A Holy War (Numbers 31:1–54)

At Brackenhurst Baptist Church, we are committed to the systematic explanation and relevant application of the Bible. This simply means that we take God’s word seriously with the consequence that, each week, we explain the content of what God has revealed. Believing that all of Scripture is profitable, we even study Old Testament passages like the one before us in this study! God’s word is powerful to transform our souls and minds and so we discipline ourselves to take the time to do this. Though this ancient text may seem arcane, I assure you that it is relevant to all of us. I trust that you will see this as we work through this text.

We who take God’s word seriously must, of course, also take the God of the word seriously. This theme is writ large in our text, where God commands his people to engage in what can only be described as a holy war. This holy war would require faith, courage, and a commitment to holiness.

Though the epoch in which Christians worship and serve God is radically different from the old covenant, nevertheless, under the new covenant, we are also engaged in holy war. Not against flesh and blood, but rather “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” And we are therefore to “take up the whole armour of God, that [we] may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:12–13).

Brothers and sisters, the church is constantly under assault. Innumerable idolatries (materialism, recreation, family, education, false Christs and false gospels), wicked ideologies (including those that assail marriages and families), and a lascivious and pornographic culture assault our commitment to Jesus Christ, detouring us from our mission to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way to overcome—and we can!—is by being equipped with the armour of God’s word and to commit ourselves to engage in this holy war for the glory of God and for the good of his people. Numbers 31 can help us to do just this.

What does our holy war require? It requires similar things that we see in the text before us:

1. A Holy Mandate (vv. 1–2)
2. A Holy Motive (vv. 3–24)
3. A Holy Mindset (vv. 25–47)
4. A Holy Mercy (vv. 48–54)

A Holy Mandate

The opening phrase (“The LORD spoke to Moses”) is found 42 times in Numbers, this being the 37th. It is significant because it reminds the reader that these are God’s authoritative words. Consider his words here: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people’” (vv. 1–2).

What follows is rather shocking, and so it is important to acknowledge that this was God’s, and not man’s, idea. Like Job, the reader should humbly place their hand over their mouth and be silent. Fools throughout history have not.

The voice instructed Moses to “avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites.” God’s voice commanded that punishment be meted out on a people living in Moab, who had seduced Israel away from her true husband—Yahweh (see Numbers 30)—and therefore experienced God’s punishment in the death of 24,000 guilty “church” members (chapter 25). Judgement had begun at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17), and now judgement would come upon the “world.” As we will see, this chapter pictures what will happen when God judges at the end of history.

People often say that they want to “hear the Lord.” But sometimes, what he says is not pleasant. We must faithfully relay God’s voice. We must declare God’s word as it is, not as we want it to be.

God’s mandate also made clear that this would be Moses’s last conflict before being “gathered to your people”—that is, before he died. This was Moses’ last physical conflict.

The avenging of the Midianites on the Transjordan was a precursor of God avenging the Amorites on the other side of the Jordan, just as he had promised six hundred years earlier (Genesis 15:12–16). As we have seen in Numbers, God always keeps his promises. This should motivate us to obey his mandates.

It was significant that, before Moses died, he would witness a generation that was, for the most part, faithful to obey God’s voice. This must have encouraged him about Israel’s future on the other side (see Psalm 90:13ff).

A Holy Motive

One of the excuses people use for rejecting the gospel, and therefore the lordship of Jesus Christ, is the horrible history of the Crusades in which professing Christians sought to extend the kingdom of God by the physical sword. There has been a lot of sinful bloodshed by professing Christians over the centuries and the gospel has been wickedly used to justify this. Therefore, the phrase “holy war” has become an ugly one (used also by Muslims). But what we have here in Numbers is truly a holy war, instituted by God. And it has been a long time coming (Genesis 15:12–16).

Having heard God’s voice, Moses now relayed God’s mandate to the people (vv. 3–24). And it was an awe-filled one. That is, as God’s representatives, which should fill them with awe, they were to carry out “the Lord’s vengeance.” The motive is faithfulness to God for his glory.

A Holy Passion

The war was to be undertaken with holy passion: “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’” (v. 3).

As Yahweh’s wife, Israel was expected to be faithful. We have hints at this point that Israel would fail in this regard. The stipulations of Numbers 5 concerning a jealous husband suspecting his wife of unfaithfulness indicates how seriously God expected his bride to be faithful to him. Just as God instituted the death penalty for adultery (Leviticus 20:10), so he put to death those who were spiritually unfaithful to him (Numbers 25). But, as they say, it takes two to tango, and what’s good for the adulterous goose is good for the adulterous gander. Therefore, with holy jealousy, both for his name and his wife, Yahweh commanded the extermination of peoples living in the Promised Land of Canaan who otherwise would seduce his bride dishonouring his name (see Leviticus 18:24–30; Deuteronomy 9:5).

