Numbers 30-31

CHAPTER 30:
         As noted in the previous chapter, verse 39 was a reminder from the LORD of the importance of the various voluntary offerings and sacrifices, including those that are done in connection with vows. Now, in chapter 30, God gives more detailed instructions through Moses to the Israelites regarding vows. Leviticus 27 introduced legislation for redeeming those who had made a vow of lifetime service to God or had donated an animal to the priest for his use in the tabernacle. Now God is giving more detailed case law to Moses regarding vows, specifically when it’s a daughter, wife, widow, or a divorced woman that is making a vow to the LORD.
        Vows made to God are a serious matter and not to be treated lightly or done impulsively. Verse 2 makes it clear that whatever oath or vow a man swears unto the LORD shall not be broken. He is to keep that vow, no matter the cost. (Leviticus 5:4, 27:2, Deuteronomy 23:21, Judges 11:30-31, 35, Ecclesiastes 5:4, Matthew 14:9, Acts 23:14) That cross reference from Deuteronomy makes it clear that to break a vow to God is sin.
       If a woman who is unmarried and still living in her father’s house makes a vow unto the LORD, and her father hears her vow and says nothing, then that vow will stand and the woman is bound to obey it. (v.3-4) But if her father immediately objects to the vow and declares it void, then the woman is not obligated by God to keep it. (v.5) The same law applies to a woman who is married. (v.6-8, 10-13) If her husband overhears a vow made by his wife and keeps his peace, then she must keep the vow. But if her husband immediately objects and disallows her from making the vow, then it is void.
         By their silence, the father or husband is giving approval of the vow made by his wife or daughter, and all that she says to the LORD is binding. (v.14) She is required to fulfill all that she vowed to God. However, if the father or husband does not immediately object to the daughter’s or wife’s vow, and then sometime later changes his mind and tries to annul the vow, he is too late. God will hold him accountable for the sin of forcing his daughter or wife to break her vow. (v.15)
         If a woman is divorced or is a widow, she is free to make a vow unto the LORD, and the LORD expects her to honor it. (v.9)
        The whole purpose of this particular law is to ensure that the patriarchal system of authority is not subverted by the daughter or wife that might make a rash, impulsive vow. Whether we like it or not, God ordained the men to rule over the women as His natural, proper design, and the daughters and wives are to submit accordingly. That is the principle behind this law, and God is making it clear to the children of Israel that the fathers and husbands are responsible for leading their homes in all things. That means guiding and watching over all that their daughters and wives do or say.

CHAPTER 31:
         The narrative thread now resumes, picking up where chapter 25 left off. God had commanded Moses at the end of that chapter to attack the Midianites as part of His judgment against them and Balaam for drawing Israel into the sin of idolatry and immorality. (Numbers 25:16-18) Moses commands each tribe to select from among them a thousand men (v.4), and the army of twelve thousand marches against Midian, led by Phineas, the son of Eleazar the high priest. (v.6) (Numbers 25:7-8) The fact that Phineas is at the head of the army, carrying the holy instruments and sounding the trumpets, indicates that this war is a holy one, reinforcing the statement by God to Moses in verse 2: “Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites…”. (Numbers 10:9)
           
          Verses 7-11: The Israelites are more than victorious. They utterly destroy the Midianites, slaying all the men – including Balaam (v.7-8) – and taking captive all the women and children, as well as all their livestock and wealth. (v.9) (Deuteronomy 20:13-14, Judges 21:11, 1 Samuel 27:9, 1 Kings 11:15-16) The cities and fortresses of the Midianites are burned to the ground. (v.10) The names of the slain listed in verse 8 alongside Balaam’s are also significant. (Numbers 25:15, Joshua 13:21) It’s important to note here that only the Midianites living in the plains of Moab are conquered and destroyed. The Midianites that are named in Judges 6 are a different clan that currently occupies the promised land.
 
