Numbers 31: 1 – 47
A snitch in time raves in kind
31And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” 3So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the LORD on Midian. 4 A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.” 5 So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 6 Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand. 7 And they warred against the Midianites, just as the LORD commanded Moses, and they killed all the males. 8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword. 9 And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods. 10 They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts. 11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast. 12 Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. 13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp. 14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle. 15 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? 16 Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately. 18 But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately. 19 And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. 20 Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.” 21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses: 22 Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water. 24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.” 25 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “Count up the plunder that was taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 27 and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation. 28 And levy a tribute for the LORD on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the LORD. 30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.” 31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses. 32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately. 36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep; 37 and the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five. 38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two. 39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one. 40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons. 41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the LORD’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses. 42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought— 43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons— 47 and from the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing. 50 Therefore we have brought an offering for the LORD, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” 51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments. 52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. 53 (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.) 54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
"A stitch in time saves nine." was a French proverb dating back to the early 1700's and seems to have been a sailing term. This is a very old sailing term when burying someone at sea. 9 pounds of shot were used to weigh the body sack, then, when the sack was stitched closed, the last stitch was passed through a body part thus keeping the shroud and the body together. Otherwise, the 9 lbs of shot would be wasted.
A stitch in time saves nine means in today’s world that If you deal with problems immediately, when they first appear, you will save yourself a lot of money and trouble afterwards.
I came across a couple of quotes that I think rightly speak about the evil Balaam did to God’s people.
. One someone betrays you; it is a sign of their character, not yours.
. Even the people who betray you are part of the plan.
. Do not worry about those who talk about you behind your back. They’re behind you for a reason.
And my favorite is - Friends can betray you but an old enemy knows exactly where you stand.
Yes, this quote spells out what Balaam was all about. As you know he was forbidden by our Holy Lord God from cursing the Israelites. Yet in his lust for wealth he thought he could achieve both the money and get around from the blockade our Holy Jehovah Elyon, our Lord Most High put in his path. We read in the book of Revelation chapter 2 verse 14 we read, “But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.”
Balaam did not leave Balak before informing him that although he could not curse the Israelites, for the same amount of wealth he can tell Balak how God Himself would have to deal with His people due to sin.
Now being back home with all his new found riches Balaam did not realize as he would receive his due compensation from our Holy Master as today’s topic states, ‘A snitch in time raves in kind.’
We will learn in this chapter that Balaam will rage in fear and be killed as the Israelite pay him and the Midianites a personal visit.
Balaam and the Midianites had plotted to bring down Israel’s dedication to Yahweh God by leading them astray after false gods, and as a result a goodly number of Israelites had been executed or had died in the plague. It remained therefore for justice to be brought on the murderers responsible.
This was another side of the dedication of Israel. As Yahweh’s dedicated people they had to be concerned for His holiness and for the destruction of all that actively stood against Him. Defeating Midian would be evidence of their genuine dedication, and as a result of shedding blood for blood would purify the land.
The principle here follows a similar principle to that which demanded the destruction or driving out of the Canaanites. All who would lead Israel astray from Yahweh must be removed. But it carries it a stage further, for these Midianites who are depicted as having deliberately plotted Israel’s downfall at the behest of Balaam would clearly never cease to be a thorn in the side of Israel. There was therefore no alternative but to exterminate them. Had they left Israel alone, they would have been left alone. And the parallel in the chiasmus below also suggests that this extirpation was to be seen as a cleansing for Israel. Blood had been spilled in the land and so the murderers had to be brought to justice.
31And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.”
The avenging of the people of Israel on the Midianites was to be Moses’ final act. After that he was to be ‘gathered to his people’. He was to die, but it was the death of the righteous. He would join those who had been faithful to Yahweh. The avenging was on the basis of ‘a life for a life’, on the basis of ‘whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed’ (Genesis 9.6). For while Midian had not done the actual killing, it was as a result of their deliberate maneuverings that so many had died
3So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves for war, and let them go against the Midianites to take vengeance for the LORD on Midian.
