NUMBERS 31
“And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel upon the Midianites; afterwards shalt thou be gathered unto thy peoples” (verses 1,2). Moses is, as we have often beard, a type of Christ as Lord, and the place which he has in this chapter suggests that under Christ as Lord God’s people are brought at the end of the wilderness to execute “Jehovah’s vengeance” on influences which have ensnared them in the past. Anything which has damaged the people of God in their relations with Him is a very serious matter in His sight; it is something to be avenged as a wrong done to Him and to them. We may be assured that the recognition of [p. 356] Christ as Lord, and true subjection to His authority on our part will secure that this comes about. We may well challenge our hearts as to whether Christ is really Lord to us, Has 1 Corinthians been acknowledged by us in any practical way as His commandment? (see 1 Corinthians 14:37). If so, we shall have very serious exercises about the influences which have long corrupted the people of God.
It was “through the counsel of Balaam” that the children of Israel had been caused to commit sin against Jehovah, and the reference to Balaam in Revelation 2:14 indicates plainly that a corresponding snare has come into the Christian profession. “Thou hast there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a snare before the sons of Israel, to eat of idol sacrifices and commit fornication”. Midian having some natural relationship with Israel made them more suitable to be used by the enemy as a corrupting influence. Balaam himself had some knowledge of the true God, and he could use the language of piety when it suited his purpose to do so, but this was made to subserve a very evil design. And the Lord has told us that such teaching as his has corrupted the Christian profession, The world as professing Christianity became a greater snare than it had been before, and its influence quickly corrupted the order of the assembly of God, and took His people away from the collective enjoyment of their most precious relations with Him.
1 Corinthians 10 may be read as a warning against the snare of Balaam, which aims at corrupting the communion, or fellowship, of the people of God by drawing them into association with a world which is essentially idolatrous. So that this form of evil had to be resisted from the beginning. But “the doctrine of Balaam” was held later, when the church had been so far corrupted that it would tolerate teaching which [p. 357] was altogether subversive of what had been set out as the Lord’s commandment in 1 Corinthians. The assembly in Pergamos represents the church as having passed through the time of persecution seen in Smyrna, and now so identified with the world that, as is well known, the Roman emperor convened, and presided at, one of its most celebrated councils, and its bishops became great dignitaries in the world. The assembly in Pergamos might well be said to dwell where the throne of Satan was! The world as professedly Christian was, no doubt, less repellent than it had been as heathen and persecuting, but this caused its corrupting influence to be more deadly as regards all that is spiritual in the service of God. Spiritual things were adapted to the world, idolatrous elements were brought in, and that unholy mixture began which has continued ever since.
The world can only have its own way of taking up Christianity, and nothing answers Satan’s purpose better than to use what is attractive naturally and socially to draw true saints into that way. But the sacrifices to which the daughters of Midian invited the people were “the sacrifices of the dead” (Psalm 106:28), and they answer to the set forms and lifeless ceremonies in which the religious world carries on what it calls worship. “The doctrine of Balaam” is a teaching that it is right for the people of God to worship as the world worships, and to hold divine things as the world holds them, so that all that constitutes the true spiritual service of God may cease. Pergamos had those who held the doctrine of Balaam; the very teaching tended to associate the church with the world, and we know what it has led to. It has resulted in the perversion of all that is of God, and in positive idolatry. This is a most serious matter in the sight of God; it has robbed Him of what is due to Him from His people, and it [p. 358] has robbed His Israel of the fellowship and privileges that are divinely connected with “the tent of meeting”. So that it justly becomes the subject of divine vengeance, and it is essential that it should be judged by the people of God if they are to be suitable to go over into that spiritual region which is typified by the land over Jordan. Midian is not judged outwardly and publicly yet, but it is judged morally as the saints get the mind of God about it, and this is typified in what is recorded in the chapter before us. If we come into true subjection to Christ as Lord He will lead us to judge unsparingly every corrupting influence that has operated through the long centuries of church history, Naturally we should fall under those influences, but spiritually we overcome them, and take great spoil. For we see here that, as a result of the vengeance being executed, great wealth is acquired by God’s people; His priests and Levites are enriched, and there is an offering brought into the tent of meeting of distinctive character, such as we have not seen before. Any true judgment by the saints of an evil from which they have suffered will never be merely negative in result; it will always secure positive gain for them, and enlarged offering to God.
