God's Holy War (Num 31-32)

Numbers 31-32
Key verse 31:2-3

This fall we are diligently inviting students to Bible study. My wife and I go to the campus together, sometimes on Saturday, to spread God’s word. We met many students who were interested in our Bible study. But none of them have connected to Bible study except one student. Like this, if we see no visible outcomes, we are not motivated to continue. But the more I see our tough reality the more I am confident in what we are doing. Do you know why? That is what I am going to talk about today. Stay tuned. Through today’s passage I am greatly encouraged to serve the campus ministry with better understanding. I want you to join me through God’s word today. The title of my message is “God’s holy war.”    

In the previous passage, God told Moses to take a census as the old generation died out and the new generation came in to the stage. Amazingly, the total number of the Israelites was almost the same as when the first census was taken, though the first generation people died in the wilderness for their sin. Now the new generation was about to enter the land of promise. In today’s passage, God commands Moses to destroy the Midianites and Israel obeys and wins a great victory. But the victory could be tarnished and turn out to be a snare for Israel. We are going to find out what it was, how they can avoid it, and how they enjoy their victory. Most importantly, we will think about what this incident teaches us about our spiritual warfare.

1 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

God told Moses to take vengeance on the Midianites. Why? Previously, the Israelites committed a great sin, indulging in sexual immorality and Baal worship. (25:1-2) This provoked God to anger because the Israelite broke their covenant with God. The covenant was like marriage. So they actually committed spiritual adultery. According to the law, if a man committed adultery, both the adulterer and the adulteress were to be put to death. (Lev 20:10)  God struck down the Israelites and 24,000 people died of the plague. However, the Midianites didn’t pay for their evil yet.

Now it was time for God to scourge the Midianites. God said it was his vengeance for Israel (2-3). The Midianites maliciously enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to God. (31:16; 25:14-15) They did a great harm to the Israelites. Moreover, they mocked God’s people and defiled God’s name. Actually, they fought against God. So God said previously, “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them. 18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident...” (25:17-18) And he wanted to take his vengeance on them now before Israel crossed the Jordan River.

3 So Moses said to the people, “Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites so that they may carry out the Lord’s vengeance on them. 4 Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel.” 5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

At God’s command, Moses prepared for the war. This would be his last task before he died. Though the Midianites were his wife’s people, he did not hesitate to obey God’s word. Moses sent to the battle twelve thousand soldiers, a thousand from each tribe, to carry out God’s vengeance on the Midianites. It was not an all-out battle though, considering the fact that the total number of the men of Israel was about 600,000 (26:51). And Moses sent Phinehas who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpet for signaling. According to Deut 20:2, the priest sent to the battle was to say,

“Hear, Israel: Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not panic or be terrified by them. 4 For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.”

What did all this tell us about this war? This was not just Israel’s war against Midian. It was God’s war to judge Midian for their sins against God and to restore his honor. God took the minimum number of soldiers along with Phinehas who killed the Israelite man and the Midianite woman who were doing a disgusting thing in the camp of God and his people. God said that Phinehas was as jealous as he was. (25:11) By sending such a jealous man with the sanctuary articles to the frontline of the battle, God showed that he himself was taking vengeance on the Midianites out of jealousy. Of course, his jealousy was not a kind of human jealousy but God’s holy anger to their sins and for his honor.

7 They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. 8 Among their victims were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword. 9 The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder.

The Israelite soldiers fought against Midian and destroyed them. They killed every man. Among them were the five kings of Midian and also Balaam. According to 24:25, Balaam returned home after he blessed Israel. But seemingly he came back or still stayed among the Midianites. Actually, it was he who advised them to entice the Israelite men by women. It was likely that he received rewards in return. But he ended up with God’s punishment. He was one who dishonored God greatly, using God’s name for his sake. Those who misuse God’s name for their sake or fight against God will be surely punished.

The Israelites also captured the Midianite women and children and took all their livestock and goods. As we will see soon, the number of captives and livestock were humongous. (31:32-40) None of the Israelite soldiers was missing in the battle. (31:49) The army won a complete victory because God fought for them. God never loses his war. And his victory is always complete and perfect.

15 “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. 16 “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. 17 Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, 18 but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.

When the army returned, Moses got angry with the officers of the army and ordered them to kill all the boys and every women who slept with a man.

Here many people, including some Christians, wonder why God was so cruel. However, we should first understand God’s intention here. In Deuteronomy chapter 20, God said that when they engaged in war with nations that were not nearby, the Israelites should put all the men to death but take the women, the children, and the livestock and everything else as plunder. (Deut 20:10-15) In addition, God said that they should care for women who were captured in a war and respect their human rights. (Deut 21:10-14) But as for the Canaanites, Israel should completely destroy any lives, both men and women. (Deut 20:15-17) Why did God differentiate the Canaanites and the other nations? God said in Deut 20:18, “Otherwise, they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the Lord your God.”

