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord. Now in all this we can discern progress in Israels history. In the earlier part of it we do not meet with any such arrangement, but when brought into immediate covenant union with God, He taught them practically that they themselves, and all that they had, belonged to Himself. He trained them to a spirit of self-denial. This is an important lesson which this history impresses upon us. If we were asked, What are the two graces in which Christians are most wanting? we should answer, charity and self-denial; that charity which bears long, which covers a multitude of sins, and that spirit of self-denial which leads us habitually to crucify the old man, and to place Gods glory before our own comfort, ease, and pleasure. There are many Christians who are sound in doctrine, and who seem to glory that they are free from this and that error, but there is much self-indulgence in their lives. (G. Wagner.)
Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.—
The fate of Balaam
Who shall describe the terrors of this recreant prophet, during that brief moment that ensued between the lifting up and the letting down of that fatal weapon? We know how Balaam regarded death. We know that he regarded it with dread. Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his. And now he was about to die the death of the wicked! As in a moment, we may be sure, the whole panorama of his life, and its true significance, flashed before him.
I. Death the testing time of life. We may exaggerate the importance of death. We may treat it as more important than life; whereas its chief importance is in relation to life. But in its relation to life its importance is scarcely to be exaggerated. And its chief significance, in this respect, undoubtedly consists in its bearing on the future.
II. The awfulness of death to one who has lived a sinful and unholy life. There can be no doubt that God did His utmost to save this man. Nothing that was likely to be helpful to his salvation was withheld from him; and all this Balaam must have felt and realised, when at last his course of crime had brought him to that life-revealing spot, the shadow of death. And if such was his retrospect in the hour of death, what must have been the prospect that opened up to his imagination and his fears? And what makes the fate of Balaam so terrible to think of, is the apparently minute point of departure from the course of rectitude in which his wrong-doing commenced. Balaam only, at first, desired to have the pecuniary recompense which the service of Balak promised him. He had no desire to do wrong. He did not love unrighteousness; he only loved the wages of unrighteousness. And yet that little germ of evil in his breast at last overcame all right feeling and all right principle; and reduced the famous prophet of Pethor to the level of the lowest schemer and the basest plotter. The smallest angle at the juncture of two lines will, if these lines be continually produced, lead them wider and wider at every stage. And so if there be the least departure from the path of Fight at the beginning there will be infinitely divergeness in the end. (W. Roberts.)
The doom of the double-hearted
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. Such is the certain failure of all who make the like attempt.
II. He wanted to earn two kinds of wages. The wages of righteousness and the wages of unrighteousness (2Pe 2:15), were both in his eyes; he would fain have the pay both of God and of the devil. He was unwilling to do or say anything which would deprive him of either. He was as cautious and cunning as he was covetous.
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?
IV. He wanted two kinds of friendship.
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. But this double service, and double friendship, and double religion, would not do. He would 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 Israels God, or Israels Christ, or in Israels heaven. He reaped what he sowed. He was a good specimen of multitudes in these last days. 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 mammons temple that they worship. Look to thy latter end. What it is to be? Where is it to be? With whom is it to be? Anticipate thy eternity. Is it to be darkness or light, shame or glory? (H. Bonar, D. D.)
Balaams death
What a death was this to die for one who had been a prophet of the Lord–one who had been privileged to hold converse with Deity, and to foretell the purposes of the supreme mind! How little could he ever have imagined that he should come to this! What I he, with his great gifts and high official position–he stoop down from the eminence on which he stood to take up the sword of a rebel against Jehovah–to identify himself with a nation of debased idolators, and then end his life amid the wild tumult of battle in a vain effort to defend their cause! He degrade himself to such an extent as that? Impossible; yet so it happened. How this death contrasts with that which be had so ardently desired! Death in sanguinary conflict, surrounded by dying thousands of the enemies of God, with the din of arms and the fierce war-cry of opposing forces sounding in his ears; how different from the death of the righteous, calmly commending his soul into the hands of a faithful Creator, antedating heavenly joys, catching a smile from the Divine countenance, and then peacefully dropping into eternity! A death in a state of apostasy from God, in open rebellion against His will, in impious defiance of His power, the death of Balaam was a death without hope. Not a ray of light is there to irradiate or relieve the gloom that gathers in thick and portentous blackness over the spot where he fell. (C. Merry.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXXI
The command of the Lord to make war on the Midianites, 1, 2.
One thousand men are chosen out of each of the twelve tribes,
and sent with Phinehas against the Midianites, 3-6.
They slay all the males, 7;
their five kings and Balaam, 8.
They take all the women captives, with the flocks and goods, 9;
burn their cities, and bring away the spoil, 10,11.
They bring the captives, c., to Moses, who is wroth with the
officers for sparing the women, who had formerly been the cause
of their transgression and punishment, 12-16.
He commands all the male children and all the grown up females
to be slain, 17, 18.
How the soldiers were to purify themselves, 19, 20
and the different articles taken in war, 21-24.
They are commanded to take the sum of the prey, to divide it
into two parts; one for the 12,000 warriors, and the other for
the rest of the congregation, 25-27.
One of 500, both of persons and cattle, of the share of the
warriors, to be given to the Lord, 28, 29;
and one part of fifty, of the people’s share, to be given to the
Levites, 30.
The sum of the prey remaining after the above division; sheep
675,000, beeves 72,000, asses 61,000, young women 32,000,
ver. 31-35.
How the soldiers’ part was divided, 36-40.
How the part belonging to the congregation was divided, 41-47.
The officers report that they had not lost a man in this war,
48, 49.
They bring a voluntary oblation to God, of gold and ornaments,
50, 51;
the amount of which was 16,750 shekels, 52, 53.
Moses and Eleazar bring the gold into the tabernacle for a
memorial, 54.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXI
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1, 2. the Lord spake unto Moses,Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianitesa semi-nomadpeople, descended from Abraham and Keturah, occupying a tract ofcountry east and southeast of Moab, which lay on the eastern coast ofthe Dead Sea. They seem to have been the principal instigators of theinfamous scheme of seduction, planned to entrap the Israelites intothe double crime of idolatry and licentiousness [Num 25:1-3;Num 25:17; Num 25:18]by which, it was hoped, the Lord would withdraw from that people thebenefit of His protection and favor. Moreover, the Midianites hadrendered themselves particularly obnoxious by entering into a hostileleague with the Amorites (Jos13:21). The Moabites were at this time spared in consideration ofLot (De 2:9) and because themeasure of their iniquities was not yet full. God spoke of avenging”the children of Israel” [Nu31:2]; Moses spoke of avenging the Lord [Nu31:3], as dishonor had been done to God and an injury inflictedon His people. The interests were identical. God and His people havethe same cause, the same friends, and the same assailants. This, infact, was a religious war, undertaken by the express command of Godagainst idolaters, who had seduced the Israelites to practise theirabominations.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the Lord spake unto Moses,…. After the plague upon Israel for their fornication and idolatry, into which they were drawn by the daughters of Moab and Midian, and after the sum of the people was taken in the plains of Moab, and various laws given or repeated, and a little before the death of Moses:
saying; as follows.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Campaign. – After the people of Israel had been mustered as the army of Jehovah, and their future relation to the Lord had been firmly established by the order of sacrifice that was given to them immediately afterwards, the Lord commanded Moses to carry out that hostility to the Midianites which had already been commanded in Num 25:16-18. Moses was to revenge (i.e., to execute) the revenge of the children of Israel upon the Midianites, and then to be gathered to his people, i.e., to die, as had already been revealed to him (Num 27:13). “The revenge of the children of Israel” was revenge for the wickedness which the tribes of the Midianites who dwelt on the east of Moab (see at Num 22:4) had practised upon the Israelites, by seducing them to the idolatrous worship of Baal Peor. This revenge is called the “revenge of Jehovah” in Num 31:3, because the seduction had violated the divinity and honour of Jehovah. The daughters of Moab had also taken part in the seduction (Num 25:1-2); but they had done so at the instigation of the Midianites, and not of their own accord, and therefore the Midianites only were to atone for the wickedness.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Slaughter of the Midianites. | B. C. 1452. |
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.
Here, I. The Lord of hosts gives orders to Moses to make war upon the Midianites, and his commission no doubt justified this war, though it will not serve to justify the like without such commission. The Midianites were the posterity of Abraham by Keturah, Gen. xxv. 2. Some of them settled south of Canaan, among whom Jethro lived, and they retained the worship of the true God; but these were settled east of Canaan, and had fallen into idolatry, neighbours to, and in confederacy with, the Moabites. Their land was not designed to be given to Israel, nor would Israel have meddled with them if they had not made themselves obnoxious to their resentment by sending their bad women among them to draw them to whoredom and idolatry. This was the provocation, this was the quarrel. For this (says God) avenge Israel of the Midianites, v. 2. 1. God would have the Midianites chastised, an inroad made upon that part of their country which lay next to the camp of Israel, and which was probably more concerned in that mischief than the Moabites, who therefore were let alone. God will have us to reckon those our worst enemies that draw us to sin, and to avoid them; and since every man is tempted when he is drawn aside of his own lusts, and these are the Midianites which ensnare us with their wiles, on them we should avenge ourselves, not only make no league with them, but make war upon them by living a life of mortification. God had taken vengeance on his own people for yielding to the Midianites’ temptations; now the Midianites, that gave the temptation, must be reckoned with, for the deceived and the deceiver are his (Job xii. 16), both accountable to his tribunal; and, though judgment begin at the house of God, it shall not end there, 1 Pet. iv. 17. There is a day coming when vengeance will be taken on those that have introduced errors and corruptions into the church, and the devil that deceived men will be cast into the lake of fire. Israel’s quarrel with Amalek, that fought against them, was not avenged till long after: but their quarrel with Midian, that debauched them, was speedily avenged, for they were looked upon as much more the dangerous and malicious enemies. 2. God would have it done by Moses, in his life-time, that he who had so deeply resented that injury might have the satisfaction of seeing it avenged. “See this execution done upon the enemies of God and Israel, and afterwards thou shalt be gathered to thy people.” This was the only piece of service of this kind that Moses must further do, and then he has accomplished, as a hireling, his day, and shall have his quietus–enter into rest: hitherto his usefulness must come, and no further; the wars of Canaan must be carried on by another hand. Note, God sometimes removes useful men when we think they can be ill spared; but this ought to satisfy us, that they are never removed till they have done the work which was appointed them.
II. Moses gives orders to the people to prepare for this expedition, v. 3. He would not have the whole body of the camp to stir, but they must arm some of themselves to the war, such as were either most fit or most forward, and avenge the Lord of Midian. God said, Avenge Israel; Moses says, Avenge the Lord; for the interests of God and Israel are united, and the cause of both is one and the same. And if God, in what he does, shows himself jealous for the honour of Israel, surely Israel, in what they do, ought to show themselves jealous for the glory of God. Then only we can justify the avenging of ourselves when it is the vengeance of the Lord that we engage in. Nay, for this reason we are forbidden to avenge ourselves, because God has said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay.
III. A detachment is drawn out accordingly for this service, 1000 out of every tribe, 12,000 in all, a small number in comparison with what they could have sent, and it is probable small in comparison with the number of the enemies they were sent against. But God would teach them that it is all one to him to save by many or by few, 1 Sam. xiv. 6.
IV. Phinehas the son of Eleazar is sent along with them. It is strange that no mention is made of Joshua in this great action. If he was general of these forces, who do we not find him leading them out? If he tarried at home, why do we not find him meeting them with Moses at their return? It is probable, each tribe having a captain of its own thousand, there was no general, but they proceeded in the order of their march through the wilderness, Judah first, and the rest in their posts, under the command of their respective captains, spoken of v. 48. But, the war being a holy war, Phinehas was their common head, not to supply the place of a general, but, by the oracle of God, to determine the resolves of their counsels of war, in which the captains of thousands would all acquiesce, and according to which they would act in conjunction. He therefore took with him the holy instruments or vessels, probably the breast-plate of judgment, by which God might he consulted in any emergency. Though he was not yet the high priest, yet he might be delegated pro hac vice–for this particular occasion, to bear the urim and thummim, as 1 Sam. xxiii. 6. And there was a particular reason for sending Phinehas to preside in this expedition; he has already signalized himself for his zeal against the Midianites and their cursed arts to ensnare Israel when he slew Cozbi, a daughter of a chief house in Midian, for her impudence in the matter of Peor, ch. xxv. 15. He that had so well used the sword of justice against a particular criminal was best qualified to guide the sword of war against the whole nation. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
NUMBERS – CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Verses 1-5:
“Avenge,” naqam, “take vengeance.”
God claims a legal right to take vengeance upon the wicked, De 32:35; Ro 10:19; Heb 10:30. He had previously given a command to “vex” the Midianites (Nu 15:16-18) because of their complicity in leading Israel into idolatry and immorality. The Midianites had insulted Jehovah Himself by what they led Israel to do.
In this text, God commands Moses to carry out His mandate, as an act of judgment upon a wicked people. Moses mustered an army of one thousand men from each of Israel’s twelve tribes.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1. And the Lord spake unto Moses. Amongst the other prerogatives which God conferred upon His Church, this one is celebrated, that He armed the godly “to execute vengeance upon the heathen, — to execute upon them the judgment that is written,” (Psa 149:7) and although the Spirit declares that this should happen under the kingdom of Christ, still He refers to ancient examples, one of which, well worthy of remembrance, is here recorded. The Midianites had organized a wicked conspiracy for the destruction of God’s people: and God, in undertaking to punish this cruel act of theirs, gave a striking proof of His paternal favor towards the Israelites; whilst this grace is doubled by His constituting them the ministers of his judgment. This passage, therefore, shews us how anxious God was for the welfare of His elect people, when He so set Himself against their enemies, as if He would make common cause in all respects with them. At the same time we must observe this additional favor towards them, that although the Israelites themselves were not without blame, He still deigned to appoint them as judges of the Midianites. Inasmuch, however, as He everywhere prohibits His people from indulging the lust of vengeance, we must not forget the distinction between men’s vengeance and His own. He would have His servants, by patiently bearing injuries, overcome evil with good; while, at the same time, He by no means abdicates His own power, but still reserves to Himself the right of inflicting punishment. Nay, Paul, desiring to exhort believers to long-suffering, recalls them to the principle, that God takes upon Himself the office of avenging. (203) Since, then, God is at liberty to execute vengeance, not only by Himself, but also by His ministers, as we have already seen, these two things are not inconsistent with each other, that the passions of the godly are laid under restraint by the Word, that they should not, when injured, seek for vengeance, or retaliate the evils they have received, and still that they are the just and legitimate executioners of God’s vengeance, when the sword is put into their hands. It remains, that whosoever is called to this office, should punish crime with honest zeal, as the minister of God, and not as acting in his own private cause. God here intrusted the office of vengeance upon His people, but by no means in order that they might indulge the lust of their nature: for their feeling ought to have been this, that they should have been ready to pardon the Midianites, (204) and still that they should heartily bestir themselves to inflict punishment upon them.
That, whilst God so severely judged the Midianites, he spared the Moabites, was for the sake of Lot, who was the founder of their race. But I have already frequently reminded my readers that, when God’s judgments surpass our understanding, we should, in sober humility, give glory to His secret, and to us incomprehensible, wisdom: for those who, in this respect, seek to know more than is fitting, elevate themselves too high, in order to plunge with head-long audacity into a profound abyss, in which, at length, all their senses must be overwhelmed. Why was He not at liberty to remit the punishment of the Moabites, and at the same time to repay to the Midianites the recompense which was their due? Besides, it was only for a time that he pardoned the Moabites, until their obstinacy should render them inexcusable, after they had not only abused his forbearance, but tyrannically afflicted their brethren, by whom they had been treated with kindness.
Moreover, God desired, whilst Moses was still alive, again to testify by this final act His love towards His people, in order that they might more cheerfully advance to the possession of the promised land: for this was no feeble encouragement, when they saw that God spontaneously put Himself forward to avenge them. At the same time it was expedient for Moses that, at the very moment of his death, he should feel, by a fresh instance, what care God took for the welfare of the people. For he was able joyfully to leave them in God’s keeping, whose hand he had so recently seen put forth to fulfill to the utmost His gracious purposes towards them. To the same effect were the words, “Thou shalt be gathered unto thy people,” which were undoubtedly spoken as a consolation in death. It was also a reason for making haste; for if the dearth of the holy Prophet had been waited for, perhaps the Israelites would not have dared to attack, with arms in their hands, a peaceful nation, from whom there was no peril or inconvenience impending. But so great was the authority of Moses over them, that they were more ready to obey his bidding than that of any other person.
Although it is said indifferently of the reprobate as well as believers, that they are gathered or congregated to their fathers by death, still this expression shews that men are born for immortality; for it would not be appropriate to say this of the brute animals, whose death is their final destruction, inasmuch as they are without the hope of another life.
(203) The reference here, both in Lat. and Fr., is to Rom 13:4, though I presume it ought to be to Rom 12:19, — the former citation being transferred to what follows.
(204) Added in Fr. , “s’il les eust voulu laisser impunis:” if He had been willing to leave them unpunished.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Moses had already received command to smite the Midianites (Num. 25:16-18); and in this chapter we have the order given to him to execute that command, and the narrative of its execution.
Num. 31:2. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites, i.e., for the injury which the Midianites had done to the Israelites in seducing them to the licentious and idolatrous worship of Baal-Peor.
Afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. See p. 379.
Num. 31:3. Avenge the Lord of Midian, because their seduction of the Israelites had violated the Divine honour.
Num. 31:4. Of every tribe a thousand. Margin: A thousand of a tribe, a thousand of a tribe.
Num. 31:5. So there were delivered. Or, so there were counted off.Fuerst. Dr. Howard: And they numbered out.
Num. 31:6. Phinehas. He had manifested his fitness for a prominent position in this enterprize by his zeal for God and against the idolators (Num. 25:6-13).
With the holy instruments, and the trumpets. Or rather, with the holy instruments, to wit, the trumpets, for the trumpets themselves seem to be the instruments intended.Speakers Comm. Comp. Num. 10:9.
Num. 31:8. And they slew, &c. Render thus: And the kings of Midian they put to death, beside those that fell in the battle; namely, &c,Ibid. Comp. Jos. 13:21.
Num. 31:10 Goodly castles. Rather, encampments or hamlets.Fuerst. Hamlets seems preferable, Tent-villages.Keil and Del.
Num. 31:11. The spoil, i.e., booty in goods such as are mentioned in Num. 31:22; Num. 31:50.
The prey, i.e., the captives and the cattle seized as booty.
Num. 31:16 Caused. to commit trespass. Keil and Del.: They have become to the Israelites to work unfaithfulness towards Jehovah, i.e., they have induced them to commit an act of unfaithfulness towards Jehovah. The word , which only occurs in this chapter, viz., in Num. 31:5; Num. 31:16, appears to be used in the sense of giving, delivering, and then, like , doing, making, effecting.
Num. 31:17. Kill every male, &c. The object of the command to put all the male children to death, was to exterminate the whole nation, as it could not be perpetuated in the women. Of the female sex, all were to be put to death who had known the lying with a man, and therefore might possibly have been engaged in the licentious worship of Peor (Num. 25:2), to preserve the congregation from all contamination from that abominable idolatry.Keil and Del.
Num. 31:19 (comp. Num. 19:11-12).
Num. 31:22. Brass. Rather, copper, as the mixture of copper and zinc, now known as brass, was not known to the ancients.Alford.
Num. 31:23. Purified with the water of separation (comp. Num. 19:9; Num. 19:17-19.
Num. 31:49. There lacketh not one man of us. A noteworthy proof of the presence and protection of God.
Num. 31:50. Chains. Or arm bands, arm ornaments, 2Sa. 1:10.Fuerst.
Rings. Signet rings.Ibid.
Tablets. Buckles, bracelets.Ibid. Others say they were ornaments worn suspended from the neck.
To make an atonement. An acknowledgment of having received undeserved mercies. These, if acknowledged, would have entailed guilt on the soul.Speakers Comm.
Num. 31:52. Sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. In value about 20,000.Speakers Comm. If we take the golden shekel at 10 thalers (30 shillings), the value of the ornaments taken by the officers under Moses would be about 167, 500 thalers (25, 125).Keil and Del.
THE VENGEANCE OF JEHOVAH ON MIDIAN
(Num. 31:1-12)
This paragraph suggests the following observations
I. That in the administration of the Divine government the punishment of sin is certain.
The Israelites were severely punished for the sins which they committed with the Midianites, and now the Midianites are to receive their punishment. Notice
1. The sin which the Midianites had committed. Their women had seduced the Israelites to the licentious and idolatrous worship of Baal-Peor (see p. 487).
2. The Author of the punishment of the Midianites. The Lord Himself commanded it; and it seems to us that He prescribed the arrangements for its execution, and empowered and protected its executioners. (a)
3. The executioners of the punishment. The Israelites were called upon to avenge the gross wrongs which the Midianites had done them as the people of Jehovah. It was eminently fitting that as Israelitish men had been corrupted by the Midianites, Israelitish men should execute the judgment of God upon them. (b)
4. The severity of the punishment.
(1) It fell upon an immense number. They slew all the males. This does not mean that they exterminated all the men of the nation, but only that they slew all who withstood them; for the nation itself consisted in considerable strength, and was able in a few generations to bring the Israelites themselves under subjection. And, in addition, vast numbers were taken captives, many of whom were afterwards slain.
(2) It fell upon persons of every rank. The kings of Midian they put to death, besides those that fell in the battle; namely, Evi, &c. Against the punishments of God, princes and potentates are as defenceless as plebeians and paupers. There is no respect of persons with God. He accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor.
(3) It involved the destruction of their towns and villages, and the loss of their property. The children of Israel took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods. And they burnt, &c. (Num. 31:9-11). (c)
In the righteous government of God sin ever brings forth sorrow, tribulation follows transgression. (d)
II. That God can work by many, or by few, in the execution of His purposes.
Out of an army of more than six hundred thousand (Num. 26:51), only twelve thousand men were sent to this war. The number was probably small, as compared also with the forces which they had to encounter. The accomplishment of the purpose of God by this small force was fitted to answer three ends
1. To teach them that this expedition was, in a special manner, the Lords. He was concerned in the punishment of the sin of Midian, and in the vindication of His honour, &c.
2. To teach them that He can effect His purposes by many or by few (1Sa. 14:6; and Judges 7). (e)
3. To check any temptation or tendency to self-glorification on the part of the soldiers. (f)
III. That God honours the holy zeal of His servants by employing them as leaders in the execution of His purposes.
Moses sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, even the trumpets to blow in his hand. Phinehas went with the army as the priest of the Lord, to encourage them in fighting, because the war was a holy one against the enemies of the Lord their God (comp. Num. 10:9). His appointment to this duty, on this occasion, may be viewed
1. As the employment of an agent of approved fitness for his duty. Phinehas had shown his fitness for this appointment (chap. 25). In the accomplishment of His purposes, God employs suitable agents and instruments. (g)
2. As the reward of distinguished service. He who is brave and faithful in one duty shall be called to other and more arduous duties (comp. Mat. 25:21).
IV. That God enriches His people with the spoils of their enemies.
And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, &c. (Num. 31:11-12).
Those who have assailed the Church by persecution have defeated themselves, and confirmed and extended the Church. The blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the Church. And they who have attacked it with captious criticism and bitter controversy, have contributed to the strength of its defences and the extension of its triumphs. They have aroused the scholars and the thinkers of the Church to the marshalling of the evidences of our religion, and to the vindication of its claims God frustrates the designs of the enemies of His cause, and overrules them for the accomplishment of His purposes and the extension of His kingdom. (h)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) For illustrations on the justifiableness of war, see pp. 19, 20.
(b) For illustrations on the Executioners of Divine judgments, see pp. 252, 312.
(c) Among the causes which justify war, none is more unanimously asserted by political writers, than an attempt on the part of one community against the civil institutions, and so against the integrity and internal peace, of another. The Hebrews had therefore an undoubted right, even apart from the Divine command, to attack the people of Midian, who had treacherously endeavoured to withdraw them from their allegiance, and thus to unsettle the foundations of all their union, prosperity, and peace, and prepare them to become an easy conquest to their own arms.
Now, if it be right to wage war at all, it is not only right to wage it in such a manner as shall accomplish its object, but it would be wrong to wage it in any other manner. War is, in its very nature the infliction of suffering in order to an ulterior good; and the infliction of any degree of sumering is unjustifiable, unless so far as it may lead to this result. If, therefore, in the prosecution of a war, the measures adopted are of such lenity as to be insufficient to produce the end in view, namely, protection for the present and security for the future, the mitigated evil then becomes uncompensated by any ulterior good. It is then a causeless and unjustifiable evil; it is not mercy, but cruelty and crime. This principle is clear, and is theoretically acknowledged; yet when any application of it however wise and just, tends to severities which we are not accustomed to regard as belonging to the necessities of the case our feelings are naturally shocked. Yet the principle continues to operate, and is acknowledged in all our warfare, although, with the progress of civilisation, it has come to be understood in civilised communities, that inflictions formerly resorted to shall be forborne. But in their conflicts with barbarous nations, who have no such understanding, they are accustomed to adopt harsher measures; and this or the simple and sound reason, that the object would not otherwise be gained, and that if they were to allow a war to be to their adversaries a less evil than these adversaries were in the habit of expecting it to prove, such a self-prostrating lenity is ascribed to weakness, and not to the pride of conscious strength. Severity, in short, is beneficent, when it is suited to guard against the necessity of its own repetition; and how much or how little is adequate to that end, is a question to be determined by reference to some existing state of society. The Israelites conducted their warfares on the principles generally recognised in their time; and to have done so on any other or milder principle against such enemies as they had to contend with, would have been ruinous and suicidal. Thus only could it be effectual; and war not intended to be effectual should not be waged at all. It is confidently hoped and believed, that the time is coming, is near at hand, when war, as now conducted by ourselveswhen any war,will be looked back upon with the same feelings of disgust and horror, as those with which we now regard the conflicts of the nations beyond the Mediterranean three-and-thirty centuries ago.John Kitto, D.D.
(d) For illustrations on the Certainly of the punishment of sin, see pp. 89, 225, 258, 312, 318, 374.
(e) The straw cannot beat the mountain into flying dust. The hand of man cannot crumble the great gigantic bulwarks behind which error has entrenched itself. You are quite right. But God hath chosen the weak things to throw down the mighty. It is not the straw that does it; it is the hand that wields it. Shakespeare dips his pen into the ink, and writes Hamlet. I take up the same pen, lip into the same ink, but I cant write Hamlet. It is not the pen that does it; it is the writer. It is not the little instrumentality; it is the God who is able to do, and who has done exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.Joseph Parker, D.D.
The weakness of the instrument is a small matter when the hand is infinitely strong. You and I have said, We are men full of infirmities. What can we do? We have but few talents, we have no social position, we have not the opportunities of doing good that some have, and, therefore, we are discouraged. But the Lord knows thy heart, my brother. If thou wert meaner in the scale of society; if thou hadst not even one, but only half a talent; if thou wert less able to speak than thou art, and wert a man slow of speech like Moses; yet if God be behind thee, dost thou not know that every weakness of thine is according to His own intent and purport, and is as much designed as the strength of the strongest to illustrate the majesty of His might? Oh, didst thou believe, thy weakness would be thy glory; thou wouldst rejoice even to be nothing, that in this the great All-in-all might the more resplendently display Himself.C. H. Spurgeon.
(f) This point is illustrated on p. 276.
(g) The opinion is very prevalent, and the impression still more sothough neither so prevalent as they used to bethat God is in the habit of employing unlikely instruments; that, for the purpose of revealing His all-sufficiency and bringing honour to Himself, He delights to contrast results with their secondary causes, and to disappoint the calculations founded on the supposed efficiency of human agents. To hear some men talk, you might conclude that God cannot be properly said to employ instruments at all, that in nature, and still more in providence, and most of all in grace, they are not so much instruments that He employs as obstacles, not so much things having a tendency and fitness to accomplish His designs as things altogether unsuitable and inappropriate. Now, this belief or feeling is entirely erroneous, and wofully mischievous. It is dishonouring to God, and injurious to men. Such is not Gods custom, such is not even Gods exceptional act. We rejoice in the thought that, in a sense, God does all things, that there is no power but of God, that even physical instruments and moral agents derive all their force from Him, owing to Him their existence and their efficiency; but we also hold fast by the conviction that power and wisdom go together; that God acts by laws and delights to honour them, and that in all His operations He pays profound respect to the inherent relevancy of things.A. J. Morris.
(h) An illustration on this point appears on p. 472.
THE DOOM OF THE DOUBLE-HEARTED
(Num. 31:8)
Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword.
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 Almightys buckler; he defies Israel and Israels God!
But he fails. He would fain have cursed Israel; but he could not. He counselled Moab to seduce Israel by temptation, and his device succeeded too well. He now fetches the 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 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 fain have risen, but he sunk. He would fain 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 Israels portion was the best, yet chose that of Moab; who knew the true God and the true Messiah, but preferred the idolatries of Israels enemies. He saw Him from the too 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, ere 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. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. He loved the one master, mammon; and he dreaded the other; but would fain do the will of both. He could not afford to lose the favour 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 (2Pe. 2:15), were both in his eyes; he would fain have the pay both of God and of the devil. He was unwilling to do or say anything 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 amongst 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, worshipping 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 Balaamswithout principle, without faith, and without fear.
IV. He wanted two kinds of friendship.
He would fain be friends with every body. Perhaps he was timid; of those whom Scripture calls fearful (Rev. 21:8); perhaps, also, he was ambitious, and sought great things for himself wherever these could be obtained (Jer. 45:5); certainly he had before him the fear of man which bringeth a snare, and the love of mans approbation which brings no less a snare; he dreaded Israels God, of whom he knew much, but he dreaded also Moabs 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 on 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 whosoever 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 he could help it. He would make concessions to religious prejudices of any kind if the prejudiced people will only help him on. Two gods and two religions he wanted to have.
But this double service, and double friendship, and double religion, would not do. He would 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 Israels God, or Israels Christ, or in Israels 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 favour 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 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. He would rather not risk offending God, but yet he would not like to lose Balaks rewards and honours. He would rather not take up his cross, nor deny himself, nor forsake all for his God.
So is it with multitudes amongst 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 mammons temple that they worship. Love God with all their heart! They dont so much as understand the meaning of such a thing. Sacrifice riches, place, honour, friends, to Christ! They scoff at the thing as madness.
Oh, be on the side of God, out and out. 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. No middle ground; no half-discipleship; no compromise. The new birth, or no religion at all.
Look to thy latter end. What is it to be? Where is it to be? With whom is it to be? Anticipate thy eternity. Is it to be darkness or light, shame or glory?
Do not sear your conscience by praying Balaams 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.H. Bonar, D.D. Abridged from Light and Truth.
THE RETURN OF THE VICTORIOUS ARMY
(Num. 31:13-24)
Let us notice
I. The reception of the returning warriors.
And Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. Thus the chief men of the nation honour the brave men who had been avenging the Israelites and Jehovah upon the Midianites.
Learn, that services rendered to the public should be heartily recognized by the public.
II. The remonstrance with the returning warriors.
And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, the captains over thousands, &c. (Num. 31:14-16). The women had been the chief offenders in the matter which the army had been sent to avenge; they had seduced the men of Israel into sin; therefore in the execution of their commission (Num. 31:3) the soldiers should have slain them. The sword of war, says Scott, should spare women and children, as incapable of resisting; but the sword of justice knows no distinction, except that of guilty or not guilty, and more or less guilty. This war was the execution of a righteous sentence upon a guilty nation, in which the women were the principal criminals; and perhaps particular instructions had been given on this head: therefore Moses was angry when he found the women had been spared.
Learn, the sinfulness of omissions of duty or of the merely partial performance of duty. (a)
III. The retribution to the Midianitish women.
Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man, &c. (Num. 31:17-18). This may be viewed
1. As a punishment. The law concerning adultery was, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death (Lev. 20:10). It is almost absolutely certain that many of these women had committed adultery with the Israelites in the matter of Baal-Peor. The Lord had himself put to death by the plague the Israelites who thus sinned; and now as part of His vengeance upon Midian the women who sinned are to be put to death. The tempted having been punished, it would not have been right for the tempters to escape. And since it was impossible, except by miracle, to separate the guilty from the innocent, all the women were slain (comp. 1Pe. 4:17).
2. As a precaution. The women who had been engaged in the abominable worship of Baal-peor, would, probably, had they been spared, have seduced the Israelites again into sin: and so their death may have appeared necessary for securing the purity and security of Israel. And the boys, on growing into manhood, would probably have conspired to avenge the slaughter of their parents upon Israel, and so they were put to death. Moreover, as an example of Divine retribution, it was thus rendered more impressive, warning parents not to imitate the guilt of the Midianites, lest they should involve their beloved offspring in destruction. (b)
Learn, that it is our duty to avoid every occasion of temptation to sin (comp. Mat. 5:29-30). (c)
IV. The purification of the returning warriors, their captives, and their spoils.
And do ye abide without the camp seven days, &c. (Num. 31:19-23). The camp of Israel was regarded as holy because of the presence of the Lord God there; and the soldiers having become ceremonially unclean by their contact with the slain, could not enter therein until they were purified (comp. Num. 5:1-4; Num. 19:11-20). And the captives having by their captivity be come to some extent a constituent part of the Israelitish people, needed purification also, especially as they had practised abominable idolatry. And the spoil, as being taken from a heathen people, would need purification, before it could be admitted into the camp, and appropriated to the use of the people of God.
Learn, that it is the solemn, duty of the Church of God to maintain moral purity within its borders. Ye are the temple of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them, &c. (2Co. 6:16 to 2Co. 7:1). (d)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Illustrations on this point appear on pp. 278, 279.
