Balaam's prophecy, "He shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and
drink the blood of the slain," was very quickly fulfilled. Shortly
before his death, before he lay down to everlasting sleep, it was
granted Moses to rejoice in the death of Balaam and the five Midianite
kings allied to him. [839] Israel's sinful profanation at Shittim,
occasioned by Balaam's wicked advice, sorely smote Moses' heart. God
had appointed Moses as lord of the angels, who through fire and cloud
had to step aside to make room for him and let him pass, yea, at his
appearance they rose from their seats to do him honor. As he had power
over the angels, so too did he rule the sea, which he clove at will and
then commanded to resume its former guise, and the treasures of hail,
which he employed to sent hail over the Egyptians. Now this man, who
was sovereign over the angels and over the forces of nature, could only
weep when Israel committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab and
Midian. To comfort Moses, God now said: "As truly as thou livest, thou
shalt not depart out of this world until thou shalt have avenged those
who tempted Israel to sin. 'Avenge the children of Israel of the
Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.'" [840]
God at the same time reproached Moses for his despair and lack of
energy at Shittim, saying: "When all the tribes of Israel, save the
tribe of Levi, were against thee, thou didst not then lack courage to
stand up against all the people on account of the worship of the Golden
Calf; how much more then at Shittim, when all Israel save only one
tribe, the tribe of Simeon, were on thy side, shouldst thou have proven
thyself sufficiently strong to keep back the sinners from their sin!"
[841] When Moses received the command to wage war upon the people that
had tempted Israel to sin, he said to God: "Yesterday didst Thou say to
me, 'Vex not Moab,' and now Thou sayest, 'Avenge the children of
Israel.'" God, however, replied: "When I said, 'Vex not Moab,' I named
these people after their grandsire, the son of Lot, but not that
through their own fault they have lost the claim to kind treatment from
Israel, I shall no longer think of their grandsire Abraham's kinsman,
but shall call them Midianim, 'they that lost their claim.'" [842]
Lot's descendants now not only had no further claims to exemption, but
a command was given to Moses to treat them with still greater hostility
than the other nations. Until then it had been Israel's duty not to
fight against a city of the heathens unless they had first proclaimed
peace to it and the heathens had refused to accept it, but now they
were instantly to proceed to hostility; and whereas they had formerly
been prohibited from destroying the trees that surrounded a city, they
were now ruthlessly to destroy all that lay in their path. This wrath
of God against those who had tempted Israel to sin was justified, for
"the tempter to sin is him of this world alone, but he that tempts
another deprives him of this world and the world beyond." Two nations,
the Egyptians and the Edomites, attacked Israel with the sword, but God
nevertheless said, " Thou shalt not abhor an Edomite; thou shalt not
abhor an Egyptian." The Moabites and Ammonites, on the other hand,
tempted Israel to sin, hence God's word concerning them was as follows:
"An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord,
even to the tenth generation." [843]
Israel received the command to make war upon the Midianites at the same
time as that to fight the Moabites, but whereas Moses at once waged war
against Midian, it was not until David's time that a relentless war was
waged against Moab. There was several reasons why the Midianites were
to receive their punishment before the Moabites. Firstly, Moab's hatred
against Israel was not quite without foundation, for although the
Israelites had not attacked them in war, still they had inspired them
with great fear by pillaging the Moabite region, hence the Moabites
tried by every means to be rid of Israel. Midian, on the other hand,
had no cause for undertaking hostilities against Israel, and yet they
not only joined the Moabites, but outdid them in their hatred against
Israel. Furthermore Moab wanted to kill Israel, but Midian wanted to
tempt them to sin, which is worse than death. [844] The delay in
punishing Moab also corresponded in other ways to God's plan, for the
Moabite Ruth was destined to become the mother of the dynasty of David,
hence God said to Israel: "Wait yet a while in this matter of the war
against the Moabites: I have lost something valuable among them. As
soon as I have found it, ye shall avenge yourselves of them." [845]
God indicated that the war against Midian would be Moses' last in these
words, "Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward
shalt thou be gathered unto thy people." The connection between the war
and Moses' death is as follows. When God announced to Moses that he was
to die on this side of the Jordan, Moses implored God with the words:
"O Lord of the world! Is it right that death should so soon overtake
me, that have seen Thy ways, Thy actions, and Thy path?" God replied,
saying: "Moses, if a long life were better for men, surely I should not
then have permitted thy ancestors to taste of death; but it is better
for thee if thou are taken from this world than if thou wert to remain
in it." Moses was not, however, satisfied with this answer from God,
whereupon God said: "Well then, thou mayest live many years longer,
yea, thou shalt live even to a thousand years, but know thou that
Israel will not then conquer their foes, and that Midian will not be
brought under their yoke." In this way was Moses made to yield by God,
for he thought, "Whether I die to-day or to-morrow matters little, for
death will come to me at last. I would rather see Israel conquer their
foes and bring Midian under their yoke than that I should live longer."
God therefore bade Moses avenge Israel of the Midianites, if he was
thereupon ready to die. [846]
Moses then thought: "I know that if I were now to go into battle
against the Midianites, the people would declare that I wished for my
own death, since God made it dependent upon the punishing of the
Midianites, and my life is assured me as long as ever I wish to put it
off." This consideration did not, however, determine him, for, fully
aware that his enterprise of war would hasten his death, he
nevertheless set about the execution of this war as soon as God
commanded him. Wherever the execution of a Divine command, or the
possibility of furthering Israel's cause was concerned, Moses gave no
thought to himself, even though it touched his life. Not so Joshua.
When he came to Canaan, he thought: "If I wage an incessant war upon
the Canaanites, I shall certainly die as soon as I shall have conquered
them, for Moses also died immediately after his conquest of Midian." He
therefore proceeded very slowly in his conquest of the Holy Land, so
that he might be sure of a long life. But, "however many thought there
may be in man's heart, God's words prevails," and whereas Joshua hoped
to become very aged, he died ten years before the time God had
originally allotted to him, for, although he would otherwise have
attained his master's age, he now died at the age of a hundred and ten.
[847]