We have here the closing scene of Moses’ _official_ life, as in
Deuteronomy xxxiv. we have the closing scene of his _personal_ history.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ‘Avenge the children of Israel
of the Midianites; afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.’
And Moses spake unto the people, saying, ‘Arm some of yourselves unto
the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of
Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel,
shall ye send to the war.’ So there were delivered out of the thousands
of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And
Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and _Phinehas
the son of Eleazar the priest_, to the war, _with the holy instruments_,
and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the
Midianites, as the Lord commanded Moses; _and they slew all the males_.”
(Ver. 3-7.)
This is a very remarkable passage. The Lord says to Moses, “_Avenge
the children of Israel_ of the Midianites,” and Moses says to Israel,
“_Avenge the Lord_ of Midian.” The people had been insnared by the wiles
of the daughters of Midian, through the evil influence of Balaam the
son Beor; and they are now called upon to clear themselves thoroughly
from all the defilement which, through want of watchfulness, they had
contracted. The sword is to be brought upon the Midianites, and all
the spoil is to be made to pass either through the fire of judgment or
through the water of purification. Not one jot or tittle of the evil
thing is to be suffered to pass unjudged.
Now, this war was what we may call abnormal. By right, the people
ought not to have had any occasion to encounter it at all. It was not
one of the wars of Canaan; it was simply the result of their own
unfaithfulness—the fruit of their own unhallowed commerce with the
uncircumcised. Hence, although Joshua, the son of Nun, had been duly
appointed to succeed Moses as leader of the congregation, we find no
mention whatever of him in connection with this war. On the contrary, it
is to Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, that the conduct of this
expedition is committed; and he enters upon it “with the holy instruments
and the trumpets.”
All this is strongly marked. _The priest_ is the prominent person, and
_the holy instruments_ the prominent instrumentality. It is a question of
wiping away the stain caused by their unholy association with the enemy;
and therefore, instead of a general officer with sword and spear, it is
a priest with holy instruments that appears in the foreground. True, the
sword is here, but it is not the prominent thing. It is the priest with
the vessels of the sanctuary, and that priest the self-same man who first
executed judgment upon that very evil which has here to be avenged.
The moral of all this is at once plain and practical. The Midianites
furnish a type of that peculiar kind of influence which the world exerts
over the hearts of the people of God—the fascinating and insnaring
power of the world used by Satan to hinder our entrance upon our proper
heavenly portion. Israel should have had nothing to do with these
Midianites; but having, in an evil hour—an unguarded moment, been
betrayed into association with them, nothing remains but war and utter
extermination.
So with us as Christians. Our proper business is, to pass through the
world as pilgrims and strangers; having nothing to do with it, save
to be the patient witnesses of the grace of Christ, and thus shine as
lights in the midst of the surrounding moral gloom. But, alas! we fail to
maintain this rigid separation; we suffer ourselves to be betrayed into
alliance with the world, and in consequence, we get involved in trouble
and conflict which does not properly belong to us at all. War with Midian
formed no part of Israel’s proper work. They had to thank themselves for
it. But God is gracious; and hence, through a special application of
priestly ministry, they were enabled, not only to conquer the Midianites,
but to carry away much spoil. God, in His infinite goodness, brings
good out of evil. He will cause the eater to yield meat, and the strong
sweetness. His grace shines out, with exceeding brightness, in the scene
before us, inasmuch as He actually deigns to accept a portion of the
spoils taken from the Midianites. But the evil had to be thoroughly
judged. “Every male” had to be put to death—all in whom there was the
energy of the evil had to be completely exterminated; and finally, the
fire of judgment and the water of purification had to do their work on
the spoil ere God or His people could touch an atom of it.
What holy lessons are here! May we apply our hearts to them. May we be
enabled to pursue a path of more intense separation, and to press on our
heavenly road as those whose portion and whose home is on high. God in
His mercy grant it.