This Torah portions starts off as a message to the leaders of the tribes. God is truth. His Word is truth. He is utterly faithful, and cannot lie. God’s beloved sons and daughters must be like Him. We must speak the truth. We should carry though with our commitments, promises and contracts. Our yes should mean yes, and our no, no. In special circumstances, if we testify under oath, take a vow to faithfully uphold and support the Constitution, or make a marriage vow, we should carry them through.
Chapter 30 deals with vows. If a man makes a vow, and later regrets it, it is very important that he carry through on it. Otherwise, he is breaking a solemn commitment to His Creator, and the Lord will consider him to be guilty, and there will be consequences. Single women who are still living at home can make a vow, but they are under the authority of their fathers. So, if they do make a vow, their father can override it within one day of hearing it, and nullify it, if they think it is a bad or foolish vow. And, God Himself will back up the authority of the father. God has established the family, and it has an authority structure. The father is the head of the family, and he has the final say.
If a woman who is married makes a vow, and the husband hears about it, he can overrule it; but again, it only has a one day time limit. God Himself will back up the authority of the husband, since God has placed the husband as the head of the wife. Women, if the Lord acknowledges that the husband is the head of the home, and honors the authority of your husbands, shouldn’t you?
Widows or divorced women are not under the authority of fathers or husbands, and so when they make a vow, it can’t be overridden by fathers or husbands, and they are expected to keep it, or suffer the penalty of breaking that oath.
Chapter 31 describes the judgment of the Midianites and the consequences of war. Instead of blessing the people chosen to bring the message of salvation, and the blessings of God to the world, they took part in an anti-Israel alliance with Moab, and hired Bilam to come and curse us. They also took Bilam’s advise and tried to corrupt us by engaging in sexual immorality and idolatry and false religion, so that God Himself would judge us. The Lord of the whole Earth was displeased with the Midianites, and decided that it was time to punish them. Does the Righteous God have the right to punish a society of rebellious, corrupt human beings? Can the Judge of the whole Earth use other human beings as instruments of His judgment? The answer to these questions is yes.
12,000 warriors, 1,000 from each tribe, went to battle, and totally defeated the Midianites. The kings of Midian, along with all the men, were killed! Bilam, the corrupt prophet who prostituted his ministry was there among the Midianites, and the man who loved money lost everything, even his life!
But, there was a problem. The leaders of the army had spared the women and children – and remember, these were the same women who had been so sexually perverse, and so religiously corrupt; these were the same women who had purposely tempted and corrupted our men, so that God’s judgment fell on us. The women were attractive, but didn’t the leaders of the army realize the danger of bringing these women back with them? Didn’t they see the danger of a repetition of the disaster that had happened back at Baal-Peor?
Moses certainly did. He was angry with the leaders of the army, and instructed them to eliminate this grave danger to the Holy People. Only those Midianites who could be assimilated into the Holy Nation would be spared – the virgin girls. The male children and the women who weren’t virgins needed to be killed.
Sin, especially sexual immorality and false religion, is very dangerous. It’s terribly destructive to us, and offensive to God. We shouldn’t tolerate it or bring it close to us. We need to take radical, even harsh action, to prevent ourselves from being corrupted by anything that would drag us down, that would cause us to fall away from the Living God. Are there any alluring Midianite women in your life? Things that may look pretty and promise pleasure, but will separate you from God and His ways? Be honest, and identify those things, and take radical action to get rid of them, before you are corrupted by them!
The men who had killed anyone, or touched a dead body, had been defiled. Death didn’t exist in the beginning. It is a result of sin. There is something unpleasant and wrong about it. The people who came in contact with death couldn’t draw near to God at the Mishkan (Tabernacle) until they were sprinkled with the ashes of the red cow which were mixed with water, on the third day, and on the seventh day. Then, after they washed their clothes and bathed they were clean, and could draw near to God. Thank God for the death of the Messiah, which separated Him from God for a short time, but enabled us to have life, and draw near to God forever!
Sin spreads. Not only were the Midianites corrupt, but some of their uncleanness was transmitted to their possessions, and so the items taken from them, like clothing, and things made from wood and leather, had to be washed. Even metals like gold, silver, bronze and iron needed to be purified – not by water but by fire.
The spoils of war needed to be divided properly. Half went to the soldiers who engaged in the fighting, and took the risk, and half went to the rest of the congregation, who supported them and enabled them to go. But, the Lord must not be forgotten! He is the One who enables us to have any victory at all, and He supports the congregation and the warriors, and therefore something from all of the resources that come to us must go to Him!
The Priests and the Levites must be supported, just as our local congregations need to be supported today. For the half that went to the warriors, one in 500 of the people, the cows, donkeys and sheep went to the Lord’s representatives – the Priests. From the half that was given to the congregation, who took less risk, and didn’t work as hard, a higher percentage must go to the Lord – one out of every 50 of the people, cows, donkeys and sheep, and these went to the Levites who assisted the Priests.
After this, the officers of the army, who had not used good judgment when they brought back the Midianite women, reported to Moses, that after taking a census of their troops, they had discovered that not one Jewish soldier was killed in the fight against the Midianites! Wow! Normally, some losses are to be expected, but in this case, there were no casualties! The Lord had been protecting the army of Israel, and given us a supernatural, amazing victory! Out of their gratitude, the leaders of the army wanted to do something special for their good and gracious God, and so they brought a special korban – an offering that would help them draw nearer to the Lord – of gold jewelry – about 6,700 ounces of gold – which was an enormous amount! This offering brought a measure of atonement to the leaders of the army – who had erred by bringing the Midianite women back with them.
Chapter 32 describes the first settlement of the Land of Israel by the new generation. The territory on the east side of the Jordan river, the land of Yazer and Gilead (parts of present day Syria and Jordan), that had been captured from Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, was land that was suited for livestock.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad had a very large amount of livestock, and so they wanted that territory as their inheritance. Moses and Eleazer the High Priest were concerned that a similar situation might be developing that developed at Kadesh-Barnea – that part of the people were unwilling to enter the Land, and discouraged the rest of the people, which angered the Lord, and resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.
The leaders of the tribes of Gad and Reuben assured them that this was not their motivation – they were willing to enter the Land, and fight with the other tribes, but they really felt that the land on the east of the Jordan should be theirs. They assured Moses and Eleazar that they would be willing to send their men of war across the Jordan, with the rest of the Jewish people, and fight until the Land was conquered, and only then would they return to their homes.
Moses agreed to this proposal after warning them that if they reneged on their promise, be sure that their sin would find them out – an expression that is still used in our culture – this it its origin. And, you can be sure that your sin will find you out! Sin always has consequences, and no sin that is ever committed will be left unpunished, or not dealt with in one way or another – either in this life, or on the Day of Judgment. You will not get away with anything! Think about that the next time you are tempted to do something wrong.
So, Moses gave the land to them, and to half of the tribe of Joseph as well, the half-tribe of M’nashe. They began building cities, and settling their families and livestock there. The settlement of the Land of Israel had begun, just as the Faithful God, who speaks the truth, and keeps His promises, had promised Abraham some 400 years earlier! And, if we are faithful, the Faithful God will surely see to it that we enter into our inheritance as well! He has promised us an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith.