Daily Devotion | Numbers 31:1-24 | 2026 June 18

Title: Daily Devotion | Numbers 31:1-24 | 2026 June 18

Scripture: Numbers 31:1-24 (ESV, reference only)

Date: 2026 June 18

Speaker: Rev. John Chen

Transcribed, translated & edited by: Jose M.

Dear brothers and sisters, peace be to you in the Lord. Thanks be to God's grace that we have come to a new day to study the daily devotional. The passage we are studying today is Numbers 31:1–24. Let us pray. Now we thank You that You have brought us before this passage. Lord, we ask that You would be with us and let us see Your good purpose in this passage. Lord, please be gracious to us and let us receive the strength we need each day from Your Word. May You be with us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Alright, let us look at today's passage. In terms of meaning, there is nothing particularly difficult to understand in today's passage—God is to take vengeance on the Midianites. Why? Because previously the Midianites, under Balaam's scheme—these Midianites were subject to Moab—listened to Balaam's advice and enticed the Israelites to sacrifice to Baal. As a result, God's anger came upon Israel, and on that day, 24,000 died from the plague. According to our general inference, the 24,000 who died here likely refer to adult males. We infer this—what exactly were these 24,000? First, how was that number reached? Second, what population was being counted? Generally speaking, the count was of the number of males—24,000 on that day. Now, because the Midianites had enticed Israel, Israel was to take revenge. How many were sent to fight? One thousand from each tribe were sent, totaling 12,000 armed men. So here I think this number is also not coincidental—1,000 per tribe, totaling 12,000. The number who died from the plague that day, in Numbers 25:9, was 24,000. Twenty-four thousand died, and they sent 1,000 from each tribe, 12,000, to battle. I think this number is not coincidental. Moreover, if you combine it with verse 49 later—the servants say in Numbers 31:49, "Your servants have counted the men of war who are under our command, and there is not one man missing from us."

Looking at the numbers, it actually reminds us that this battle, in God's eyes, is truly a small matter. They went to fight with 12,000 and lost not a single one. Earlier, the plague struck down 24,000—double that number. So here I think God is truly reminding Israel: if you follow My statutes, you will be blessed; if you violate My statutes, you will be cursed. This is a great reminder. With half the number of those who died, they gained a complete victory. This was an encouragement, of course, to Israel: go and take the land of Canaan; I am with you, and you will have no problem.

When they went to battle, Phinehas was sent. Why was Eleazar not sent? Because Eleazar was the high priest, and the high priest could not go to the battlefield to be defiled by corpses. So his son Phinehas went. We know how courageous Phinehas was—it was because of Phinehas's boldness that God relented from His anger against Israel, because Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi, and so God's wrath was turned away.

That is about Phinehas. Now Phinehas again took the vessels of the sanctuary, holding in his hand the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding loudly—trumpets used for battle, as we know. Phinehas here is holding the vessels of the sanctuary. What exactly were these vessels of the sanctuary? That is hard to say—what were they? Did they carry the ark itself up there? It is not clear. But what I think it tells us is that the vessels of the sanctuary signify God's presence. This battle was one that God commanded them to fight—a divine war.

And it specifically mentions that he held in his hand the vessels of the sanctuary. Earlier, in Numbers 25:7, it says that Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, rose from the congregation, and took a spear in his hand, and followed and pierced the two—Cozbi and Zimri. So one time he held a spear, and the other time he held the vessels of the sanctuary. I believe this is probably not an incidental record either. What does this express? That the vessels of the sanctuary are the spear; the spear is the vessels of the sanctuary. He did it, but there is a transition here. It makes us recognize where true strength comes from—from the sanctuary, from God, not from Israel's own fighting prowess. So why was a priest to go into this battle? Because he carried the vessels of the sanctuary—true strength comes from the vessels of the sanctuary. It is as if they were carrying God's spear to battle, and they would surely win. The war was very simple: they killed all the males.

As I mentioned yesterday, when we read the Pentateuch and the entire Bible, we need to understand that ancient Jews and ancient writers were not so precise in their language. Actually, it's not that they were imprecise—how should I put it? It is not the mathematical precision we understand. For example, "they killed all the males"—we would understand that as meaning there would be no Midianite tribe left, right? That the Midianite nation would be gone. But that is not exactly what it means. It roughly means that all the males they could find and discover were killed. That is roughly the sense—it is not our mathematical exactness. But you also cannot say it is wrong; at that time, all those they did find were killed. So you need to understand this—do not use that so-called modern scientific, mathematical logic to understand it. "All" does not mean every single one—actually, the vast majority that could be found were killed.

