Tuesday, February 24

Scripture: We have brought the Lord’s offering, what each of us found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and pendants, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” (Numbers 31:50).

Observation: Numbers 31 tells the horrific story of the genocide of five Midianite kingdoms located in the desert to the southwest of the Promised Land. Applying the modern word “genocide” to this story or any story in the Bible may sound unfair and anachronistic. However, Moses tells the Israelite army of twelve thousand men to kill all the men in the five kingdoms, loot and pillage the cities, and burn everything left standing, and when the army returns, Moses sends them back to “kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman who has known a man” (Numbers 31:17), thereby eliminating all the boys and women who might be pregnant and erasing the cultures, family trees, and rights to property in the five kingdoms, leaving the remaining land, property, and young girls for repossession by the Israelites. By wiping these kingdoms off the face of the earth and erasing their people from the future, Israel is able to lay total claim to the cities, land, and wealth therein, giving them access to the resources they need to enter the land of Canaan after 40 years in the wilderness.

Application: Here is an example of Jesus speaking through Scripture with wisdom on how not to do things. Horrific stories of violence like this one are included in the Bible so they would be excluded from human civilization- at least, that is one faithful Christian way of interpreting the Bible. These sorts of Scripture passages are no less sacred and Spirit-inspired, but we interpret them differently. Jesus would have us apply these stories in reverse: here’s what you don’t do. We wouldn’t know the reverse meaning if we didn’t have the story that the meaning is the reverse of. Like including a history lesson on the unsavory parts of our past, the parts we’re not proud of, we read this story so we will not repeat it ever again, or so Jesus hopes.

Second, let’s not forget what the commanders of the Israelite army do in Numbers 31:50. They offer the spoils of war, the gold and jewelry they took from the slain, and give the spoils to the priest “to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord.” Now this is fascinating. Moses did not order the commanders to do this; they are presenting an unprompted and unforced offering to God, and for what? To make atonement for themselves. Atonement is what we do when we feel remorse: we know we have done wrong, we feel bad about it, and we want to make amends. The act of atonement is the way of making amends. Why should the commanders feel remorse when they were simply following the orders of their superior officer, Moses? And why return a portion of their spoils when no one asked or ordered them? We can’t be sure of the reason why, but perhaps it was because they knew in their bones that going back and killing the boys and women was wrong. Perhaps they knew Moses had ordered them to do something against their conscience, but they complied, did it anyway, and remorse has overtaken them. They can’t undo what they did, but the return of the gold and jewelry is a way to begin the stitching-back of their ripped-up souls. Here we are allowed to see a thread of Jesus in Numbers. Perhaps the commanders are feeling the disturbance of an inward nudge toward what Jesus would one day call loving your enemy.

Prayer:

For all people caught in the web of war I ask a blessing from You, Most Merciful One. For the soldiers hearing whispers about where they will be sent next, and when they don their uniform and vest and helmet and face situations and make split-second decisions that I’ve never had to face, or when they point a mouse at a computer screen or type emails as part of the collective effort to keep their brothers and sisters and me safe, I pray for Your protection and peace and guidance and a little extra grace to help them come home. For the people on the other side of the web, who have parents and children and best friends of their own, who grew up in circumstances that I’ve never had to face, I pray for them too, as Jesus told me to do. For the innocent caught in the web, the women, men, and children whose faces are saved on the phones that are tucked away in the pockets of soldiers, I pray for Your Mercy. For the commanders who make tough calls that I’ve never had to face, I pray for a spark of divine wisdom, the same Intelligence that birthed atoms and Adam, so they would have a glimmer of Your mind. For all people on earth, seeing as the web of war ensnares us all, I pray like a child screaming to dad for comfort after a nightmare: peace on earth, and goodwill to all humankind. Onward we go: amen.