(b) A more difficult point is the command of Moses, that the adult females and the male children among the prisoners should be put to death. Pained as we are by the recital of such horrors, and glad as we feel that such usages have passed away from the practices of war, close examination will enable us to see that the principles which have been laid down (see p. 538), supply an adequate excuse for a course which Moses himself must have regarded as distressing. His course was designed to act in terrorem, with a view to future security. It is clear that he had no satisfaction in the task. On the contrary, he appears to have been strongly excited when he beheld the array of prisoners, and to have uttered a rebuke which shows that he would far rather that whatever severity needed to be exercised should have been finished in the furious haste of onset, than that it should thus be left for execution in cold blood. As it was, however, the prisoners were upon his hands, and he had to dispose of them as the recent hazards and the present condition of the state demanded, in an age when the necessities of the worlds government involved the use of a much harsher instrumentality than is now requisite. Taking these considerations with us, it may be asked, What was to be done with these prisoners? Should they be sent home unharmed, or should they be welcomed on an equal footing to the hospitality of Israel? Then if the views already stated (p. 538) are sound, the war ought not to have been undertaken. This follows, even without insisting upon the circumstance, that had the latter alternative been adopted, the youthful sons of the Midianitish warriors would soon have grown up to be a sword in the bosom of the still feeble state and possibly to compel the hazards and hardships of another conflict. Then, with regard to the adult females, it is to be considered that it was their wicked instrumentality which had led Israel to sin, and had given occasion to the recent war; and, on the other hand, the danger to be apprehended from them if they were allowed again to try their seductive arts upon the Israelites, had just been proved to be such as the infant state would by no means tolerate.
Keeping in view, therefore, the time and country in which Moses lived, and the circumstances by which he was surrounded, is will be a bold thing for anyone to say, that as a man entrusted with the welfare of a nation he acted wrongly. That he acted only from a strong sense of duty, every one who has studied his character must know; and who among us, in these altered times, is better able than he was to judge of what his duty exacted? But if in this case he did err, in judging that the stern obligations of political duty allowed him to show no pity on more than one class of his prisoners, let him alone bear the blame of the deed. He appears to have acted on his own judgment, and does not, as usual, adduce the command of the Lord for the course which was taken.John Kitto, D.D.
(c) A man who has been corrupted by the fire of intoxication, says, I cannot resist the cup when I sit with my companions and it is being passed over my shoulder; I have to drink; I am seized as with an afflatus of infernal fire, and I cannot help drinking. It may be that, when you bring yourself where liquor is dispensed, you cannot help drinking; but you can avoid going there. Once having tried it and found that you could not resist the temptation, the next time you are guilty, not for not resisting it but for going where the cup that is irresistible to you is handed about; and you are just as guilty as though you could resist the temptation and did not, only the guilt takes hold one step further back. Men are responsible for their volitions, and for those conditions which produce volitionsand this is the opinion of men generally.H. W. Beecher.
(d) For illustrations on this point, see pp. 78, 94.
THE COUNSEL OF BALAAM
(Num. 31:16)
How shall we characterise the conduct of Balaam in this transaction? Consider
I. The measure of his criminality.
To do this we must form some estimate of his knowledge of what was right for him to do towards Israel. He knew everything concerning Israel, and their relation to God. His sin was thus committed knowingly, consciously, wilfully. He set himself to do wickedly.
II. His motives in this course.
The meanest. He loved the wages of unrighteousness.
III. The baseness of the method he adopted to accomplish his design.
God had revealed to him, in prophetic insight, the secret of Israels greatness and strength. And Balaam used that very inspiration to injure, fatally, Gods own chosen people.W. Roberts. Quoted in The Biblical Museum.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE SPOILS OF THE WAR
(Num. 31:25-47)
The Lord God gave directions to Moses as to how the booty taken from the vanquished Midianites should be divided. This would tend to prevent dissatisfaction and complaint, &c. Notice
I. In this distribution the claims of all classes of the community were recognised.
The soldiers who had fought the battle and seized the booty did not retain the whole of it. They had been chosen out of the whole congregation to conduct the war for the congregation, which had therefore a just claim to share in the spoils. They that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and all the congregation, the priests, and the Levites, all received a share.
Learn, that public servants should seek to benefit the entire community. (a)
II. In this distribution the claims of each class were considered and equitably dealt with.
Though all classes shared in the booty, all classes did not have equal portions. And this was just. The soldiers who had returned from the war, though only one fiftieth of the entire congregation, received for their share as much as all their brethren who had remained at home. And it was right that, inasmuch as they had borne the hardships and hazards of the war, they should be rewarded for their services. Again, the portion of the Levites was ten times as much as that of the priests, as they were vastly more numerous. But the portion of each individual among the priests must have been considerably greater than that of each individual among the Levites, as was fitting on account of the more exalted and responsible character of their office. The proportion allotted to each class seems to have been conspicuously just and fair.
Learn, that God requires us to act equitably in all our dealings.
III. In this distribution the claims of the Lord were practically acknowledged.
The portions which were given by the warriors to the priests, and by the congregation to the Levites, were a tribute unto the Lorda heave offering of the Lord. Surely this was right and comely. He had given them the victory over the Midianites; and they would have been guilty of injustice and ingratitude if they had not presented a thank-offering to Him.
Learn, that of all our gains a portion should be devoted to the Lord God. Thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth (comp. Deu. 8:10-18). (c)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) All personal and private interests must be sacrificed to the call of duty. In the higher walks of benevolent activity, there is no such thing as a life of inglorious ease.
This sublime principle of self-annihilation is conspicuous in the Christian system. Compared with the one act of the Saviours consecration and surrender, the flame of a thousand worlds would have gone out in cold ashes. Having loved us even unto death this was the last possible point to which His self-devotion could reach, and never was there such a perfect oblivion of self as in His one offering on the Cross. Drinking into this spirit, His disciples forsook all and followed Him. Martyrs and confessors stand before us magnanimous in the spirit of a self-forgetting love. If the Greeks provided that their citizens might be brave in mind, and strong in body, Christianity must ever be looked upon as the religion of heroism. We must be prepared to give up whatever comes between the call of duty and our own individual interest. We know little of the power of the Cross, if it has not crucified us to the world and crucified the world to us. In proportion as we are filled with the power of the Cross, do we become superior to the littleness and the selfishness of our nature, and devote ourselves to the came of universal good.R Ferguson. LL.D.
(b) Justice is the greatest interest of man on earth. It is the ligament which holds civilized beings and civilized nations together. Wherever her temple stands, and so long as is duly honoured, there is a foundation for social security, and general happiness, and the improvement and progress of our race. And whoever labours on this edifice with usefulness and distinction, whoever clears its foundations, strengthens its pillars, adorns its entablatures, or contributes to raise its august dome still higher in the skies, connects himself in name and fame and character with that which is and must be as endurable as the frame of human society.Webster.
(c) A man gives away a sovereign in Christs name and for Christs sake. Look at the elements which constitute that act and give it value. The man made the sovereign honestly; it is his, in paint of fair service, by what is called right. If he keeps that sovereign, he will break no law in commerce; if he will it away to his family, he will violate no law in social equity; if he spend it upon himself, society will not condemn him. Yet the man deliberately gives that sovereign away to a poor child, to a friendless stranger, to a Christian society. See what lies behind the deed. The man says, in effect if not in words, The money may be mine, but I myself am not my own. How then can anything, except temporarily, and under laws of stewardship and responsibility? I have no property in myself; I am bought with a price; I am Gods agent. So far as I have given society an equivalent for the sovereign, it is mine; but the strength, the skill, the knowledge by which I gained it are the gifts of God. The image is Csars, but the gold is Gods. I will hold what I have as Christs; holding it so, I instantly yield it at His call, saying,Thineoh, wounded blessed ChristThine is the right! So this giving away of the sovereign is not an off-hand deed; it is not done flippantly; it is not done to save appearance; it is not done from external social pressure; it becomes a great religious act, a solemn sacrifice, a holy thank-offering.Joseph Parker, D.D.
Additional illustrations on this point appear on pp. 342344.
A NOBLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FAVOUR
(Num. 31:48-54)
We have here
I. An extraordinary favour received.
And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, &c. (Num. 31:48-49). God had not only given them a complete victory and great booty, but He had given them these things without the loss of a single man. In this we have striking proof of the protection of God; but it is not so marvellous as to furnish any good ground for calling in question the correctness of the narrative. Rosenmuller has cited an example from Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 39), of the Romans having slaughtered all the foe without losing a single man on the capture of a Parthian castle; and another from Strabo (xvi. 11, 28), of a battle in which 1,000 Arabs were slain, and only two Romans. And Havernick mentions a similar account from the life of Saladin in his introduction (i. 2, p. 452). It is also important to bear in mind that the Midianites were a nomad tribe, who lived by rearing flocks and herds, and therefore were not a warlike people. Moreover, they were probably attacked quite unawares, and being unprepared, were completely routed and out down without quarter.Keil and Del. Again, in this extraordinary preservation of the army of Israel we view the hand of the Lord their God. This is the Lords doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. He covered their heads in the day of battle. At His express command they went forth to the war; and He protected them from harm. Their preservation would stamp the war and the victory its His; and so add to the impressiveness of the warning it was intended to convey. (a)
II. An extraordinary favour acknowledged.
When the officers discovered that every man who went forth to the war had returned from it safely, they went to Moses and declared the fact, taking with them a handsome thank-offering as an acknowledgment of their gratitude to God. Their acknowledgment was
1. Voluntary. No one commanded them or exhorted them to do this: their action was spontaneous and hearty; they offered not grudgingly, or of necessity; for God loveth a cheerful giver.
2. Practical. They had not only thanks upon their lips, but a generous offering in their hands. They sought to express their gratitude by their gifts. (b)
3. Humble. They offered this oblation to make an atonement for their souls before the Lord. This does not mean that the offering was to expiate any particular offence which they had committed; but to acknowledge unmerited mercies. They felt themselves unworthy of the distinguished favours bestowed upon them. (c)
4. Liberal. All the gold of the offering that they offered up to the Lord was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, the value of which is variously estimated from 20,000, to 25,000. It was, indeed, a right noble offering. (d)
Learn, that the reception of special mercies should be followed by special acknowledgments thereof.
(1) Such acknowledgments are due to God. They cannot be withheld without sin.
(2) Such acknowledgments are a benefit to man. It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, &c. The practical expression of gratitude enriches the heart. (e)
III. The acknowledgment of extraordinary favours accepted.
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. This means, as we see from Exo. 30:16, that the gold was placed in the treasury of the tabernacle.
Learn, that God is graciously pleased to accept the offerings of humble and grateful hearts. (f)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) No prince ever returns safe out of a battle, but may well remember how many blows and bullets have gone by him, that might easily have gone through him; and be what little, odd, unforeseen chances death has been turned aside, which seemed in a fun ready, and direct career, to have been posting to him. All which passages, if we do not acknowledge to have been guided to their respective ends and effects by the conduct of a superior and a Divine Hand, we do by the same assertion cashier all Providence, strip the Almighty of His noblest prerogative, and make God, not the Governor, but the mere Spectator of the world.Dr. South.
(b) For an illustration on this point, see p. 341. (c)
(c) Objects seem large or little according to the medium through which they are viewed. In the microscope, what a remarkable change they undergo! The humble moss rises into a graceful tree; the beetle, armed for battle, flashes in golden or silver mail; a grain of sand swells into a mass of rock; and, on the other hand, a mountain looked at through the wrong end of a telescope sinks into a mole hill, and the broad lake into a tiny pool. Even so, according as we look at them, with the eyes of self-condemning humility, or of self-righteous pride. Gods mercies seem great or little. For example, a minister of the Gospel passing one day near a cottage, was attracted to its door by the sound of a loud and earnest voice. It was a bare and lonely dwelling; the home of a man who was childless, old and poor. Drawing near this mean and humble cabin, the stranger at length made out these words. This, and Jesus Christ too! this, and Jesus Christ too! as they were repeated over and over again in tones of deep emotion, of wonder, gratitude, and praise. His curiosity was roused to see what that could be which called forth such fervent, overflowing thanks. Stealing near, he looked in at the patched and broken window; and there in the form of a grey, bent, worn-out son of toil, at a rude table, with hands raised to God, and his eyes fixed on some crusts of bread and a cup of water, sat piety, peace, humility, contentment, exclaiming, This, and Jesus Christ too!Thos. Guthrie, D.D.
(d) Illustrations on this point appear on pp. 101, 117, 342.
(e) It is well to feel that whatever good your gift may do to the Church, or the poor, or the sick, it is twice as much benefit to you to give it. It is well to give, because you love to give; as the flower which pours forth its perfume because it never dreamed of doing otherwise; or like the bird which quivers with song, because it is a bird, and finds a pleasure in its notes; or like the sun, which shines, not by constraint, but because, being a sun, it must shine; or like the waves of the sea, which flash back the brilliance of the sun because it is their nature to reflect and not to hoard the light! Oh, to have such grace in our hearts that we shall joyfully make sacrifices unto our God!C. H. Spurgeon.
(f) On our birthdays our little children love to give their father something if it is only a bunch of flowers out of the garden, or a fourpenny piece with a hole in it; they like to do it to show their love; and wise parents will be sure to let their children do such things for them. So is it with our great Father in heaven. What are our Sunday-school teachings and our preachings, and all that, but these cracked fourpenny pieces? Just nothing at all; but the Lord allows us to do His work for His own loves sake. His love to us finds a sweetness in our love to Him.Ibid.
The other day, in walking down the street, a little beggar boy, having discovered that I loved flowers, came and put into my hand a faded little sprig which he had somewhere found. I did not look directly at the scrawny, withered branch, but beheld it through the medium of the boys heart, seeing what he would have given, not what he gave; and so looking the shrivelled stem was laden with blossoms of beauty and odour. And if I, who am cold, and ignorant, receive so graciously the offering of a poor child, with what tender joy must our heavenly Father receive the sincere tribute of His creatures, when He looks through the medium of His infinite love and compassion?. Christ does not say, Take the noblest things of life, and bring them perfect, to Me, and I will receive them He says, Take the lowest and most disagreeable thing; and if you bring it cheerfully for My sake, it shall he to Me a flower of remembrance, and I will press it in the Book of Life, and keep it for ever. Go, then search for flowers to bring to Christ; and if you cannot find even road-side or pasture weedsif there are only nettle and briars, and you are willing for His sake to thrust your hand into the thorn bush and bring a branch from then e, He will take it lovingly, and cherish it evermore.H. W. Beecher.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
IV. THE LAST EVENTS IN TRANS-JORDAN (Numbers 31; Numbers 32; Num. 33:1-42)
A. ATTACK UPON THE MIDIANITES vv. 112
TEXT
Num. 31:1. 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 Isreal, unto the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by Jordan near Jericho.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 31:1. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Execute the full vengeance of the Children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterward, you shall be gathered unto your people. 3. And Moses spoke unto the people, saying, Arm men from among you for the conflict, and let them go forth against Midian and avenge the Lord on Midian. 4. You shall send to the war one thousand men from each tribe, throughout all the tribes of Israel. 5. So twelve thousand armed men were brought out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, for the battle. 6. And Moses sent them to the battle, a thousand from each tribe, they and Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, to the battle, with the holy instruments and the trumpets and his hand to blow. 7. And they fought against Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses: and they killed all the males. 8. And they killed the kings of Midian, besides the others who were slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; they also killed Balaam, the son of Peor, with the sword. 9. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captive, along with their little ones; and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods. 10. Then they burned all the cities where they lived, as well as their camps, with fire. 11. And they took all the loot, and all the prey, both of man and beast. 12. And they brought the captives and the prey and the loot to Moses and Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho.
COMMENTARY
God had earlier commanded the attack upon the Midianites (Num. 25:17), citing their prostitution of Israel at Peor (Num. 25:18). We have no way of determining exactly how long this interval had been, but in the meanwhile the census had been taken to establish the basis for Israels army. When the attack was finally made, it seems to have been quite unexpected, and the victory was total. One thousand men from each of the tribes constituted the attacking army, and they were accompanied by Phinehas, the son of the high priest, who took with him certain holy instruments, whose identity is not known, along with the trumpets.
In the battle, all malesapparently the adultswere killed, along with the five kings or chiefs of Midian. Along with these five prominent men is mentioned the fact that Balaam, son of Beor, was a victim of the same attack. It would seem that Balaam had remained in the area, had attached himself unto the Midianites, and counseled the Midianites to tempt Israel into idolatry (Num. 31:16). His death may have been the result of judicial execution rather than from the battle itself (see PC p. 400).
Following the overwhelming victory comes the matter of dividing the spoils of conquest. The women are taken prisoners, along with all children. The cattle, here meaning beasts of burden, and their domesticated flocks are confiscated, along with all of their goods. The cities were burned next. Since the Midianites were a nomadmic people, it is very possible that these cities had originally belonged either to the Moabites or the Amorites, and that they had been captured by Sihon. The KJ word castle is not justified in the text; the term means simply camps. The booty now was brought before Moses and Eleazar, as well as the congregation, in their camp in Moab for disposition. Since the battle had been ordered by the Lord, the warriors were not to look upon the occasion as one of personal exploitation of the victims. God Himself must guide this next important step.
Why was the annihilation of so great a number of the Midianites ordered? Not because they were the only idolatrous people with whom Israel came into contact; nor were the Israelites to become international moral policemen to enforce Divine laws of conduct. The reason, simply put, is that Midian had made an unprovoked, crafty, and successful attack upon Gods people, and had brought thousands of them to a shameful death. The motive which prompted the attack upon them was not horror of their sins, nor fear of their contamination, but vengeance; Midian was smitten avowedly to avenge the children of Israel (Num. 31:2) who had fallen through Baal-Peor, and at the same time to avenge the Lord (Num. 31:3), who had been obliged to slay his own people, (PC, p. 403.) A final word is appropriate. We would be logically in error to apply twentieth-century, or even Christian, moral standards to the actions commanded at Moses time. The treatment of the Midianite women and children was, by the standards of his day, most merciful, and is a step toward that ethic God would have all men reach through His Sonto stir a national conscience against atrocities and, ultimately and ideally, to eliminate war altogether. If men fail to reach this goal, it is due not to a failure in Gods plan or a lowering of His goals, but to the continuing rebellious and inhumane attitudes and acts of His rebellious creature.
