1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:01,120 All right, good morning, church family. 2 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:02,440 Let me invite you to find your seat. 3 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,960 And as you find your seat, let me encourage you to open your 4 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,920 Bibles to the Book of Numbers or type in your device the Book of 5 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:14,720 Numbers, Chapter 31. This morning we're going to be 6 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:18,760 in numbers 31, one through 18. We've been going through numbers 7 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:20,840 for several months and maybe even been a year. 8 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,520 But now that we've been going through it, and last week we 9 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:25,800 looked at all of Chapter 30, and this morning we're going to look 10 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,480 at part of Chapter 31 titled the sermon this morning is this 11 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:35,560 Waging Holy war on Sin? And so I will read the text as I 12 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:39,720 go through it in the exposition. So let me open us in a word of 13 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,040 prayer and then we will jump into our sermon this morning. 14 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:51,990 So if you will pray with me, Father, I pray as we look at a 15 00:00:51,990 --> 00:00:57,990 text this morning that I imagine for some of us, if not maybe 16 00:00:57,990 --> 00:01:02,680 most of us, may be difficult to read that it's, it's it's never 17 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,920 easy to read about war and, and just your commands, God. 18 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,560 And how do we process that? And how do we especially process 19 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:14,480 that in light of the New Testament, in light of Jesus and 20 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,400 the new covenant? And what does this mean for us 21 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,200 and how do we apply this? So God, would you help us to 22 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,000 wrestle with this text this morning? 23 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,960 Help us not to be offended by it. 24 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:31,480 Help us not to dismiss it, but help us to to remember that all 25 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,160 the scriptures inspired and all of it is profitable, all of it 26 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,160 is for teaching and reproofing, correction and training in 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:41,800 righteousness, including texts that deal with holy war. 28 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:46,680 And so God, would you give us insight now into your word? 29 00:01:46,800 --> 00:01:55,160 I pray in Jesus name, Amen. In Greek mythology, after a 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:02:01,800 decade of failed siege against Troy, the wily hero Odysseus 31 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:06,400 conceived a bold stratagem, the construction of a colossal 32 00:02:06,400 --> 00:02:11,920 hollow wooden horse, a faux offering to the goddess Athena, 33 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,160 secretly filled with elite Greek warriors. 34 00:02:17,200 --> 00:02:20,840 The Trojans, encouraged by the captive Greek Synod and hoping 35 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,160 that the war had ended, wheeled the horse inside their 36 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:30,200 impregnable, impregnable walls. Despite urgent cautions by the 37 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:36,960 Prophetess Cassandra and Priest Laocoon, whose cries of beware 38 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:44,200 of Greeks bearing gifts were tragically disregarded, by 39 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:48,840 nightfall the hidden soldiers emerged from the horse open 40 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:53,400 Troy's gates to the returning Greek fleet, and the once proud 41 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:57,520 city fell in a single devastating strike. 42 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:08,970 That's from ChatGPT by the way. Brothers and sisters, do you 43 00:03:08,970 --> 00:03:14,410 have any Trojan horses in your life? 44 00:03:18,250 --> 00:03:24,570 Sin that looks like a gift but is in fact a means of death. 45 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,320 We must always maintain a posture of war in the Christian 46 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,680 life. We are always at war because 47 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:41,920 there's always an enemy lurking, sometimes lurking, right in our 48 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:47,560 midst. We must always be waging holy 49 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:52,480 war on our sin. And that's what the sermon is 50 00:03:52,480 --> 00:03:55,080 about this morning. So we're going to start with the 51 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:59,560 next vision of the text, and then I'll give us application at 52 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:02,160 the end. So let's start looking at verses 53 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:03,480 one and two. We'll read it section by 54 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:06,560 section. Numbers 31, verses 1 and 2. 55 00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:11,360 The Lord spoke to Moses saying, avenge the people of Israel on 56 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:14,800 the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered 57 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,600 to your people. So the chapter begins with God 58 00:04:18,800 --> 00:04:23,600 giving Moses a command. Avenge the people of Israel on 59 00:04:23,600 --> 00:04:26,520 the Midianites. Now of course this raises 2 60 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:28,720 questions. Number one, who are the 61 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:31,560 Midianites? Well, they are a people group to 62 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:35,600 the South of Israel. Midian was originally a person. 63 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:40,120 He was a son of Abraham, but he was not born through Sarah, but 64 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,520 rather Abraham's concubine Katura. 65 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,080 So the Midianites are not Israelites. 66 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,320 Israelites are only those that descend from Abraham and Sarah, 67 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:51,640 which would be Isaac. So they're not Israelite. 68 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:58,040 The second question is why does God say to avenge the people of 69 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,840 Israel on them? Well, if you remember from 70 00:05:00,840 --> 00:05:06,000 Numbers 25 that we looked at a few weeks ago, the Israelite men 71 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,120 had begun to whore with the daughters of Moab and Midian. 72 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,400 One of them brought a Midianite woman to his family right in 73 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:19,560 front of the congregation, right in front of Moses and everybody. 74 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:23,760 And as a result God sent a plague upon the people of Israel 75 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:30,360 and 24,000 Israelites died. At the end of that chapter God 76 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:33,120 gave Moses very specific instructions. 77 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:39,120 He said harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they 78 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,240 have harassed you with their Wiles, with which they beguiled 79 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:46,880 you in the matter of pure. And so now the time has come for 80 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:48,200 that command to be with the field. 