The principle of these commands was that Israel must remove anything that could cause them to sin and get away from God, particularly idol worship. The same principle applied to the Midianite captives. The boys would rebel against Israel later on when they grew up. The women who slept with a man, that is, adult women, were already engrossed in idol worship and pagan culture. And many of them were involved in the Peor incident. Because of them many Israelites indulged in sexual immorality and to the Baal worship. As a result 24,000 Israelites were killed. If they lived together with the Israelites, they would do the same thing and Israel would perish. And we should not think that the Midianite women were innocent. Midian was a sinful nation such that they already reached the threshold for God’s judgment.

Moses saw that Israel was in a great danger that lurked behind their victory. So it was necessary to remove them now though it was not pleasant.  

We live in an age where things are mixed up together. In the name of humanity, we allow for so many things that are untrue and pagan. So even Christians are confused and ambiguous about the truth. Of course we should care for humans. We should love sinners. And we were like them in the past. But we should not lose spiritual discernment. We should not displease and grieve God in the name of humanity. God cares for humans more than anyone else. By the way, we should not forget that God allowed the Midianite virgins to live among Israel. Later, God blessed a woman from Moab and she became the great grandmother of King David. Her name is Ruth. God loves us so much that he even sent his one and only son Jesus as the atonement for our sins. No doubt, he is God of love. But he is also God of truth. He is holy. He does not tolerate sin. So we should not tolerate sin while we should love people. We should fear God, not people. God took vengeance on the Midianites for their sin against him, which was not something that could be overlooked. Moses judged them in obedience to God for the sake of Israel and for the honor of God.

19 “Anyone who has killed someone or touched someone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh days you must purify yourselves and your captives. 20 Purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair or wood.”

After removing captives who could cause Israel to sin again, Moses and Elazar the priest ordered the army to purify themselves outside the camp. They must purify themselves, their cloths, their captives and plunder according to the law (19:11-13; Lev 15:13). It was because they became unclean during the battle so they could not come into the camp of God.

This teaches us that we can’t come to him with impurity. God’s holiness does not allow it. But graciously, God allows us to come to him in the blood of Jesus. Likewise, God allowed the army and even the captives to come into the camp of God, by purifying them according to the law. 

25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the community are to count all the people and animals that were captured. 27 Divide the spoils equally between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. 28 From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. 29 Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. 30 From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

Verses 25-47 show how the Israelites divided their plunder and spoils. All the spoils were equally divided into two – a half for the soldiers who participated in the battle and a half for the rest of the community. The soldiers were to set apart 0.2 percent of their share as tribute to God. The rest of the community was to give two percent of their share to the Levites. The plunder and spoils the soldiers brought was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man. These are humongous numbers. This showed how great their victory was. The Israelites must have had great joy in dividing the plunder and spoils.

In the meantime, the officers of the army brought special offerings to the LORD because none of their soldiers was missing. They were rebuked by Moses for bringing all of the Moabite women to Israel and had to kill them. But they were not bitter-minded. Rather, they were thankful for God’s protection and provisions. Moses and Eleazar presented it as a gift to the LORD.

As such, the war against the Midianites was successful. It was not only because Israel defeated the Midianites but also because they removed a potential danger in obedience to God, purified themselves, and divided their plunder in the spirit of fairness and love and with thanksgiving. This is a very important lesson we should learn. I have seen many church organizations and people fall after their success because of their greed and their lack of spiritual discernment. When they are successful they attach a string to it. The officers of the Israelite army might have thought that it was cruel to kill the Midianite women and it was better to use them wisely. But they also might have had their own agenda that they could take the women as their wives or slaves. Our spiritual success begins to crack when we attach our own desire to it. Then we become corrupt and the church is divided and God is dishonored. So it is very important to purify ourselves all the more when we are successful. As the Israelites did, we should remove our greed and render glory to God alone with praise and thanksgiving. And with love we should share God’s blessing with brothers and sisters in our church. I pray that our church may always serve God with pure desire to glorify God alone whether we are successful or not. No victory without purity. No success without God’s honor and glory.