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
558.
What was the basic reason for Gods ordering the attack upon the Midianites?
559.
Why had He not done similarly to the Moabites or the Amorites?
560.
Who accompanied the army, and with what implements?
561.
Tell who was killed in the ensuing battle.
562.
Who were spared initially?
563.
Why had the cities probably not been built originally by the Midianites?
564.
Discuss the ethical question of the annihilation of the Midianites. Why is it a fallacy to apply contemporary standards of the actions here?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXXI.
(1) Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.The time had now come for the fulfilment of the command which had already been given (see Num. 25:16-18), after which Moses was to be gathered unto his people, as it had been revealed to him (Num. 27:13). After Balaam had been dismissed by Balak, he appears to have gone, not to the Moabites, but to the Midianites; and it was in consequence of the counsel which he gave to the Midianites (Num. 5:16) that the Israelites were reduced into the idolatrous and lascivious worship of Baal Peor. It is possible, also, that the Midianites, as the descendants of Abraham, may have possessed clearer light and greater privileges than the Moabites. They may have had many men as enlightened as Jethro amongst them, and consequently they may have incurred the greater guilt, and rendered themselves obnoxious to the severer punishment of those who, after they have known the way of righteousness, turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them (2Pe. 2:21). But whether satisfactory reasons can or cannot be assigned why a more exemplary judgment should have been inflicted upon the Midianites than upon the Moabites, who were not left unpunished (see Deu. 23:3-4), those only can maintain that the destruction of the Midianites is inconsistent with the justice or the goodness of God who deny that He has absolute control over the destinies of all the creatures of His hands, and that when it is His pleasure to recall the life which He has bestowed, it is for Him to determine what agents or what instruments it is best to employ.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
MIDIAN CONQUERED AND BALAAM SLAIN, Num 31:1-12.
2. Avenge the children of Israel This is stronger than an ordinary declaration of war. It is the execution of the righteous sentence of Jehovah. Midian had deliberately plotted the moral and national ruin of Israel, clearly demonstrated to be the people of God by the favours shown them. The means employed by the Midianites to compass the downfall of Israel reveals a moral obliquity so marked and contagious as to call for the seven punitive measures ordered.
Gathered unto thy people Num 27:13, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
(i) The Sentence Passed and Carried Out on the Local Midianites ( Num 31:1-24 ).
Analysis.
a The command to avenge Yahweh on Midian (Num 31:1-6).
b The judgment of Yahweh in the defeat of Midian (Num 31:7-8).
c The sparing of the women who had caused them to sin at Baal-peor (Num 31:9-12).
c The judgment on the sparing of the women who had made them sin (Num 31:13-18).
b Purification before returning to the camp to avoid judgment (Num 31:19-20).
a Retention and purification of the spoils (Num 31:21-24).
Num 31:1
‘And Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,’
Once again it is emphasised that we have here the words of Yahweh to Moses.
Num 31:2
‘Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterwards you shall be gathered unto your people.’
The avenging of the people of Israel on the Midianites was to be Moses’ final act. After that he was to be ‘gathered to his people’. He was to die, but it was the death of the righteous. He would join those who had been faithful to Yahweh. The avenging was on the basis of ‘a life for a life’, on the basis of ‘whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed’ (Gen 9:6). For while Midian had not done the actual killing, it was as a result of their deliberate manoeuvrings that so many had died
Num 31:3
‘And Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm you men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Yahweh’s vengeance on Midian.”
So Moses was called on to arrange for the arming of a sufficient task force to destroy Midian, that is, the Midianites who were still encamped either in a part of the former kingdom of Sihon (Jos 13:21), or over the border in Moab, having escaped there from the slaughter of the Amorites. They were to ‘execute Yahweh’s vengeance’ on Midian. These Midianites had sought to woo His people from Him, and He was a jealous God, and was concerned for the purity of the worship of His people. So His concern was such that Midian must be blotted out because of what they had done. Indeed had they not been blotted they would probably have called in their roving Midianite and Amalekite allies for a major attack on Israel (such as would come later in Judges 6), taking them in the rear as they invaded the land. It was therefore essential that they be wiped out before they could stir up further trouble.
Num 31:4
“ Of every tribe an ’eleph, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall you send to the war.”
That the Midianite numbers were fairly small comes out in that it was not the whole army that was to be involved. A military unit (and eleph) taken from each tribe was considered to be sufficient for the task
Num 31:5
‘So there were delivered, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.’
So out of the many fighting units of Israel, twelve units, one from each tribe, were armed for the purpose of taking out Midian.
Num 31:6
‘And Moses sent them, a thousand of every tribe, to the war, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.’
With them went Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, who would have responsibility for the Ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the trumpets which would sound so as to convey the commander’s messages to his troops. His presence and possibly that of the Ark and some holy vessels would be the assurance that this was holy war and that Yahweh was with them. The High Priest himself would not want to become ‘unclean, by the contact with death, for that would interfere with his daily ministry.
“With the vessels of the Sanctuary.” This could actually indicate the priestly garments (the word means ‘garments’ in Deu 22:5), but the Ark does seem to have been intended to lead the way for Israel (Numbers 3-36), and its presence along with some holy vessels used for some special purpose, would be a huge encouragement as it would be in Jos 6:3-4 where it was assumed that the Ark would go with the army. Alternately we may read, ‘with the vessels of the Sanctuary, even the trumpets for the alarm’, seeing the trumpets as being the ‘accoutrements of the Sanctuary’.
Num 31:7
‘And they warred against Midian, as Yahweh commanded Moses; and they slew every male.’
So the twelve military units of Israel attacked the Midianites with overwhelming force. There may well have been only a few hundred Midianite soldiers. And they may well have caught the Midianites unprepared and in fact in battles with the kind of weapons that they had casualties were regularly light. It was when one side panicked and fled that the real killing took place. It would seem probable that that is what happened in this case, and that they pursued them until every Midianite man was dead. Being caught unprepared and fleeing in panic would explain why there was not a single fatal casualty among the Israelites (Num 31:49).
Num 31:8
‘And they slew the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain: Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword.’
All were slain, including the ‘kings’ of Midian whose names are given, and Balaam the diviner who was found to be among them. The giving of names confirms the authenticity of the account. It was a daughter of Zur who was slain by Phinehas in Num 25:8; Num 25:14, and that he would have been seeking blood revenge was one reason why the destruction of the Midianites was so necessary, while the fact Balaam was there among them suggests that that vengeance was already being planned. This was not an attack on an innocent people, but on a very belligerent and determined enemy who would stop at nothing.
Num 31:9
‘And the children of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones; and all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods, they took for a prey.’
The children of Israel then took over the Midianite camps, taking captive all the Midianite women, with their children, together with their cattle, flocks and a host of spoils.
Num 31:10
‘And all their cities in the places in which they dwelt, and all their encampments, they burned with fire.’
We must not read too much into ‘cities’. An encampment could be called a ‘city’ (see Num 13:19), which was probably the fact in this case, and a ‘city’ could contain a mere fifty men with their families, or even less. These were burned to the ground. They were ‘devoted’ to Yahweh.
Num 31:11-12
‘And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of man and of beast. And they brought the captives, and the prey, and the spoil, to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan at Jericho.’
So everything that belonged to the Midianites was taken, both of man and of beast, their wives, their young men, their daughters, their herds and their flocks. And they brought them to Moses and Eleazar, to the camp of Israel in the plains of Moab.
Num 31:13
‘And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them outside the camp.’
And Moses and Eleazar and the chieftains went out from the camp to meet and welcome the victorious army.
Num 31:14
‘And Moses was angry with the officers of the host, the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds, who came from the service of the war.’
But when Moses saw that they had allowed the wives of the Midianites to live he was angry with their officers and NCOs.
Num 31:15
‘And Moses said to them, “Have you saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of Yahweh.” ’
He angrily pointed out that these women were the ones responsible for turning so many Israelites away from Yahweh and thus causing so many deaths in Israel. They were the most blood guilty of all. They should not have been allowed to live.
It is made quite clear that the women had engaged in an act of war. They were not innocent. Following the guidance of Balaam they had deliberately sought to separate between the men of Israel and Yahweh their God as a military strategy so that Yahweh would then curse Israel. Balaam had clearly still not given up his attempts to persuade Yahweh that His people were worthy of cursing. Once they had succeeded the plan was that Balaam would persuade Yahweh to curse His errant people and the Midianites would then attack, assisted by the Moabites. And it had so nearly succeeded.
Num 31:17
‘Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him.’
So he commanded the soldiers to kill all the male children, and to kill every woman who had known a man by lying with him, the wives and seducers of the enemy.
We might be horrified at what was commanded, but there was really little alternative. There was no possibility of setting up prisoner-of-war camps. Even had they been a settled people it would not have been possible, but being on the march towards Canaan it was totally impractical. Furthermore, while they might have enslaved them, every Midianite boy would have grown up knowing that it was his bounden duty to obtain blood vengeance against Israel, and with Midianites scattered throughout the wilderness and desert regions east of the Jordan, who could be called on for assistance on the grounds of blood ties, they would have been a constant danger. Allowing them to live would have been like taking to bed a deadly poisonous snake on the grounds of being kind to animals. It might have been a different matter if they had already been settled in the land.
Furthermore the women had been guilty of seducing many Israelites to their death. They were even more guilty. Their blood was required as a recompense. Nor would they have made suitable wives, they would have been vipers in the nest, to say nothing of further attempts to turn Israel’s menfolk away from Yahweh.
Num 31:18
‘But all the women-children, who have not known man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.’
But the young women children were a different matter. They could be taken in marriage or as servants and would expect to accept the religion of their new husbands or masters. They would gradually be merged into Israel. Compare Deu 21:10-14. They would not feel the same responsibility for blood vengeance which was mainly incumbent on the males.
Num 31:19
‘And you encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves on the third day and on the seventh day, you and your captives.’
However, as a result of their contact with the dead enemy, any who had killed someone, or who had touched a dead body, were to purify themselves with the water of uncleanness as described in Numbers 19. For that purpose they had to remain outside the camp with their captives. The taint of death must not enter the camp of Israel in such quantity. Death was ever to be seen as contrary to what Yahweh was. It was true that it was sometimes necessary in order to compensate for other deaths, in order to bring out the heinousness of murder, and it was even sometimes commanded by Yahweh for that reason, but it was still contrary to His original purpose in creation which had been that man should produce life (Gen 1:28), not death. Death was the result of man’s fall in the Garden, and the sin that had permeated mankind ever since. It was an intruder in God’s creation.
Num 31:20
‘And as to every garment, and all that is made of skin, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood, you shall purify yourselves.’
And this was to be true of all their clothing, and all captured clothing, which would need to be purified by washing, including all that was made of skin, or goats’ hair, and the same applied to anything made of wood.
Num 31:21
‘And Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who went to the battle, This is the statute of the law which Yahweh has commanded Moses,’
Eleazar now informed the men who had been in the battle of the statute of the instruction which Yahweh had commanded Moses in these circumstances.
Num 31:22-23
‘Only the gold, and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that may abide the fire, you shall make to go through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless it shall be purified with the water for uncleanness, and all that abides not the fire you shall make to go through the water.’
All that could survive fire had to be cleansed by being put through the fire. That included the gold, the silver, the bronze (or copper), the iron, the tin and the lead. Then it would be clean. And yet even then it had to go through the water of uncleanness (Numbers 19). And anything that could not stand being put through the fire had to be cleansed with the water of uncleanness. It is clear from this that the taint of death was seen as connected with the spoils, whose masters were dead.
Num 31:24
‘And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean; and afterwards you shall come into the camp.’
Then the men were to wash their clothes and be clean. After that they could come into the camp. Note here that the clothes, which might have been defiled by blood, were what needed to be washed. Bathing was not necessary. Indeed bathing was never said to cleanse. It was preparatory to the waiting before God that did cleanse.
This account brings out for us any number of lessons. It stresses God’s hatred of sin and especially of anything that turns His people away from Him. It brings out that while merciful (if Midian had kept out of Israel’s way they would have been left alone), His holiness demands justice on those who will not respond to His mercy. It reveals God’s might acting on behalf of His people, and that all of us need to be continually cleansed if we would come into His presence. It brings out that God is both light and love. Those who turn from His love come into His awesome light which can only result in their condemnation (Joh 3:18-21). In what follows it also reveals that in the end Yahweh always rewards His people with good things.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 31:2 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.
Num 31:2
Num 25:16-18, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites, and smite them: For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor’s sake.”
Num 31:8 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.
Num 31:8
Num 24:25, “And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place: and Balak also went his way.”
Num 31:16, “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.”
2Pe 2:15, “Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”
Jud 1:11, “Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
Rev 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Overthrow of Midian
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, v. 2. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites, v. 3. And Moses spake unto the people, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, v. 4. of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war, v. 5. So there were delivered out of the thousands. of Israel, v. 6. And Moses sent them to the war, v. 7. And they warred against the Midianites, v. 8. And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Bekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Beba, five kings of Midian; Balaam also, the son of Beor, they slew with the sword, v. 9. And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives and their little ones, v. 10. And they burned all their cities, the fortified towns, wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, v. 11. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, v. 12. And they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil unto Moses and Eleazar, the
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Num 31:1-2. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying After Moses had repeated to the people the laws in the foregoing chapters, God determined, before he took this great lawgiver to himself, to use his ministration for the punishment of the Midianites, who had so abominably seduced the Israelites to wickedness. The Moabites, though guilty also, were now spared; some circumstances which the sacred history has suppressed, no doubt, occasioned this distinction. Probably, the Midianites contributed more than the Moabites to the seduction of the Hebrews. See Parker’s occasional Annotation on the chapter.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
EIGHTH SECTION
The new Separation from the Heathenism of Midian analogous to the earlier Separation from the Heathenism of Egypt. The war of Revenge against Midian as a prologue to the extermination of the Canaanites. The Midianitish spoil a parallel to the Egyptian.
Num 31:1-54
1, And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. 3And 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. 4Of every tribe a thousand,1 throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. 5So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6And 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. 7And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; 8and they slew all the males. 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. 9And 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. 10And they burnt all their cities wherein they dwelt, and all their goodly castles, with fire. 11And they took all the spoil, and all the prey, both of men and of beasts. 12And 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.
13And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp. 14And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.2 15And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? 16Behold, 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. 17Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.3 18But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19And 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. 20And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins,4 and all work of goats hair, and all things made of wood.
21And 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; 22Only the gold, 23and the silver, the brass, the iron, the tin, and the lead, Everything 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. 24And ye shall wash your clothes on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean, and afterward ye shall come into the camp.
25And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 26Take the sum of the prey5 that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: 27And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation. 28And 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, 29and of the sheep: Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for a heave offering of the Lord. 30And of the children of Israels half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks,6 of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the Lord. 31And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. 32And 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 33sheep, And three score and twelve thousand beeves, 34And threescore and one thousand asses, 35And thirty and two thousand persons in all, of women that had not known man by lying with him. 36And the half, which was the portion of them that went out to war, was in number three hundred thousand and seven and thirty 37thousand and five hundred sheep: And the Lords tribute of the sheep was six hundred and threescore and fifteen. 38And the beeves were thirty and six thousand; of which the Lords tribute was threescore and twelve. 39And the asses were thirty thousand and five hundred; of which the Lords tribute was threescore and one. 40And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the Lords tribute was thirty and two persons. 41And Moses gave the tribute, which was the Lords heave offering, unto Eleazar the priest, as the Lord commanded Moses. 42And of the children of Israels 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 44, 45seven thousand and five hundred sheep, And thirty and six thousand beeves, And 46thirty thousand asses and five hundred, And sixteen thousand persons,) 47Even of the children of Israels 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.
48And the officers which were over thousands of the host, the captains of thousands, 40and captains of hundreds, came near unto Moses: And they said unto Moses, Thy servants have taken the sum of the men of war which are under our charge,7 and there lacketh not one man of us. We have therefore brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man hath gotten,8 of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord. 51And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold of them, even all wrought jewels. 52And all the gold of the offering9 that they offered up to the Lord, of the captains of thousands, and of the captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred 53and fifty shekels. (For the men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54And 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.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num 31:3. , from the root, to detach some thing or person from its previous connection. A detailed portion.A. G.]
[Num 31:5. , to give over, deliver. Here that which was given over to the special work. Ges. to separate, used only here and in Num 31:16.A. G.]
[Num 31:6. The seems to be the explicative, to wit, or and in fact. Keil.]
[Num 31:10. , either a walled place, or one encircled by a row or range. Here probably tent-villages or hamlets.A. G.]
[Num 31:26. The living prey or booty, as in Num 31:12.A. G.]
[Num 31:29. The word denotes simply offering. Omit the heave.A. G.]
[Num 31:32. The , the living prey, the only divisible portion.A. G.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The war of vengeance against the Midianites is specifically of the Old Testament; but as such also of world historical significance, it being no fortuitous occurrence, but a necessary element in the history of the Theocracy.