81 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,600 The time has come for Moses and the Israelites to carry out the 82 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:58,360 Lord's vengeance on Midian. Now after Moses finishes this 83 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,040 war, God says you're going to be gathered to your people, which 84 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:06,200 means you have one more war to fight Moses and then you're 85 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:08,640 going to die. Then you're coming home. 86 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,280 Look at verse 3 to 6. So Moses spoke to the people 87 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:17,160 saying, are men from among you for the war that they may go 88 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:19,640 against Midian. To execute the Lord's vengeance 89 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:22,640 on Midian, you shall send 1000 from each of the tribes of 90 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:25,200 Israel to the war. So they were provided out of the 91 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:29,800 thousands of Israel, 1000 from each tribe, 12,000 armed for 92 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:34,240 war, and Moses sent them to the war, 1000 from each tribe, 93 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,360 together with Phineas the son of Eliezer the priest, with the 94 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:41,680 vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his 95 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,160 hand. Now, this war that they're going 96 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:49,040 to fight against Midian is not part of the conquest of the 97 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:51,400 Promised Land, all right? So make sure we understand that 98 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,360 it's not part of the conquest of the promised Land. 99 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,880 Why? Because Midian is not part of 100 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:59,200 the promised land. This is rather a separate kind 101 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:03,640 of war, the war of vengeance. But notice not Israel's 102 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,280 vengeance. The text says execute the Lord's 103 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:11,880 vengeance. God said in Deuteronomy 3235 104 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:18,560 vengeance is mine and so now God instructs them to enact his 105 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:23,680 vengeance on Midian. He says send 1000 men armed in 106 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,840 battle, 1000 from each tribe. There are 12 tribes so 12,000 107 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:33,120 men are going to go into battle. Meaning all of Israel is to 108 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:37,160 partake in this war right? Not just one tribe, all to 109 00:07:37,160 --> 00:07:42,080 equally partake in this battle. Interesting that the only 110 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:47,520 individual that God points out in this text of this battle is 111 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,080 Phineas. Phineas. 112 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:56,000 Now why is Phineas mentioned? Well do you remember Phineas is 113 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:02,400 the one who kicked off this war? He started it if he he killed 114 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:06,320 the first Midianite when he drove a spear through a the 115 00:08:06,320 --> 00:08:12,120 Midianite woman, Cosby. But here in this text, Phineas 116 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:13,800 is not going to battle as a warrior. 117 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,520 Phineas is going to be going now as a priest. 118 00:08:16,640 --> 00:08:18,200 Remember, he's the son of Eliezer. 119 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,840 So he is a priest. He's going into battle with two 120 00:08:21,840 --> 00:08:24,120 items. Number one, he's going with the 121 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:27,120 vessels of the sanctuary. Now it's not clear what these 122 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:29,920 vessels are. Possibly the ark, possibly the 123 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,679 priestly garments, possibly the Urim and Thummim, maybe some 124 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,559 combination thereof. But he's going with the priestly 125 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:40,039 holy vessels. Two, he's going to go with the 126 00:08:40,039 --> 00:08:44,480 trumpets for alarm in his hand. Now, what are the trumpets for? 127 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,000 The trumpets have two purposes. They're both stated in numbers 128 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,840 10. Number one, to know what camps 129 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:54,480 are to set out first and in what order. 130 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,440 So you know when you have 12,000 people and you're trying to 131 00:08:57,440 --> 00:08:59,600 March in the battle, like who's supposed to go 1st? 132 00:08:59,600 --> 00:09:02,400 And these trumpets would let them know who is supposed to go 133 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:04,200 1st and in what order they are to go. 134 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:07,560 The second reason for the trumpets God states in Numbers 135 00:09:07,560 --> 00:09:12,600 10-9 where He says that you may be remembered before the Lord 136 00:09:12,600 --> 00:09:17,280 your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. 137 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:23,040 In other words, when Phineas blows these trumpets in battle, 138 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:27,320 God will remember them and He will save them. 139 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:33,680 Look at verse 7. They ward against Midian as the 140 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:39,480 Lord commanded Moses and killed every male. 141 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:45,680 So the battle begins and in the battle the Israelites kill every 142 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:50,560 Midianite male. Now, three items to point out A 143 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:57,800 this doesn't mean they killed every Midianite male everywhere. 144 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:00,960 Doesn't mean every Midianite male everywhere. 145 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,120 We know this because we see the Midianites in the Book of 146 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,840 Judges. They're there so they don't kill 147 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,880 every Midianite male. So how do we make sense? 148 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:12,280 How do we reconcile this? Here's how to reconcile it. 149 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,520 The Midianites were actually a large confederation of tribes, 150 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,000 and they would be associated with smaller groups. 151 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,960 So here it is those Midianites that are associated with the 152 00:10:23,960 --> 00:10:26,680 Moabites that are picked out for vengeance. 153 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:30,360 So think of it as like Midianites are just a large 154 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:33,320 confederation of tribes they would associate with, like the 155 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:35,640 Amalekites, the Moabites, and so forth. 156 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,400 And it's the Midianites that associate themselves with the 157 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:41,640 Moabites. Those are all the males that are 158 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:42,560 killed. But there's still other 159 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,760 Midianites that are going to be living, and we see them in 160 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:50,160 Judges B. This is not the only time when 161 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,120 the Israelites were commanded to put everyone to death or to put 162 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,560 most to death. When they begin the conquest of 163 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:01,960 Canaan, God is going to tell them to devote the cities to 164 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,280 complete destruction. When they start conquering the 165 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,440 promised land, when they they go into Jericho and they go into 166 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,040 the Hibites and the Jebusites, they're going to, God says 167 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,040 devote them all to complete destruction. 168 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:17,080 We even see this in first Samuel 15 when God told Saul when they 169 00:11:17,080 --> 00:11:20,320 fought against the Amalekites, he says devote to destruction. 170 00:11:20,560 --> 00:11:27,160 All of them do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, 171 00:11:28,440 --> 00:11:35,240 child and infant. Which then raises the last Point 172 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:40,360 C How is this just? How is this just? 173 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:48,120 Yes, the sexual immorality, but does that warrant killing all 174 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:52,280 the males? How is that just? 175 00:11:53,640 --> 00:11:54,960 I'll address that in the application. 