The word “vengeance” is supplied by the translators of the ESV, but the point is that the avenging of the people of Israel (v. 2) was a demonstration of the Lord’s commitment to punish the Midianites for seducing his people (chapter 25). Those who tempt God’s people into sin are in serious trouble with the God they fail to take seriously. I am reminded of the words of Jesus:

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.

(Matthew 18:5–9)

In other words, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord” (Romans 12:19; see Hebrews 10:30). We should all heed the warning that “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). As Jesus warned those thinking of turning away from him, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This should sober the church and should scare the world. As Allen comments, “Divine judgment is sure for the nations who are a threat to the existence of God’s people or who have rejected his grace. And that remains true in our own ‘sophisticated’ day.”

A Holy People

The holy war was to be undertaken by a holy people:

You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. 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.

(Numbers 31:4–6)

The Lord commanded a special forces unit of one thousand men from each tribe (v. 4). As they went to war, they were to do so “together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.” With this priestly inclusion, the warriors were to remember that the Lord was not only with them, but that he was leading them. And since he is holy, they were to be holy as well. This was not a war about personal vengeance but rather a war for the glory of God. It was a war for the purpose of the continued blessing of God’s presence in their midst. That is the way it was always to be.

Much of the content of the book of Numbers is in the context of military language and metaphor. Israel was on a march, but it was not a boy scout hike. Rather, they were marching to Zion (quite literally) for the glory of God (Exodus 19:5–6). The establishment of the city of God required physical combat with other human beings. Though, earlier, God unleashed his wrath upon the ungodly by plagues and by his use of natural elements (Exodus 5–14), he would now, for the most part, unleash his vengeance through the swords of his people. As we will see, it was essential that they remember whom they were fighting for. This would move them to holy living.

A Holy Punishment

The holy war was a manifestation of holy punishment against an unholy people.

They warred against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every male. 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. 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. All their cities in the places where they lived, and all their encampments, they burned with fire,  and took all the spoil and all the plunder, both of man and of beast. 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.

 

Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the chiefs of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp. And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, who had come from service in the war. Moses said to them, “Have you let all the women live? Behold, these, on Balaam’s advice, caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore, kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have not known man by lying with him keep alive for yourselves.

(Numbers 31:7–18)

Here we find the fulfilment of what God declared in 25:16–18. These holy warriors were obedient to what the Lord had told them to do. They killed the men along with their kings, and Balaam, to rid them from being a threat to the spiritual integrity of God’s people. The language is severe and thorough. It is severely thorough.

One of the kings killed was Zur, father of the unvirtuous Cozbi, who engaged in idolatrous and illicit fornication with Zimri (25:15). You will remember how Phinehas ran them through with a spear to stay the wrath of God from wiping out the entire nation. Small wonder Phinehas was here as a priest-leader of these special forces.

Plundering the land of its livestock and possessions was allowable this side of Jordan and disallowed on the other side (Joshua 6–7). Yet, as east of Jordan, it is interesting that here these special forces burned the buildings to the ground. Rather than an act of hateful aggression, it was an act of holy hatred: They wanted to mitigate such evil arising on their borders again.

If we will deal properly with sin in our own lives, we sometimes need to radically remove that which tempts us: getting rid of devices, ending relationships, finding another job, cutting up your credit cards, etc. We must put to death the habits of the old man (Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5). That is, burn it to the ground.

An Unhappy Leader

As the holy warriors returned (v. 13), they soon discovered that they were not as holy as they perhaps thought. As they displayed the spoils of victory, Moses became apoplectic (v. 14). He was furious. The word translated “was angry” means “to crack off” or “to burst out in rage” (see Genesis 40:2; Exodus 16:20; Numbers 16:22; Deuteronomy 1:34). He was angry because they had not fully carried out their orders for God’s holy war. The warriors had failed to carry out the herem; that is, the total destruction of the enemy.

The herem was something given totally to God, like a burnt offering. It therefore was often associated with the practice of total destruction. This is what we find here as well as multiple times in the book of Joshua (see Joshua 6:16–18; Deuteronomy 7:1–2). These verses cannot be ignored or lightly dismissed. We need to take them seriously if we will take God seriously.

Moses reminds them that these women had been an evil means of God’s people acting “treacherously against the LORD in the incident of Peor,” which resulted in the plague that ended with the death of 24,000 Israelites. Moses therefore told them to kill all these women, along with all the males “among the little ones.” Yes, baby boys were to be killed.