It is the after-piece to the judicial punishment to which the Israelites were doomed on account of their fall into the voluptuous cultus of the Midianites, and the precursor of the exterminating judgment which was soon to overtake the Canaanites. It was entirely fitting that with respect to the great apostasy to which the words of the prophet Amos (Num 5:25) clearly refer, not only the tempted Israelitish people should be punished, but much more, the people who were the tempters, an utterly depraved, nomadic horde, which camped in the east of Moab. When the Moabites themselves were involved in the guilt of the Midianites, there comes into view again with respect to them the blood-relationship which was ever an object of pious regard to the Israelites. But what was more important was the fact that the Midianites were the chief agents, both in the calling of Balaam to curse, and in the execution of his diabolical counsels. Even in a political point of view a war with Moab would have been an error.
The sins of the Midianites are related to the sins of the Canaanites as the lust cultus with the cultus of human sacrifices or the Moloch service. Both forms of conception are only the two sides of the one irremediable corruption, which consists in this, that a people has turned its public morals into a destructive immorality, because it has abandoned all reverence for a personal God and personal life, and sunk into the dark, magic sin, the sin of deifying the lust of the flesh, and into death, its fruit. The Canaanites could not live as a people under Israel without perverting Israel and with it the history of mankind. In a similar way the Midianites would have been a snare to the tribes east of the Jordan, if they had been left in their immediate neighborhood, and it may not have been without a real practical occasion, that immediately subsequent to the destruction of the Midianites, the narrative proceeds to speak of the settlement of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh in the East. But in addition to this, it is certain that the Midianites had incurred the penalty of death at the hands of the Israelites, because they had celebrated exultingly the seeming triumph of Baal-Peor with his shameless pollution, over Jehovah, the God of personal dignity and moral purity and discipline. The memory of this and its infectious influence must be extinguished with terrible earnestness. This explains the entirely destructive purpose of the attack, although we must distinguish between the divine direction (Num 25:17-18; Num 31:1) and its human execution, and also between the human weakness and the prophetic sternness and rigor (Num 31:14). If the women have made the lascivious cultus the national custom, the men who are the prime agents, active or passive, must bear the responsibility; and it is ever a symptom of the moral stupor into which a people have sunk, when the female sex takes its own course in every evil. Even if a feast, it is only an unrestrained indulgence in luxury. Among the Midianites the male sex appears to have been corrupt to the very core; but the female sex in the measure in which it had come to know the relations of the sexes, as a sphere of profligacy. Thus this history, with all its strangeness and terribleness, is designed to take its place among the means of salvation for the true humanity, and a sign of warning to the nations for all time. [It has been well said that the question was whether an obscene and debasing idolatry, should undermine the foundations of human society, or the divine retribution interpose to stay the plague and deliver the people of God. Sin must be destroyed at any cost, and we may be sure that He who loves man but hates his sin, shows his love to man by punishing that sin which draws him far away from God. Hence the rigor with which the sin of idolatry is dealt with. It involves a total alienation from God, and must therefore always be debasing and ruinous. There is every thing in the record to show that the war was no common one, and is not therefore to be judged by the common principles which regulate ordinary wars. It was rather the execution of a divine judicial sentence. It was to avenge the Lord of Midian.It was undertaken by His direction, and was shaped and controlled by Him throughout. The Israelites were the instruments of His vengeance. It was directed against the Midianites, who were then encamped upon the plain of Moab, because they were the prime movers in the temptation and fall of Israel. They were still practising their wiles after the plague had been stayed (Num 25:18). They knew against whom they were plotting, since Balaam was among them. Moab had sought the material victory over Israel, its subjugation as a political power, a mighty and conquering nation. The Midianites sought to sap the very spiritual and moral life of the people. They were seeking not victory, but the destruction of Israel. It was a fatal blow, if successful, or if not arrested. The object of the war is not directly the destruction of the Midianites, but the freeing of Israel from their arts and corruption, its moral and spiritual bearing. Every thing bears upon this: the smallness of the number chosen, but yet it must be selected from every tribe, and so represent the entire people whose life had been endangered; the appointment of Phinehas, whose zeal against the sin of the Midianites had made him conspicuous, as a priest, and with the instruments and trumpets to go with the army, not as a military leader, and the remarkable preservation of the warlike host, all show that the character of the war was peculiar, that it was judicial, that its ultimate purpose was the safety of the people of God in its highest aspects and life; and that it could not have been secured in any other way.
If it be objected that many innocent persons must have fallen in the judgment, the obvious and satisfactory answer is, that the objection lies as well against the whole judicial providence of God in the world; and secondly, that the sin was national. The rulers listened to the counsel of Balaam, and found ready obedience on the part of the people. The people sinned, and the people are punished. It is not only that judgments of this nature must be indiscriminate in their sweep, but that God deals with nations as moral agents. We must bear in mind too that this was not a self-undertaken invasion of Israel. They were sent upon it, they had definite instructions how to execute their painful task, and they were held to its spirit, when they would have swerved into leniency. It was no mere slaughter inspired by feelings of animosity; it is not a display of blood-thirsty and cruel passion, but the execution of a solemn trust. The whole history is an impressive exhibition of the wrath of God against sinhere executed by human agentsand a standing type of the ultimate destruction of sinners. If we put ourselves in the true position at the outset, see the true nature and purpose of the war, all is plain.A. G.]
Num 31:1-6. The avenging host.A thousand were chosen from each tribe, which constituted an army of 12,000 men, under the priestly leadership of Phinehas, the heroic enthusiast, and with the sound of the holy trumpets. Keil reminds us that Phinehas was not their commander, but was sent along with the sacred trumpets as the priest, because the war was a holy war. But he seems to overlook the fact that all the wars of Israel in these days were holy wars, and that the scribes and priests belonged to the army organization.
[It is worthy of notice, however, that in the earlier wars against Sihon, Og, the Amorites, we have no mention of the presence of the priests with the holy trumpets. Phinehas was chosen avowedly as a priest, and he was doubtless selected from the company of priests, because he had displayed such conspicuous zeal, and would be the fittest person to inspire the army with sacred zeal in the mission.A. G.]. Who the military leader of the army was we are not certainly told. [Presumably it must have been Joshua.A. G.]. The holy vessels cannot mean the ark of the covenant, nor the Urim and Thummim, but the sounding trumpets. The Urim and Thummim were borne by the high-priest, and they would have been superfluous when everything was decided. [The trumpets themselves seem to have been the instruments.A. G.].
Num 31:7-12. The vengeance.In an assault by storm, as it appears, all the men of Midian were slain [i.e., obviously, all the men of war, the men who were in the battle, the adult males all being present probably. See v. 17.A. G.]. The five shepherd kings of the people, who were probably slain as captives, are recorded by name. [These were slain upon or in addition to those who perished in the battle.A. G.]. Balaam, too, the instigator of the sin and mischief, meets his doom, in whose case a separate judicial execution seems to be intimated. The cities and encampments of the enemy were destroyed by fire, their wives and children carried captive, and thus the Midianites as a people were utterly blotted out of existence.10 From Jos 13:21 it appears that the Midianite princes were vassals of the Amorite king Sihon, and the cities of the habitation were originally Moabite, and subsequently Amorite cities. The region itself fell afterwards to the tribe of Reuben. In v. 12, applies to the women and children who were taken prisoners, to the cattle taken as booty, and to the rest of the prey. Keil. [Goodly castles, rather hamlets. LXX. partial enclosures. It indicates probably those collections of such dwellings made of stones piled one on another and covered with tent-cloths, which are used by the Arabs to this day. Bib. Com.A. G.].
Num 31:13-18. The uprooting of the Midianites as a people. The victorious army was received at the front of the camp by Moses, Eleazar the high-priest, and the elders. But Moses addresses the leaders of the host with reproaches, because they had left all the women alive.
The women were certainly the cause of the great sin and fall of Israel, and associated with the Israelitish families they might have become more destructive to the people than before. But how was it with the boys? Knobel reminds us, that they would have risen up later as the avengers of their slain fathers. But they might also, according to their Midianitish nature, have corrupted the Israelitish women. The terrible result of the command was the death penalty to every male, and also to every female, except those whose virginity could be established, and who might become fused into the popular life of Israel without danger, in the position of slaves, handmaids. And this Old Testament doom was accomplished under the wrath, under the killing power of the law. Still later in the history, Elijah, in following out the law, had it in his purpose to destroy his people by fire. It was not the Jewish nation which introduced such conflicts, but the tendency and result of the law led to them, brought about the struggles in which the higher humanity, had to be protected against the humanity of the mere natural feelings. Thus Moses rebuked the clemency of the captains. Thus Samuel rebuked the leniency of Saul (1 Samuel 15.)
[Num 31:16. These causedcommit trespass. They have become to the Israelites to work unfaithfulness towards Jehovah, for a cause or incitement to treachery to the Lord, or perhaps with a more distinct allusion to the manner in which the inducement was brought to bear, and possibly the intent on their partthese were to the sons of Israelgave themselves to them, to give them in unfaithfulness or disloyalty to God, on account of Peor.A. G.].
Num 31:19-24. The purification of the host and of the spoil without the camp. The purification of the warriors who had slain any one, or who had touched any slain one, takes place according to the rule prescribed (Num 19:11). But all the plundered stuffs and fabrics must also be purified. For this Eleazar the high-priest now prescribes more definite rules. Every metal must be cleansed through the fire, and all non-metallic substances must be purified by water; and yet each must finally be sanctified and consecrated by the water of separation.
Num 31:25-47. The division of the spoil. The whole sum of the prey was taken in charge by Moses, the high-priest, and the heads of the fathers houses. Then it was divided into two equal parts, one of which fell to the army and the other to the congregation. The warriors, however, were to yield one-fifth of one per cent of the persons and the cattle to the high-priest for Jehovah, while the congregation must yield two per cent., or one out of fifty for the Levites. [The division of the prey into two equal parts was just. For as those who went to war were chosen out of the wholeand thus represented the wholethe congregation were fairly entitled to a share in the spoil which their representatives had taken; while the large proportion was justly due to those who had all the peril.A. G.]. In the same way the non-combatants were usually considered in the distribution of the spoileven the captives were considered. Jos 22:8; 1Sa 30:24; 1 Samuel 2 Maccab. Num 8:26 to Num 30:16. Upon the likelihood of so great a spoil being taken [Keil says, There is nothing in these numbers to astonish any one who has formed correct notions of the wealth of nomad tribes in flocks and herds. The only thing which is surprising is that there is no mention of camels. But it is not certain that the Midianites were in the habit of rearing camels, and if they had been the Israelites would probably have put these to death as useless to them in their present circumstances. The quantity of jewelry seized is quite in harmony with the well-known love of Nomads for ornaments of this kind, and with the peculiar liking of the Midianites. See Jdg 8:26.A. G.]. It seems extremely improbable to the critics that not an Israelite should have fallen in the war. The account, however, seems to imply that the attack was sudden and furious, that the enemy were probably taken utterly by surprise, and that it was rather a rout than a battle in any true sense. Keil cites as analogous instances Tacitus Ann. Num 13:19; Strabo xvi. 1128; and Havernick Introduction 1, 2, p. 452. [This is one of the features of this narrative which shows that we are dealing here with the execution of a divine sentence. It implies an extraordinary divine protection, which is in accordance with the view that they were in a peculiar sense the Lords instruments.A. G.]
Num 31:48-54. The consecratory gifts of the officers. In gratitude for their wondrous preservation, they are ready to present as a thank-offeringa second giftall the golden ornaments, as bracelets, rings, etc., which they had received as booty. It brings the sum of 16,750 shekels into the treasury of the sanctuary. With their thanks, they recognize their obligation to atone for their souls, their lives, i. e., they acknowledge their marvelous preservation as an undeserved mercy, since on account of their sinfulness they might well have suffered death. An atonement for our souls. (See Lev 1:4), namely in the feeling that they were not worthy of any such grace, not because they had done wrong in failing to destroy all the enemies of Jehovah. [This could not have been any real atonement for any error or sin, such as they were chargeable with in neglecting to do as they were told, for such an atonement, as they well knew, would have required a bloody offering. The very magnitude of the mercy makes them more sensible of their unworthiness of it, and awakens deeper gratitude.A. G.]. Besides these thank-offerings, the captains had taken other spoil of the nation which remained in their possession.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The avenging march against the Midianites, as the after-piece to the drama of judgment (chap. 25), wherein the Jews had made an atonement, but not the Midianites; and as a preface to the storm which should come upon the Canaanites, was designed to draw at once a broad line of demarcation between Judaism and heathenism, and to impress the Israelitish people with an inextinguishable abhorrence of the cruelties and abominations of a lustful cultus.
[Israel, as the sacred people of God, now restored to His favor, must execute His judgment and vengeance upon His enemies. As Jehovah is Israels God, who has bound Himself with them, so every attack upon Israel is an attack upon God. The analogy which holds between the war of Israel against the Midianites and the Christian warfare of all the people of God against His foes and theirs, is suggestive and instructive. The Midianites suffering their just desert at the hands of Israel, whom they had brought into sin, is only an instance of a general principle, which finds frequent illustration in history .A. G.]
HOMILETICAL HINTS
The dark and fearful enigmas in the worlds history. In the theocratic history, they are illuminated by the word of God, and stand out as judicial visitations. And indeed according to impartial justice. For as Jehovah here allows the Israelites to prevail over the heathen Midianites, so afterwards as the Lord of Hosts He allows the heathen to prevail over the Israelites. But the world-historical judgments are always preventives of endless corruption; e. g. preventing the permanent lapse of the people into a lustful worship by the poisoning of their fancies and morals. Thus often humanity is saved by the remedies of fire and brimstone from the fearful corruptions of the sexual life. The war of extermination destroyed on the one hand a nest of corruption, a great hotbed of impurity, and on the other hand opened an abyss between the heathenish depravity (in which the union of vice with religious enthusiasm and the general debased condition of a whole people come into view) and the family life of Israel. The booty. Its explanation is, that it was property without an owner, and that as such it was a gift from Jehovah. Finally these facts in the history of Israel are obscured by considering them out of their connection in time and place. This is true of all historical facts. [We are all called to essentially the same warfare, and may not shrink from it. The Christian called to be the executioner of judgment upon his own sins. The tendency to spare those which wear the most attractive appearance must be restrained. The deep-lying corruption in the tendency to self-worship.A. G.]
Footnotes:
[1]Marg. a thousand of a tribe, a thousand of a tribe.
[2]Marg. host of war.
[3]Marg. a male.
[4]Marg. instrument or vessel of skins.
[5]Marg. of the captivity.
[6]Marg. goats.
[7]Marg. hand.
[8]Marg. found.
[9]Marg. heave offering.
[10][Kurtz, however, holds that the destruction only concerned those tribes of the Midianites dwelling on the high-lands of Moab; that the main stock of the tribe shared neither in the sin nor judgment, and hence later in the history (Jdg 6:8) they appear as a mighty and hostile power against Israel.A. G.].
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
In this Chapter we have the relation of Israel’s war with Midian. The number of the army appointed by the LORD himself; the success of GOD’S host; the event of the battle in the spoils brought with them: the purifying the people after the war; and the division of the booty.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Here we see the fulfillment of that sacred Scripture, which assures us that the judgment of the ungodly lingereth not; for however the LORD may seem slack, as some men count slackness, yet the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night, in which GOD will recompense his enemies, and the enemies of his people, which are a part of himself, to their face. See 2Pe 2:3 ; Mal 4:1 .Ecc 8:11 . The Reader will enter into a proper apprehension of this history, by consulting Num 22 ; Num 23 ; Num 24 , and Num 25 . But while I beg the Reader to consult those chapters, in order to see the equity and justice of the divine proceeding, in ordering Israel to destroy Midian, which had first tried to curse Israel, and afterwards did tempt and seduce Israel to rebel against the LORD GOD by idolatry; I must request the Reader not to overlook the tenderness of the LORD to Moses. Though the time was arrived, when Moses was to be gathered to his people, yet the LORD will grant his servant to see with his eyes the destruction of Midian before his departure. This victory was a pledge of the conquest of Canaan. And Moses has assurance before he dies. Blessed JESUS! Is it not thus thou dealest with all thy people in the precious confirmation of thy promises. See Psa 91:8-16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
IX
ISRAEL’S SIN AND PHINEHAS’ ACT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OTHER THINGS
Numbers 25-36
The twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers on many accounts is one of the most remarkable chapters of the Old Testament. In its notable character it is equal to the chapters on Balaam. Here are the children of the Promised Land with their pilgrimage ended. They have reached the banks of the Jordan. They are encamped there just over against Jericho. Nothing to do but go over and possess the land when God tells them. Just at this time Balak, the king of Moab, brings Balaam to curse them by divinations. Having failed in that, he makes the horrible suggestion that the Moabitish and Midianitish women be used as instrumentalities to cause Israel to sin and go into idolatry. Among the women mentioned was a princess, daughter of one of the five kings of Midian. They did what they did under the prompting of their religious instruction and they succeeded.
