seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Numbers 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 signaling.
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 across from Jericho.
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.
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 across from Jericho.
I'm going to the easy English site first.
Numbers chapter 25 describes how the Midianites had caused the Israelites to worship the Midianites’ god Baal, at Peor. This was a very serious sin. The Midianites had acted with the Moabites then. And the Midianites also acted with the Moabites in chapter 22, when they asked Balaam to curse Israel. Therefore, the Midianites were Israel’s enemies.
This chapter begins with God’s command to Moses to attack and to defeat the Midianites. These were those Midianites who lived in the areas near to Moab. God had already told Moses to oppose the Midianites after the incident at Peor (Numbers 25:16-18). Here, in chapter 31, it was the right time for Moses to carry out God’s command. This would be Moses’ last battle before he died.
Each tribe chose 1000 men to fight in Israel’s army. Some tribes were bigger than other tribes. But this showed that all the Israelites united to fight this war.
This was a war on behalf of God. He had ordered it. This type of war was called a holy war. Therefore, it was right that Phinehas the priest led the army in the battle. He brought sacred objects from God’s Tent to show that God was with the Israelites.
There were rules for what should happen in a holy war. It was a rule that the soldiers had to kill all their male enemies. Their enemies were those Midianites who lived in the areas near to the country called Moab. But the war did not affect the Midianites who lived elsewhere. The Midianites continued to be a powerful enemy many years later (Judges chapters 6 to 8).
Probably, the 5 kings were the leaders that Balak contacted earlier (Numbers 22:4). Zur may have been Cozbi’s father (Numbers 25:15). Balaam died, too. This was his punishment because he had plotted against the Israelites (see Numbers chapter 25). He had used the Moabites and the Midianites to do this. So in the end, he did not die in the manner that he had wanted (Numbers 23:10). In fact, his greedy desire for money was the cause of his death!
Israel’s army destroyed the Midianites’ towns and camps completely. They took all the Midianites’ possessions and animals. They captured the women and children. And they took everything back to their camp. Perhaps they intended that the women should become their wives. Perhaps they wanted the women to work as servants or slaves. Or perhaps they just wanted to have sex with the women.
This chapter begins with God’s command to Moses to attack and to defeat the Midianites. These were those Midianites who lived in the areas near to Moab. God had already told Moses to oppose the Midianites after the incident at Peor (Numbers 25:16-18). Here, in chapter 31, it was the right time for Moses to carry out God’s command. This would be Moses’ last battle before he died.
Each tribe chose 1000 men to fight in Israel’s army. Some tribes were bigger than other tribes. But this showed that all the Israelites united to fight this war.
This was a war on behalf of God. He had ordered it. This type of war was called a holy war. Therefore, it was right that Phinehas the priest led the army in the battle. He brought sacred objects from God’s Tent to show that God was with the Israelites.
There were rules for what should happen in a holy war. It was a rule that the soldiers had to kill all their male enemies. Their enemies were those Midianites who lived in the areas near to the country called Moab. But the war did not affect the Midianites who lived elsewhere. The Midianites continued to be a powerful enemy many years later (Judges chapters 6 to 8).
Probably, the 5 kings were the leaders that Balak contacted earlier (Numbers 22:4). Zur may have been Cozbi’s father (Numbers 25:15). Balaam died, too. This was his punishment because he had plotted against the Israelites (see Numbers chapter 25). He had used the Moabites and the Midianites to do this. So in the end, he did not die in the manner that he had wanted (Numbers 23:10). In fact, his greedy desire for money was the cause of his death!
Israel’s army destroyed the Midianites’ towns and camps completely. They took all the Midianites’ possessions and animals. They captured the women and children. And they took everything back to their camp. Perhaps they intended that the women should become their wives. Perhaps they wanted the women to work as servants or slaves. Or perhaps they just wanted to have sex with the women.
This is going to get messy in the next few verses.
