Numbers 31- Judgment of Midian

Who were the Midianites?

Midian was a son of Abraham - Genesis 25:2. They settled in “the land of the east” (Genesis 25:6). When Moses fled the wrath of Pharaoh, he traveled to Midian (Exodus 2:15). There, Moses met and married his wife, Zipporah, and served as a shepard to Jethro, his father-in-law. God appeared to Moses, still in Midian, and commissioned him to lead the Israelites out of slavery (Exodus 3—4).

The relations between the Israelites and the Midianites began to sour when the Midianites joined forces with the Moabites in order to hire Balaam to curse Israel (Numbers 22). Later, when Israel fell into idolatry and sexual sin with the Moabite women (Numbers 25), we find that a Midianite woman was also involved (Numbers 25:6). During the time of the judges, “the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country” and plundered the land (Judges 6:3). For seven years, “Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help” (verse 6). Note that the events in Judges occurred roughly 1350 to 1050 BC, which is after the events in Numbers. 

The Context

Numbers 25 is the prequel to the events recorded in Numbers 31. 

Numbers 25 tells how the Midianites led the Israelites astray into worshiping the Baal or Peor. The Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and He struck them with a plague. The plague ended when Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, killed an Israelite man and the Midianite woman he brought into his family (Numbers 25:6-9). The relations with Midianite women were in violation of God’s commands in Deuteronomy 7:3-4: "You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, 4 for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods. Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.”

As a result of these events, God instructed the Israelites to “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, 18 for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.” (Numbers 25:17-18). When, in Numbers 31, the army brought back the women, it was in direct violation to God’s order in Numbers 25 to destroy the Midianites, who would lead the Israelites into apostasy.

This paralells God ordering Israel to destroy the inhabitants of Canaan because of their wickedness (Deuteronomy 9:4; 18:9-14). They were so evil that their Creator no longer could abide their corruption and lack of repentance. That they had numerous opportunities to repent is evident from Genesis 15:13-16. Nineveh was under similar judgment yet they repented.

The Judgment of Midian

Numbers 31 is not a war of conquest, but a divine execution of justice. Following the idolatry and sexual immorality at Baal-Peor (Numbers 25), God commands Moses to "take vengeance" on the Midianites. The chapter details the battle, the execution of Balaam, the controversy over captives, the purification of soldiers, and the division of immense spoils.

The Nature of the War: Judgment vs. Conquest

In context, this war was a direct punishment for the Midianites intentionally leading Israel into sin. The war was announced by the Lord, not Moses, distinguishing it from personal revenge or territorial expansion. It highlights that Phinehas the priest led the army with holy articles rather than Joshua the general, underscoring the spiritual nature of the conflict. All of this goes to fram this as a Holy War against sin. It connects the severity of the judgment to the severity of the crime: "Sinning is bad enough, but to cause someone else to sin is even worse - see Matthew 5:19 as it teaches that leading others astray brings severe condemnation.

The Death of Balaam

Balaam,the diviner from chapters 22-24, was killed because he devised the plan to seduce Israel. The irony that Balaam prayed to "die the death of the righteous" (Num 23:10) but died a violent death among God's enemies because of his greed. He sold out God's people for money and ended up a loser. In short, Balaam allowed greed to master him, removing himself from God's protection.

The Controversy of the Captives

The most difficult part of the chapter is the command to kill the non-virgin women and children.

We must set aside emotion and view it rationally: God is the Giver and Sustainer of life. No one would have an iota of life sans God. He is under no obligation to give anyone life or any amount of life. 
And has the right to take any life at any time. The children were taken out of a desperately immoral world to a better place.  And causing pain (like a doctor with a needle) isn't necessarily evil.  

Moses' anger at sparing the women these specific women were because they were weapons used to nearly destroy Israel spiritually. "Israel could overcome mighty warriors... but if they were seduced into immorality... they would certainly fall." It views the execution as removing a spiritual cancer.

Sparing the boys would have led to a future blood feud/revenge cycle. Sparing the young girls allowed them to be absorbed into Israel, enabling them to lead a productive faithful life, and unlikely to mount a revenge counter-attack or reintroduce idolatry.

The judgment conundrum 

Critics often say that the existence of evil, and God's non-response is evidence of His non-existence or being unloving. But here we have instances of God intervening on the continued evil of people and the critics complain about that as well. A parent who warns a child of the consequences of disobedience, threatens an appropriate punishment of the action is not repented of and then is true to his word at the event of infraction, generally is considered to be a firm-but-loving parent by clear-thinking people. Yet, critics ask us to view God as some type of monster for following the same course of action. The discrepancy of thought and morals is not with the God, but lies with the critics.

Purification and Division of Spoils

Purification wasn't just about hygiene; it was about ritual holiness and the transition from the profane (war/death) back to the sacred (the camp where God dwelt). Contact with death rendered a soldier unclean. According to Priestly law, the presence of God among the Israelites required a high standard of ritual purity. The seven-day purification period (Num 31:19) served as a boundary to ensure the defilement of the battlefield didn't enter the community.

Metals (gold, silver, bronze, etc.) had to pass through fire to be purified, then washed with water.  Items that couldn't survive fire (Fabric/Organic Material) were purified by water alone.

This process signaled that the war was not a secular brawl but a Holy War. By purifying the spoils, the Israelites were effectively reclaiming these items for use in a holy society.

The distribution of the booty followed a specific 50/50 formula designed to maintain social equity and religious gratitude. 50% to the soldiers, 50% to the community

The division wasn't just between people, but also included a portion for the Divine. From the soldiers 1 out of every 500 (0.2%) went to the Priests (Eleazar). From the community: 1 out of every 50 (2%) went to the Levites.

The Justification for distribution

By codifying the split, the law prevented individual soldiers from hoarding wealth, which could lead to internal strife. Giving half to the non-combatants reinforced the idea that the victory belonged to the entire nation, not just the military elite.

The tribute to the Priests and Levites served as a heave offering to Yahweh, acknowledging that the victory was granted by God.