Very many of the people were seduced from their allegiance to God and not only sinned in a bodily respect but sinned in idolatrous worship and the heads of the people did not interfere to stop it. A plague went out from God on account of it. Moses, discovering the fearful demoralization of the people, gives the commandment that all the heads of the tribes shall be hanged up, either for active participation in this matter or for not using their authority to repress this very great disloyalty to God. It is as when a regiment has rebelled through connivance of its officers. There is the responsibility of leadership in a case of this kind and in military matters any officer, no matter bow high his grade, who would stand idle and see his troops go into rebellion without an effort to stay it, would be shot by the most summary process of court martial.
So Moses commands the leaders to be killed and hung up in the sight of the people. Whoever was hanged on a tree was accursed. Having disposed of the chiefs, he ordered the judges, you remember when two sets of seventy were appointed to help Moses in administrative and judicial affairs, to put to death every man who had committed a sin in that way. But the plague did not stop, though the chiefs of the nation were hanging on a tree, all the judges punishing every man with death, all the people weeping before the tabernacle. “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe.”
Just at this time a son of one of the princes of the tribes comes openly into the camp with a princess of one of the five kings of Midian, in the sight of Moses and Eleazar; in sight of the weeping people; in full view of the dead hanging up and others dying, and brings his irreligious debauchery right into the very presence of God. Whereupon Phinehas, son of Eleazar, without command from anyone, without being especially appointed officer, in his holy wrath for God’s sake and bearing in his heart that indignation against sin that God bears, and God says of him, “Having my zeal,” takes a spear and goes into the tent and thrusts both of them through and kills them.
The most remarkable part of the transaction is in what God says. He uses language just like he uses when he said Abraham believed in Jehovah and it was counted to him for righteousness. As Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness, the zeal of Phinehas so perfectly expressed God’s wrath against sin that it is reckoned unto him for eternal righteousness.
But that is not the strangest part of it, but that this display through Phinehas of the wrath of God against sin made an atonement for his sin. You strike a use of the word “atonement” there which stalls the commentators and theological seminary professors. Offhand I am going to give you my explanation of it. It is the most remarkable scripture in the Bible. Surely atonement for sin cannot be made which does not placate the wrath of God against sin.
A good many sentimentalist preachers tell you that the sole object of Christ’s work was to reconcile men to God, that God was already reconciled and did not have to be placated. This scripture is unquestionably the strongest in the Bible to show that Christ’s sacrifice was both toward God and toward men, toward God in that the sinner’s bodily and spiritual death for sin took place and otherwise there could have been no atonement. Hence Phinehas, in a very high sense, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The everlasting priesthood is promised to him. The covenant of peace is promised to him.
When we come to the study of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will see an expression in the casting out of the money-changers from the temple, where Jesus takes a scourge and scourges out of God’s house those who are defiling that house, whereupon it is stated that the scripture was fulfilled, “The zeal for thy house shall eat me up.” Such a shame against the sanctity of that house must be punished or it can never be forgiven. There must be a penal sanction to law. We see it repeated again when he comes to cleanse the temple the second time, and then when he comes to die that death of the cross, under the wrath of God, forsaken of the Father, unsaved from the sword of divine justice, unsaved from the lion, Satan, who goeth about to devour, unsaved from the bite of the serpent, that is, to placate by expiation the death penalty of sin. Now, Phinehas could in a typical way represent that.
What was the use for these people to come there and weep before the tabernacle with such an impious, presumptuous, daring sin committed right in the presence of God and nobody rebuking it? It wouldn’t do simply to hang a few of the officers. It wouldn’t do for the judges to put one or two, here and there, to death. There had to be some signal, sudden, utter display of divine wrath and that was furnished by Phinehas. If Phinehas had had a motive that was not exactly correspondent to God’s idea of wrath against sin, he would have been a murderer.
The only trouble about it is that men began to imagine long afterwards that they stood in the place of Phinehas and could kill those whom they thought to be violators of the law, and with inferior motives and without an express sanction of God, they committed sin. The case of Phinehas in that respect stands alone. Samuel, when he hacked to pieces the king, David when he said that the seven sons of Saul must be hanged on a tree to make atonement, represent somewhat the idea But it is not said with reference to them that it was imputed to them for righteousness.
In the case of Jesus, instead of striking the sinner that committed the sin, Jesus let God strike him after the sinner’s sins had been put on him. “Save me from the sword; save me from the lion. If it be possible let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” There never could have been any forgiveness of sin that was not based upon a penal sanction. The justice of God must be vindicated in some way. People will tell you that you are not punished because you have sinned but to keep other people from sinning. But sin is demerit and merits death. “The wages of sin is death.” And that death must come to the sinner himself, or it must come to the one upon whom his transgressions have been laid. See Psa 106:28-31 .
We turn now to Numbers 26-27 and include with them Num 36 . In this case you have the second numbering of the people. They are just ready to enter the Holy Land, and with the exception of the death of Moses, which came as a result of another principle, there is fulfilled the death threatened to all the grown men that came out of Egypt. This great sin committed on the banks of the Jordan was by the new generation and 24,000 of them perished in the plague. They did not number quite so many as in the first enumeration; then 603,550, now only 601,730. The only thing worthy of mention you can do for yourself. Take the numbers for each tribe as given in the two enumerations and put them down opposite each other. Some you will find have increased. The tribe of Simeon with others has fearfully decreased. You have the reason, viz.: this tribe suffered more than any other in this plague.
This enumeration is not merely for war, but the basis of the land allotment. The tribe which has the most men will get the most land. The daughters of a certain man who died want to know if their name is to perish in Israel and they are to be without inheritance. They are to have their father’s inheritance, and in Num 36 it shows how to safeguard the father’s part of the inheritance to the tribe, by permitting them to marry only in their own tribe.
In this chapter is the announcement to Moses that on account of his sin he is to die. He asks that a successor be appointed and Joshua is appointed. We come to the Numbers 28-29, which are upon one point unlike any other chapters. While they refer to a great many things in the previous books of Exodus and Leviticus, there is nothing like those two chapters anywhere else. They commence at the beginning of the year and show what offerings are to be made day by day, week by week, moon by moon, year by year, seventh year by seventh year, and Jubilee by Jubilee. These chapters constitute the basis of the poem of Keble, “The Christian Year,” as it is called by the Episcopalians, derived from the Old Testament, a matter that Paul condemns thus in the letter to the Colossians: “Ye observe months, days, weeks, seasons; touch not, taste not, handle not.” God nailed all that system to the cross of Christ.
The only thought in Num 30 that needs to be dwelt on is the bringing up of the vow question again. If a daughter makes a vow before she has attained to full age, it cannot be exacted of her, if her father does not sanction it. A wife cannot make a vow without her husband’s sanction. This chapter discusses the principle upon which the exceptions are made, and you can read it.
Num 31 is devoted to the war against Midian. God commanded Moses to make a holy war against Midian, who, acting on the suggestion of Balaam, had through their chief women brought about this great sin, when Israel had committed no provocation. This war is unlike other wars because of the number. Only 1,000 men from each tribe, or 12,000, are sent out to conduct the war. A priest, not a general, commands them. They suffer no loss. The destruction wrought is God’s destruction. God has condemned Midian for their awful sin and they are smitten. The spoils of the war are devoted to God because it was God’s war, not man’s. Everybody that looks at it will say that it was God’s war.
As they were encamped by the Jordan and ready to pass over, it was intensely important that they leave the rear safe. Midian is smitten clear to the Euphrates. Sihon and Og had been destroyed and Moab and Ammon and Edom are incapable of war. A vast portion of territory lying on the east of the Jordan is captured. That brings us to Num 32 . This captured land is the best pasturage in the whole country; two tribes and a half express the desire that they be allotted that eastern portion. Moses is very indignant because he understands that they mean this, that while the whole nation has captured this territory these tribes propose to stay over here and leave the other tribes to capture the remainder of the country. But they explain that they simply wanted to safeguard their women and children and villages and send their army on across the Jordan to fight with the others. So the allotment is made to Reuben, Gad, and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh.
In Num 33 there is only one thing to which your attention needs to be called. That chapter is devoted to the whole itinerary from Egypt to the Jordan. God tells Moses to impress one fact upon the minds of the people: “No terms can be made with these inhabitants of the land, for the territory was originally yours when the division was made in the days of Peleg, after the flood. But they took possession of the country.” God has not cast them out because their iniquity was not full. But their iniquity is full now and they are going to be cast out and “you are the executors of the divine will and if you leave corners around I give you warning that they will be thorns in your side forever. When you make war they will rise up in your rear. When you relax in watchfulness, they will lead you into sin.”
I preached a sermon on that once, in which I took the matter spiritually thus: Take a Christian who is regenerated, but he stops trying to expel the old inhabitants. He says, “I am all right if I am a Christian. That is enough.” He does not continue his war against the sinful nature. A large part of him he does not seek to bring under subjection through sanctification. Then he is going to have a thorn in the flesh. Say you take an occasional spree. Whenever you quit making a fight on the lower nature, you are going to be badly fooled. By careful analysis anyone can find out his weak point. Woe to the man who does not make war on that besetting sin. I do not say he will be lost in hell, but he will get some hard falls and be badly hurt.
Num 34 is devoted to a description of the border. You can take a map and trace it out. No particular skill is required.
Num 35 is devoted to two points well worthy of special study. It is a provision for the forty-eight Levite cities who were to have no part of the land for an inheritance, and also for the six cities of refuge; three east of the Jordan and three west. You ought carefully to note the purpose of these cities of refuge and how the roads are to be kept open.
QUESTIONS
1. Having failed to turn Jehovah against Israel by divination, how did Balaam turn Israel against Jehovah?
2. What penalty did Jehovah visit upon them and how many died?
3. What two efforts were made to stay the plague and the results?
4. What act of presumption was committed just at this time, the act of Phinehas and the result?
5. Expound the remarkable reference to Phinehas and particularly bring out the atonement idea in connection with his zeal.
6. Give result of second census. How many tribes had fewer than at first? Why the great difference in the tribe of Simeon?
7. What question came up respecting Zelophehad’s daughters and how settled?
8. Give the law of inheritance in Israel.
9. What announcement here made to Moses and his request?
10. What specially qualified Joshua for this place?
11. Describe the ceremony of the appointment and what the signification of the laying on of hands?
12. Try your hand on forming the calendar for the Jewish Holy Year.
13. What exceptions here to the law of vows previously given?
14. The war against Midian the character of it, why made, how unlike other wars and what was done with the spoils?
15. Give an account of the settlement of the territory east of the Jordan.
16. What terms were they to make with the inhabitants of the land?
17. What was the penalty for violating this command?
18. What right did the Israelites have thus to deal with the inhabitants?
19. Apply the case of these people in their new relation to the individual Christian.
20. Bound the Land of Canaan as promised to Israel. (See Atlas.)
21. What provision was made for the Levites in the land?
22. How many cities of refuge? Name and locate them. What was their purpose?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
spake. See note on Num 1:1.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 31
Then as we get into Numbers chapter thirty-one, the Lord orders the destruction of the Midianites.
Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward thou shall be gathered to your people ( Num 31:2 )
So this was to be sort of the final act of Moses. They are just about ready to enter into the land that God has promised and God orders the avenging against the Midianites, who actually created a problem with the children of Israel that we were studying last week. Balak the king, sending the girls into the camp, causing the children of Israel to commit fornication and idolatry. And so now God is taking out judgement against the Midianites for those actions. And so Moses ordered a thousand men from each of the tribes to arm themselves for battle. And so there were a thousand from each of the tribes, twelve thousand men armed for war that came to Moses. And they were ordered to go in against the cities of the Midianites.
Now Eleazar was the high priest. His son Phinehas went with the armies to fight against the Midianites and the Lord delivered the Midianites into the hands of these twelve thousand men.
And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they killed all of the males. ( Num 31:7 )
And this also included this prophet Balaam. Now you remember in the first prophecy that Balaam had uttered over the children of Israel. He said, “Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last days be as his” ( Num 23:10 ). That request wasn’t granted. He did not die the death of the righteous. Balaam was guilty of greed. He allowed that greed to master him, and allowing the greed to master his life, he removed himself from the place of God’s blessing. And rather than dying the death of the righteous, he was slain when the children of Israel conquered over the Midianites; Balaam also was slain.
So they took the women of Midian as their captives, and the little ones, and they took the spoil of all of their cattle, their flocks and their goods. They burnt the cities where they were living and all of the beautiful castles with fire. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of the men and beasts. And they brought the captives, and the spoil. Now Moses was angry with the officers of the army, and the captains over the thousands, and the captains over the hundreds, which have come from the battle. And Moses said unto them, Have you saved all of the woman alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, [and here we have it] through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, which and there was the plague among the congregation of the LORD. Therefore kill all of the male babies, and all of the women who are not virgins ( Num 31:9-12 , Num 31:14-18 ).
You can save the little girls and the virgins alive but the rest of them are to be slain because these are the women that were used in this subterfuge to bring a curse upon the children of Israel.
Now at this point it should be noted that there are many people who have difficulty with the Old Testament, and especially in the areas where we are going to be entering into next, as we get into Joshua and Judges, into the Kings and all. People have difficulty with the orders for extermination of the people. How is it that God would order that they totally wipe out a nation, the children and all, the women and the children in many cases? In some cases, even the animals, everything was to be obliterated. How is it that God would order such an extermination? When they came into the land they weren’t to make a league or a covenant, a treaty with any of the peoples within the land. They were to utterly destroy them or drive them out. Why would God command such a thing?
In order to understand these commands, it would of course be necessary to understand a little bit about the culture of these people and especially their religious practices. In all of the history of the world there were probably-these people were probably living on the lowest kind of moral levels that man ever lived, every kind of sin you could possibly imagine was practiced by these people. Marriage vows were nothing. They lived as animals and even to the point of bestiality as a common practice. Their manner of living was so polluted and so corrupted that it was impossible that they could survive. They believed in human sacrifice and offered their children as sacrifices unto their gods. The things that were done by these people are so polluted, so vile, that it would be impossible to tell you in a mixed company the practices that were common among the people called the Canaanites, those that inhabited the land that God ordered exterminated.
God ordered their extermination lest their pollution would also pollute His children. God is bringing them into a land using them, first of all, as a tool of judgement against these people because of the horrible, abominable practices they all were deserving to die. You say, “Well, what about the little children, the babies, the infants?” Without their parents and all to raise them, they would have had a horrible, miserable life if they were allowed to continue to live. It was in mercy that the children were taken. But God ordered their extermination, lest they would become a polluting influence to His people and His own people would be dragged down into the same moral pits that these people were living in.
God used the children of Israel as His instruments of judgement to destroy an exceedingly vile group of people. Now, God brought the flood to destroy people who had lived in such a horrible way, and all were destroyed by the flood, with the exception of Noah and his immediate family. God used the flood as an instrument of judgement. Now God is using the nation Israel, as His instrument of judgement against these people whose practices had sunk so low that it was necessary that God’s judgement fall upon them. That is why God ordered their extermination. It was His judgement against their horrible sin that they were committing, and to destroy them lest they be a polluting influence upon His people. It was to protect His own children from the mad dog culture of the Canaanites.
So, Moses was angry because they kept the women alive and he ordered them to kill all of the little baby boys and just save alive those women who were virgins and the little girls and they were to become slaves to the Israelites. Now Moses said, “Take the spoil that they have gotten in the battle and divide it in two. And a half of the spoil is to go to all of Israel and a half of the spoil will go to the twelve thousand men who went to battle”.
Now of the twelve thousand men who went to battle, the half of the spoil that they received, one in five hundred was to go Eleazar the high priest. Which meant that Eleazar became overnight a very wealthy man because there was about three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep alone for the half of the amount for their six hundred and seventy-five thousand total sheep that they took. So the half of those that went to the twelve thousand that went to battle, one of five hundred of those three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred went to Eleazar. So suddenly he had just an awful lot of sheep.
And then of course it gives the number of cattle and the number of donkeys that they had taken. There were seventy-two thousand beasts and sixty-one thousand donkeys and thirty-two thousand persons in all that were young women who were virgins. So, these were divided as the spoil to the children of Israel. Now, from the half that went to all of Israel, one in five was to go to the rest of the Levites. So that was their portion, a twentieth of that which was taken in the battle. And so they divided up the spoils of war.
Now, when the fellas came back from war they numbered off and they found out there wasn’t one man missing. They’d destroyed all of these Midianite cities, had taken all of these captives, had killed all of these men without a single casualty. Impossible in the natural but we’re not dealing with natural things. We’re dealing with God’s hand and God’s intervention. And thus, grateful for the fact that there wasn’t a single casualty among them, that all twelve thousand returned from the battle. The captains brought unto the Lord an offering of the portion of the gold and the silver and the brass, the precious metals that they had taken. They brought a portion to the Lord, to offer to the Lord in thanksgiving for his preservation of their troops in the battle. That’s in the latter portion of chapter thirty-one.
So Moses, [verse fifty-one] and Eleazar the priest took the gold, and all of the jewels. The offering that they offered to the LORD, from the captains over the thousands and hundreds, and there was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. ( Num 31:51-52 )
“
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Here we have the story of the end of Balaam. It took place in connection with a war directly resulting from the sin of the people committed through the influence of Balaam. They had corrupted the national life by cohabitation with the women of Midian. This, as specifically stated, resulted from “the counsel of Balaam.”
