Mon, 22 May, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.

Numbers 31:1-12

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” ³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the LORD’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. ⁷ They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. ⁸ They killed the kings of Midian with the rest of their slain, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword. ⁹ And the people of Israel took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods. ¹⁰ All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire, ¹¹ and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. ¹² Then they brought the captives and the plunder and the spoil to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of the people of Israel, at the camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

By following Balaam’s advice, the Midianites had seduced Israel into idol worship (Numbers 25). Now God calls for Israel to avenge this seduction. This will be Moses final act before he dies.

What do we learn from this?

God cares very much about the sin of His people. He will punish the sin of His people. Twenty-four thousand people died in the plague that broke out because of Israel’s infidelity with the women of Midian.

But we also see here that God will bring judgment upon those who draw His people into sin. There will be a day when those who draw others into sin will face God’s punishment for their action. They will not only be guilty of their own sin, but will be held accountable for drawing others into sin. Those who cause others to sin will face greater punishment. As Jesus warned, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.”

Where is Christ in this passage?

Today, we don’t live in a Theocracy where God directly controls the government. We do not have God’s explicit command to go out and execute the enemies of the church. We are called to stand up to oppression, and to love our enemies. But we are not called to execute anyone. The civil government has the power of keeping the justice, not the church.

However, we know that Jesus Christ is king of both the church and the state. He is in control of all that happens. We look for Him to protect His church and to ultimately punish the evildoers. It is not our role to seek vengeance. We look to the government to enforce protect those who do good and to punish those who do evil. And we look to Jesus Christ to ultimately bring justice.