Day #67

Sermon - Audio
Num 31-32- Audio
Num 31-32 - Daily Reading

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Numbers 31 - The Moabite Midianites seduced the Israelites to worship Baal as read about in the story of Baalam in Numbers 23-25. Deut. 13 states that worshipping other gods is a capital offense, thus a brief and fierce battle is launched against them.

v. 13-18 - The end of the Midianite nation. The men were all completely wiped out according to v. 7. Moses further commanded that every male child be killed to prevent future military threats. Also every non-virgin female must be put to death since they have already been contaminated by sexual contact. (Could the plague talked in v. 16 possibly have been a sexually transmitted disease?)

v. 19-24 - Even though this was a war ordered by God (also known as a holy war), the soldiers still had to follow a ceremonial cleaning of themselves and their plunder as commanded in Lev. 11:25.

v. 48-54 - Even though a census was unpopular, it was necessary in determining how much ransom needed to be paid for their safe homecoming.

Numbers 32 - This was the land conquered in Numbers 21 - the conquest of Kings Sihon and Og. The tribes of Reuben and Gad put in their bid for the land. Moses is shocked and must feel that once again the people aren't trusting God to provide.

v. 6-15 - Moses tries to help the Israelites remember what happened with the spies in Numbers 13-14.

v. 16-19 - Moses may have misunderstood their intentions thinking that they no longer wanted to fight for fellow Israelites to conquer Canaan and that they were discouraging Israel to cross over into the promised land.

v. 20-32 - The Reubenites and Gadites clarified their intentions, outlining a plan for their man, not just to go with their fellow Israelites, but to be deployed in advance of them. Moses accepts their offer but warns them that if they fail to live up to their promise, they will be assigned land in Canaan instead.