God Knows Why
Today’s Passage – Numbers 30 – 31 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)
(Second Milers also read – Romans 13 – 16; Proverbs 26; Psalms 131 – 135)
Listen to this morning’s Scripture Song – Isaiah 51:11
Read the “0226 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD. Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.” (Numbers 31:15-17)
Numbers 31 is a very somber passage of Scripture. Moses is commanded by the Lord to perform one last task before he dies, which was to “avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites”. 12,000 men from Israel went out and attacked a much greater number of Midianites, and were able to conquer them completely without losing one of their own men. Of course, the Midianites were not so fortunate; they ended up losing everything with all of the adult males being immediately slain. At first, the women and small male children were all spared. However, when the victors returned to camp with the spoils and the captives, Moses commanded that all of the small male children, as well as all of the adult women would also have to be slaughtered. Only the small girls were spared.
I must confess that Bible passages such as this are not the ones I look forward to reading. Later on, in 1 Samuel 15, God would once again order the annihilation of an entire nation of people (the Amalekites), including all of the women, children, and even the livestock. I have often wondered why God would command such a thing. I have examined these Scriptures carefully in the past and have even preached messages from them. I have explained to people some of the reasons why God would need to be so severe, but I was always left with more questions in my own mind. Wasn’t there any other way? Couldn’t God have spared even just the children? How do we reconcile this Old Testament God of vengeance with the New Testament God of love and mercy? My human reasoning cannot fully comprehend the answers to all these questions regarding what God was thinking when He chose such drastic courses of action.
I still don’t have all the individual answers to these and many other questions, but I have come to a place in my faith that has helped me tremendously. I no longer question God. There are a lot of things about God that make absolutely no sense to my finite brain, but I trust that He knows what He is doing, and He does not have to offer me any explanation. Why did God kill all of the Midianites? Why did He destroy the entire world with a flood? Why did He kill the Amalekites? Why did God allow the Towers to come down on 9/11? Why does He permit the pain and suffering of millions of people today? I know why, and yet I don’t know why. I mean, I may understand partially, but I can’t comprehend fully; but I do know God, and I trust Him that He knows why, and that’s good enough for me. I know God loves me, and I know He loves the world and all of the people in it, and I know that God does everything right, even when I can’t see any right in it.
Posted in Thoughts from Numbers by Phil Erickson with 7 comments.
Amen! Couldn’t agree more!
We live in a world that is very untrustworthy. There are some who cannot even trust their own closest family members. That’s why so many including Christians, have a hard time trusting the Lord. But you are absolutely right. God would never allow anything that wasn’t for our own good. He loves us that much, and We must trust him fully. Great thought for the day, amen.
Very good! Thank you.
In my own words we must trust and obey the lord. Sometimes you can’t trust family members. So the reason why is because as christians we learn so many differences.but god comes first in our world he is our light of the world. He can do so many things to make us have faith in this world and believe in what is right. We learn that god can create the universe there is only one god who can make that happen we believe in miracles that can happen in a lifetime. God is powerful he will make decisions on his own his time. He tells you to face the world as a Christian and believe in what Dan be done by living a Christian life. And listening to god in your heart. And trust and obey the lord our god. He takes us for a walk and teaches us that as christians are christian life is based on so many things. That we need to accomplish. And get done. And loving the lord. Where he brings us to everlasting life.
Amen Pastor. I couldn’t agree with you more. But we have to realize God sees the whole picture we only see in part.We cannot lean on our own understanding but just trust God at His word.He makes no mistakes and someday we will see the whole picture. like the post.
Amen & Amen! So very true. And what a blessing He gives us in that we just need to trust in Him. We don’t need to understand it all. God is so good.
Amen Pastor.As Christians let us not forget
Isaiah 55:8-9 8.For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord.
9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth,so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Let me ask this question what happened with Israel? when they mingle with the other nations they started to lust after there men and women and sacrificed their children to their gods!
And i will end my thought with this,if you have
a tiny infection you must stop it before it starts spreading because it can become deadly. like the post.