Seder 128: Numbers 31:25-54---Distributing the Spoils of Battle

 God's judgment of five clans of Midianites in Numbers 31 was a special kind of holy war, more religious ceremony than military operation.  We see this, for example, in the precise manner in which the spoils of battle were distributed.  The total amount was divided into two parts, half for the soldiers and half for the rest of the people in the outer camp.  From the soldiers' portion, one five hundredth went to the priests; and from the people's portion, one fiftieth went to the Levites.  This was a way for the people to give thanks for the gifts they had been granted.  God's instructions on this matter were carried out carefully, as the "compliance formulas" in verses 31 and 47 attest.  

Numbers 31 is another place where the numbers sometimes seem too large to be literal.  Michael Morales comments, "The fantastical nature of the figures may be informed by a symbolism or accounting code, as yet undiscerned, likely applicable to the census figures for Israel as well."  I agree with Morales that the important lessons to learn from the numbers are theological.  In particular, these numbers express God's grace and goodness, showing the extent to which he blessed Israel.  

This approach accords with the history of interpretation of such passages.  David M. Fouts states, "It was not until the Reformation that scholars began accepting the large numbers at face value. Throughout most of early Church history, scholars in general either withheld comment on the passages containing large numbers or interpreted them in a spiritualizing manner" ["A Defense of the Hyperbolic Interpretation of Large Numbers in the Old Testament," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 40, no. 3 (1997): 379–380.]

In addition to the donations to the tabernacle prescribed by God, an offering was given by the soldiers (vv 48-54).  This is another instance in which we are invited to compare the two generations of the Exodus.  The adults who left Egypt committed a serious sin at Mount Sinai in the golden calf incident.  After God graciously forgave the nation, they expressed their thanks in a generous offering for the building of the tabernacle (Exodus 35).  Analogously, the second generation had its own golden calf incident, the apostasy at Peor.  After God forgave the second generation, they too gave a generous offering.  

When the soldiers found out that no one was missing, they gave their offering "to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD" (verse 50).  The soldiers may have meant this in more than one sense.  To discover that there were no Israelite casualties in the battle, they had to do a count of their numbers, one not prescribed by God.  In such a situation an offering would be in order, as in Exodus 30:11-16).  In addition, the soldiers had been miraculously delivered, and an offering was appropriate for that reason too.  

This offering was "a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD" (verse 54).  It would remind everyone of the judgment of Midian, which in some sense repaired the damage done in the Baal Peor incident.  It would remind them that God would be with them in the conquest of Canaan. 

Seder 127: Numbers 31----Taking Vengeance?

 In the wake of the Baal Peor incident, God instructs Moses, "Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites" (Num 31:2).  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on August 15, 2026, Kyle Kettering pointed out that the words "vengeance" and "avenge" carry negative connotations for us.  Even when we're righteously indignant about an injustice in the world, we should not carry out personal vengeance.  As God instructs the Israelites in Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people."

Kyle pointed out that in the Bible, the words for "justice" and "vengeance" are related.  This is reflected in our English translations.  For example, the Greek word ekdikesis has God "inflicting vengeance" in 2 Thessalonians 1:8 and "giving justice" in Luke 18:7-8 in the ESV.  When God "takes vengeance" he brings justice, setting things right and vindicating the innocent.

But vengeance is something that is strictly God's prerogative.  "Vengeance is mine, I will repay," God says in Deuteronomy 32:35, a sentence later quoted in Romans 12:19.  As the psalmist often does, we can pray for justice and leave the matter in God's hands (Psalm 94:1-2, e.g.)

Seder 121: Numbers 25---Was Phinehas a Vigilante?

 At the end of their 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites camped just east of the Jordan River "from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-Shittim in the plains of Moab" (Num 33:49).  During their stay there, the nearby Moabites and Midianites, at the instigation of Balaam (Num 31:15-16), induced some Israelite men to commit adultery and idolatry with "the daughters of Moab" (Num 25:2).  A deadly plague ensued in which many Israelites died before Phinehas took decisive action, executing two of the offenders with a spear (verses 7-8).  

