Numbers 31 Commentary: Midian destroyed, Balaam killed.
Moses had one more task from the LORD God: Destroy Midian. It’s not an ordinary military conquest. The LORD God calls it “Vengeance”.
It’s vengeance because Midian “enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the LORD”. Verse 16. The last time we saw was Balaam, he stood tall, having rejected the heavy bribes of King Barak. He spoke God’s word without fearing the king’s anger. He blessed Israel unreservedly.
Yes, Balaam prophesied and the LORD God spoke to humanity on key issues – none more important than the announcement of the Star and the scepter out of Jacob. The context is that Jacob would defeat her enemies but it would be nothing compared to the victories that the Star would inflict on God’s enemies. 24v17.
But immediately after Balaam’s triumphant display of integrity, Israel engaged in sexual immorality with Moabite women. God punished the nation – resulting in losses. Israel suffered losses on account of unfaithfulness.
Balaam must have regretted (shortly after) turning down the handsome bribe from Barak.
Balaam knew he couldn’t curse Israel. As Balaam had put it; “There is no divination against Israel”. The LORD had put words in Balaam’s mouth – the same way He had put words in a donkey. When the power of the LORD had waned off, Balaam returned to his usual self. He sought to curse Israel but this time using a working formula. Sexual sin is always a working formula for diverting men’s attention from their LORD to satan.
The working formula was this: tell Midian chiefs to lead Israel into sexual sin. In this way, Israel would destroy herself as the LORD God would not tolerate sin. It is this sin of Balaam and others that attracted punishment on Midian and Balaam himself.
So Chapter 31 is a record of Midian’s punishment. It is a record of Balaam’s punishment. Importantly, it is a record of success for God’s people. Midian is destroyed completely. The plunder is shared as guided by the LORD God.
We can look back at the story of Balaam with a couple of highlights.
Firstly, a sin situation isn’t purposeless. Israel’s sexual immorality had the destruction of the nation for a purpose. Even today, the evil one knows how to get the saint destroyed – just cause him to sin. It is a time bomb planted in the saint’s life.
Secondly, when divination and witchcraft fail, (and they always fail against the righteous), the enemy turns to vanity and sinful self-gratification. This is always a working formula for destroying saints. Empty words (curses) don’t work.
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