In this war Phinehas led as priest. This is arresting as revealing the peculiar and religious note of the conflict. It was the relationship of the people to God that was imperiled. Phinehas, who on a previous occasion had stayed the plague by his action now led the twelve thousand chosen men on the mission of judgment. It has been suggested that in all probability some of the actual numbers in this chapter are inaccurate, that in the process of translation and copying, mistakes have been made. That is quite possible. It is, however, a matter of no real moment. The method of this enterprise was most drastic and hard, but, as so constantly in the perusal of the history of those times, it must be interpreted by the age in which it happened. In the fuller light which has come in the process of the ages such methods are unnecessary and therefore are never commanded.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Destruction of the Midianites
Num 31:1-20
In reading such a chapter as this we must remember that the Bible is the history of the slow advance of a nation toward the knowledge of God, and its preparation to become one of the greatest of spiritual forces. That process could only be a prolonged one. Only by slow degrees could the grossness of the period be eliminated. Our Lord distinctly said that certain things were allowed for a time because of the hardness of their hearts. See Mat 19:8. Many times He made the clear distinction between what they of old had said and what He said. See Mat 5:21; Mat 5:27; Mat 5:33; Mat 5:38; Mat 5:43. The highest law for dealing with our enemies is found in his teachings.
The first steps of purification had to do with the women who might introduce heathen vices into Israelite homes, and the leisurely dealing with spoils and captives, so that passion might have time to cool.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
7. The War Against the Midianites
CHAPTER 31
1. The command to fight Midian (Num 31:1-6)
2. The war (Num 31:7-12)
3. The cleansing (Num 31:13-24)
4. The spoil taken (Num 31:25-47)
5. The oblation of the officers (Num 31:48-54)
War is commanded next by the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered to thy people. This is, therefore, the last thing in the official life of Moses. This war against Midian had been commanded before (Num 25:16-18), the execution had been delayed. It was now to be carried out and the Midianites were to suffer for the wicked thing they had done to Israel by seducing them to the idolatrous worship of Baal Peor. Phinehas, the high priest, accompanied the army of 12,000 men. They were victorious and slew the kings of Midian; Balaam also was slain (verse 8). His wish, let me die the death of the righteous, was not granted unto him, for he remained in his wickedness.
This war of revenge has a significant meaning. The key is found in the third verse, which, literally translated, reads: Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against Midian, to execute the vengeance of Jehovah upon Midian. There is another day of vengeance coming which will fall heavily upon the Gentile world. The Lord will avenge His people Israel and judge the nations for the sin they committed against them. Of this the prophetic Word speaks often. That day is closely linked with Israels restoration to the land. Then the true King-Priest will appear, like Phinehas, who was with the army of Israel (Isa 63:1-6; 2Th 1:7-9).
Purification took place and the spoil was divided. This table may be studied in connection with verses 25-47.
When the officers returned they discovered to their great joy that they had not lost a single man. Gods power had been with them and kept them in a miraculous way. They brought a magnificent oblation. The gold they offered was brought into the tabernacle for a memorial.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Reciprocal: Num 10:31 – forasmuch 1Ki 8:44 – whithersoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Num 31:1. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites For their malicious designs and practices against Israel, both by hiring Balaam to curse them, and by sending their women to insnare them. The Moabites also were guilty, but God was pleased to spare them, because the measure of their iniquity was not yet full.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 31:2. Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites. If it were just to cut off twenty four thousand of the Israelites for the awful feast, apostasy, and fornication at Baal-peor, it was equally just to punish Midian.
Num 31:4. Of every tribe a thousand. The twelve thousand sent against the Midianites were picked men, such as the enemy could not resist; and they were the more encouraged to see the priests and the ark of God marching at their head. The people of Midian seem to have been surprised in their sins, and to have made no defence.
Num 31:6. The holy instruments and the trumpets. Phinehas took the ephod, that he might on an emergency consult the Lord by Urim and Thummim. Trumpets, being mentioned in the plural number, any person it appears, might aid the priest in blowing them for various purposes. All Gideons men were allowed to blow their trumpets.
Num 31:8. Five kings. As every tribe had its prince, so when they built cities every town had its king: greater kingdoms and empires were all formed by conquests.
Num 31:15. Have ye saved all the women alive? These were to be saved alive, according to Deu 20:14; but exceptions were made here, because these women had seduced the Israelites; and exceptions were made also against the women of the seven nations. Deu 20:16. In all the east, the married were known by their dress. The prostitutes of Baal-peor must not be turned loose on the Hebrew camp. The sentence, though severe, was just.
Num 31:22. The tin; Bedil, stannum or tin is mentioned four times in the old testament. There is no doubt that this beautiful metal came even at that early age from Cornwall in Phnician ships, as Pliny afterwards reports.
Num 31:24. Ye shall wash your clothes. Livy says that the Macedonian army, on returning from war, marched between the two parts of a dog cut across, and hung on each side of the road. Men with bloody hands ought to wash their hands and hearts before they enter the house of God. Num 31:34. Sixty one thousand asses. Horses are not named; they were not so well adapted for the mountainous ranges of Moab. In Spain also the asses are preferred for the hills.
Num 31:40. Sixteen thousand female children. The boys slain would be the same in number: yet great numbers of this nation must have saved themselves by flight, for in less than two hundred years the Midianites gained the ascendancy over the Hebrews. See Judges 6.
REFLECTIONS.
We have seen in chapter 25th, how the Midianites basely ensnared the Israelites, to whom they were brethren by Keturah, Gen 26:2, by sending artful and impudent women with favours to the camp. We have seen how twenty four thousand of the guilty perished for the sin. Now, the day of Midian is come. Their judgment did not slumber long. On the part of Midian, the crime was fairly a national act. The diabolical scheme had originated with Balaam; it had been adopted by the king and his nobles; the whole nation had not only consented, but now they triumphed in its success. Therefore the fathers, in all cases of this nature, acting for the children, caused the covenant of Gods protection to be forfeited, and justly incurred on their country the penalty of destruction. How soon do the judgments of God, on many occasions, follow the commission of crimes, and even involve the children in the punishment of their fathers!
We have next the singular success of this expedition. They surprised and took the whole country, or southern branch of this nation; they slew every male whether old or young, who did not escape beyond the limits of the sword; burnt their cities, and brought the women and the spoil to the camp. The affrighted heathen fell as grass behind the scythe, while the Israelites lost not a single man. When God has commissioned an enemy to invade a nation, all counsel is but confusion, and defence itself is an unavailing effort. The enemy is inspired as a minister of justice, and the guilty victims faint with fear. How vain then to promise ourselves security in our sins, indulgence in vice, and exemption from punishment.
The fall of Balaam is here particularly noticed. He had been dismissed with shame from Moab; but still lingering in Midian, he had scarcely time to rejoice in the success of his counsel before vengeance fell upon him. God taketh the wise in their own craftiness. The wicked dig a pit, and fall into it themselves. Neither men nor nations have so great an enemy as those who seduce them to sin. How wretched are the people who seek counsel in man, instead of help from the Lord.
The officers mistaking their instructions, to kill every woman who had known man, and to spare the female children only, acted on the general law in Deu 20:14, and spared all the women; and the distinction was obvious, from their ornaments and dress. This singular oversight, which seemed in itself a mere accident, brought the delinquents once more to the camp, where they had ensnared the Israelites, and occasioned the death of twenty four thousand men. The wages of sin is death, and these wages they received on the spot where the crimes and the calamities began. How striking is the retributive justice of God!
In Moses, who was wroth with the officers, for sparing the women alive, and firm in administering the just sentence of God, as one of the last and best actions of his life, christian magistrates have a high model of conduct, when women of ill-fame are brought before them. It is true the lenient laws of nations do not now inflict so great a punishment on offenders in this way; yet the mere sight of a group of women, who have caught the unwary in their net, and occasioned disease and death to so many persons, ought to inspire the guardians of the public with every sentiment of abhorrence and indignation. Connivance at houses of ill-fame, and violations of the marriage covenant once allowed, are sure omens of destruction to a nation. Hence it is the smallest punishment that women of this character should be secured in places of retreat, and be compelled to labour for their bread, till some family will take them under protection. Oh how dearly did Israel and Midian pay for one day of divination, and consummate wickedness!
In the respect and condescension of Moses and the elders who went to meet and congratulate the victorious army, we see the duty which a nation owes to the men who risk their lives for the defence and independence of their country; and in the purifications and oblations of the conquerors, we see the duty of soldiers; they should purge themselves from every sin before they dare to approach the church of God.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Numbers 31
We have here the closing scene of Moses’ official life; as in Deuteronomy 34 we have the closing scene of his personal history. “and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. 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. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 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. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males Verses 3-7.
This is a very remarkable passage. The Lord says to Moses, “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites.” And Moses says to Israel, “Avenge the Lord of Midian.” The people had been ensnared by the wiles of the daughters of Midian, through the evil influence of Balaam the son of Peor; and they are now called upon to clear themselves thoroughly from all the defilement which, through want of watchfulness, they had contracted. The sword is to be brought upon the Midianites; and all the spoil is to be made to pass either through the fire of judgement or through the water of purification. Not one jot or tittle of the evil thing is to be suffered to pass unjudged.
Now, this war was what we may call abnormal. By right, the people ought not to have had any occasion to encounter it at all. It was not one of the wars of Canaan. It was simply the result of their own unfaithfulness – the fruit of their own unhallowed commerce with the uncircumcised. Hence, although Joshua, the son of Nun, had been duly appointed to succeed Moses, as leader of the congregation, we find no mention whatever of him in connection with this war. On the contrary, it is to Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, that the conduct of this expedition is committed; and he enters upon it” with the holy instruments and the trumpets.”
All this is strongly marked. The priest is the prominent person; and the Holy instruments, the prominent instrumentality. It is a question of wiping away the stain caused by their unholy association with the enemy; and therefore, instead of a general officer with sword and spear, it is a priest with holy instruments that appears in the foreground. True, the sword is here; but it is not the prominent thing. It is the priest with the vessels of the sanctuary; and that priest the selfsame man who first executed judgement upon that very evil which has here to be avenged.
The moral of all this is, at once, plain and practical. The Midianites furnish a type of that peculiar kind of influence which the world exerts over the hearts of the people of God – the fascinating and ensnaring power of the world used by Satan to hinder our entrance upon our proper heavenly portion. Israel should have had nothing to do with these Midianites; but having, in an evil hour – an unguarded moment – been betrayed into association with them, nothing remains but war and utter extermination.
So with us, as Christians. Our proper business is to pass through the world, as pilgrims and strangers; having nothing to do with it, save to be the patient witnesses of the grace of Christ, and thus shine as lights in the midst of the surrounding moral gloom. But, alas! we fail to maintain this rigid separation; we suffer ourselves to be betrayed into alliance with the world, and, in consequence, we get involved in trouble and conflict which does not properly belong to us at all. War with Midian formed no part of Israel’s proper work. They had to thank themselves for it. But God is gracious; and hence, through a special application of priestly ministry, they were enabled, not only to conquer the Midianites, but to carry away much spoil. God, in His infinite goodness, brings good out of evil. He will cause the eater to yield meat, and the strong sweetness. His grace shines out, with exceeding brightness, in the scene before us, inasmuch as He actually deigns to accept a portion of the spoils taken from the Midianites. But the evil had to be thoroughly judged. “Every male” had to be put to death – all in whom there was the energy of the evil had to be completely exterminated; and finally the fire of judgement and the water of purification had to do their work on the spoil, ere God or His people could touch an atom of it.
What holy lessons are here! May we apply our hearts to them! May we be enabled to pursue a path of more intense separation, and to press on our heavenly road as those whose portion and whose home is on high! God, in His mercy grant it?
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
Num 31:1-18. The Extermination of the Midianites.This story of a war of extermination, waged to avenge the wiles practised on Israel by Midian (as described in Num 25:6-15) is marked by various fanciful elements, such as (a) the huge number massacred (for if the girls and unmarried women amounted to 32,000, the married women and the males of all ages must have been three times as many); (b) the vast quantity of spoil taken; (c) the complete immunity of the Israelite force from all loss of life. If any war with Midian occurred at this time, it certainly did not result in the extermination of the people, who were a powerful tribe in the period of the Judges (Judges 6). The real object of the story (whether it has any basis in fact or not) is to illustrate by means of an ostensibly historical occurrence the laws relating to purification, and the division of booty taken in war.
Num 31:5. delivered: i.e. to Moses. But LXX has numbered.
Num 31:6. the vessels of the sanctuary: this possibly means the Ark (see 1Sa 4:3 f, and cf. Num 14:44), but it is an unusual phrase for it. Some render, the holy garments (for the Heb. cf. Deu 22:5).
Num 31:8. The Midianite kings are represented in Jos 13:21 as princes of Sihon the Amorite; and as slain when he was killed. The association here of Balaam with Midian differs from the conception of him in Numbers 22-24, where he is brought into relation with Moab.
Num 31:16. Since the reference to Balaams advice comes in abruptly, probably some account of it once preceded Num 25:6-15. The reference to Peor is due to confusion with the story of the Moabite women in Num 25:1-5 (cf. Num 25:18).
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
VENGEANCE ON MIDIAN
(vs.1-11)
The Midianites had been guilty of seducing Israel, and God required that account to be settled. This was the last charge laid upon Moses before his death (v.2). His own father in law was a Midianite (Exo 3:1), so that it was surely a traumatic responsibility for Moses to command Israel to take vengeance for the Lord on Midian. Yet there is no indication that he even hesitated. He had learned the word of the Lord is absolute and he would not at all question it. At least the character of Jethro was not like Midian’s character at this time.
One thousand men from each tribe were recruited for this attack (v.5). But it was not a warrior like Joshua who led them, but “Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest” (v.6). He had shown himself faithful to the Lord in his prompt killing of a man of Israel and Midianite woman who had brazenly come together into the midst of Israel (Num 25:6-8). Priestly work may generally be connected with grace and intercession, but the holiness of priesthood also requires firm judgment of evil, so that Phinehas was an appropriate leader in this case.
The victory was complete, for God had ordered the battle. The kings of Midian were killed and every male including Balaam the soothsayer (vs.6-8) their cities and the army camps were burned. The women, however, were taken captive and the young children, and cattle, flocks and other possessions were taken as plunder (vs.9-11). Midian’s name means “strife” and speaks of the spirit of quarreling and division, which must be judged by the people of God.
As they returned with the spoil Moses and Eleazar went out to meet them, with other leaders of the people (v.13). but immediately Moses’ anger was aroused and he strongly rebuked them for sparing the women, reminding them that it was the women of Midian who had seduced the men of Israel through the counsel of Balaam (vs.14-16). Phinehas ought to have realized the significance of this, for he had before killed the woman of Midian as well as the man of Israel for their corrupt relationship.
Moses commanded them to kill both the young boys and all the women who had been intimate with a man, but allow the other girls to remain alive and be integrated into Israel (vs.17-18). Only in this way would any contamination be guarded against. How different is the truth of Christianity that deals in grace to lead the ungodly to judge themselves and be saved!
Those who had killed anyone or had touched a dead body were then told to remain outside the camp, then on the third and seventh days purify themselves and their captives, according to Num 19:11-12. Also they must purify garments made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair and everything made of wood (v.20). These are specially emphasized, though in verses 22 and 23 it is indicated that all the spoil was to be purified. Metals were to be put through the fire for this purpose, but anything that might be consumed by fire was to be purified by water.
We might consider an analogy here. In our present condition on earth believers need the washing of water by the Word of God to purify us from moral and spiritual defilement (Joh 13:10; Eph 5:16-25), but at the judgment seat of Christ our works will be tested by fire (1Co 3:12-13). Gold, silver, precious stones will endure the test and will be rewarded. In fact, the fire will only refine the gold and silver and enhance the beauty of the precious stones. The gold speaks of the glory of God, and thus everything that has been done for God’s glory will remain after passing through the fire. In fact, what believers have done for Christ will not only remain for eternity, but will be fully purified and beautified by the fire of God’s holiness. The silver pictures the truth of redemption, telling us that anything done because of our appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice will remain and be rewarded. Precious stones, which beautifully reflect the light, remind us of the fruit of the Spirit of God as He is reflected in believers’ lives. If our works should be merely “wood, hay and straw” these will be burned, for they speak of things not evil in themselves, but useless for God. The first three give evidence of the work of the Father, the Son and the Spirit, which is done in the believer. The faithful believer gets the reward, though it is God’s work that has produced the good works.
Israel needed purification because of the great victory they were given over Midian. What a reminder for us today! If we have been used by God to accomplish real work for Him, this is no reason for self-satisfaction, but the opposite. We need then the purification of true self-judgment by the Word of God to preserve us from the pride that soon attacks us after any victorious experience. Only after being purified the third and seventh days could the men of war then return to camp (v.24).
THE PLUNDER SHARED
(vs.25-47)
The soldiers did not take the plunder as they pleased, for it belonged to the Lord who gave instructions to Moses that he and Eleazar and the chief fathers of the congregation should supervise how the plunder was to be shared (vs.1-2). This would guard against any charge that might arise as to favoritism or dishonesty.
The plunder was to be divided in two parts, one for those who went to battle, the other for the rest of the congregation. Of the amount given to the men of war a tribute was to be taken amounting to one of every 500 persons and of the cattle, donkeys and sheep. This was given to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the Lord (vs.28-29).
From the share given to the congregation there were to be one of every 50 of all these taken and given to the Levites (v.30).
The total number then is seen in verses 35-36: 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys and 32,000 women, and we see this divided (vs.36-47) in the way the Lord commanded.
