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Scripture Reading: Num. 31:1-12
In this message we will begin to consider the overcoming of the Midianites by the children of Israel (31:1-54).
Chapters twenty-seven through thirty cover the matters of the renumbering, the statute of judgment for women's inheriting the land, the death and successor of Moses, the statutes concerning the offerings as God's food, and the statutes concerning vows. In chapter thirty-one we see that there was the need for the children of Israel to overcome the troublesome Midianites. This enemy had to be defeated. Otherwise, when God's people were about to enter into the good land, the Midianites would have been behind them, and that would have caused serious trouble. This enemy had to be defeated. Therefore, God charged Moses to destroy the Midianites.
What do the Midianites signify? In typology, the Midianites signify the filthiness of the lust of the flesh, which is related to the devil Satan and the world. With the flesh there is lust, and with lust there is filthiness, defilement, which is related to Satan and the world.
The Old Testament gives us a picture of the Midianites. The Midianites were descendants of Abraham, born of his second wife, Keturah. Hence, by nature they were close to the Israelites in the flesh (Gen. 25:1-2). The Midianites were united with the Moabites, the descendants of Lot through incest in the lust of the flesh (Num. 22:3-4, 7; Gen. 19:30-38). Furthermore, the Midianites were one with the Ishmaelites, the descendants of Abraham by the flesh, who sold Joseph into Egypt (Gen. 37:27-28, 36). The Midianites were also connected with the Amalekites, the descendants of Esau (Judg. 6:3, 33; Gen. 36:12). Finally, the Midianites produced Balaam, who ensnared the children of Israel in fornication and idolatry (Num. 22:7; 31:16).
We need to realize that as we are pursuing the Lord's interests, there is an enemy — the filthiness of the lust of the flesh signified by the Midianites — right behind us. This enemy has a number of evil relatives and associates. Moreover, with this enemy, this filthiness, a false prophet is hidden. This false prophet seeks to ensnare us and frustrate us from fulfilling God's desire.
In verses 1 and 2 we have the commandment of Jehovah to avenge the sons of Israel on the Midianites. By ensnaring the sons of Israel in fornication and idolatry, the Midianites offended Israel to the uttermost, with the result that more than twenty thousand lives were lost. God would not forget that and He charged Moses to avenge Israel on the Midianites. The Midianites were to be defeated and completely destroyed.
In verses 3 through 6 we see the strategy of Moses in dealing with the Midianites. "Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian, to execute Jehovah's vengeance on Midian. You shall send a thousand from each of all the tribes of Israel to the war" (vv. 3-4). Therefore, out of the thousands of Israel, there were twelve thousand armed for war (v. 5). In addition, Moses sent Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the war, "as well as the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand" (v. 6). Because Phinehas had a heart filled with God's jealousy and had done something very acceptable to God when Israel fell into fornication and idolatry, God wanted Moses to send him out with the vessels of the sanctuary and with the trumpets. The vessels were for protection, and the trumpets were for sounding the alarm. Phinehas must have had a sober mind and good discernment to see the way to protect the army of God and to know at what time and concerning what matters to sound the alarm.
Moses' strategy in fighting against the Midianites required that the children of Israel be in one accord with no dissenting opinions. In the record here we cannot see any opinion, even though there must have been many wise men among the more than six hundred thousand who had been renumbered. If we had been there, we might not have agreed with Moses' charge to send a thousand from each tribe to war. Instead, we might have proposed that, since the tribes differed in number, the larger tribes should provide more armed men and the smaller tribes should provide fewer. We might have thought that Moses was too old to discern the situation and to devise the right strategy. A proposal such as this is actually a cloak covering an opinion. In Numbers 31, however, no one, not even the women, expressed an opinion. The people acted according to Moses' strategy. This indicates that they were in one accord.
We also need to be in one accord for the Lord's move in His recovery today. In 1984, after studying the situation of the Lord's recovery, I came to realize that there was the need for us to take a new way. For this new way, we need to be in one accord. Concerning this, I had the burden to call the elders together for some urgent meetings. In these meetings, which were held in February 1986, I spoke on the matter of one accord for the Lord's move. I told the brothers that I did not expect everyone to take the new way, but that my hope was that no one would criticize this way or oppose it. Criticism and opposition cause trouble and result in division. Using Gideon's army as an illustration, I pointed out that this army defeated the enemy for the nation of Israel. I also said that a church that does not follow the new way is still a church, just as the Israelites who were not in Gideon's army were still Israelites. My hope was that many would join me in the army to fight for the Lord's interests and that the remainder of the saints, instead of criticizing or opposing, would support the army. Nevertheless, soon after the start of the training in Taipei in August of the same year, certain brothers "jumped the gun" and, not waiting to see what the result of the training would be, began to criticize and oppose it. First these brothers criticized, and then they opposed. This was followed by their attacking the Lord's recovery and their efforts to destroy it. We need to learn from this that, in order to be in one accord for the Lord's move, we should not express our opinion but come back to the Word.
I believe that Israel's victory over the Midianites was due to the fact that the children of Israel were in one accord. Both those who went out to fight in this war and those who did not were one with Moses. To be sure, many of those who stayed home prayed for those who went forth to fight. Eventually, because the people were in one accord, the plunder was distributed not only among those who fought but also among those who stayed home. There was one accord among the fighters, and there was one accord also among the rest of the children of Israel, including the women. All the people, the older ones and the younger ones alike, were in one accord. For this reason, they gained the victory.
Numbers 31:7-12 describes the victory of the Israelites over the Midianites. The Israelites slew every male among the Midianites (v. 7). They also slew Balaam and the five kings of the Midianites (v. 8). Furthermore, the Israelites took captive the women and children of the Midianites and took as plunder all their cattle, livestock, and goods (v. 9). They also burned all the cities of the Midianites and all their encampments (v. 10), and then they brought all the spoil and all the plunder to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the assembly of the sons of Israel (vv. 11-12). All this was due to the one accord among the children of Israel.
