The plague was a purification of God’s people, a sifting that dealt with the mixture among them (cf. Num. 11:4). Since the history of Israel is a complete type of the church (1 Cor. 9:24-27; 10:1-11), the mixture among the children of Israel is a type of the mixture in the church (cf. Acts 4:32-37; 5:1-11; 1 Tim. 1:20; 2 Tim. 2:17-21; 4:10, 14-15). God uses the failure and turmoil among His people to purify them from mixture. God also uses the frustrations suffered by His chosen and redeemed people as a means to humble them and test them in their journey with Him (Deut. 8:2). The punishment in this chapter was the last purification of the children of Israel before they entered into the good land.

Unable to defeat Israel militarily, politically, or through the use of religion, Balak, under the evil counsel of Balaam (Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14), induced Israel to fall into fornication and idolatry (vv. 1-3a). Fornication destroys the person of the God-created man, and idolatry insults the divine person of God. According to the record of the Bible, fornication and idolatry go together (Acts 15:29; 1 Cor. 10:7-8; Eph. 5:5).

God’s view of Israel, revealed in Balaam’s parables (chs. 23—24), is altogether positive; but according to their actual situation and condition in their adamic nature, the children of Israel were fallen and sinful, a people of fornication and idolatry. The situation is the same with the believers in Christ. On the one hand, in Christ we are a heavenly people (Eph. 2:6; Phil. 3:20a; Col. 3:1-3); on the other hand, in ourselves we are a fallen and sinful people, worthy to be judged by God (Rom. 7:18; Eph. 2:1-3).