There is teaching here for us today. All that has been gained in the Church by warfare for the Lord will be shared by all. Those who are foremost in the battle — apostles, prophets, teachers, evangelists, etc. will receive a full reward, but those less prominent will not be forgotten, while the Lord too will be given His place of true recognition. It was He who gave the victory and He who alone enables His saints for every work for Him, but He delights to share the spoils with all who love Him.
A SPECIAL OFFERING FOR THE LORD
(vs.48-54)
After the spoil had been divided as the Lord decided, the officers of the army unitedly came to Moses (v.48) to tell him they had taken a count of all the men of war who went to the battle and found that there was not a man missing. It was so unusual to have no casualties out of 12,000 men who had killed a tremendous number in battle, that the officers could only recognize that it was the Lord who had preserved them in the way.
Therefore they brought a voluntary offering to the Lord of gold ornaments, armlets, rings and necklaces that they had taken from Midian (vs.49-50). When this was weighed it amounted to 16,750 shekels which would be about 700 pounds or a little over. At present prices (Dec.1994) the value of this is $4,210,000. Since this was offered to the Lord, Moses and Eleazar brought it into the tabernacle as a memorial.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
3. Reprisal against the Midianites and the settlement of the Transjordanian tribes chs. 31-32
Moses’ last campaign ch. 31
The writer now recorded the fulfillment of God’s instructions to Moses that Israel should destroy the Midianites (Num 25:16-18). In this account, the aftermath of the battle receives more attention than the battle itself. Evidently God included this chapter here for two reasons at least. It records Israel’s victory over one of her enemies, and it explains the way she conducted the war and the manner in which she handled the spoils of war. These procedures provided a precedent for the Israelites in their future battles with the Canaanites. This section then gives more information concerning God’s preparations of the Israelites for entering the land.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The "vengeance" Israel was to take (Num 31:2) was for the spiritual and sexual seduction the Midianites had led the Moabites to practice with them. This had resulted in the defeat of God’s people (ch. 25). Her enemies had lured Israel away from her true husband, Yahweh.
Moses did not give us the name of Israel’s military leader in this battle. However Phinehas, the high priest’s son, is the prominent person in the record (Num 31:6). This phenomenon points to the nature of the battle as being primarily for spiritual purposes. Israel did not annihilate the Midianites simply because they were her political and military enemies. She did so primarily because she was God’s instrument of judgment for the Midianites’ spiritual sins (idolatry, sacred prostitution, etc.). This was holy war.
"The battle . . . had the character of an execution, in the form of a ban. The ban was a religious institution exercised for a time in Israel as well as among some of its Semitic neighbors that placed people judged to be hostile to the deity under a sentence of destruction." [Note: Ibid., p. 107. Cf. Joshua 6-7; 1 Samuel 15.]
"The command in holy war to kill women and children seems in modern times a terrible thing to have been done (and it was), and something they ought not to have done. But this criticism fails to understand the situation in the ancient world. The entire life of the ancient world was tribal warfare, necessitating warfare. God’s judgment is poured out on whole groups of people who act with moral abandonment and in sinful pursuit." [Note: The NET Bible note on 31:17.]
The Israelites killed every male Midianite (Num 31:7) yet we read about the Midianites existing after this battle. Perhaps Moses meant they killed every Midianite they encountered. [Note: Ashley, p. 592.] Another writer explained this problem as follows.
"The Midianites were a larger confederation of tribes, associated with various smaller groups such as the Ishmaelites (Gen 37:28; Jdg 8:22; Jdg 8:24), the Moabites (Num 22:4; Num 22:7), the Amalekites (Jdg 6:3; Jdg 6:33), and Ephah (Gen 25:4; Isa 60:6). They roamed through the arid lands of Sinai, the Negeb and Transjordan. Here it is those Midianites associated with Moab that are picked out for vengeance (8, 16; cf. chapters 22 and 25), not the whole group." [Note: G. Wenham, Numbers, p. 209.]
Among the men killed were Zur and Balaam (Num 31:8). Zur was probably the father of Cozbi (cf. Num 25:15).
Burning enemy cities and taking spoil and living beings captive, mainly women and children, became standard procedure in Israel’s wars with the Canaanites (Num 31:10-11). The soldiers brought what they had captured to the leaders of the congregation rather than personally appropriating these things (Num 31:12).
Normally Israel spared the enemy women in battle since the Israelites viewed them as less responsible for the war than the men. However in this case the women had actively solicited the Israelites to idolatry through their prostitution. Therefore God ordered that His people should spare only women who were virgins in this battle. They brought these women into Israel, and in due course most of them married Israelite men.
"It is, it seems, essential for the very existence of a new emergent community that discipline be harsh and stringent." [Note: Philip, p. 313. Cf. Joshua 7; Acts 5.]
The warriors had to undergo the rites of purification as did the prisoners because they had contracted ritual uncleanness through contact with dead bodies. They also purified the booty taken as the spoils of war. The objects that were not combustible they passed through fire, and the others they washed with water. These laws reminded the Israelites that even in victory death is a terrible disruption of God’s creation.
". . . this is the only example of fire being required for purification in the Bible and is therefore highly unique.
"Fire, a more intensive form of purification, is chosen to accord with corpse-contamination, a more intensive form of impurity." [Note: David Wright, "Purification from Corpse Contamination in Numbers XXXI 19-24," Vetus Testamentum 35:2 (1985):222, 223. Cf. Leviticus 11:32; Numbers 19:11-22.]
"Moses’ speech in Num 31:19-20 is based solidly on the prescriptions of Num xix, deviating only in regard to how they apply to the particular war situation. Had Moses continued with Num 31:22-23, it would have appeared that he was inventing the new regulations out of thin air. Consequently, Eleazer begins to speak, prefacing his remarks by the statement ’this is the decree of the ritual prescription which the Lord commanded Moses,’ showing that what he is about to say is not in fact new, but actually part of the original revelation given to Moses. From a literary point of view, to have Eleazer speak allows the law of Num. xix to be amended or clarified without raising the suspicion of human invention." [Note: Ibid., p. 223.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
WAR AND SETTLEMENT
1. THE WAR WITH MIDIAN
Num 31:1-54
THE command to vex and smite the Midianites {Num 25:16-17} has already been considered. Israel had not the spiritual power which would have justified any attempt to convert that people. Degrading idolatry was to be held in abhorrence, and those who clung to it suppressed. Now the time comes for an exterminating war. While hordes of Bedawin occupy the hills and the neighbouring desert, there can be no security either for morals, property, or life. Balaam is among them plotting against Israel: and his restless energy, we may suppose, precipitates the conflict. Moses conveys the command of God that the attack on Midian shall be immediately made, and himself directs the campaign.
The details of the enterprise are given somewhat fully. A thousand fighting men are called from each tribe. The religious purpose of the war is signified by the presence in the host of Phinehas, whose zeal has given him a name among the warriors. He is allowed to carry with him the “vessels of the sanctuary”; and the silver trumpets are to be sounded on the march and in the attack. The Midianitish clan apparently gives way at once before the Hebrews, and either makes no stand or is totally defeated in a single battle. All the men are put to the sword, including Balaam and five chiefs, whose names are preserved. The women and children are taken; the whole of the cattle and goods becomes the prey of the victors; the cities and encampments are burned with fire. On the return of the army with the large band of captives, Moses is greatly displeased. He demands of the officers why the women have been spared, -the very women who caused the children of Israel to trespass against the Lord. Then he orders all above a certain age, and the male children, to be put to death. The young girls alone are to be kept alive.
The purification of those who have been engaged in the war is next commanded. For seven days the army must remain outside the camp. Those who have touched any dead body and all the captives are to be ceremonially cleansed on the third and seventh days. Every article of raiment, everything made of skins and goats hair, and all woollen articles, are to be purified by means of the water of expiation. Whatever is made of metal is to be passed through the fire.
Details of the quantity and division of the prey, and the voluntary oblations made as an “atonement for their souls” by the officers and soldiers out of their booty, occupy the rest of the chapter. The numbers of oxen, sheep, and asses are great-six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand beeves, sixty-one thousand asses. No mention is made of horses or camels. The girls saved alive are thirty-two thousand. The army takes one half, and those who remained in the camp receive the other. But of the soldiers portion, one in five hundred both of the persons and of the animals is given to the priests, and of the peoples portion one in fifty to the Levites. The jewels of gold, ankle-chains, bracelets, signet-rings, earrings and armlets offered by the men of war as their “atonement,” not one of them having fallen in the battle, amount in weight to sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels, the value of which may be estimated at some thirty thousand of our pounds. The gold is brought into the tent of meeting for a memorial before the Lord.
Now here we have to deal with an accumulation of statements, every one of which raises some question or other. The war of national and moral antipathy is itself easily understood. But the slaughter of so many in battle and so many others in cold blood, the statement that not a single Israelite fell. the number and kinds of the animals captured, the order given by Moses to put all the women to death, the quantity of gold taken, of which the offering appears only to have been a part-all of these points have been criticised in a more or less incredulous spirit. In apology it has been said, with regard to the slaughter of the women, that when brought as captives by the soldiers they could not be received into the camp, and there was only this way of dealing with them, unless indeed they had been sent back to their ruined encampments, where they would have slowly died. Again, it has been explained that the Midianites were so debased and enfeebled as to have no power to, withstand the onset of the Hebrews. The droves of oxen, sheep, and asses are held to be not greater than a wealthy nomadic clan, numbering perhaps two hundred thousand, would be likely to own; and the quantity of gold is likewise accounted for by the well-known fact that among Orientals the wealth represented by precious metals is fashioned into ornaments for the women.
In detail the difficulties may thus be partly overcome; yet the whole account remains so singular, both in its spirit and incidents, that Wellhausen has roundly declared it to be fictitious, and others have had no resource but to fall back, even for the slaughter of the women, on the Divine command. It is true there were other peoples, the Moabites, for instance, as idolatrous, and almost as degraded. But a terror of Jehovahs name had to be created for the moral good of the whole region, and the Midianites, it is said, who had so grossly assailed the purity of Israel, were fitly selected for Divine chastisement. The opinion that the whole account is an invention of the “Priests Code” may be at once dismissed. The ideas of national purity that prevailed after the exile and are insisted upon in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah would not have countenanced the dedication of any spared from the slaughter, even young girls, as a tribute to Jehovah. The attack and the issue of it were, no doubt, recorded in the ancient documents of which the compilers of the Book of Numbers made use. And the fact must be held to stand, that there was a grim slaughter relentlessly carried out at the command of Moses in accordance with the moral and theocratic ideas that ruled his mind.
But it remains doubtful whether the numbers can be trusted, even although they appear to be in the substance of the narrative. The disproportion is enormous between the twelve thousand Israelites sent against Midian and the number of men who, if we accept the figures given, must have fallen without striking one effective blow for their lives. Of these there would have been some forty thousand at least. Assuming that somehow the numbers are exaggerated, we find the story a good deal cleared. It was entirely in harmony with the spirit of the age that a war an outrance should have been commanded in the circumstances. If, then, an adequate force of Hebrews marched against the Midianites and took them at unawares, perhaps by night, or when they were engaged in some idolatrous orgy, their defeat and slaughter would be comparatively easy. The Hebrews with Phinehas among them were, we may believe, filled with patriotic and religious ardour, assured that they were commissioned to execute Divine justice and must not shrink from any work that lay in their way, however dreadful. Does the thing they did still seem incredible? Perhaps the recollection of what took place after the Indian Mutiny, when Great Britain was in the same temper, may throw light upon the question. The soldiers then, bent on punishing the cruelty and lust of the rebels, partly in patriotism, partly in revenge, set mercy altogether aside. If we had the whole history of the war with Midiah, instead of the mere outlines preserved in Numbers, we might find that, apart from figures, the statements are by no means over-coloured. Moses had the entire responsibility of ordering the women to be put to death. When he saw the train of female captives, some of them possibly using their arts of blandishment not without success, he might well be afraid that the very end for which the war had been undertaken was to be frustrated. He was a man who did not scruple to shed blood when the law of God and the purity of morals and religion seemed to be endangered. He knew Jehovah to be gracious-gracious to those who loved Him and kept His commandments. But was He not also a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations of them that hated Him? It was this God Moses sought to serve when in the heat of his indignation, and not without reason, he gave the terrible order.
The appropriation of some of the captive girls to the priests and Levites as “Jehovahs tribute,” the offering by the soldiers of part of their booty as an “atonement” for their souls, the presence of Phinehas with the “vessels of the sanctuary,” and the sacred trumpets in the ranks-these manifestly belong to the time to which the history refers. And it may be said in closing that circumstances might be well known to Moses on account of which the attack had to be made promptly and the dispersion of the Midianites had to be complete. We cannot tell what Balaam may have been plotting; but we may be pretty sure there was nothing too base for him to scheme and the Midianites to carry into effect. They knew themselves to be under suspicion, perhaps in danger. With what craft and vehemence the Bedawin can act we are well aware. Life even yet is of no account among them. Another day, perhaps, and the ark might have been carried off or Moses put to death in his tent. But the nature of the wrong done to Israel is a sufficient explanation of the war. And we can also see that the Hebrews themselves had a lesson in moral severity when their soldiers went forth to the massacre and returned red with blood. They learned that the sin of Midian was abominable in the sight of God and should be abominable in theirs. They were taught, whether they received the teaching or not, that they were to be enemies for ever of those who practised idolatry so vile. A deep gulf was made between them and all who sympathised with the worship and customs of the tribe they destroyed.
And the whole circumstances, remote as they are from our own time, may bring home even to Christians the duty of moral decision and relentless war against the vices and lusts with which too many are inclined to make terms. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the “wiles of error,” the “lusts of deceit,” against “ornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings and such like,”-the works of the flesh. These Midianites are with us, would draw our hearts away from religion and destroy our souls. Not only are we to assail the grosser forms of sin and exterminate them, but we are with equal severity to strike down the fair-seeming vices that come with blandishment and insidious appeal. This is our holy war. The old form of it required the suppression or extermination of those identified with vice, men and women, all in whom the impurity was rooted. Young girls alone could be spared, whose character might still be shaped by a higher morality. Even yet, to a certain extent, that way of dealing with evil has to be followed. We imprison felons and put murderers to death; but the new power that has come with Christianity enables us to deal with many transgressors as capable of reformation and a new life. And this power is far as yet from being fully developed.
It is the fault of our age to be on one side too lenient, on another wanting in patience, charity, and hope. Excuses are found for sin on the ground that it is useless to fight against nature that we must not be hypocritical nor puritanical. Temptations that come with mincing gait, cajolery, and smiles, are allowed to disport themselves untouched. Why, it is asked, should life be made sombre? A stern religion that would banish gaiety is declared to be no friend of the race. Under cover of art-pictorial, dramatic, literary – the customs of Midian are not only admitted but allowed to have authority. And religion even is invoked. Are not all things pure to the pure? Should not life be as free and joyous as the Maker clearly intends in giving us the capacity for those gratifications to which art of every kind ministers? Is not full freedom indispensable to the highest religion? Ought not genius, in every department, to have complete liberty in guiding and developing the race?
Without hypocrisy, without banishing the sunshine of life or denying the freedom which is necessary to progress and vigour, we are to be jealous for morality, severe against all that threatens it. And here our age is impatient of direction. The tendency is to a civilisation without morality, that is, a new barbarism. The strenuous mind of the old theocratic leaders is required anew, with a difference. Life and thought have so far advanced under Christianity that liberty is good in things which once had to be sternly reprobated; but only the same guidance will carry us higher. To those who lead in arts and literature the appeal has to be made in the name of God and men to regard the fitness of things The old ideas of Puritanism are not to be the standard? True. Neither are the tastes of Greece nor the manners of Pompeii. Every artist must, it appears, be his own censor. Let each, then, use his right under a sense of responsibility to the God who would have all to be pure and free. There are pictures exhibited, and poems sent out from the press, and novels published, which, for all the skill and charm that are in them, ought to have been cast into the fire. In private life, too, the Midianitish talk, the jest, the anecdote, the innuendo, all but indecent, the hint, the laugh that breaks down the barriers of integrity and sobriety, show the license of a barbarism which is bent on conquest. Every Christian is called to wage against these immoralities an exterminating war.
On the other hand, charity and patience are needed. It is difficult to forbear with those who seem to find their pleasure in what is evil, more difficult to continue the efforts necessary to win them to religion, purity, and honour. We feel it a hard task to track our own unholy desires to their retreats and slay them there. Proteus-like they elude us; when we think they have been destroyed, a passing word or thought revives them. And if in the task of our own purification we need long patience, it is not wonderful that even more should be required in the attempt to set others free from their besetting sins. Much of our philanthropy, again, is useless because we try to cover too large a field. Few are engaged in comparison with the enormous region over which effort has to extend, and we treat the hurt slightly, with too much haste. Then we grow despondent. Impatience, hopelessness, should never be known among those who undertake the Divine work of saving men and women from their sins. But to cure this, new ideas on the whole subject of Christian endeavour and new methods of work are required. The evil forces, a host arrayed against true life, must be followed into the desert places where they lurk, and there, with the sword of the Spirit, which is the bright strong word of God, attacked and slain. When Christians are brave and loving enough, when they have patience enough, the gospel of purity will begin to have its power.