Readings for today: Numbers 31-32, Psalms 50
It’s hard to read passages like the one we read today where the Lord commands His people to go to war. “The Lord spoke to Moses, “Execute vengeance for the Israelites against the Midianites. After that, you will be gathered to your people.” (Numbers 31:1-2 CSB) It seems inconsistent with God’s character. After all, if God is love, how could He command such violence? Did the ancient writers make a mistake? Did Moses not hear God correctly? Is this simply a theological justification for Israel’s wars of conquest? These are important questions to wrestle with for sure.
However, it is also important we wrestle with these questions honestly and not anachronistically. It’s simply dishonest to judge a culture from another time and place by our modern, 21st century American standards. First and foremost, we are just as violent and messed up as any culture ourselves so certainly do not have the moral high ground. Second, humanity has been at war from its inception. Violence seems hardwired into our very nature. I’ve read where some historians believe humanity has had four years of peace in her 10,000 years of existence. Four years! When you read books like The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee by David Treuer or Dominion by Tom Holland, you realize very quickly that pagan cultures around the world were just as violent, if not more so, than Jewish, Christian, and/or Muslim cultures. Third, God has made an unbreakable, unshakeable commitment to work through humanity to bring about His will on the earth. This means He uses us in spite of us which is hard for us to keep in the forefront of our minds because we tend to see ourselves as fundamentally good despite all evidence to the contrary.
The Midianites were an early nomadic tribe known for violence, child sacrifice, slave-trafficking, and sexual license, among many other things. They were distant relatives to Israel through Abraham and his second wife, Keturah, but that didn’t stop them from attacking their cousins. What took place was fairly typical in ancient near east tribal warfare. Blood feuds were very common and passed down from generation to generation which is why Moses orders the execution of entire families. He is seeking to put an end to the war with Midian once and for all. He doesn’t want a new generation of sons to seek revenge for what happened to their fathers. By the way, we see a similar dynamic in play in the Middle East today between the Israelis and Palestinians. It’s a modern blood feud that has lasted several generations at this point with no end in sight. As each generation comes of age, they seek revenge for what happened to their fathers and mothers which is why it’s tough to see how such a conflict can possibly end peacefully.
Why does God allow or even sanction such violence? I am honest enough to say I do not know. What I do know is the Midianites were not innocent. Nor was Israel. Humanity is always compromised on so many levels. There is no such thing as a truly innocent human being. The fact that God chooses to work through us to bring about His sovereign will means working with us in all our sinful, broken, rebelliousness. If we have the courage to engage in honest self-reflection, we know the many ways we act selfishly and pridefully and even violently. We know the many ways we hurt or bring pain to others by what we say or don’t say, do or don’t do. We know the many ways we fail to live up to our own moral standards much less God’s moral standard. Rather than stand in judgment on the people of the ancient near east, the Bible calls us to humble ourselves and look within to see how truly similar we are to them with the hopes that it drives us to God for His mercy and grace.
Readings for tomorrow: Numbers 33-34, Psalms 51