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One-sentence summary: The Lord commands Moses to tell the Israel to wage war against the Midianites- taking vengeance on them for seducing the people- and the tribes of Gad and Reuben ask for an inheritance outside the promised land, which Moses agrees to as long as they will fight along with the people until all the land is subdued.
The Lord tells Moses to "take vengeance on the Midianites," and that afterward, he will be "gathered up to [his] people." So Moses tells the people to arm some of themselves for war, 1,000 from each tribe, and to wage war against the Midianies, and he sends them out to war along with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest with the holy articles and signal trumpets in his hand; they kill all the males and kings of the Midianites. Balaam is also killed by the sword along with them. They take the women and children captive and take a spoil of all their goods and cattle, and they burn all the cities and forts. They bring all of this back to Moses, Eleazar, and the camp of Israel, still camped by the Jordan, and they go to meet them outside the camp. However, Moses is angry with all the officers of the army because they kept the women alive, who were the ones who caused Israel "through the counsel of Balaam" to trespass against the Lord, and therefore the reason for the plague. So he commands them to kill all the male children and the woman who are not virgins. Then, he tells those who have killed or touched dead bodies to purify themselves outside the camp along with their garments and to stay outside the camp for seven days. Eleazar tells them to purify all the gold, silver, and bronze, and anything that can be put through fire into the fire for cleansing, and everything else through water. The Lord tells Moses to count all the plunder, along with Eleazar and the chief fathers, and to divide it between those who went to battle and the rest of Israel. They are to take 1/500 of man and beast to give to Eleazar the priest from the men who went to war and 1/50 of what is Israel's of man and beast to give to the Levites. Then, the captains of the armies tell Moses that no one is missing from among them of all the men of war, and that they have brought offerings of jewelry to make atonement before the Lord. Moses and Eleazar receive all the gold from them and bring it into the tabernacle as a memorial for Israel before the Lord.
The children of Reuben and Gad have much livestock, and when they see that Jazer and Gilead are good places for livestock, they speak to Moses, Eleazar, and the leaders, and ask if the land may be given to them as a possession, instead of going over into the Jordan. But Moses asks them why their brothers should go to war while they stay and rest, and that they will discourage Israel from crossing over into the promised land, just as their fathers the spies did when they gave Israel a negative report and discouraged them, resulting in them being condemned to wander in the wilderness 40 years. He calls they will increase the anger of the Lord against Israel, because if they turn again from following Him, He will again leave them in the wilderness, and they will cause the destruction of Israel. So they say they will build sheepfolds in Gilead for their livestock, and that they will be armed and prepared to bring Israel into the land; they will only return after Israel has inherited the land, but they believe their inheritance is on the eastern side of the Jordan. Moses says if they do this and send their armed men to fight with Israel, once the land is subdued, then they may return, and that they will be blameless before the Lord and before Israel. But if they do not, he warns them, they will have sinned against the Lord and will be judged. So he blesses them to do as they have said, and they say they will do it as he has commanded them. Moses tells Eleazar, Joshua, and the chief fathers of Israel of their arrangement, to give Gad, Reuben, and some of the tribe of Manesseh the land of Gilead as long as they cross over and fight with Israel; however, if they do not, their possession will be with Israel in Canaan.
Thoughts/Discussion Questions:
If you have not had first-hand experience with war, passages like these are difficult to comprehend. There are often awful repercussions to our actions, even if they be less bloody.