         Verses 12-20: Moses is angry with the soldiers because they saved all the women of Midian, including those that had seduced the men of Israel to sin. (v.14-16) (Numbers 25:1-2) Moses then orders the army to slay all the male children and any woman that is not a virgin. (v.17) The virgins, presumably, are allowed to marry any eligible Israelite man. (v.18) Moses also reminds the soldiers of the law regarding those who have been defiled by either touching or being in the presence of a dead body. They must remain outside the camp for seven days and then wash themselves, their clothing, and anything else that came into contact with the slain Midianites. (v.18-20) (Numbers 5:2)
        One of the many problems that non-Christians have when confronted by scenes such as this in the Bible, particularly in the OT, is that they cannot understand how a loving and just God would condone that kind of murder of the innocent, especially babies and young children. Even some believers struggle with reconciling God’s attributes of love, mercy, longsuffering, and graciousness with passages such as this one. Moses is relaying the word of the LORD (v.2), not his own decision or judgment, so therefore it is God who is commanding His chosen people to execute all the male children – yes, even the babies – and the women who had enticed the men of Israel into idolatry and adultery – both physical and spiritual. The killing of the male children and the adult women that committed adultery ensures that there will be no future rebellion against Israel by the Midianites.
        There’s a couple of important points to remember when reading these passages:
          1) God had promised Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “…I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee…”. The destruction of the nation of Midian in this chapter is God fulfilling that promise. The princes of Midian, along with King Balak, had cursed the nation of Israel. Therefore, because God is perfect He cannot lie, nor can He go back on His word. It’s impossible for Him to do so. This passage demonstrates God keeping His promise to Abraham’s descendants.
           2) The idolatry of the Midianites, which involved not only their worship of Baal but also their sexual immorality, has so angered the LORD, that He brings swift and immediate vengeance upon the entire nation. That includes not only the men, but the some of the women and the male children as well. God so despises adultery that He made it a capital crime. (Leviticus 20:10) Again, God cannot go back on His word, and that means that sin must be punished accordingly. The sins of idolatry, immorality, and adultery are not trifle matters, and that, too, is shown here in Moses’ command to the Israelite soldiers.
           We must keep in mind that while God is a loving and merciful God, He is also a just and jealous God who, because of His perfect and holy nature, cannot abide by even the slightest sin. Any sin, no matter how slight or microscopic, is an abomination to Him, and He must punish it accordingly, precisely because of His perfect and holy nature. Therefore, scenes like the one here in Numbers 31, as well as that of Genesis 19, are examples of God displaying His holiness, perfection, justice, and sovereignty over all His creation.
 
            Verses 21-24: The instructions in these verses by Eleazar to the soldiers are in keeping with the ordinances of the law that require purification by those who have been in contact with the dead as well as other causes of general uncleanness that are a side effect of both war and sin. (Leviticus 11:25)
 
            Verses 25-47: This section lists not only the numbers of the women and children taken captive by the Israelites, but all the different animals as well: sheep, oxen, donkeys, goats, etc. Both the people and the livestock are divided equally among the soldiers as well as the congregation, minus portions that are given to Eleazar as a tithe to the LORD and provision for the priests (v.41), and to the tribe of Levi for tribute and provision since they do not share in any inheritance like the other tribes according to the law (v.47).
       After carrying out Moses’ command earlier regarding the captive women who were non-virgins and the male children, those that remained of the virgins are a total of thirty-two thousand. (v.35, 40) A tenth of them, three hundred and twenty, are given as tribute, or tithe, to the LORD. They will serve in the tabernacle. (Exodus 38:8) As noted earlier, the rest of the virgins are, presumably, given to the men of Israel as wives.
 
           Verses 48-54: In accordance with the law, the soldiers come to Moses and Eleazar and present an offering of gold from the spoils of war “…to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.” (v.50) (Exodus 30:12) Since there is no record in this chapter of any Israelite soldier dying in the battle with the Midianites, it’s possible that this offering is also a gift to God as gratitude for their victory. Eleazar receives it as a memorial, also in accordance with that same law. (Exodus 30:16)