176 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:00,560 Look at verse 8. They killed the kings of Midian 177 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:06,160 with the rest of their slain Evie, Reckham, Zur, her and 178 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:12,080 Reba, the five kings of Midian. And they also killed Balaam, the 179 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:17,280 son of Bior with the sword. Now it's not uncommon in battle. 180 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,640 This is still true today where soldiers died, but if one side 181 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:24,760 wins the entire battle, they will spare the generals or spare 182 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,160 the kings. But this is not the case here. 183 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:31,240 The Israelites kill all 5 king Midianite kings. 184 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,480 Now we don't know these other ones are, but we remember Zur, 185 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:35,720 right? Zur. 186 00:12:36,080 --> 00:12:38,960 It was his daughter Cosby that Phineas killed. 187 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,720 She was a daughter of one of the leaders of Midian. 188 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,240 And in this war, there's one of the person they killed. 189 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:47,440 They killed all the males. They killed the five kings. 190 00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,040 There's one of the person they killed, Balaam, the son of 191 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:54,360 Biore. Now who is that? 192 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:56,280 If you've been with us the past several weeks, you remember 193 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,920 Balaam. He was the Pagan diviner that 194 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,600 Moab had hired to curse Israel. But instead God used it as an 195 00:13:02,600 --> 00:13:06,360 opportunity to bless Israel. And if you remember from that 196 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:10,560 text, Balaam, after unsuccessfully trying to curse 197 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:14,800 Israel 4 * 4 times, he tries to curse them to get paid by Balaam 198 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:16,960 4 times. God keeps them from being able 199 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,360 to do it. And at the end of those four 200 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:23,960 times, those 4 failures, the text says then Balaam rose and 201 00:13:23,960 --> 00:13:35,040 went back to his place is to be a Pagan diviner for hire. 202 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:44,200 It appears that home Balaam went and joined the Midianites. 203 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,880 He doesn't go home. Now that brings 2 questions up 204 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:56,480 #1 what is Balaam Midian and #2 why did Israel kill him? 205 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,920 And he just got through blessing them four times by God's doing. 206 00:14:01,920 --> 00:14:04,360 But why did they kill him? We'll get there shortly. 207 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:07,840 Look at verse 9. The people of Israel took 208 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:11,520 captive the women of Midian and their little ones, and they took 209 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,360 us plunder all their cattle, their flocks, and all their 210 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,240 goods. Now in verse 8 is they killed 211 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,160 all the males. So what they do with the women? 212 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:26,680 They took them captive along with their little ones, meaning 213 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,840 the young children, right? These would be young, very young 214 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,720 children. What is the purpose of them 215 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:35,960 taking these women captive? One of two purposes, either for 216 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:41,440 wives or for slaves, for wives or for slaves. 217 00:14:42,280 --> 00:14:44,440 They take plunder as well. They take all their cattle, they 218 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:46,240 take all their flocks, they take all their goods. 219 00:14:46,680 --> 00:14:49,560 This plunder will be recounted in next week's sermon. 220 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:56,640 Now it seems like letting the women and the children live is 221 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:58,400 the honourable thing to do, is it not? 222 00:14:58,760 --> 00:15:01,040 You go to battle if you kill all the males, right? 223 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:02,400 You let the women and the children live. 224 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:03,880 That's the honourable thing to do. 225 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:06,280 But let's see how this plays out. 226 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,960 Look at verse 10 to 12. All their cities and the places 227 00:15:10,960 --> 00:15:13,240 where they lived and all their encampments, they burned with 228 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,960 fire, and they took all the spoil and all the plunder, both 229 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,040 of man and beast. Then they brought the captives 230 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,120 in the plunder and the spoil to Moses and Eliezer the priest, 231 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:26,520 and to the congregation of the people of Israel at the camp on 232 00:15:26,520 --> 00:15:29,960 the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, at Jericho. 233 00:15:30,480 --> 00:15:33,240 So they take all of the Midianites, spoil, all of their 234 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:39,240 plunder, which would mean gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead. 235 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:41,960 They take all their sheep, their cattle, their donkeys. 236 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,560 They take it all. After taking all this, they set 237 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,440 everything on fire, all the cities and all the encampments. 238 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,120 And then when they come home, they take all their captives, 239 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,120 the women and the children. They take all the plunder and 240 00:15:57,120 --> 00:16:03,400 all the spoil, and they presented as a gift to Moses and 241 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:06,440 to Eliezer and to the whole congregation. 242 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,440 The narrator tells us that they're still on the camp, on 243 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:12,680 the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, at the Jericho. 244 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:17,320 So they're still by Moab now as they come back and they have 245 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,880 this gift, Moses is going to be thrilled, right? 246 00:16:22,760 --> 00:16:25,840 This is going to be so thrilled to see all this plunder and all 247 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,040 these women and children, right? He's going to be thrilled, 248 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:30,640 right? Look at verse 13 to 15. 249 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,520 Moses and Eliezer, the priests and all the chiefs of the 250 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,760 congregation went to meet them outside the camp. 251 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,440 And Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the 252 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:43,800 commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds who had 253 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:49,960 come from service in the war. Moses said to them, Have you let 254 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:56,280 all the women live? So Moses, Eliezer, and the 255 00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:00,800 chiefs, they go to meet the returning victors outside the 256 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:02,400 camp. I think this is probably because 257 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:03,640 they would have been considered unclean. 258 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:09,720 So they go meet them outside the camp and when it Moses sees them 259 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:15,319 returning from battle victorious with prizes, Moses is angry. 