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I wonder what Moses felt when God said, “Pay back the
Midianites for what they did to the Israelites; after that, you will die.”
The Midianites, at the suggestion of Balaam, had used their
women to seduce the Israelite men to sin.
The 12,000 soldiers who were sent into battle successfully killed every
Midianite man without losing a single soldier!
But it was the women who’d seduced them, and now
they had taken them as spoils of
war!
Moses directed them to kill all of the Midianite boys, since
they would soon become men and be tempted to fight Israel again. Any Midianite women or girls who’d had sex
with men would also be killed (for they were likely the ones who’d caused
Israel to sin), but virgins would be spared to be used as slaves.
The spoils of war were divided equally between the soldiers
who’d fought and the people. Both groups
were taxed by the Lord as well. The
commanders, having noted that every
soldier return from battle alive, ordered 420 pounds of gold the soldiers
had collected as spoils of war be given to the Lord as a gift of
thankfulness.
My commentary had this
to say about holy war today:
“The church has no mandate from God to engage in holy wars,
because our enemies aren’t flesh and
blood, and our weapons are spiritual. The sword of the Spirit is the only sword we
use to advance the cause of Christ.” I
wonder what our world would be like today if the church had understood and
followed this advice and never set out on the Crusades against the Muslims!
Father, thank You for Your provision and protection over my
family. Help us to always acknowledge Your
help. Let us never keep for ourselves
things that are weapons of the enemy which could entice us to sin.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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