The spiritual character of this holy war is set forth by the fact that Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest had part in it, “and the holy instruments (or, instruments of the sanctuary), even the alarm-trumpets in his hand”. The whole matter was to be handled in a priestly way; that is, with true consideration for what was due to God. It was not to be a fleshly contention even for what was right, but a holy movement in keeping with Jehovah’s sanctuary. Phinehas had been right in his judgment of the association with Midian, and had acted with divine jealousy in regard to it, but now all Israel was to be identified with him in [p. 359] an act of unsparing vengeance. If we have been beguiled, it is essential that we should be brought to a priestly judgment of what has beguiled us. No doubt there is great humbling in the fact that such an exercise should have to be taken up, but, it results in saints becoming overcomers, and in the promotion of the service of God. It was the mind of God that, all Israel should definitely judge that which had previously ensnared them. It is not less the mind of God today that all saints should judge the evil influences which have so perverted the truth, and substituted a human order for that spiritual order which was set up by Paul under the Lord’s authority in the assembly of God.
It is but rarely in Scripture that we find the will of God faithfully carried out in every particular by His people, and this raises the question whether we ourselves have gone the whole way in clearing ourselves of associations which damage us for the enjoyment of Christian fellowship, and for part in the holy service of God, In the execution of Jehovah’s vengeance upon Midian there was serious failure, for though they slew all the males, and the five kings of Midian, and Balaam, they took the women of Midian captive (verses 7 - 9). We can hardly suppose that Phinehas was a party to this, and it called forth the wrath of Moses. “Have ye saved all the women alive? Lo, these, through the counsel of Balaam, caused the children of Israel to commit sin against Jehovah” (verses 15,16). Phinehas, as we know him from the record in chapter 25, would not have been likely to spare anything that had ensnared the people of God. The “holy instruments” in his hand would not fail to sound an alarm under such circumstances. But the people generally stopped short of fully executing “Jehovah’s vengeance”. This is a serious warning, because it shows that the active energy of an evil association — represented by the [p. 360] males — may be judged while something of its subtle and ensnaring power is still allowed opportunity. It is easier to judge things objectively as seen active in others than it is to judge subjectively the same elements as more secretly working in ourselves. There is not a corrupting influence in Christendom of which I cannot find the germ in my own heart naturally. Things may often appear to be judged publicly while the root of the mischief in our own souls is not dealt with. The active energy of what is Midianitish is seen in formally constituted bodies of professed Christians, but it is possible to judge and leave such bodies while still yielding a good deal of place to the influence of the natural and the social in a more private and personal way. But if we spare what God would have us to judge we shall inevitably suffer from it later on. If Israel had fully executed Jehovah’s vengeance on Midian they would not have had to suffer from Midian as they did at a later period. God would have His people to be fully in moral accord with what suits Himself and His sanctuary. He not only desires that they should be holy, but that they should be partakers of His holiness. This is a high standard, but who that loves God would wish to have it lowered? And, as a matter of fact, when we stop short of carrying out what is in the mind of God I believe it will generally be found that we fail in what is really most essential to the maintenance of His testimony at the moment. In the case before us the real cause of the trouble had been spared. But Moses would not suffer this.
The provision for purifying, according to chapter 19, was necessary in this case (verse 19). It is a defiling thing to touch what is evil, even though it be to judge it, and purification is necessary if the tabernacle of Jehovah is not to be defiled. The purification here extends to “every garment, and every vessel of skin,
and all work of goat’s hair, and every utensil of wood” (verse 20). A great variety of “booty” was brought to the camp, but none of it was permitted to be taken into use without being purified. This was “the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded Moses” (verse 21), and there could be no exemption from it. Everything must go through either fire or water.
When believers are brought to judge worldly associations they always find that much spoil results. It is often like a new conversion when a believer begins to adjust himself in regard to his associations, and the influences he has allowed to act upon him. He finds immediately an accession of spiritual gain. We learn from 2 Corinthians 6, that the way to be enlarged is to separate ourselves from worldly associations. One of the most deplorable things in the Christian profession today is that it provides so much that gives social and worldly elements a place, and people are even taught that it is right to mix with the world, and help on its schemes, so that the world may be improved. But instead of the world being improved the people of God are corrupted by alliance with it.
