Numbers 25:16-18
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”
Tag: Sin Can Be Friendly
The Midianites were not the friends of Israel. The were the enemies of Israel. The issue, however, is that they pretended to be the friend of Israel in order to avoid their own destruction.
Israel was given the promise land with one caveat. They were to destroy the people of the land. They were not to mingle with the people of the land. The king of the Midianites tried to get a prophet to curse the nation of Israel ... Balaam. But, God prevented that cursing. However, Balaam did give the king another strategy in order to win the king’s favor and reward: Don’t curse Israel, inter-marry with them and then they won’t destroy you. He advised them to teach them about their culture rather then destroy them with their sword.
This is the context of the above passage. God wanted them to be stroke down. They wanted to be friends. Sin, in our lives often looks friendly, warm and inviting. Sin wants to have a “relationship” with us. Read Proverbs 7 to get a vivid picture of the allure of sin. But, God wants us to destroy it and kill it in our lives. The Midianites are a picture of sin in the life of the believer and the above passage shows us God’s attitude toward it. We are not to cozy up to it. We are to kill it off.
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