The destruction of the Midianites. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people [in death].” Num 31:1-2
INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT13
The Experiences in the Wilderness
III. IN THE PLAINS OF MOAB
5. The Conquest of Midian, Num_31:1-54
41. What bloody work was wrought upon the Midianites, and why was it necessary?
VENGEANCE ON MIDIAN
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Take vengeance for the Israelites on the Midianites; afterward you will be gathered to your people [in death].”
Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for war, so that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD’S vengeance on Midian [for seducing Israel to participate in idolatry]. [Num_25:16-18]
A thousand [fighting men] from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”
So out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe were selected, twelve thousand armed for war.
Moses sent them, a thousand from each tribe, to the war, and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to war with them, and the sacred vessels [of the sanctuary] and the trumpets to blow the alarm in his hand.
They made war against Midian, just as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male.
They killed the kings of Midian along with the rest of their slain: Evi and Rekem and Zur [the father of Cozbi] and Hur and Reba, the five kings of Midian; also Balaam the son of Beor they killed with the sword. [Num_22:31-35; Neh_13:1-2]
The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their children; and all their cattle, all their livestock, and all their property they took as spoil [of war].
They burned all the cities where they lived, and all their encampments with fire.
They took all the plunder and all the spoils of war, both people and livestock.
Then they brought the captives, the spoils, and the plunder to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the congregation of the Israelites at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] across from Jericho.
Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.
But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, who served in the war.
And Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live?
Look, these [are the women who] caused the Israelites, by the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and so a plague came among the congregation of the LORD. [Num_25:1-9; Num_31:8]
Now therefore, kill every male among the children, and kill every woman who is not a virgin.
But all the young girls who have not known a man intimately, keep alive for yourselves [to marry].
Camp outside the camp for seven days; whoever has killed any person and whoever has touched any dead body, purify yourselves and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day.
You shall purify every garment and every article made of leather and all the things made of goats’ hair, and every article made of wood.”
Comments by
F.B.Meyer
On
Numbers 31:1-20
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE MIDIANITES
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.
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