“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that you will join your ancestors.’ So Moses said to the people, ‘Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian.’”
Numbers 31:1-3
The day the Israelites were seduced by the Midianites, God ordained this event…the war of revenge. At that time, God’s description of this evil was translated with words like deception, harassment, trickery, seduction, and hostility. Those are fighting words to a God who loves His special treasures! As we’ve already witnessed, no one messes with GOD’s kids without paying!
How often are we assaulted or victimized by the wrongs of others? Painfully we fall prey to resentment and thoughts of revenge. However, GOD thought of it first, and He makes it clear, as with the Israelites, that payback is the LORD’s war of revenge.
We feel pain when our kids are wrongfully hurt. How much more Our Father feels for us! When His beloved children are assaulted, God goes to war with a holy zeal that no one can stop. In this story, ALL five Midianite kings and ALL their armies were killed, ALL their towns were burned, and ALL their wealth was stolen. But on the side of the Israelites, not one of them was missing. (v. 49) God protected His victimized children.
If we try to fight our own war of revenge, we could injure the family instead of destroying the enemy! Wouldn’t it be wiser to trust the LORD to fight HIS war of revenge?