Phineas is strongly praised in the Bible for his actions (Num 25:10-13; Ps 106:28-31).  Still, some readers have accused him of being a vigilante, taking the law into his own hands.  A closer look at the biblical text refutes any such claim.  

First, we should remember that Phinehas was the son of Eleazar (Num 25:7), the current high priest after the death of Aaron (Num 20:22-29).  When Aaron was high priest, Eleazar had been a sort of chief of security.  According to Numbers 3:32, Eleazar "was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary."  Verse 38 adds that "any outsider who came near was to be put to death."  One reason that Eleazar had this job, rather than Aaron himself, was that the high priest was shielded from contact with death and corpse impurity as much as possible (Lev 21:11-12).  It was presumably for similar reasons that Eleazar supervised the preparation of the ashes of the red heifer while Aaron was high priest (Num 19:3-4).  

When Eleazar became high priest, his previous responsibilities, including the position of security chief would have been passed on to Phinehas.  Phinehas was the one in charge of keeping inappropriate visitors away from the tabernacle area, so dealing with Zimri and Cozbi was part of his job.  

Second, Phinehas acted in accordance with God's instructions for dealing with the idolaters.  God had directed Moses to organize some "chiefs" or "judges" to execute the idolaters (Num 25:4-5).  They were to be hung or impaled. As chief of security, Phinehas would have been one of those chiefs, and he dealt with the offenders in the manner in which God had specified.  

Phinehas, then, provides no precedent for the actions of would-be vigilantes.  He is, however, an example of carrying out one's responsibilities faithfully.  

Seder 119: Numbers 22---Some Clues for Evaluating Balaam

 Balaam, the renowned ancient diviner/sorcerer, is one of the most enigmatic figures in the Bible.  On the one hand, his oracles bless the Israelites and present important prophecies.  On the other hand, he later helped the Midianites to tempt a number of Israelites to commit sexual immorality and idolatry in the infamous incident at Baal Peor (Num 25:1-9; 31:16).

Commentator Michael Morales observes that ancient Jewish and Christian evaluations of Balaam are thoroughly negative, recognizing Balaam as one motivated primarily by greed (2 Pe 2:15-16; Jude 11; Pirke Avot 5:19).  Some more recent interpreters are kinder to Balaam, seeing him as a Gentile follower of the God of Israel who succumbed to temptation and fell away.  

Morales argues that a close reading of the text supports the ancients.  He brings up a number of telling points supporting a negative assessment of Balaam.  

First, consider what the Bible tells us about Balaam's occupation. Joshua describes him as "the one who practiced divination" (Josh 13:22), meaning that interpreted omens in order to predict the future.  This is an activity forbidden by the Torah (Dt 18:9-14), not one in which a true follower of God would engage.

Second, the narrator casts doubt upon the idea that Balaam has a relationship with the God of Israel, despite the fact that Balaam knows the name of the God of Israel (Num 22:8).  In the exchange between God and Balaam in Numbers 22:9-12, the narrator uses Elohim to refer to God, rather than his covenant name.  Verse 9 begins, "And God came to Balaam and said ..."  This is the same language used in Genesis when God comes to pagans at night and warns them not to harm his representatives (Ge 20:3; 31:24)

A third piece of evidence is Balaam's consistent desire to curse Israel.  After God makes his position on this issue unequivocally clear, Balaam fails to communicate this to Balak's envoys (Num 22:13-14).  Would a true follower of the God of Israel want Israel to be cursed?

Balaam makes some statements that sound pious on the surface, especially verse 18:  "Though Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not go beyond the command of the LORD my God to do less or more."  

Here we should realize that disclaimers of this type were probably part of Balaam's usual sales pitch to potential clients.  When a customer came to Balaam asking him to curse nation X, this was really a request that Balaam persuade the god of nation X to curse nation X.  Balaam would probably acknowledge that in order for him to carry out such a request, the god of nation X would have to sign off on it.  Therefore, this wasn't really up to him.  He could only do what the god of nation X allowed, whoever that god was.  Numbers 22:18 does not imply that Balaam was a faithful follower of the God of Israel.  In fact, he hopes that he can persuade God to change his mind, as we see in verse 19 and throughout the rest of the narrative.  Again, this is not something that a follower of God would desire.

