UNROLL
At dusk beyond the last tents of the camp, a low fire glows in a ring of stones on the open ground, a large clay water jar standing beside it.

The Book of

Numbers 31

The last thing God asks of Moses is judgment on the people who led Israel into sin at Peor. Even the victors must be made clean before they come home.

54 verses≈ 7 min5 peopleBSB

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In this chapter

Where we are

  1. 1–10Ready at SinaiCounted and ordered
  2. 11–14GrumblingTo Kadesh and refusal
  3. 15–21Forty yearsRebellion and mercy
  4. 22–25BalaamA curse turned to blessing
  5. 26–36A new generationReady for the landChapter 31

Vengeance on Midian

And the LORD said to Moses, “Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.”

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So Moses told the people, “Arm some of your men for war, that they may go against the Midianites and execute the LORD’s vengeance on them. Send into battle a thousand men from each tribe of Israel.”

So a thousand men were recruited from each tribe of Israel—twelve thousand armed for war.

And Moses sent the thousand from each tribe into battle, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest, who took with him the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.

Then they waged war against Midian, as the LORD had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. Among the slain were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

The Israelites captured the Midianite women and their children, and they plundered all their herds, flocks, and goods. Then they burned all the cities where the Midianites had lived, as well as all their encampments, and carried away all the plunder and spoils, both people and animals.

At dusk on the plains of Moab, great flocks of sheep and herds of cattle and donkeys come across the plain in a golden haze of dust, while Moses, Eleazar and a few elders walk out from the camp's edge to meet them.

They brought the captives, spoils, and plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the congregation of Israel at the camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho. And Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the congregation went to meet them outside the camp.

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Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

But Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who were returning from the battle. “Have you spared all the women?” he asked them. “Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD. So now, kill all the boys, as well as every woman who has had relations with a man, but spare for yourselves every girl who has never had relations with a man.

The law

Seven days outside the camp

  1. Seven days outside the camp

    All of you who have killed a person or touched the dead are to remain outside the camp for seven days.

  2. Purified on the third and seventh days

    On the third day and the seventh day you are to purify both yourselves and your captives.

  3. Garments, leather, goat’s hair, wood

    And purify every garment and leather good, everything made of goat’s hair, and every article of wood.”

Eleazar

From Peor to Midian

Balaam’scounselhow Peor began (16)Sin at Peorand the plague (16)The LORD’scommandvengeance on Midian(2)Midian judgedas the LORD commanded(7–11)Purifiedfire and water (19–24)Back into thecampon the seventh day(24)

Whiteboard

The chapter gives its own reasons. Midian’s women had led Israel into sin at Peor “through the counsel of Balaam,” and the LORD judged it, as He had said He would. Then even those who had carried out His command were unclean: they stayed “outside the camp for seven days” and passed through fire and water before they could come back where God dwelt.

Reflect

No small sins

Peor looked like a feast and a friendship. It turned out to be a trap set “through the counsel of Balaam,” and its harm reached far: a plague in the camp, and God’s judgment on Midian. Is there a sin you have been treating as small, or a way you have been drawing someone else toward one? Write it down, and write what turning from it would look like this week. Then pray: Lord, show me my sin as You see it, and make me quick to turn.

Division of the Spoils

The law

The LORD’s share

  1. Count what was taken

    The LORD said to Moses, “You and Eleazar the priest and the family heads of the congregation are to take a count of what was captured, both of man and beast.

  2. Half to the troops, half to all

    Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to battle and the rest of the congregation.

  3. For the priests

    One in 500 to the LORD

    Set aside a tribute for the LORD from what belongs to the soldiers who went into battle: one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, or sheep. Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the LORD.

  4. For the Levites

    One in 50 to the Levites

    From the Israelites’ half, take one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or other animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.”

The count

What was counted

  1. Done as the LORD commanded

    So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the LORD had commanded Moses,

  2. All that remained of the plunder

    and this plunder remained from the spoils the soldiers had taken:

    675,000 sheep,

    72,000 cattle,

    61,000 donkeys,

    and 32,000 women who had not slept with a man.

  3. The troops’ half, with the tribute

    This was the half portion for those who had gone to war:

    337,500 sheep,

    including a tribute to the LORD of 675,

    36,000 cattle, including a tribute to the LORD of 72,

    30,500 donkeys, including a tribute to the LORD of 61,

    and 16,000 people, including a tribute to the LORD of 32.

  4. The tribute given to Eleazar

    Moses gave the tribute to Eleazar the priest as an offering for the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

  5. The congregation’s half

    From the Israelites’ half, which Moses had set apart from the men who had gone to war, this half belonged to the congregation:

    337,500 sheep,

    36,000 cattle,

    30,500 donkeys,

    and 16,000 people.

  6. One in 50 to the Levites

    From the Israelites’ half, Moses took one out of every fifty persons and animals and gave them to the Levites who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded him.

The Voluntary Offering

Then the officers who were over the units of the army—the commanders of thousands and of hundreds—approached Moses and said, “Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one of us is missing. So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”

So Moses and Eleazar the priest received from them all the articles made out of gold. All the gold that the commanders of thousands and of hundreds presented as an offering to the LORD weighed 16,750 shekels.

At evening inside the tabernacle court, the old Moses and the high priest Eleazar, seen from behind, walk toward the tent's entrance, Eleazar carrying a heavy linen bundle with a glint of gold at its fold.

Each of the soldiers had 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 Israelites before the LORD.

brought it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the LORD

Numbers 31:54

Pray

Not one missing

The commanders counted their men and found “not one of us is missing.” They did not keep the gold for themselves; they brought it to the LORD, and Moses and Eleazar carried it into the Tent of Meeting as a memorial. Thank God for the ways He has kept you and those you love, and name them. Then ask Him what you could give back to Him from what He has put in your hands.

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Numbers 31

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A verse to carry with you

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 Israelites before the LORD.

Numbers 31:54

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