260 00:17:16,079 --> 00:17:21,000 Didn't see that one coming. This is like when you win the 261 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:25,960 game and the coach is angry. You're like, we won, why are you 262 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,080 angry? Why is Moses angry? 263 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,520 He's angry with the officers of the army. 264 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:35,080 Notice he's not angry with the people, he's angry with the 265 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:37,960 leaders. Moses asked him a simple 266 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,440 question, but it is pregnant with conviction. 267 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:50,280 Have you let all the women live Now why does Moses ask this? 268 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:56,640 Look at verse 16. Behold these on Balaam's advice, 269 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:00,400 caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the 270 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,240 Lord, and the incident of pure And so the plague came upon the 271 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:13,560 congregation of of the Lord. Moses says, Behold meaning guys, 272 00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:25,400 listen, look, behold these, these meaning these women on 273 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:33,440 Balaam's advice, Balaam. What was Balaam doing to Midian? 274 00:18:46,360 --> 00:18:48,360 You see, Balaam couldn't curse Israel to weaken them. 275 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:50,280 He tried four times. He couldn't do it. 276 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:55,000 He realizes I cannot weaken Israel by means of God. 277 00:18:55,000 --> 00:19:00,440 God will not curse them. So I'll find a back door. 278 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:07,200 I'll find a back door called Moabite and Midianite women. 279 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,480 He says if I can't get God stem, here's what I'll do. 280 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,320 I'll get God to be angry with them. 281 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:24,120 I can get God to be angry with them for their sin. 282 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:31,160 And he gives them advice to do this. 283 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:35,520 Why was Balaam killed in battle? Why did they kill this prophet 284 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:37,680 in battle? Because Balaam had become a 285 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:43,440 stumbling block to the people of Israel, Jesus said 214 Balaam 286 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:47,560 taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel 287 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,480 so that they might eat food, sacrifice to idols, and practice 288 00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:56,720 sexual immorality. Balaam went to the Moabites in 289 00:19:56,720 --> 00:19:59,840 the Midianites, and he told their kings and probably their 290 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:03,280 women, saying hey, go and entice these men. 291 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,440 In doing so, they will. Commit sexual immorality. 292 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,320 They will bow down to your gods, and their God will be angry with 293 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:16,680 them, and it will weaken them. And it worked. 294 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:23,680 It worked. But there are consequences to 295 00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:27,280 that. Remember what Jesus said about 296 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,600 stumbling blocks? Whoever causes one of these 297 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:33,480 little ones to believe in me to sin, it would be better for him 298 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,160 to have a great millstone fastened around neck and to be 299 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:43,640 drowned in the depth of the sea. So they killed Balaam. 300 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:52,120 Now the reason that Moses is so angry is because the commanders 301 00:20:52,120 --> 00:20:58,880 of Israel let these very women live, the very same women who 302 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:03,080 led the Israelites into an idolatry. 303 00:21:04,360 --> 00:21:06,760 Remember this immorality, idolatry. 304 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:16,480 It cost 24,000 Israelites their life. 24,000 died because of 305 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:24,640 this immorality and idolatry. And Moses is like, do you not 306 00:21:24,640 --> 00:21:27,080 remember burying your brothers and sisters? 307 00:21:27,080 --> 00:21:32,360 Do you not remarry? Remember burying these men who 308 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:38,640 died because of these women? So what is Moses going to do? 309 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:44,360 Look at verse 17 to 18. Now therefore killed every male 310 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,800 among the little ones, and killed every woman who has known 311 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,200 man by lying with him. But all the young girls who have 312 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,840 not known man by lying with him, Keep alive for yourselves. 313 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:57,600 Moses gives the Israelites 2 instructions here. 314 00:21:57,800 --> 00:22:01,960 Number one, kill every male among the little ones. 315 00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:04,680 Now I understand this sounds barbaric. 316 00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:10,080 I, I'm, I'm there's no way to you know that or whitewash. 317 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:11,800 That sounds barbaric, doesn't it? 318 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:17,080 This is completely in keeping with God's instructions in other 319 00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:21,200 places in Scripture. In the flood, God wiped out 320 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:26,160 everybody. Infants, children. 321 00:22:27,480 --> 00:22:30,000 He wiped out everybody except for one family. 322 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,640 In the 10th plague, God put to death every first born of the 323 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,680 Egyptians, regardless of their age. 324 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:42,640 If your first born was six weeks old and you were Egyptian, your 325 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:47,840 first born male died. And with the Amalekites, God 326 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:49,960 commanded the putting the death of every child. 327 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,800 This is completely in keeping with God's instructions. 328 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:55,960 Another place. Now we may be wondering though. 329 00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,640 OK OK, so that just means that God is he's, He's consistent. 330 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:02,680 He could be a consistent barbarian. 331 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:08,600 That just means he's consistent. Why do the children need to be 332 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:11,800 put to death? Surely they had nothing to do 333 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:13,800 with leading the Israelites into sin. 334 00:23:15,920 --> 00:23:18,520 This is most likely to prevent future rebellion. 335 00:23:18,520 --> 00:23:24,440 A Midian that these sons will one day grow up and avenge their 336 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:30,800 father's death #2 Second instruction. 337 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:34,400 God says no man by lying with him. 338 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,720 Keep alive all the young girls who have not known man by lying 339 00:23:37,720 --> 00:23:39,240 with him. Now you may be wondering, like 340 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,400 as I did, why is this the line of demarcation right? 341 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:46,280 In other words, if you are a virgin, you can live. 342 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,440 If you're a virgin, you have to die. 343 00:23:51,000 --> 00:23:52,920 Why is that the line of demarcation? 344 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,280 Well, let me back up for just a minute. 