Numbers 31:13-18 - Moses, Eleazar the priest and all the leaders
of the community went to meet them outside the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army--the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds--who
returned from the battle. "Have you allowed all the women to
live?" he asked them. "They were the ones who followed Balaam's
advice and were the means of turning the Israelites away
from the LORD in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the LORD's people. Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman
who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has
never slept with a man.
As Moses saw the men and all the captives
coming toward the camp…he went out to meet them…with an anger burning in his
soul. God had sent them out to destroy
the Midianites…because they had introduced idolatry into their camp. Moses
could not believe what he saw as all the women Satan had used to tempt them to
worship another God marched behind the men. So he flat out told them how
disappointed he was with their ignorance of God’s jealously…and directed them
to kill all the boys…and all the women who had ever slept with anyone…leaving
only the youngest girls to become servants or concubines for the men of the
camp.
Sounds way harsh…but sometimes harsh is
needed. Sometimes the only way to get rid of sin…is to completely remove it
from your life. Moses knew what was
really going on….Satan had infiltrated the camp….and was trying to keep a foot
in the door…so to speak. The men just couldn’t bring themselves to kill all
those women as they killed all the men. Some probably looked right in the doe
eyes of a female they had been intimate with…and they spared them. Maybe they thought they could convert them…maybe
some had even fallen in love with them.
But they had forgotten that this task was a
judgment from God himself. This killing
spree had a direct purpose to punish the people that had caused them to worship
idols…this war was waged against the breaking of two commandments of God. ….
Thou shalt not commit adultery…and thou shalt have no other Gods before me!
Moses was telling them that you cannot have your cake…and eat it too. These
women…if left in the camp…would only cause more sin…there culture steeped in
idolatry would eventually tempt them again…who knows…maybe a few of them had even
hid a few idols in their garments before they were captured.
As hard as it seems…sometimes we just need
to remove the thing that tempts us…completely from our lives…even if it seems
harsh and unnecessary. It is very hard
sometimes to just quit something…cold turkey. I remember the night …when God
told me I must give up drinking….and I poured those bottles of liquor…and even
the cooking wines…down the drain. Even now…as I think back…I must have argued
with God for a while…trying to justify that it was okay if I kept the cooking
wines and liquors I used for my favorite recipes on the counter. I see God’s
plan a littler clearer now…and know that if he had allowed me to keep the
cooking liquors there in my home…it would have been too easy for Satan to tempt
me to start drinking again.
Oh father…I thank you this morning for your
wisdom and foresight that knows what is best for us…even if it seems harsh when
you tell us to do it. I thank you for the reminder that sometimes sin just
needs to be removed and completely erased from my life…no matter what it takes
to remove it. I thank you for the strength to carry out that request almost 4
years ago…and the courage to keep saying no when Satan tempts me with it
again. Continue to give me wisdom and
courage and strength to remain in your will….and not stray to the left or to
the right….but stay right square in the middle of your strong arms…that will
hold me everywhere I go…if I ask. Amen.
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