November 22, 2024
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Numbers and 1 Corinthians? Here’s today’s reading:
Numbers 31 (NIV)
Vengeance on the Midianites
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.……Continue Reading
Just as the Isrealites were punished by the plague for their sexual immorality and idolatry, God now commands Moses to lead an attack on the Midianites for their part in that situation. Always hard to read about God’s vengenance because we rather always think about His love and His grace, however, it is important to remember that, like any good parent, we also must have a healthy fear of God as well. We become too familiar with the warm fuzzy and then we allow ourselves to slip into sin; remembering that even though He always offers forgiveness, our actions still have consequences.
Hard to read these chapters in the Old Testament. It’s pretty much the same story. Just different names. To think the midianites were descendants of Abraham’s wife and Moses wife and how far they have turned away. To the point God said destroy them all. They needed a Moses to confront sin before it festered. Reading yesterday in 1 Corinthians about head covering. I can remember in the 60’s. All women had a small head covering out of reverence to God. church had standing room only. Every person in town at church on Sunday mornings. Streets were empty How far have we turned away. We are Christs ambassadors. Let’s turn this country back
Numbers 30 & 31
1 Corinthians 9-11; Numbers 27-31
It’s interesting that the same Balaam who knew God and blessed Israel several chapters ago was also involved in their corruption by Midian and was thus killed along with the Midianites. Makes me think about James 2: 19
“You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
Ultimately it is not enough to just recognize that God exists. Where we stand with the Almighty is also dependent on how we act based on that knowledge.
God brings judgement to the Midianites through the Israelites for the the part they played in deceiving the Israelites. It is interesting that His judgement on the Israelites for the situation was by His hand, but on the Midianites it was by the Israelites’ hands. One wonders if God intended that as a lesson of how serious disobedience is and how there is always a cost to it. And an affirmation that God’s hand was upon them was that not one of the soldiers was lost. And God in His grace allows them to take plunder and asks them to share a portion of the possessions with Him through the priests. He does make them kill the women who were part of the issue in the first place reenforcing that sin always brings punishment. How good it is that our punishment was taken on by Jesus!!!
God brings judgment on Midian through the Israelites. There are many lessons that can be drawn from this. I think of our individualistic mentality and here we see how the sin of a nation impacts all. Some from every tribe must go and perform this purge. It is good to think that they spared the Women and children, but the women are complicit and the male children potential rebels. It is a further punishment on the Israelites to have to kill women and children. We just read in Ezekiel how God changes the “proverb” and how now each man is held accountable for his own sin.
”The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, And the children’s teeth are set on edge’? “As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel. “Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die.“
Ezekiel 18:1-4 NKJV