Numbers 31 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Numbers 31:1-31

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

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 signalling.

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. 10 They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. 11 They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho.

13 Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. 14 Moses was angry with the officers of the army – the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds – who returned from the battle.

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.

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.’

21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, ‘This is what is required by the law that the Lord gave Moses: 22 gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead 23 and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, and then it will be clean. But it must also be purified with the water of cleansing. And whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. 24 On the seventh day wash your clothes and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp.’

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.’ 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

A. Find out:

1. What did the Lord tell Moses to do? v.1
2. How did Moses instruct the people? v.2-6
3. What then happened? v.7-12
4. Why was Moses angry & what instructions did he give? v.13-20
5. What instruction did the priest give? v.21-24
6. What instructions were given in respect of the plunder? v.25-31

B. Think:

1. How had Midian recently been a problem to Israel ?
2. How had the army initially had wrong understanding?
3. What was the message coming throughout this passage?

C. Comment:

     At first sight we may find some of the things in this passage shocking. Possibly if we hold it in the light of the history of the West over the past hundred years it may come into perspective. War is evil but sometimes it is the lesser or two evils. However, that may not be the key issue here; it may be more a matter of judgement. If we recognize that the wages of sin is death and ALL deserve God’s judgement (Rom 3:23) we also see that it is pure grace and mercy that any live. Recently here in Israel ‘s history the enemy has sought to bring down Israel by immorality and idolatry (25:1,2). These struck at the very nature of the people of God – holiness – and threatened to utterly destroy them.

     What therefore follows in this passage is the judgement of God on that people – a total judgement where none are spared (only those who might become part of the Jewish family). The men would be killed because they were warriors, the women because they were the cause of the undermining, and boys because they would become warriors in the future. The girls alone could be saved. In the taking and dividing of the plunder from this warfare, there is a clear reminder that the camp of Israel is holy and nothing pagan is to be brought into it. The dividing up of the spoils enables the priest to be included and the Levites who were servers in the Tabernacle. All are looked after.

D. Application:

1. Judgement is deserved. Only our low view of sin denies that.
2. God’s mercy and grace are wonderful expressions of His love.