Seder 127/128: Numbers 31---Judgment of the Midianites

 At Balaam's instigation, the Midianites had tempted the Israelites to commit idolatry and adultery at Baal Peor.  God then instructed Moses to carry out judgment upon these Midianites for actively opposing God's plan and people (Num 25:16-18).  

The Midianites apparently consisted of a number of clans, some of whom were nomadic herdsmen.  Some, like Moses' in-laws, were friends of the Israelites, while others opposed them.  It was the clans in this latter group who were to be punished.  

The details of how this judgment was done are recorded in Numbers 31.  This was a special holy war, using a small percentage of Israel's army (one eleph from each tribe).  This small force totally defeated the offending Midianites, suffering no casualties in the process.  

This battle was a "warm up" for the conquest of Canaan, which would begin in a few months.  It would have given the Israelites some encouragement for that task.  As Frank Fenton noted in a short teaching at Church of the Messiah on December 10, 2022, when God gives his people a task, he provides the means necessary to carry it out.  

Seder 121: Numbers 25---The Zeal of Phinehas

 The oracles of Balaam communicated the depths of God's commitment to the people of Israel.  The only thing that could separate the Israelites from the blessings of God would be a lapse in their commitment to God.  And Israel's commitment did lapse soon afterward.  In an event that was a sort of "golden calf incident" for the younger generation of the Exodus, the Israelites were lured into idolatry and adultery by the Moabites and Midianites (Num 25:1-6).  

We learn later that a trap was set, at Balaam's suggestion, to lure the Israelites into apostasy (Num 31:15-16).  Although Balaam grudgingly communicated the message God made him deliver, he apparently still wanted to somehow curse Israel.  

God told Moses to put to death those responsible for Israel's apostasy (vv 4-5).  The situation was serious, as one Israelite was openly committing adultery with a Midianite woman in the Israelite camp (v 6).  

Then Aaron's grandson Phinehas took action.  Catching the couple in flagrante delicto, he ran them through with a spear (Num 25:7).  Honoring the zeal of Phinehas, God stopped the plague that he had sent (v 8).  Twenty four elephs died in the plague. (Remember that "thousand" is not necessarily the correct English translation for eleph.) 

Phinehas has been celebrated throughout Israelite history for his zeal on this occasion.  His quick action "was counted to him as righteousness from generation to generation forever" (Ps 106:31).  He was a role model for the Maccabees (1 Macc 2:13-28).  

The apostle Paul admonished Christians to learn from what happened at Shittim (1 Cor 10:1-13).  We know that God's commitment to his New Covenant people is just as firm as his commitment to Israel (Rom 8:31-39), but we should not become overconfident (1 Cor 10:12). 

One question often raised in regard to I Cor 10 is Paul's statement in verse 8 that "twenty three thousand fell in a single day" at Shittim, in apparent disagreement with the twenty four thousand of Num 24;9.  There is no clear way to resolve this difference.  Some have suggested that of the 24 elephs who died in the plague, 23 died on a single day. This is possible, but we have no other witness to this detail.  The exact number who died in the plague has no bearing, of course, on the lesson Paul was communicating.  

The fact that the discrepancy has been preserved speaks to the integrity of the transmission of the text of scripture.  It would have been easy for a scribe at some point to remove the discrepancy, but that didn't happen.  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on October 22, 2022, Kyle Kettering reflected on the zealous examples of Phinehas, John the Baptist, and Abraham.  Both Abraham and Phinehas had their believing loyalty "counted to them as righteousness" (Gen 15:6; James 2:18-26). We are called to the same kind of righteousness.  

Rob Wilson further addressed the subject of zeal in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on October 29, 2022.  How can one tell the difference between the godly zeal of Phinehas and one's personal zeal?  He mentioned several examples:

• Paul's zealous persecution of Christians before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Phil 3:6).
• Zealous protestors who are willing to bomb abortion clinics.
• The zeal of abolitionists like John Brown.

We need to be sure of God's approval before undertaking zealous actions, Rob stated.