345 00:23:55,960 --> 00:24:01,000 One way to look at it is that all the women should have died. 346 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:07,440 They all should have died, but God allowed the young girls to 347 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:12,720 be kept alive. Another way to look at it is 348 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:16,880 that women who had laid with men more than likely had already 349 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:22,040 begun worshipping false gods. If they were old enough and they 350 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,000 were married, or if they had committed this immorality, they 351 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,720 they more than likely had already engaged in worshipping 352 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:32,680 false gods. They were already says to put 353 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,480 these women to death so that they don't leave the Israelite 354 00:24:36,480 --> 00:24:42,280 men into further idolatry. Now 2 questions remain. 355 00:24:43,080 --> 00:24:46,840 A What does it mean that for the virgins you can keep for 356 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:48,680 yourselves? What does that mean? 357 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,760 Well, these young Midianite women who were virgins, they 358 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:55,280 could be kept and they were kept for what? 359 00:24:55,560 --> 00:24:58,040 For either being wives or for being slaves. 360 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:02,640 You're like, well, why is that? Part of the principles of holy 361 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:08,720 war, part of how God set this up is that virgin women were 362 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,680 allowed to be captured by the Israelites and to become either 363 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:17,800 wives or slaves. This is outlined in Deuteronomy 364 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,640 20 and 21, which we won't have time to get into, but you can 365 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:24,240 read that on your own time. This is God outlines this 366 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,440 principle and Deuteronomy 20 and 21. 367 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:39,660 Now if you are wondering, what if a what if she didn't want to 368 00:25:39,660 --> 00:25:42,020 be a wife? What if she didn't want to be a 369 00:25:42,020 --> 00:25:45,800 slave? You could die. 370 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,240 We our starting point is not that we deserve to live. 371 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:01,280 Our starting point is that we deserve to die. 372 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:11,920 Everybody deserves to die. We all stand before holy God and 373 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:18,640 we all deserve to die. The fact that God lets any of us 374 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,160 live is unspeakable mercy and grace. 375 00:26:29,120 --> 00:26:32,000 Second question is, is God OK with Israelite men marry 376 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,880 Midianite women? I thought they were always 377 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:36,520 supposed to marry Jews. That's actually not technically 378 00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:38,200 true. The answer is yes. 379 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,600 He is OK with the Israelite men marry Midianite women. 2 380 00:26:40,600 --> 00:26:43,560 examples to make this case. Number one, Moses married 381 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:47,000 Sephora. Zippora was a Midianite. 382 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,480 Moses also married a Kushite woman. 383 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:52,600 Apparently his brother and his sister had a problem with this 384 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:58,120 and God said, well here's leprosy if you have a problem 385 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:05,320 with this. So they here's another example, 386 00:27:05,360 --> 00:27:09,400 Boaz married Ruth. Ruth was a Moabite. 387 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,920 So what was prohibited? It is clear that the Israelite 388 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,960 men were prohibited from intermarrying with the Canaanite 389 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,920 nations. They could not intermarry with 390 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:24,800 the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Jebusites, 391 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,800 parasites. They could not intermarry with 392 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:29,360 the Canaanites. Why? 393 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:33,680 Because the temptations to religious apostasy, in other 394 00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:37,120 words, if they marry these Canaanites, they would clearly 395 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,080 apostasize. Or the temptation to apostasize 396 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,640 would be so strong. We even see that with Solomon, 397 00:27:42,760 --> 00:27:45,680 who intermarried with foreign women, and it led him astray. 398 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:51,720 But if a non Canaanite woman, meaning a Moabite, A Midianite, 399 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:57,200 if a non Canaanite woman was a convert to Judaism, she would 400 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:00,080 have to convert to Judaism, just like Ruth did. 401 00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,960 Remember, Ruth converted to Judaism. 402 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,120 She she chose to adhere to Naomi's religion. 403 00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:11,920 Then the Israelite men could marry them, just as Boaz marries 404 00:28:11,960 --> 00:28:14,760 Ruth. And that's true here too. 405 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:20,320 All right, we'll stop there with exposition, application of the 406 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:21,760 text. You're like, where are we going 407 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,280 with this? How are we going to get 408 00:28:24,400 --> 00:28:30,440 application from killing males and women and children and so 409 00:28:30,440 --> 00:28:38,360 forth #1 Our first word allocation comes from the 410 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:41,760 passage in Nahum chapter one, verse 2. 411 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:47,160 And here's how that book begins. The Lord is a jealous and 412 00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:50,800 avenging God. The Lord is avenging and 413 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:53,240 wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his 414 00:28:53,240 --> 00:28:57,160 adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. 415 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,360 Nahum was written to console the people of Israel who had been 416 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,040 oppressed by Nineveh. You know why for so many of us, 417 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:09,440 why war is so like hard for us to swallow? 418 00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:15,000 Because we've never known it. You've never watched a foreign 419 00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,800 country come into your land and kill your children. 420 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,320 Do you know what I would feel towards someone else? 421 00:29:21,520 --> 00:29:26,520 If Canada or China or Mexico or India or Pakistan came into 422 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:29,880 America and put my son to death and I had to watch my sons be 423 00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:31,800 put to death right before my eyes? 424 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:40,360 I feel like this. I'd want vengeance. 425 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:47,120 I'd want a God who was jealous and avenging and wrathful, who 426 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,360 would take vengeance on his adversaries. 427 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:58,920 Lately, these days, it it seems like if you turn on the news, 428 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:01,960 you ever noticed that? Like if you turn on the news now 429 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,480 a large amount of what is reported. 430 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:08,440 The other side is it's like we don't even report the news 431 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,920 anymore. All we do is report how that 432 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:14,960 side is awful, and then the other side reports how that side 433 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,160 is awful. That's not kind of all it's 434 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:21,320 become. You click on one network, this 435 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:24,160 side's ruining the country. You click on the other network, 436 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:28,240 this side's ruining the country. That's kind of all it's become. 