King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Wednesday, March 08, 2023
Chapters: NUMBERS 31-32
Study: Avenge God’s People
Hello My Brother/Sister/Friend,
This passage came to mind as I read the chapters for today, [Romans 5:1-5 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.]
We should never be ashamed of hope for it is hope that keeps reminding us of the promised that God has made us. And let me tell you, ninety percent of the time, we are not receiving His promises from any merit, it is only by His grace through our faith because we surely do not deserve what we are given. As we continue in the reading of Numbers, God did not forget what the Midianites did both in their bringing idol worship to Israel, and also what Moab did in their attempt to put a curse on the children of Israel. God orders Moses to gather an army, it was time to go to war and to avenge Israel of the Midianites.
[Numbers 31:2-3,7-9 Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people. 3 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. 7 And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males. 8 And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. 9 And the children of Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones, and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all their goods.]
[afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.] The Midianites were guilty of introducing idol worship to the Israelites and of their worshiping them. After Moses would send an army to avenge the Meditates, his time on earth will be up shortly after. Now, Moses could have just walked away, but he did not and in fact, was quite angry that the army did not follow orders to execute all who were involved.
[Numbers 31:14-,16-19 And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle. 16 Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. 17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. 18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves. 19 And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.]
[kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman] These were not babies or toddlers that did not know any better, they were old enough to know the ways of the Midianites as well as the false gods they worshiped. Once a child gets old enough to actually understand what sin is and admit that they have sin, that is known as the age of accountability and that is when they must come to the knowledge of Christ themselves. There is no specific age for accountability, but if we had to give a number it would be somewhere between ten and twelve. We come to that number by our knowledge of when Jesus was a boy about that age,
[Luke 2:42-43,48-49 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. 43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. 48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?]
You see, it was all about putting away the evil, if they were allowed to keep them all alive, then they would have brought idol worship back into Israel as well as their sinful ways. God, has a great deal of mercy for all mankind, if He could, He would save all them all, but that is a choice that each and every one of us has to make. Now, after the army had done what they were commanded to do, God, orders another census, this time of the people that survived as well as all the goods, which would be divided in half.
[Numbers 31:26-30 Take the sum of the prey that was taken, both of man and of beast, thou, and Eleazar the priest, and the chief fathers of the congregation: 27 And divide the prey into two parts; between them that took the war upon them, who went out to battle, and between all the congregation: 28 And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war which went out to battle: one soul of five hundred, both of the persons, and of the beeves, and of the asses, and of the sheep: 29 Take it of their half, and give it unto Eleazar the priest, for an heave offering of the LORD. 30 And of the children of Israel’s half, thou shalt take one portion of fifty, of the persons, of the beeves, of the asses, and of the flocks, of all manner of beasts, and give them unto the Levites, which keep the charge of the tabernacle of the LORD.]
[And levy a tribute unto the LORD of the men of war] A levy is a sum of money raised to pay taxes, tolls, or in this case, to pay the army for their hard work. Let me tell you, the military are some of the most overworked and underpaid people in every country and most of them do it for the love of their country and not for the money. And this is why God had instituted the levy for those who had gone to war. Did you notice that a priest was to be present in infantry as well? Notice that for a war to be won two factors need to come into play, God and the intent. Do not mistake Christ’s love for man as condoning what the world does or what His people do. When Jesus does return, He is coming with a vengeance, and a fierce army,
[2 Thessalonians 1:6-8 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:]
Most wars that occur within God’s nations (and enemies of God’s nations) are not man made, they are orders from God Himself. Remember, God will judge His people, but He does it His way, and He will defend His people when they are being attacked. Why? When they attack us, they are attacking Him, and again, He will avenge Himself. God is never opposed to war, He will destroy all who cause His people to sin, but if that sin is of our own doing then, we can expect judgment from God Himself. When the tribes of Ruben and Gad saw the land they were on they no longer wanted to go into the promise land, but wanted to set up their families in Gilead. They went to Moses for permission to take possession of the land for themselves.
[Numbers 32:1-2,4-6 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spake unto Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the congregation, saying, 4 Even the country which the LORD smote before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle: 5 Wherefore, said they, if we have found grace in thy sight, let this land be given unto thy servants for a possession, and bring us not over Jordan. 6 And Moses said unto the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?]
[Shall your brethren go to war, and shall ye sit here?] This is why those who walk with Christ and endure the suffering while fighting this war get so angry at those who just get saved and go about their lives with no concern for their fellow brothers and sisters. While our salvation has absolutely nothing to do with our works, we who are faithful to God, work hard to get what we have, and it grieves us that we are fighting a war that they are actually a part of, but take no responsibility for, [James 4:1-4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.]
Moses was more concerned for the rest of the tribes and not necessarily them, if they were content to stay in Gilead, then what would stop the rest of the tribes from wanting to go into the promised land? Notice who was not in the conversation in all of this. This was not something that was discussed with God. Nevertheless, they continued their plea and came up with a plan to get Moses to go along with it.
[Numbers 32:16-18,20-23 And they came near unto him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 But we ourselves will go ready armed before the children of Israel, until we have brought them unto their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fenced cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return unto our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 20 And Moses said unto them, If ye will do this thing, if ye will go armed before the LORD to war, 21 And will go all of you armed over Jordan before the LORD, until he hath driven out his enemies from before him, 22 And the land be subdued before the LORD: then afterward ye shall return, and be guiltless before the LORD, and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the LORD. 23 But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.]
[until we have brought them unto their place:] There is a very good reason why faithful Christians are placed right in the center of this war, we are not fighting to stay in the world, we are fighting to lead people into the promised land. Of course, God is the deciding factor in that, we are the soldiers sent to defend our faith and gather as many as we can until Christ returns or He brings us home, [2 Timothy 2:2-4 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.]
[and be guiltless before the LORD,] Why did Moses consider it a sin if they did not help the rest of them get over into the land of promise? By their wanting to remain where they were and not go into the promised land, they would have influenced the rest of them to do the same. It really is a sin to know the way of salvation and not tell anyone how to get there, [Romans 10:13-15 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. 14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!]
[and be sure your sin will find you out.] Let me tell you why I remain faithful and repentant, and keep fighting this fight through all the risks, I made a vow to God that I would remain faithful and keep teaching and preaching the Gospel wherever He leads me. I do not fight for my own sake, but for the sake of those that God places in my life. People are watching me, they come to me for guidance, if I lived a secret life of sin then it will surely find me out, and God would be sure to publish it for all to see. Yes, there were times that I dangled there in sin, and that was when I did not fully cover myself in that armor of God, and thought that I could fight the battle in my own flesh. Thank God, that His mercy and grace endured and I quickly repented and got back under that armor, which is our only defense in this battle.
[Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.]
Today’s Prayer: God, It never ceases to amaze me just how loving and merciful you are to us, no matter what we have done with our lives. You call Your faithful to be good soldiers that not only lead others to Your Son, but stand by You and fight the good fight of faith in Your word. Lord, lead us and prepare us to be good soldiers, put Your armor upon us and give us Your power to withstand the evil of the day. Let us always be ready for battle, and if we are not, then cover us quickly and get us back in action through our confession and repentance of our sins. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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