They killed five kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. Among these five kings was the father of Cozbi, as in Numbers 25:15: the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; Zur was a tribal chief of Midian—a king. Here Zur himself was also killed. Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, Reba—so these five kings were also killed. This was a massive slaughter of the Midianite clans because they had enticed Israel to sin, so God's wrath came upon them. Later, it adds that they also killed Balaam the son of Beor with the sword—this Balaam, who opposed God, who refused to heed warning, who wanted silver and gold, who gave counsel to Balak to harm Israel—Balaam was killed. When Balaam died, did he have property in his house? Yes, Balak had given it to him. When Balaam died, did he have riches? Yes—he may have just bought a house, bought some land, or built a house, and was living comfortably, but then Balaam was killed.

So Balaam's end lets us know that these false prophets—if you covet money, how terrible it is. You may indeed enjoy for a time the benefits that wealth brings. But the final outcome is very clear: in the end, you and that wealth will perish together. So this reminds us that we must honor the Lord as holy and not resist Him in our hearts. We have already spoken much about Balaam's crafty schemes. Before God, do not pretend to be clever; do not try to be shrewd. Let us honestly obey God's word, and God's grace and blessing will be upon us. If we resist God, the outcome is Balaam's end.

Then they took captive the women and the plunder—some of the spoils—and brought them to the camp opposite Jericho, which was their encampment as they were about to enter the land of Canaan. The women were not killed. Moses became angry with them and said, "Have you let all the women live? These, because of Balaam's scheme, caused the Israelites to act unfaithfully in the matter of Peor, so that the plague came upon the congregation of the Lord." All the married women were killed, but the unmarried ones were allowed to live.

Why did these Israelites keep these women? We are not entirely sure—perhaps these women were beautiful; Midianite women were beautiful, which is why they could entice them. Or perhaps some among them had acquaintances—since they had enticed Israel, and the Israelites had relations with them, perhaps they had familiar ties? This is unclear—we are all speculating. But the result was that the women were not killed, but Moses required that all the married women be killed, while the unmarried ones were to be preserved and purified.

Now, when we come to this passage, we need to offer some explanation, because many people, when they read these verses, stop reading the Bible altogether. They think this God is too cruel—how could He kill like this? Nowadays, we talk about human rights, right? How could even these women be killed? In this age, it seems unthinkable—they think God is too cruel and stop reading. Some reject the Bible entirely, thinking God's word is too barbaric and frightening. Others think of the pitiful sight of the women and conclude that God is too brutal and cruel. That is one attitude—rejecting the Bible, not believing in this God, because this God is too evil.

Then there is another group, slightly better—they say this is the God of the Old Testament; the God of the Old Testament is just that brutal, but the God of the New Testament is different—Jesus in the New Testament is a God of love. So they accept the New Testament but reject the Old Testament. In fact, I know that even today some people still read the Bible this way. But these methods of reading Scripture are all wrong. For us, we need the correct way to read Scripture.

First, whenever we read any passage, we must place it in its historical context. In the ancient warfare of that time, such slaughter and extermination of clans was a quite common phenomenon—it was not unique to Israel's battles. It was a widespread practice, because the cultural context of that time involved mutual blood feuds; there was no civilization as we understand it today, no modern rules of warfare. Even now, prisoners of war should not be killed—if they surrender, they should not be killed—that is a characteristic of modern civilization. But when we read Scripture, we should not impose our modern thinking onto ancient times. In ancient times, that was how war was waged. When a tribe was destroyed, that was how they dealt with it—extermination. So from a historical context, this is not surprising.

Second, some say, "You can't just appeal to historical context—after all, this is God, right? God cannot be excused by historical context—He should not kill so many." I think those who say this have another error: they do not really understand God's sovereignty. The lives of all people are in God's hands. When God commanded Israel to destroy these Midianites—and likewise when they entered Canaan, to destroy the Canaanites—it was an expression of God's justice. This is something that would be wrong for a human to do, but for God to do it is lawful, because God is the Creator of the world and the universe, and all that exists belongs to Him. This is something many people fail to consider when reading Scripture. And not only that—in ancient times there was such killing, but I tell you, in the end times there will also be a great slaughter—all who do not believe in Jesus Christ will be destroyed. Just as in Genesis, in the days of Noah, God destroyed all living creatures. In this, God is not unrighteous, nor is He cruel—do not have that illusion. Because God is the Creator; He possesses all authority. He can destroy all of humanity—that is His right. There is no cruelty or brutality in this—that is our human way of thinking.

So we need to think clearly about this. Do not argue with God, saying "God cannot do this," as if we are more righteous than God, or "God cannot kill these women," as if they are pitiable and God is unjust. When we say such things, we forget who we are. We are creatures, but the Creator has all authority. Not only did He kill the Midianites in the past, and the Canaanites, and before that the whole world except Noah's family, but in the future He will also kill all people in the world. You must understand this—there is no room for argument. Do not say "God is so cruel and brutal"—that is a human illusion.