437 00:30:29,320 --> 00:30:31,520 What is at the heart of all of this? 438 00:30:31,880 --> 00:30:33,520 Why is that? What? 439 00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:35,120 How did we get here? What? 440 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,560 What's at the heart of all this? I think there's a lot of things, 441 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:43,680 but I'll sum it up. Fear. 442 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:48,960 I think that there is a great fear that people have that 443 00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:53,880 people are going to get away with sin or what we think is 444 00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,360 sin. So if we think your policies are 445 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:02,280 sin, if we think your walls or commands are said, we are so 446 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,040 afraid they're going to get away with it. 447 00:31:05,080 --> 00:31:06,480 And the other side thinks the same thing. 448 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:13,800 This fear can all too easily creep into the church and it can 449 00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:18,880 creep into families as well. You see, we see the sin of this 450 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:20,720 world, right? I mean, just go out into the 451 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:25,200 world and we see the sin of this world, how it is impacting us 452 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,080 and especially how it's impacting our future 453 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:30,320 generations. If you have kids and you look 454 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:35,360 around, I mean, man, this is like not that it was like, you 455 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:43,480 know, like the 50s were sin was still there, but we see how sin 456 00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,120 is impacting and there's there's a fear. 457 00:31:48,320 --> 00:31:51,920 We always want to be vigilant about the surrounding culture, 458 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,840 but in the midst of all this, we must not lose sight of this 459 00:31:56,840 --> 00:32:00,040 reality. The Lord is a jealous and 460 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,200 avenging God. The Lord is avenging and 461 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:06,040 wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on his 462 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,120 adversaries and he keeps wrath for his enemies. 463 00:32:11,120 --> 00:32:16,640 You see, Moab and Midian had LED God's people into sin. 24,000 of 464 00:32:16,640 --> 00:32:18,640 them paid with for it with their lives. 465 00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:24,000 There may have been wives who had to bury their husbands 466 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,600 because he engaged in sexual immorality. 467 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,080 There may have been daughters who had to bury their dads 468 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,600 because he engaged in sexual immorality. 469 00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:39,360 But God was not going to let Midian get away with this. 470 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,680 God was not going to sit by and let Midian and Moab deceive his 471 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,720 people, lead them into a morale in idolatry and let them just 472 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:55,720 go. No, God commanded Moses avenge 473 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,880 the people of Israel against the Midianites. 474 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:06,080 Now, what does that mean for us? We're not waging holy war 475 00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:07,800 anymore. We're not waging war on ethnic 476 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:09,480 groups. We're not waging war on 477 00:33:09,480 --> 00:33:11,920 nationalistic groups. We're not waging war on 478 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:14,000 political groups. We're not waging war on 479 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,920 organizations or corporations for this. 480 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:23,080 We must remember this. Sinners will not get away with 481 00:33:23,200 --> 00:33:31,280 their sin. God will avenge the sins 482 00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:37,160 committed against creation, against the church, against 483 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:47,720 against women, against children. I want to encourage you that if 484 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:53,520 you are prone, not everybody, but if you are prone to getting 485 00:33:53,520 --> 00:34:02,120 stressed out or anxious or maybe even angry at the sins world, 486 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:06,640 keep in mind our God is not a passive God. 487 00:34:09,159 --> 00:34:17,000 He is an avenging God. He will avenge every sin 488 00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:20,199 committed against US, against humanity. 489 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:29,800 He will take care of it. Two, God has called us to wage 490 00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:37,239 holy war on our sin. God has called us to wage holy 491 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,719 war on our sin. When you read this text, there 492 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:41,360 are some graphic terms in it, aren't there? 493 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:46,400 Words like avenge, war, execute, vengeance, killed. 494 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:50,440 You see, God was not sending the Israelites to go and engage in 495 00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:52,440 diplomatic relations with the Midianites. 496 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:57,120 He didn't say, hey, go see if you can seek out the terms of 497 00:34:57,120 --> 00:35:00,200 peace with them. Go try to negotiate with them. 498 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:02,840 They weren't trying to find a compromise. 499 00:35:03,240 --> 00:35:10,040 God sent them into Midian for one purpose and and the same 500 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:15,760 mission still stands today. Except instead of Midian insert 501 00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:25,160 our sin, God has called us to wage holy war on our sin. 502 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:29,400 These graphic terms, they're not just an Old Testament facet. 503 00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,400 But you read this and you think, oh man, this is Old Testament. 504 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:35,240 No, we see it in the New Testament as well. 505 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,600 Colossians 35 put to death what is earthly in you. 506 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,280 Galatians 524 Those who belong to Christ have crucified the 507 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:47,080 flesh along with his passions and its desires. 508 00:35:47,440 --> 00:35:54,680 We are at war with our sin. We must always be at war. 509 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:03,000 My boys have been arguing about the same topic for the past 510 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:06,520 year. It was on every single day in 511 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,760 our house and it centres around this question. 512 00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:20,560 Who is the GOAT in basketball? Is it LeBron or Jordan? 513 00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:29,520 They argue about that everyday, 365 days a year now. 514 00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:32,920 Of course I think it's LeBron simply because of his skill set. 515 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:37,960 But there are many, many people who still hold on to Jordan. 516 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:41,200 Why? It usually centres around this 517 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:45,840 idea. Jordan was a killer. 518 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:54,280 He wasn't there to make friends. He didn't play to make friends. 519 00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:58,040 If you were playing against him, you were the enemy. 520 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:01,840 Today's NBA is a little bit different, buddy. 521 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:04,680 And you know, like hanging out with each other afterward. 522 00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:10,240 Jordan wasn't hanging out with nobody except maybe Charles, but 523 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:11,960 he he, he had a falling out with Charles. 