Numbers 30-31

Up to this point in Scripture, we have seen countless times that God is faithful. When He says He will do something, He does it. So it should be no surprise that He expects His children to do the same, and that is the emphasis of our opening chapter in today’s reading. To be sure, as Christ’s ambassadors, representing Him to this world, it makes sense that God takes the fidelity of our words seriously. Jesus even affirms this in Matthew 5, when He tells those in attendance at the Sermon on the Mount to let their “yes” be “yes” and their “no” be “no” (v. 37). So, how much weight do you put on following through with your vows, oaths, and assurances to Him and to others?  

Numbers 30 mentions first that men “shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (30:2), then moves into lengthy instructions for women. Specifically, women who were under the leadership of a man in the home were not bound to their pledge if their father (for youth) or husband (for wives) objected to the commitment (30:5, 8). Ladies, this passage does not mean your voice does not matter from God’s perspective. Rather, these instructions further solidify the design God has for homes where both husband and wife are under His authority. 

Once more, this section of the Bible should be viewed as a gracious, liberating provision from God for women. Not only did He put a safeguard in a woman’s life that gave her a reprieve from honoring vows she never intended to keep, but God tells the man that “if he makes them null and void after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her iniquity” (30:15). Did you catch that? Men were held responsible if an oath was not fulfilled. Accountability comes with responsibility, and as my bride says often, her call to submit to my leadership in the home is the much easier role of the two in a marriage relationship.   

As we move into chapter 31, we see God’s justice on display, as He orders Moses to “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites” (31:1). Recall it was these people who lured the men of Israel away to worship Baal (Numbers 25), and it was now time for God’s judgment to fall upon this wicked group. A thousand men from each tribe were sent to battle (31:4), and victory was decisive, as not one Israelite was killed in the onslaught (31:49). (Did you notice that Balaam, the one who was hired by Balak to curse Israel, was killed?) But the people of Israel made an egregious mistake in the aftermath of this attack, as they “took captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took as plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their goods” (31:9; emphasis added). 

The very women who seduced the Israelite men into perversions against God were brought back into the camp to live among them. What foolishness, but how often do we do the same? “We often think of many things as dangerous to us as Christians — hostile government, secular humanism, academic attack, and so forth. But the things we accept in our midst…that open the door to immorality and idolatry can do far more real damage than any of those other things.” What door have you left open in your heart that is inviting temptations to settle near you? 

Thankfully, Israel had Moses to intervene on their behalf, as he commanded the people to kill all the women who had “known man by lying with him” (31:17). He also commanded the Israelites to kill all the young Midianite males, which may sound harsh on the surface, but as David Guzik notes, this action was “done with the understanding that in that ancient culture, the boys would have grown into men with the solemn responsibility to avenge their father’s death and to perpetuate Midianite culture — which in itself was anti-God.”

Moses was adamant that the Israelites rid themselves of anything (and anyone) that was against their God. For believers today, we have the Holy Spirit inside us, who helps us recognize things (or people) in our lives that draw us away from God. Are you heeding His call to purify your surroundings so your heart can be set on worshipping Him alone? 

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Journal responses to the following prompts:

·       How much weight do you put on following through with your vows, oaths, and assurances to Him and to others?  

·       What door have you left open in your heart that is inviting temptations to settle near you? 

·       What steps do you need to take to purify your surroundings so your heart can be set on worshipping God alone?