Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 31
Schoolmaster to Christ
NUMBERS CHAPTER 31
Scripture Reading: Numbers 31 (KJV)
Here we have the closing scene of Moses' official life; as in Deuteronomy 34 we have the closing scene of his personal history. "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. And Moses spake unto the People, saying, Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; and they slew all the males" (vv. 3-7).
This is a remarkable passage. The Lord says to Moses, "Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites." And Moses says to Israel, "Avenge the Lord of Midian." The people had been ensnared by the wiles of the daughters of Midian, through the evil influence of Balaam the son of Peor. They are now called on to thoroughly clear themselves from defilement contracted through their lack of watchfulness. The sword is to be brought on the Midianites; and all the spoil is to pass either through the fire of judgment or the water of purification. Not one jot or tittle of the evil thing is to be allowed to pass unjudged.
This war was what we may call abnormal. By right, the people should not have had any occasion to encounter it at all. It was not one of the wars of Canaan. It was simply the result of their own unfaithfulness, the fruit of their own unhallowed commerce with the uncircumcised. Hence, although Joshua, the son of Nun, had been appointed to succeed Moses as leader of the congregation, we find no mention of him in connection with this war. On the contrary, it is to Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest that the conduct of this expedition is committed; and he enters on it "with the holy instruments and the trumpets."
All this is strongly pointed out. The priest is the prominent person; and the Holy instruments, the prominent instrumentality. It is a question of wiping away the stain caused by their unholy association with the enemy. Therefore, instead of a general officer with sword and spear, it is a priest with holy instruments that appears in the foreground. True, the sword is present; but it is not the prominent thing. It is the priest with sanctuary vessels; and that priest is the same man who first executed judgment on the very evil that is to be here avenged.
The moral of all this is both plain and practical. The Midianites furnish a type of a peculiar kind of influence that the world exerts over the hearts of God's people, the ensnaring power of the world used by Satan to hinder entrance into our proper heavenly portion. Israel should have had nothing to do with Midianites; but in an evil hour, an unguarded moment, having been betrayed into association with them, nothing remained but war and utter extermination.
So it is with Christians. As pilgrims and strangers, our proper business is to pass through the world having nothing to do with it, except to be patient witnesses of the grace of Christ, to shine as lights in the midst of the surrounding moral gloom. But, we fail to maintain this rigid separation; we allow ourselves to be betrayed into alliance with the world, and, consequently, we get involved in trouble and conflict that does not properly belong to us. War with Midian formed no part of Israel's proper work. They had only themselves to thank for it. But God is gracious; and hence, through a special application of priestly ministry, they were able not only to conquer the Midianites, but also to carry away much spoil. In His infinite goodness, God brings good out of evil. He will cause the eater to yield meat, and the strong sweetness. With exceeding brightness His grace shines in the scene before us, because He actually condescends to accept a portion of the spoils taken from the Midianites. But the evil had to be thoroughly judged. "Every male" had to be put to death, all in whom there was an energy of evil had to be exterminated. Finally, before God or His people could touch an atom of the spoil, the fire of judgment and the water of purification had to do their work on it.
What holy lessons are here before us. May we apply our hearts to them. May we be enabled to pursue a path of more intense separation from the world, to press on along the heavenly road as those whose portion and home is on high. Pray that in His great mercy, God will grant it.