524 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:24,400 He had a killer mentality. God has called us to have this 525 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:32,200 same mentality with our sin. We're not trying to make friends 526 00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:38,520 with it. We're not to negotiate, to 527 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,440 compromise with it. We're not to make excuses for 528 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,280 it. We're not provision for it. 529 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,000 We're not to justify it. We're not to defend it. 530 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,600 We're not to explain it. We're not to compare it. 531 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:52,360 There's only one thing that God has told us, commanded us to do 532 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:56,440 with our sin, and it is the same thing that He did with His Son, 533 00:37:58,640 --> 00:38:05,720 and that is crucified. One of the reasons that the 534 00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:11,640 cross was so graphic, you watch the Passion of Christ right now 535 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:13,600 that I'm not advocating that, you know, if you're like, I 536 00:38:13,600 --> 00:38:14,680 don't watch that because it's visual. 537 00:38:14,680 --> 00:38:18,400 And but if you watch that movie and you realize how graphic this 538 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:21,760 is, and I think even that movie probably did not do justice to 539 00:38:21,760 --> 00:38:24,400 what a crucifixion was. If you read historical accounts, 540 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:28,520 it was barbaric beyond belief. One of the reasons that the 541 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,440 cross was so graphic was not only to atone for our sin and to 542 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,600 propitiate the wrath of God, but it was to give us a vivid 543 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:40,000 picture of what our mentality quality should be towards this 544 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:49,120 dragon that lives inside of us. This dragon rears his ugly head 545 00:38:51,920 --> 00:38:57,680 and we are to pull out our sword and cut it off. 546 00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:08,040 Cut it off. And brothers and sisters, let me 547 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:13,880 encourage you. Keep your sword near the bedside 548 00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:18,800 of your soul. Because his head regenerates 549 00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:35,030 every day #3 The question is never why did God kill so many 550 00:39:35,030 --> 00:39:40,510 people, but rather, why didn't God kill everybody? 551 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:47,080 The question is never why did God kill so many people, but 552 00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:50,320 rather, why didn't God kill everybody? 553 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,400 One of the perennial questions that is asked by atheist, 554 00:39:55,560 --> 00:40:00,480 agnostics, humanist, secularist is this Why did God kill so many 555 00:40:00,480 --> 00:40:03,240 people in the Old Testament? This is this is like one of the 556 00:40:03,240 --> 00:40:07,120 central questions that you go to any university or any coffee 557 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:09,880 shop. In a in a liberal place that 558 00:40:09,880 --> 00:40:13,600 this is one of the like, why did God kill so many people in the 559 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,520 Old Testament? I thought he was a God of love. 560 00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:17,520 I thought he was a God of mercy. I thought he was a God of 561 00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:19,960 compassion. We see right here that the 562 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,520 Israelites killed every single male, and even when they spared 563 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,600 the women and the children, they were later commanded to kill 564 00:40:26,680 --> 00:40:31,240 some of the women and children. This killing will continue in 565 00:40:31,240 --> 00:40:33,400 the book of Joshua where God commands them to wipe out the 566 00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,560 Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the parasites, the 567 00:40:35,560 --> 00:40:38,760 Hittites, and the Jebusites. It'll continue all the way with 568 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:41,480 King Saul where God commands them to wipe out all the 569 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:44,520 Amalekites. It'll continue all the Assyrians 570 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:49,840 where God in one night wipes out 185,000 Assyrians and the 571 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:58,480 listen, the question is why? It's a fair question. 572 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:03,240 Let's be It's a fair question, 100% a fair question. 573 00:41:04,880 --> 00:41:10,920 It's just the wrong question. A fair question can be a wrong 574 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:15,800 question. The question is never why did 575 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:22,360 God kill so many people, but rather why God kill everybody? 576 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:28,000 Why did God let any of the Midianites live? 577 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,560 Why did God let any of the Moabites live? 578 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:43,600 Why is there a story of Ruth? You see the world, the the 579 00:41:43,600 --> 00:41:46,400 atheist, the agnostics, the humanist, the secularist. 580 00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,840 They look at something like the flood, the flood in the Bible 581 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:53,040 where God killed all of humanity except for one family. 582 00:41:53,800 --> 00:42:09,280 They look at God and they ask. World and I ask God, why not 583 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:18,290 more floods? To me the question is not why 584 00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:21,330 would God send a flood to destroy humankind? 585 00:42:21,530 --> 00:42:24,450 The better question is, is why doesn't God send a natural 586 00:42:24,450 --> 00:42:27,130 disaster every year to destroy humankind? 587 00:42:29,290 --> 00:42:32,450 Why doesn't this happen every single year? 588 00:42:34,570 --> 00:42:36,690 Because our wickedness deserves it, does it not? 589 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:43,040 I mean, just turn on the news and listen to the wickedness 590 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,280 that exists in this world. It is some unspeakable 591 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:49,040 wickedness. And my question is, why aren't 592 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:52,600 we wiped out every year and we just start over every single 593 00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:59,910 year? You see, texts like this, they 594 00:42:59,910 --> 00:43:05,390 only present a moral dilemma for us if we fail to properly 595 00:43:05,390 --> 00:43:08,750 understand the glory of God and the holiness of God. 596 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:19,600 If our starting point is that we deserve life, we deserve X. 597 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:23,720 If that's our starting point. This will never make sense to 598 00:43:23,720 --> 00:43:34,890 you. 4 Balaam teaches us the danger of being in the wrong 599 00:43:34,890 --> 00:43:40,320 place at the wrong time. Balaam teaches us the danger of 600 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:42,680 being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 601 00:43:43,080 --> 00:43:46,680 Balaam should have never tried to come and curse Israel on it, 602 00:43:46,960 --> 00:43:49,880 but he did anyway. He was prevented from further 603 00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:53,160 sinning through a talking donkey, and God turned his 604 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,040 attempts to curse into an opportunity to bless. 605 00:43:56,360 --> 00:43:59,480 Now you would think that Balaam would have learned his lesson. 606 00:43:59,480 --> 00:44:02,800 I mean, when I read this story of Balaam, I'm like, surely you 607 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:07,160 learned your lesson, right? You know, you were humiliated by 608 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:11,000 a donkey. You failed at your job four 609 00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,800 times, you didn't get Balak's money. 