“So Moses said to the people, ‘Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD’s vengeance on them.”
~ Numbers 31:3
Hi James and Ellen,
As you get older, you will have to decide whether it is right to put to death a guy or a gal for having killed on purpose a guy, gal or kid. Even though a guy or a gal may have killed a guy, gal or kid on purpose, there are many guys and gals who believe that it is wrong to purposely execute a guy or a gal. As you get older, you will have to decide whether or not it is a right thing for you to do to fight in a war. There are many guys and gals who believe that it is wrong for guys to kill other guys while fighting in a war. During the four years that your dad lived with your grandmaa and grandpaa in Bolivia, the Bolivian government was changed a couple of times through a coup or through an overthrow. A coup or an overthrow is when some guys decide that they do not like the President who had been elected by the majority of the guys and gals who are living in the country. These guys are not willing to wait for another election to change Presidents. These guys will go to where the President is and . . . guys at times will get killed when this happens. When your grandmaa and grandpaa would hear that a coup or an overthrow was taking place in Bolivia, your grandmaa and grandpaa would stay in their house until they knew that it was safe to leave their house. Sometimes your grandmaa and grandpaa could not go out at night because there was a curfew. A curfew means that no guy, gal or kid could walk around on the streets after a certain time. Soldiers were to shoot any guy, gal or kid who they found walking around on the streets after the curfew hour. You live in a world where guys fight each other, where there are wars and where guys kill each other. Guys have killed each other ever since Cain killed Abel. Countries have laws which guys and gals are to obey. A law that every country has is that no guy or gal can kill on purpose another guy, gal or kid. If a guy or gal does kill another guy, gal or kid, that guy or gal will face the consequence of their actions. If a guy or gal kills another guy, gal or kid on purpose in the United States, the guy or gal has disobeyed the law and he or she depending on the state where the murder happened can be executed.
Disobeying God has consequences. Your grandpaa will write you often about what happens when you disobey God. The Old Testament is filled with examples of guys and gals and of countries being disobedient to God. Do you know what happened in the Old Testament times when a guy or gal or when a country disobeyed God? Numbers 31 tells you what happened to a people group who had caused the Israelite people group to disobey God. This people group – who were the Midianites, got the Israelite guys and gals to worship their god. The Midianite people group also got the Israelite guys and gals to do things with them which made God very unhappy. Do you remember who the Israelite people group is? The Israelite people group is God’s specially chosen people. Do you remember who God wanted His specially chosen people to worship? God wanted His specially chosen people to worship only Him. God chose Moses to be His specially chosen people group’s leader. Moses by now was an old guy. God’s specially chosen people had wandered in a desert for nearly forty years. The time was close to the moment when the Israelite guys, gals and kids would finally be able to cross the Jordan River into the land area that God had promised to His specially chosen people. There was one piece of business which God wanted to clear up before He would permit His specially chosen people to cross the Jordan River into the land that He had promised them. The piece of business that God wanted the Israelite guys to do was to destroy the Midianite people group. God interacted directly with Moses. God told Moses exactly what to do. Moses was to make up an army of 120,000 guys. Each Israelite tribal clan was to supply 10,000 guys. This army of Israelite soldiers was to kill each Midianite people group king as well as every single Midianite guy and gal. The Israelite soldiers were to take captive the Midianite people group kids plus they could take loot and the animals that the Midianite guys and gals owned. After the Midianite guys and gals were killed, the Israelite soldiers were to divide all the captive kids, the loot and the animals exactly equally between the soldiers, the twelve tribal clans and the Levites. What God did at his time was a warning to other people groups to not mess with Him or with His specially chosen people. Verse 3 tells you “So Moses said to the people, ‘Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and to carry out the LORD’s vengeance on them.”
God wants you to obey the laws of the country in which live. God wants you to obey the commandments that He has given you. God gives you another lesson in this chapter. This lesson is a simple one. It is a lesson on fairness. Do you like to share your things? The Israelite soldiers captured a lot of kids and found a lot of loot – such as gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, etc., plus all the animals which the Midianite people group had owned. God gave explicit instructions to Moses that he was to equally divide the Midianite people group’s kids, the animals, and the loot that was found so that no soldier or no tribal clan or no Levite family unit got more kids, more animals and more loot than any other soldier or tribal clan or Levite family unit. Where your grandmaa and grandpaa lived at the rural resident training center in Bolivia, the meals were prepared in an outdoor kitchen for the students and their families. The prepared food would be divided between the different family units. Each student and each family member got an equal share of food. Would it have been fair if one student or one family member always was given more food than another student or family member? God gives a life share of grace that is an equal share to every share that He gives to guys, gals or kids who make a decision of faith to believe in Him and accepts His saving grace gift of hope.
Numbers 31 (61)