Reverent Shock

This passage is quite shocking. We need to therefore be careful. (If it is not shocking, perhaps you need to pause and consider it carefully.)

I recently read a book called Show Them No Mercy in which four theologians debate Old Testament accounts such as that found here. Two of the contributors are of the view that these are not legitimate texts because they cannot accept that the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ would command something that, in their words, is immoral and heinous. That is a serious, dangerous, and damning charge. Rather than a blasphemous accusation, we should heed the words of Ronald Allen:

One cannot debate the “morality” of the OT apart from the “morality” of God who is represented in these passages. And once one begins to ask, “Is God moral?” the very question damns the speaker…. This is not to say that these passages do not cause us to shriek with utter tension—for they do! But our shout had best not be an arrogant attack on Majesty. Ultimately, people of faith affirm—in the midst of the most negative environment—“The God of Israel will do right.”

Holy Jealousy

God’s command for annihilating the people was because they were a threat to the holiness of God’s people, which was a hindrance to God being glorified. God’s name will be hallowed. He is serious about this (see Exodus 34:11–16). Therefore anything that stands opposed to his purpose must be destroyed. This herem was an act of God’s judgement. It was also an act of God’s mercy to protect his bride. The command was motivated by his holy jealousy.

Whatever might be said about this and similar passages (there are many), we must be guided by verse such as Deuteronomy 32:4: “The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.” Indeed, the God of Israel, our God, will always do that which is right (Genesis 18:25).

Consider several things to consider about this and similar passages. (I here adapt Justin Taylor’s “How Could God Command Genocide in the Old Testament?”)

First, as the maker of all things and the ruler of all people, God has absolute rights of ownership over all people and places.

Second, God is not only the ultimate maker, ruler, and owner, but he is just and righteous in all that he does.

Third, all of us deserve God’s justice; none of us deserve God’s mercy.

Fourth, the Midianites (and Canaanites) were enemies of God who deserved to be punished (Genesis 15:12–16; Deuteronomy 9:5).

Fifth, God’s actions are not an example of ethnic cleansing. It should be noted that the herem was a sacred act directly related to Israel in God’s promised holy land. We do not live in such an economy.

Sixth, Israel was a theocracy, and modern nations are not. To be sure, the local church is a theocracy. As God’s holy nation (1 Peter 2:9), there is a sense in which the local church is to carry out a spiritual and thus relational herem when sin is in the camp. We call this excommunication. And it is serious (Matthew 18:15–20; 1 Corinthians 5:1–5, 9–13).

Seventh, this destruction (herem) is a picture of the final judgement (see Acts 10:42; 2 Thessalonians 1:8–9; Revelation 15:3–4).

Summary

Whatever struggles we have with this text, the solution is to humble ourselves before holy, creator God recognising our sinfulness and therefore God’s justice in condemning us all. Our struggle with the text is our problem, not God’s. God is God and we are not. We need to take him seriously, including repenting of questioning him sceptically. Having a right view of God is essential for success in his holy war. When God tells us to take no prisoners, we must obey.

A Holy Purification

The special forces, having fulfilled their holy duty, engaged in purification rather than a celebration.

Encamp outside the camp seven days. Whoever of you has killed any person and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves and your captives on the third day and on the seventh day. You shall purify every garment, every article of skin, all work of goats’ hair, and every article of wood.”

 

Then Eleazar the priest said to the men in the army who had gone to battle: “This is the statute of the law that the LORD has commanded Moses: only the gold, the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water. You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you shall be clean. And afterward you may come into the camp.”

(Numbers 31:19–24)

Celebration would only commence after the experience and appreciation of purification. In other words, these special forces were not high-fiving each other at the death of the wicked. Rather, they were humbly recognising that, but for the grace of God, they too would be dead (Deuteronomy 9:5).

Those involved in spilling blood in the battle are required to apply the laws of Numbers 19 (the waters of purification) and be cleansed outside the camp (vv. 19–21). This highlights a couple of truths.

First, “over every war, however glorious its outcome from the victor’s point of view, hangs the shadow of death. These purification rules reminded Israel that the death of one’s fellow men was a catastrophic disruption of God’s creation, even though in some cases it was the Creator himself who demanded the execution of the sinner” (Wenham). War veterans often will not speak of their experiences precisely because war carries with it the stench of death.