One great result of the authority of Christ as Lord being recognised is that the question of associations is raised in the souls of believers. Midian is seen to be a corrupting influence which has damaged the testimony of God most seriously, and in that character it has to be judged unsparingly. But it is recognised at the same time that in what answers to Midian there are many things which in themselves have spiritual value. It is in taking forth the precious from the vile that God’s servants become as His mouth (Jeremiah 15:19). The world in its religious aspect has appropriated for its own enrichment and embellishment a good deal that does not really belong to it. Christianity has brought many conceptions and ideals, many standards [p. 362] of conduct, many features of truth, into the world that were never in it before. These things have enriched the world, and have made Christendom differ from heathendom. But they do not really belong to the world, and the people of God have to learn to take them out of the setting in which they have been found, and to purify them, so that they may be held in their true spiritual relation to God and His service. I apprehend that this is what is set forth in type in the “booty” taken from Midian. It represents what is really of God, but which has been appropriated and used in a manner which God never intended. It has now, in the hands of His people, to be restored to its right place as held for His service and glory.
But before being suitable for this things have to be purified. They have to be taken up in relation to the death of Christ, and in relation to a judgment which is in the Holy Spirit. When we are exercised under Christ as Lord to judge the social and worldly associations that have been a snare, and which have hindered spiritual progress, we learn at the same time to value more than ever the things which are of God, but which are perverted from their proper use in the religious world. For example, how common in the world are such words as “church”, “priest”, “bishop”, “divine service”, “communion”, “worship”, “saints” (though the last word generally used of persons long dead!). It is evident that all these words — and of course much more might be mentioned in this connection — represent things which are really of God, for we find them in Scripture. However much they may have been perverted from their true use, they are not to be discarded, but to be completely purified from the associations in which they have been found. They are to be caused to go through fire or water, so that they may be held and honoured in a way that is pleasing to God. There is an immense amount of “booty” to be found in the terms that are current in the religious world if we are faithful to judge the unspiritual associations in which they have been found, and if we seek grace to hold them in a holy way as purified from any application to man as in the flesh.
The persons and the living creatures taken from Midian represent, I think, what God has wrought in souls. Whatever has been wrought by Him is vital in character, and therefore, as rescued from what is Midianitish, it can have place in His assembly. The great object of priestly warfare today is to liberate all that is of God from a Midianitish profession, and set it in its true place and service in His assembly. Many living saints are today deprived of their true value by being retained in worldly associations, but it is due to God that they should be delivered from those associations, and secured for service in His assembly. As this is brought about there is great positive gain for God and for His people.
The way the spoil is divided is full of instruction. Half was to be given to “them that conducted the war, who went out to the battle”, and half to “the whole assembly” (verse 27). In any spiritual conflict those who bear the brunt of it will be the largest gainers. Those who went to the war got much more, in proportion to their number, than those of the assembly did, but it was an ordering of grace that the whole assembly should share with the fighting force. This seems to be in keeping with the statute and ordinance which David made after smiting the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30:24, 25). “For as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike”. God will see to it in His government that those who fight His battles get full compensation, but He also sees to it in His [p. 364] grace that the whole assembly shall share the spoil won by those battles. The overcomer in each assembly (Revelation 2, Revelation 3) gets a special reward, but we may be assured that something is secured by his valour which is available for the whole assembly if they are interested enough to take it up. There have been overcomers in our day who have fought great spiritual battles, but a share in the spoil is open to all who value it. One man may stand in a crisis, and secure what is of God, but when it is secured it is for the gain of “the whole assembly”. We should never have anything less than this in our minds.
But we find that there is “a tribute for Jehovah”, “a heave-offering of Jehovah”, from “the men of war who went out to the army”, which was given to Eleazar the priest. It represents what ministers to the direct priestly service of God, and this gives it a most excel-lent place, though it was apparently a smaller tribute than what was taken from the whole assembly. In-deed, what was taken from the whole assembly is not spoken of as “a tribute for Jehovah”, or as “a heave-offering of Jehovah”; it is obviously on a lower spiritual level than the tribute from the men of war. In what ministers to the direct priestly service of God spiritual quality is of more importance than quantity. What ministers to the priest has greater value in God’s estimation than what ministers to the Levite, though outwardly, as in this case, it appears to be much less in amount. The greatest result for God is the furtherance of what is priestly, and in this chapter it is the men of war alone who furnish this; it is the product of spiritual energy in overcoming corrupting influences.
How this would exercise us in spiritual discrimination! God would not have us to be content to know that there is something for the support of levitical service. He would have us concerned about the quality [p. 365] of the result for Him in relation to what is priestly. It is possible to do a good deal to further the cause of God in a general way without much concern about His priestly service. But the type before us is intended to exercise us as to relative values, so that we may learn to attach most importance to that which has the first place in the mind of God.