So Moses was called on to arrange for the arming of a sufficient task force to destroy Midian, that is, the Midianites who were still encamped either in a part of the former kingdom of Sihon (Joshua 13.21), or over the border in Moab, having escaped there from the slaughter of the Amorites. They were to ‘execute Yahweh’s vengeance’ on Midian. These Midianites had sought to woo His people from Him, and He was a jealous God, and was concerned for the purity of the worship of His people. So His concern was such that Midian must be blotted out because of what they had done. Indeed had they not been blotted they would probably have called in their roving Midianite and Amalekite allies for a major attack on Israel (such as would come later in Judges 6), taking them in the rear as they invaded the land. It was therefore essential that they be wiped out before they could stir up further trouble.
4 A thousand from each tribe of all the tribes of Israel you shall send to the war.”
That the Midianite numbers were fairly small comes out in that it was not the whole army that was to be involved. A military unit (an eleph) taken from each tribe was considered to be sufficient for the task
5 So there were recruited from the divisions of Israel one thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.
So out of the many fighting units of Israel, twelve units, one from each tribe, were armed for the purpose of taking out Midian. It was kind of like an Israel Special Forces unit taking part in this action.
6 Then Moses sent them to the war, one thousand from each tribe; he sent them to the war with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the holy articles and the signal trumpets in his hand.
With them went Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the Priest, who would have responsibility for the Ark of the covenant of Yahweh and the trumpets which would sound so as to convey the commander’s messages to his troops. His presence and possibly that of the Ark and some holy vessels would be the assurance that this was holy war and that Yahweh was with them. The High Priest himself would not want to become ‘unclean, by the contact with death, for that would interfere with his daily ministry.
7 And they warred against the Midianites, just as the LORD commanded Moses, and they killed all the males.
So the twelve military units of Israel attacked the Midianites with overwhelming force. There may well have been only a few hundred Midianite soldiers. And they may well have caught the Midianites unprepared and in fact in battles with the kind of weapons that they had casualties were regularly light. It was when one side panicked and fled that the real killing took place. It would seem probable that that is what happened in this case, and that they pursued them until every Midianite man was dead.
8 They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of those who were killed—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. Balaam the son of Beor they also killed with the sword.
All were slain, including the ‘kings’ of Midian whose names are given, and Balaam the diviner who was found to be among them. It was a daughter of Zur who was slain by Phinehas in 25.8, 14, and that he would have been seeking blood revenge was one reason why the destruction of the Midianites was so necessary, while the fact Balaam was there among them suggests that that vengeance was already being planned. This was not an attack on an innocent people, but on a very belligerent and determined enemy who would stop at nothing.
9 And the children of Israel took the women of Midian captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods.
The children of Israel then took over the Midianite camps, taking captive all the Midianite women, with their children, together with their cattle, flocks and a host of spoils.
10 They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all their forts.
Each ‘city’ was burned to the ground. They were ‘devoted’ to Yahweh.
11 And they took all the spoil and all the booty—of man and beast. 12 Then they brought the captives, the booty, and the spoil to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the children of Israel, to the camp in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
So everything that belonged to the Midianites was taken, both of man and of beast, their wives, their young men, their daughters, their herds and their flocks. And they brought them to Moses and Eleazar, to the camp of Israel in the plains of Moab.
13 And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation, went to meet them outside the camp.
Moses and Eleazar and the chieftains went out from the camp to meet and welcome the victorious army.
14 But Moses was angry with the officers of the army, with the captains over thousands and captains over hundreds, who had come from the battle.
When Moses saw that they had allowed the wives of the Midianites to live he was angry with their officers and NCOs.
15 And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? 16 Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.
He angrily pointed out that these women were the ones responsible for turning so many Israelites away from Yahweh and thus causing so many deaths in Israel. They were the most blood guilty of all. They should not have been allowed to live.
It is made quite clear that the women had engaged in an act of war. They were not innocent. Following the guidance of Balaam they had deliberately sought to separate between the men of Israel and Yahweh their God as a military strategy so that Yahweh would then curse Israel. Balaam had clearly still not given up his attempts to persuade Yahweh that His people were worthy of cursing. Once they had succeeded the plan was that Balaam would persuade Yahweh to curse His errant people and the Midianites would then attack, assisted by the Moabites. And it had so nearly succeeded.
17 Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man intimately.
So he commanded the soldiers to kill all the male children, and to kill every woman who had known a man by lying with him, the wives and seducers of the enemy.
We might be horrified at what was commanded, but there was really little alternative. There was no possibility of setting up prisoner-of-war camps. Even had they been a settled people it would not have been possible, but being on the march towards Canaan it was totally impractical. Furthermore, while they might have enslaved them, every Midianite boy would have grown up knowing that it was his bound duty to obtain blood vengeance against Israel, and with Midianites scattered throughout the wilderness and desert regions east of the Jordan, who could be called on for assistance on the grounds of blood ties, they would have been a constant danger. Allowing them to live would have been like taking to bed a deadly poisonous snake on the grounds of being kind to animals.
Furthermore the women had been guilty of seducing many Israelites to their death. They were even more guilty. Their blood was required as recompense. Nor would they have made suitable wives, they would have been vipers in the nest, to say nothing of further attempts to turn Israel’s men away from Yahweh.
18 But keep alive for yourselves all the young girls who have not known a man intimately.
But the young women children were a different matter. They could be taken in marriage or as servants and would expect to accept the religion of their new husbands or masters. They would gradually be merged into Israel. Compare Deuteronomy 21.10-14. They would not feel the same responsibility for blood vengeance which was mainly incumbent on the males.
19 And as for you, remain outside the camp seven days; whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day.
However, as a result of their contact with the dead enemy, any who had killed someone, or who had touched a dead body, were to purify themselves with the water of uncleanness as described in chapter 19. For that purpose they had to remain outside the camp with their captives. The taint of death must not enter the camp of Israel. Death was ever to be seen as contrary to what Yahweh Was. It was true that it was sometimes necessary in order to compensate for other deaths, in order to bring out the heinousness of murder, and it was even sometimes commanded by Yahweh for that reason, but it was still contrary to His original purpose in creation which had been that man should produce life (Genesis 1.28), not death. Death was the result of man’s fall in the Garden, and the sin that had permeated mankind ever since. It was an intruder in God’s creation.
20 Purify every garment, everything made of leather, everything woven of goats’ hair, and everything made of wood.”
This was to be true of all their clothing, and all captured clothing, which would need to be purified by washing, including all that was made of skin, or goats’ hair, and the same applied to anything made of wood.
21 Then Eleazar the priest said to the men of war who had gone to the battle, “This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commanded Moses:
Eleazar now informed the men who had been in the battle of the statute of the instruction which Yahweh had commanded Moses in these circumstances.
22 Only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, 23 everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification. But all that cannot endure fire you shall put through water.
All that could survive fire had to be cleansed by being put through the fire. That included the gold, the silver, the bronze (or copper), the iron, the tin and the lead. Then it would be clean. And yet even then it had to go through the water of uncleanness (chapter 19). And anything that could not stand being put through the fire had to be cleansed with the water of uncleanness. It is clear from this that the taint of death was seen as connected with the spoils, whose masters were dead.
24 And you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterward you may come into the camp.”
Then the men were to wash their clothes and be clean. After that they could come into the camp It was preparatory to the waiting before God that did cleanse.
This account brings out for us any number of lessons. It stresses God’s hatred of sin and especially of anything that turns His people away from Him. It brings out that while merciful (if Midian had kept out of Israel’s way they would have been left alone), His holiness demands justice on those who will not respond to His mercy. It reveals God’s act on behalf of His people, and that all of us need to be continually cleansed if we would come into His presence. It brings out that God is both light and love. Those who turn from His love come into His awesome light which can only result in their condemnation (John 3.18-21). In what follows it also reveals that in the end Yahweh always rewards His people with good things.
25 Now the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 26 “Count up the plunder that was taken—of man and beast—you and Eleazar the priest and the chief fathers of the congregation; 27 and divide the plunder into two parts, between those who took part in the war, who went out to battle, and all the congregation.
The first step with regard to the spoils was a division between the men who went to war and the rest of Israel. We learn later that this was an equal division, and the fact that the skilled men of war were specifically distinguished here confirms that they each received the larger portion as a reward for risking their lives in battle.
So Moses, Eleazar and the tribal chieftains were first to assess the amount of the spoils, including the young women (‘of man’) and were then to divide it into two parts.
28 And levy a tribute for the LORD on the men of war who went out to battle: one of every five hundred of the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep; 29 take it from their half, and give it to Eleazar the priest as a heave offering to the LORD.