Third, and I want to emphasize this even more—though I place it third, it is actually more important—we must realize that the reason God is not killing us now is because of His mercy—you must understand this. That God has not killed us now, and that He preserves this world so that we may believe the gospel—that is grace. Because our due end is to be killed by God. Without this background, the gospel would not be the gospel. So we must connect these things together. Do not judge as if to say, "Oh, this passage makes me uncomfortable—how can He kill women? How can He be so cruel?" In all this, we have completely mistaken who we are. How can we possibly make moral judgments about God? God is the One who establishes morality. Now, God Himself first put His own Son on the cross to call us and appeal to us to turn to Him and believe in this crucified Christ—this Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man—so that we might be saved. That is the point. We are not to judge whether killing people is right or wrong—do not say it is too cruel. That is a complete misunderstanding of our position. As creatures, if you do not believe in Jesus, you will be punished for sin, and your soul will immediately be cast into hell to suffer—there is nothing to debate about that. That is the truth.

This is not a principle, not a logical inference—this is truth, this is a fact. Whether you like it or not, whether you agree or not, this is a fact you must accept, because we are creatures. If you do not accept this fact, you are merely covering your ears and stealing the bell, as they say. But what use is covering your ears? So our problem is not to deny hell or Hades, but to ask how we can escape Hades and hell—by believing in this Lord Jesus Christ. And God actually put His own Son to death. You must turn this story around, and not live in your own delusion, as if you can make moral judgments about God, harboring resentment in your heart, thinking yourself more righteous than God, closing the Bible, and pursuing your own righteousness. This whole line of reasoning does not exist and is not valid. Many so-called Western scholars after the Enlightenment—in quotation marks—took this path. They think themselves more righteous than God, saying, "Look, God kills people here—there is no righteousness—so I will do things my own way." But for us, I think this is a complete misdirection.

God is telling you a truth: every one of us is to be destroyed—that is a fact, and it does not depend on your will, just as jumping from the 32nd floor will certainly kill you—that is a fact independent of your will. The only thing you need to do is not stand on the 32nd floor and not jump. That is what you ought to do. How? Come into Christ, receive His salvation and redemption—that is your only way to be saved. It is not the case that you can change the way of salvation—that is impossible. Absolutely impossible. So I think I have made it clear—how we should view these killings. This is God's sovereignty, and we are to flee from such destruction.

Now, some were preserved here—some unmarried women were spared. Because they had not participated in the sexual immorality with Israel, they had not enticed Israel. So they were kept. Clearly, there is a metaphor here, telling us that those who have not committed spiritual adultery with the world may be preserved. In fact, these women were also destined for destruction—the entire tribe was to be wiped out, and the Canaanites were to be left with none. The reason they were able to be preserved is God's grace. God purified them, and afterward He cleansed them with various things—they were a people made clean. So these unmarried women were spared entirely by God's grace and mercy. Because they had not committed adultery with the world, they were preserved. Applied to ourselves, it is even clearer: we are originally those who should have been killed—we have committed adultery with the world. But in the Lord Jesus Christ, God sees us as unmarried women, so we are preserved and can enter the heavenly home to come. So we give thanks and praise to God.

So how can we thank God in this passage about slaughter in Numbers 31? From this perspective: recognize who you are. We should have been destroyed; we are those who committed adultery with the world. But God preserved us. In this way, this passage can produce thanksgiving and praise in us. As for those who make moral judgments about God—we have already addressed that and will not discuss it further—you are completely going in the wrong direction, and there is nothing more for us to say about that.

Then, looking at verses 21 to 24, all the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead—what can endure fire must pass through fire; what cannot endure fire must pass through water—washing the clothes, purifying them. All things, when purified, become clean. The meaning here is even clearer—we need not elaborate much. After the Feast of Unleavened Bread comes Passover, and after the sin offering comes the burnt offering. These rescued ones, these redeemed ones, are to be purified and live a holy life. The significance is also very clear, and we have already said much about this when discussing other passages, so we will not repeat it here. That is, God's purpose in redeeming us is to lead us to live a purified life. So we must pass through fire and water—just as our spiritual life must be refined by fire and tested by water. We are to submit our lives into God's hands. The fire represents our old self being put to death; the water represents our need to lay down ourselves, to let the water overwhelm us, so that we become clean in the Lord and live a holy life.

Thus, in Numbers 31, we also give thanks and praise to God that we—such sinners who deserve destruction, who deserve to be completely slain—have received God's grace and are finally preserved like these unmarried women, to be betrothed to the holy Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed His blood and gave Himself on the cross to become our salvation. This is the great grace God has given us. May God have mercy on us, that in such thanksgiving we may love God more and fear God more.

This is our correct interpretation of chapter 31. Many Western scholars always use various strenuous methods to explain away this passage, as if trying to make God appear kinder. But there is really no need. I think what I have said today should be consistent with the meaning of the whole Bible. Before this passage, we should, first, confess and repent—we are the Midianites who deserve destruction; it is righteous for God to kill us. In the fact that God preserves some, give thanks and praise to God. And in our lives, live a holy life. May God lead us. Our sharing today ends here—thank you, everyone.