Second, it speaks to a holy attitude towards God’s judgement upon the wicked. Brothers and sisters, God’s judgment doesfall upon the wicked in this life. Justice at times is meted out. And judgement day will eventually come for all. But we must humbly acknowledge this. God’s wrath, and therefore man’s death and eternal destruction, is a serious and sobering matter. Never make light of it. Never make light of hell. Don’t make light of church discipline (see Galatians 6:1–2).

A Holy Mindset

We might label vv. 25–47 “spoils alert.” Consider:

The LORD said to Moses, “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the congregation, and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. And levy for the LORD a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the LORD. And from the people of Israel’s half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the LORD.” And Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD commanded Moses.

 

Now the plunder remaining of the spoil that the army took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and 32,000 persons in all, women who had not known man by lying with him. And the half, the portion of those who had gone out in the army, numbered 337,500 sheep, and the LORD’s tribute of sheep was 675. The cattle were 36,000, of which the LORD’s tribute was 72. The donkeys were 30,500, of which the LORD’s tribute was 61. The persons were 16,000, of which the LORD’s tribute was 32 persons. And Moses gave the tribute, which was the contribution for the LORD, to Eleazar the priest, as the LORD commanded Moses.

 

From the people of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from that of the men who had served in the army—now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 36,000 cattle, and 30,500 donkeys, and 16,000 persons— from the people of Israel’s half Moses took one of every 50, both of persons and of beasts, and gave them to the Levites who kept guard over the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses.

(Numbers 31:25–47)

As with the previous section, it seems that the “narrator is more concerned with the aftermath of the battle than with the battle itself” (Wenham). This is because this was the Lord’s victory. And therefore he had the right to apportion how the spoils were to be handled.

A Holy Plunder

These are significant numbers. This large spoil would aid the nation as they crossed into Jordan and settled there. But unless they handled it well, the spoils would spoil them.

The love of money has always been a root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 4:6–10), not only in our day. Therefore, a proper mindset is vital for our spiritual welfare. This is all a part of spiritual warfare.

God, in his wisdom, commanded that the spoils be apportioned for the support of the Levites and for the wider community. This was a means to instil the mindset that everything they gained was from God. It would also inform their thinking that not everything they gained was to be hoarded for themselves. In other words, God often gives through us rather than merely to us (see Acts 2; 11; 2 Corinthians 8–9).

We are to be givers, not merely getters. Our paycheques are not merely to support ourselves. God expects us to help fund his holy war.

A Holy Mercy

The chapter close with a voluntary offering to God of 200 kilograms of gold from these purified warriors.

Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses and said to Moses, “Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not a man missing from us. And we have brought the LORD’s offering, what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and beads, to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.” And Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them the gold, all crafted articles. And all the gold of the contribution that they presented to the LORD, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels.  (The men in the army had each taken plunder for himself.) And Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the people of Israel before the LORD.

(Numbers 31:48–54)

This offering was a recognition of God’s miraculous protection. Not a single soldier out of the 12,000 died in battle. God’s amazing grace ushered in astounding gratitude.

The offering is said “to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD” (v. 50). There is uncertainty about the precise meaning but, since this word means a payment as well as a propitiation, we can conclude that these soldiers recognised that, apart from God’s grace, they would have experienced the same outcome as the Midianites.

In other words, while deflecting his wrath from the Israelites, he at the same time poured out his wrath on others. God is just and he has the right to do this. Thank God, for this is at the heart of the gospel. Think about it.

The Lord Jesus Christ was treated like a sinful, immoral, idolatrous Midianite so that you and I would be treated like sinless men and women, girls and boys. Jesus was punished so that we would be protected. It cost the Father and it, of course, cost the Son. It costs us nothing—except, of course, our life, our soul, and our all.

Like these soldiers, those who recognise their just deserts and God’s mercy and grace will respond with the “payment” of their bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Romans 12:1–2). We will offer our lives daily as Christ’s spoils of victory. We need this spoils alert. “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all’ (Isaac Watts).

Conclusion

Let us learn from this chapter to take God seriously—and to take our God-given mission seriously. Let us engage in holy warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil while we make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. For most of us, this begins in our homes.

Second, the Lord’s vengeance is still executed against sin, but the vehicle is both the church and the Christ. The church carries out God’s judgement against sin by exercising biblical discipline. The church warns a wicked world of his vengeance as it properly proclaims the gospel warning of the vengeance of the King who is returning (2 Thessalonians 1:8–9).

Third, the Lord’s victory is now seen in the spoils of holiness and disciples. And unlike the physical land victories found in the book of Joshua, the Lord’s victory today is found in the extension of his kingdom. So, let us engage in this holy war, to the glory of God and to the eternal good of sinners who will be atoned for by the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

AMEN