Chapter 32 explains how two and a half tribes came to live on the east side of Jordan. The Reubenites and Gadites asked Moses to give the land the Israelites took from Sihon and Og because it was suitable for livestock. These tribes had very large herds and flocks. But Moses was not happy with their request. He first reminded them of what happened at Kadesh. The ten leaders who had spied on the land of promise discouraged the Israelites from entering the land God promised to them according to his covenant. As a result God was angry and none of them except Caleb and Joshua could enter the land. Similarly, the Gadites and Reubenites were discouraging the other tribes from entering the land because of their selfish action. This could bring another rebellion against God. By the way, in 26:55 God said that the land should be allotted by lot; that is, God himself would allocate the land for each tribe. But these two tribes already chose their land by themselves.

Hearing Moses, the two tribes made a vow that they would cross the Jordan River and go ahead of the Israelites to fight, while leaving their women, children, and livestock behind on the east side of the Jordan. They would not return until the land of Canaan was conquered and the other tribes settled down there. And they would not receive any inheritance on the west side of the Jordan. This changed Moses’ mind. He conceded but made sure before Eleazar, Joshua, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes that the Reubenites and Gadites should do as they swore. So the two tribes built cities on the east side of the Jordan. In the meantime, some clans of Manasseh captured Gilead and adjacent areas and Moses gave the land to them. In that way, the east side of the Jordan came to be the inheritance to the two and a half tribes. In chapter 34, this was confirmed again. This episode might be written here as a historical fact such that later the descendants of Israel could understand why the two and a half tribes lived not on the west side of the Jordan but on the other side.

In summary, Israel exterminated the Midianites and captured many captives and a lot of plunder and spoils. They enjoyed diving the spoils. The two and a half tribes took the land the Israelites captured previously. This was Moses’ last task before he died and before the Israelites entered the land of Canaan. The significance of this incident was that they would and should do the same on the land of Canaan. God used their conquest of the Midianites as a good example to show how they could be victorious and how they could maintain their victory in the upcoming war. God taught them the very important thing about the war they were going to engage in.

The war they were going to was not their war but God’s war. The war with the Midianites was initiated by God to take his vengeance on them. God was with Israel and fought for them. God would do the same with their war against the Canaanites. The Israelites should know that God would fight for them because it was God’s judgment upon the nations and thus it was his war.

God said to Abraham in Gen 15:16, “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”

Deut 9: 4 also read, “After the Lord your God has driven them out before you, do not say to yourself, “The Lord has brought me here to take possession of this land because of my righteousness.” No, it is on account of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is going to drive them out before you.

The war Israel would engage in was not for them to just take the land. It was God’s judgment on their sins. This was God’s holy war to restore his honor and his authority over the world.

Some scholars view the NT from this way: The four gospel and the book of Acts are about the birth of church. The other books except Revelation are about how God makes the church mature and strong in preparation for the warfare with Satan. And lastly the book of Revelation is about the church fighting against Satan. And the Bible compares Christians as the soldiers of Christ. In that view, we Christians participate in God’s holy war against Satan and his followers.

For the last 36 years in this ministry, I had an obsession that our ministry and my ministry should grow anyhow. So I struggled to bring Bible students to our ministry. There were sometimes when I was fruitful. But most of time I was not. When I saw myself in the mirror, I saw a man who was disappointed, unmotivated, and tired. He was struggling with his jaw clenched tightly without smile. Though I served for the glory of God, I was tired and sad. Then through this passage, I have learned that I am engaging in my own war not in God’s holy war. Do you see the differences? When we serve God as if we were engaging in our own war, we come to have our own agenda and suffer from it. But when we participate in God’s war, we come to seek God’s glory alone and enjoy his blessing. We are not conquering the campus as if we were expanding our territory. We must put God’s name ahead us and participate in his holy war for his honor and glory only. This thought gives me peace and pure joy and motivates me to advance the work of God. Even if I fail, I will rejoice in him. I will faithfully plant the word of God in their minds. These days I am trying to give one word of God when I meet a student on campus. I believe that God will reap the harvest for him. That gives me pure joy and peace and gratitude to the Lord my God. Again, we are not expanding our ministry. We are not spreading our propaganda. We are God’s army. We are fighting for his name. God will be victorious and so will be we.

However, while engaging in God’s holy war, we should be faithful, pure, and thankful. We should live by faith and obey his word absolutely without compromise. We should shun sexual immorality, idol worship, greed, and worldly desire. We should be always thankful to God and love and serve our brothers and sisters. Then God will share his victory with us and lead us to his kingdom. We are God’s people. We are the army of God. We are engaging in his holy war. We are upholding God’s honor.

God’s holy war for his honor and our purity – they are the key words of today’s passage. I pray that God may illuminate our minds so that we can understand our spiritual warfare against Satan and see what we are fighting for and how we can be truly victorious. May God give you victory!

By David Yun