Then of the share that went to the men of war one individual woman or animal out of every ‘five hundred’ (a half flock or five small groups) was to be given to Eleazar the Priest as Yahweh’s contribution offering. This would include young women, probably to serve in the outer Sanctuary, although they may have become servants in the priests’ households, as well as oxen, asses and flocks.
30 And from the children of Israel’s half you shall take one of every fifty, drawn from the persons, the cattle, the donkeys, and the sheep, from all the livestock, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”
And of the share that went to the children of Israel, one out of every smaller group was to be given to the Levites who had the charge of the Sanctuary.
31 So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.
And Moses and Eleazar did as Yahweh commanded them. They divided up the spoils of war in the way that He had instructed.
32 The booty remaining from the plunder, which the men of war had taken, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, 33 seventy-two thousand cattle, 34 sixty-one thousand donkeys, 35 and thirty-two thousand persons in all, of women who had not known a man intimately.
The prey was now assessed. There were six hundred and seventy five units (flocks?) of sheep, seventy two units (herds?) of oxen, sixty one units (herds) of asses, and of young women there were young women from thirty two families.
36 And the half, the portion for those who had gone out to war, was in number three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep;
For the men who went to war there were three hundred and thirty seven and a half flocks of sheep to be distributed.
37 and the LORD’s tribute of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five.
Yahweh’s tribute was one out of every five half flocks, namely six smaller groups, three small groupings and some odd ones over.
38 The cattle were thirty-six thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was seventy-two.
Of the oxen there were thirty six thousand for the fighting men, of which Yahweh’s tribute was seventy two.
39 The donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, of which the LORD’s tribute was sixty-one.
The distribution of the donkeys totaled 30, 500 and sixty one was set aside for the Lord..
40 The persons were sixteen thousand, of which the LORD’s tribute was thirty-two persons.
There we 16, 000 young women who never had a relationship with a man. Thirty two would be given to the Levites for service in the Lord’s work.
41 So Moses gave the tribute which was the LORD’s heave offering to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.
Moses gave Yahweh’s contribution to Eleazar the Priest as Yahweh had commanded him.
42 And from the children of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who fought—
They then moved on to assessing the half set aside to be divided among the children of Israel as a whole.
43 now the half belonging to the congregation was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, 44 thirty-six thousand cattle, 45 thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, 46 and sixteen thousand persons—
Their share that would be distributed among the population of Israel was 337, 500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, 30,500 donkeys and 16,000 young women.
47 and from the children of Israel’s half Moses took one of every fifty, drawn from man and beast, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses
And out of their half one out of every smaller grouping was given to the Levites, because they kept the charge of the Tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
48 Then the officers who were over thousands of the army, the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, came near to Moses; 49 and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a count of the men of war who are under our command, and not a man of us is missing.
Then the officers and NCOs approached Moses and said that they had checked who were still alive and had discovered that not a single man had died. While gratifying this was not as remarkable as it might at first seem. If they had caught the enemy by surprise, attacking in larger numbers, panic would have set in early and the whole affair been a rout.
50 Therefore we have brought an offering for the LORD, what every man found of ornaments of gold: armlets and bracelets and signet rings and earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
Because of their heartfelt gratitude the men had determined to give their personal booty to Yahweh. This was not only a dedicatory and worship gift, but also an act of atonement and reconciliation for any wrong that they might have done. It was to their credit that they did not find easy the slaughter in which they had had to participate, even though there had been little alternative. The jewels, ankle chains, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and armlets were typical of what Midianites would wear.
51 So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from them, all the fashioned ornaments.
On behalf of Yahweh Moses and Eleazar received the gold and the jewels for placing in Yahweh’s treasury.
52 And all the gold of the offering that they offered to the LORD, from the captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, was sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels.
The amount of gold was 16,750 shekels.
53 (The men of war had taken spoil, every man for himself.)
This was the private spoils that the men had taken for themselves, stripping the bodies of their enemies, taking it from the womenfolk and looting the tents.
54 And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tabernacle of meeting as a memorial for the children of Israel before the LORD.
So Moses and Eleazar took the gold and laid it up in the Tent of meeting as a memorial on Israel’s behalf before Yahweh.