610 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:20,520 And once all your prophecies are over, all you had to do Balaam 611 00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:23,760 was go home. Just go home. 612 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:26,640 See, God had given Balaam a gift. 613 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:30,000 God could have put Balaam to death, but he didn't. 614 00:44:30,200 --> 00:44:33,600 He gave him a gift. And he he has a window to 615 00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,440 repent. Balaam had an opportunity to 616 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:41,280 turn around to realize that God is, God is not, and he could 617 00:44:42,400 --> 00:44:47,240 convert to Judaism, but he doesn't do it. 618 00:44:47,440 --> 00:44:51,000 Why? Because he doesn't go home. 619 00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:59,080 He stops in Midian on the way home and it cost him his life. 620 00:45:02,240 --> 00:45:07,200 Balaam teaches us the danger of being in the wrong place at the 621 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:11,840 wrong time. One of my favorite warnings in 622 00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:16,840 Scripture is what the father says warning his sons and the 623 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,400 book of Proverbs about the forbidden woman. 624 00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:24,160 I love the counsel that he gives his sons. 625 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:31,720 Here it is. Keep your way far from her and 626 00:45:31,720 --> 00:45:36,280 do not go near the door of her house. 627 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:46,840 Brothers and sisters, sometimes it is as simple as not being in 628 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:49,560 the wrong place at the wrong time. 629 00:45:51,920 --> 00:45:57,080 If you're dating, don't be alone together in a house. 630 00:46:04,800 --> 00:46:08,640 If you're married, don't be alone with somebody who's not 631 00:46:08,640 --> 00:46:10,440 your spouse. Don't be the opposite gender. 632 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:12,560 Don't be alone with somebody who's not your spouse. 633 00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,120 Maybe it means not going to the party where you know people are 634 00:46:18,120 --> 00:46:22,760 going to be drunk. Maybe it means not walking 635 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,640 around the casino just out of curiosity. 636 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,600 Maybe it means not drinking all the tea that is being spilled at 637 00:46:33,600 --> 00:46:41,750 the lunch table. Maybe it means not going on the 638 00:46:41,750 --> 00:46:44,390 work trip where idolatry will be celebrated. 639 00:46:47,790 --> 00:46:50,350 You see, God will give us the grace that we need to walk in 640 00:46:50,350 --> 00:46:51,550 holiness. He will. 641 00:46:52,030 --> 00:46:55,710 He will give us the grace we need to walk in holiness, but 642 00:46:55,710 --> 00:47:02,830 make sure we position ourselves to be in a place to receive that 643 00:47:02,830 --> 00:47:11,040 grace. Five, The church needs not just 644 00:47:11,040 --> 00:47:16,200 leaders, but wise leaders. The church needs not just 645 00:47:16,200 --> 00:47:21,440 leaders, but wise leaders. One of the difficulties is that 646 00:47:21,440 --> 00:47:24,480 there are two different contacts of holy war. 647 00:47:25,520 --> 00:47:29,440 A God commanded the Israelites to put to death all those living 648 00:47:29,440 --> 00:47:31,680 in Canaan, every man, woman, and child. 649 00:47:32,320 --> 00:47:38,160 But B, for wars, for people out, like Midian, God allowed them to 650 00:47:38,160 --> 00:47:40,440 take the women captive. They could take the women 651 00:47:40,440 --> 00:47:43,000 captive as either wives or slaves. 652 00:47:44,040 --> 00:47:49,280 My guess is that that is at least in part why the Israelites 653 00:47:49,280 --> 00:47:52,400 let the Midianite women live. I think they're like, well, this 654 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:55,200 is perfectly within keeping of the law, right? 655 00:47:55,360 --> 00:47:56,640 They're not, they're not Canaanites. 656 00:47:56,640 --> 00:48:00,880 We can let these women live. They can become wives for us or, 657 00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:03,840 you know, they become servants on our our state and help us to, 658 00:48:04,120 --> 00:48:10,040 you know, farming and whatnot. So why was Moses angry? 659 00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,800 Moses was angry that that with the commanders of the people. 660 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:16,440 Why? Because Moses wanted them to 661 00:48:16,440 --> 00:48:21,360 exercise wisdom. He wanted them to be wise. 662 00:48:21,400 --> 00:48:28,120 Yes, yes, technically these are not Canaanites, but they are 663 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:33,480 behaving, being like Canaanites. They have let our people into 664 00:48:33,480 --> 00:48:40,640 idolatry, be treated like Canaanites, and therefore they 665 00:48:40,640 --> 00:48:45,800 should be put to death. You see, Israel had leaders, 666 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:48,320 they had chiefs of the people, they had commanders of the army. 667 00:48:48,520 --> 00:48:52,760 But Moses wanted these leaders to exercise wisdom. 668 00:48:55,000 --> 00:48:58,080 The church needs not just leaders. 669 00:48:58,080 --> 00:49:05,080 The church needs wise leaders. Six last point. 670 00:49:07,280 --> 00:49:12,120 Sin is attractive and has its benefits, and therefore the 671 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:14,800 temptation to keep it around, it'll always be there. 672 00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:20,960 Sin is attractive it and it has its benefits and therefore the 673 00:49:20,960 --> 00:49:23,720 temptation to keep it around. It'll always be there. 674 00:49:24,720 --> 00:49:27,000 Why did the men keep the many night women alive? 675 00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:30,040 Yes, I mentioned part of it. Maybe they thought that it was 676 00:49:30,040 --> 00:49:33,760 perfectly in keeping with the law, but I would assume it's 677 00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:36,680 deeper than that. I assume that the reason they 678 00:49:36,680 --> 00:49:39,480 kept these many night women alive is the exact same reason 679 00:49:39,480 --> 00:49:42,520 that the men engaged in sexual immorality with the night women 680 00:49:42,520 --> 00:49:46,320 to begin with. Because they were attractive. 681 00:49:51,080 --> 00:49:56,720 Because they were different. Oh, there were no Israelite 682 00:49:56,720 --> 00:49:57,920 women to marry. There were. 683 00:49:58,600 --> 00:50:04,000 There were plenty of Israelite women to marry. 10 is 684 00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:09,240 attractive. It has its benefits and 685 00:50:09,240 --> 00:50:12,800 therefore the temptation to keep it around will always be there. 686 00:50:15,320 --> 00:50:16,960 Making money is attractive, is it not? 687 00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:23,400 I was sharing a small group this week that if you start 688 00:50:23,400 --> 00:50:29,280 investing, seeing that dollar sign go up, it's a high. 689 00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:34,880 You check it and it it, it just goes up and up and up. 690 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:36,840 It's a high. You get a high from seeing that 691 00:50:36,840 --> 00:50:42,640 number go up. Making money is attractive and 692 00:50:42,640 --> 00:50:47,120 it has its benefits. This is true of just about 693 00:50:47,120 --> 00:50:49,400 everything. Possessions, travel, children, 694 00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:53,240 approval, success, alcohol, sex, sports, hobbies, all of it. 695 00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:57,400 They're all attractive. They're all attractive. 696 00:50:57,960 --> 00:51:03,160 They all have their benefits and therefore the temptation to keep 697 00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:07,120 our sin around. It'll always be there. 698 00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:16,560 David had the Kingdom, had the Kingdom, He had wives, he had 699 00:51:16,560 --> 00:51:21,680 multiple wives, and yet that was too attractive. 700 00:51:24,280 --> 00:51:27,920 Adam and Eve had the garden. They had every tree in the 701 00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:31,920 garden, they could eat from all of them, and yet the forbidden 702 00:51:31,920 --> 00:51:37,680 tree was too attractive. Solomon had the Kingdom. 703 00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:46,640 God, anybody more than Bezos or Musk or anybody the the man was 704 00:51:46,640 --> 00:51:51,360 filthy rich. He had a thousand women, and yet 705 00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:56,560 these foreign women were just too attractive to him. 706 00:51:58,560 --> 00:52:02,680 Saul had the Kingdom. He had the people's praises. 707 00:52:07,200 --> 00:52:10,640 They they praised him, they loved the people, loved Saul, 708 00:52:10,800 --> 00:52:15,800 and yet it was the women singing in the streets that was just too 709 00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:21,880 attractive. I got to have it, brothers and 710 00:52:21,880 --> 00:52:28,160 sisters, sin is attractive and it has its benefits and 711 00:52:28,160 --> 00:52:32,400 therefore the temptation to keep it around will always be there. 712 00:52:34,120 --> 00:52:40,720 Make sure you have no Trojan horses in your life. 713 00:52:42,160 --> 00:52:49,920 Wage holy war on your sin. Let's pray.