There is a three-fold result for God. The priest — representing the direct service of God — gets the tribute from the men of war; the Levites — representing the general service in relation to the tabernacle — get their portion from the whole assembly; while the children of Israel get a memorial before Jehovah from the offering of the officers and captains.
The offering of the captains (verses 48 - 54) comes in beautifully at the end of the chapter. Not one man was lacking through the conflict, and their hearts prompted them to bring all the gold which they had found as a heave-offering to Jehovah. In the estimation of their hearts it was due to Him that He should have all the best. No vain-glory or boastfulness was with them; they were filled with the sense that glory all belonged to God. They wanted to be before God as under cover of all that He was Himself; that seems to be the sense in which they speak of atonement in verse 50, for atonement means a covering. How blessed to be covered under the eye of God with all that in which the glory of His love is set forth!
The half-shekel of atonement money which the people had to give for the ransom of their souls, was put into the bases on which the tabernacle stood (Exodus 30:11 - 16; Exodus 38:25 - 27), and that became “a memorial to the children of Israel before Jehovah”. That was a memorial of silver — a redemption memorial — but in Numbers 31 the children of Israel had a memorial of gold before Jehovah. Gold represents what [p. 366] is purely of God, but in this type it is seen as something which has been in the hands of the world, where it has been used really to promote the selfishness of man, and to enhance what is corrupting and idolatrous. Much exceedingly precious truth has been used in this way, but now, as retrieved from associations of an unholy kind, it is brought “into the tent of meeting, as a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah” (verse 54).
This offering of the captains was, I believe, the first of the dedicated things by which the house of God was enriched as time went on, and which were found in its treasuries (see 1 Chronicles 26:26 - 28). They were the spoil of victories by which valuable things that been rescued from unholy use so as to be held for the pleasure and glory of God. It is very interesting to see that even in the wilderness there was room in the tent of meeting for precious things to be brought in, and to have a permanent place there. This was at the very end of the wilderness, and therefore typical of the last days. Spiritual things that have been taken out of the hand of the enemies, and that have been purified by passing through fire or water, have peculiar value for God. And this is how the tent of meeting is being enriched today. What is of God has to be fought for, and taken out of associations in which it was perverted, and purified so that it might be held in a way that is suitable to God. Things thus recovered are not only precious intrinsically, but they have peculiar value as having been gained through spiritual exercise on the part of the saints, so that they become a memorial for them before God.
In the mind of God the tent of meeting is the treasury now of recovered spiritual wealth. The last days have been marked in many ways by increased evil, but they have also been marked by holy warfare which has secured much that can now be held, where there is [p. 367] faith and spiritual power to hold it, for the pleasure of God. Much that has been taken from the Midianites, and purified, is now in the tent of meeting, and it is before God as a memorial of His people. For it is to be noted that, though only the men of war actually fought for this spoil, and only the captains presented it as a heave-offering, its value was not limited to them. It was “a memorial for the children of Israel before Jehovah”. Such was the unity of Israel before Jehovah that the heave-offering was accredited to them all. What God actually secures in a remnant of His people He loves to regard as representative of them all.
We may be sure that the twelve thousand would not think of themselves as apart from all Israel. Moses had spoken “to the people, saying, Arm from amongst you men for military service” (verse 3). So that they went “from amongst” the tribes as representing all, and when the war was over their heave-offering became a memorial for all. It is a comfort to think that any divine treasure that is taken out of the hands of the world, and purified, so as to come into the tent of meeting as spiritual substance, is there as a memorial for all saints before God. Whatever of the truth is made good in a pure and holy way so that it can be presented as a heave-offering is representative before God of what is in His mind for all His saints. It cannot possibly be sectional or sectarian, because it is of God, and it can only be taken up by a remnant as being God-given wealth which is treasured in the tent of meeting as a memorial for all saints.
How good it would be if all saints realised what treasure there is, not only in Christ at the right hand of God, but in “the tent of meeting” down here! Thousands of God’s people would be profoundly astonished if they knew how much spiritual wealth had been taken out of the hand of the enemy, and [p. 368] made good by the Spirit in a very precious way in the hearts and in the praises of some of their brethren. All saints are personally concerned in this, for whatever has thus become a heave-offering, and been deposited in the tent of meeting is their memorial before God. It is for them to be intensely interested in it.