Victory Over Midianites

The Lord's People & Leaders	LEADER: MOSES People: Children of Israel
The Enemy's People & Leaders	Leaders: Evi , Rekem and Zur, Hur and Reba (the five kings) Balaam, son of Beor People: Midianites
Object of the Battle	The Last Battle commanded of Moses: to avenge Israel of the Midianites
Strategies of the Battle	Israelites commanded by Moses to arm themselves: 1000 of each tribe set apart for battle: 12,000 sent to vengeance war Phinehas, with holy instruments and trumpet leads battle (son of Eleazar, the Priest)
Place of the Battle	Midian
Intelligence	none mentioned. They would have knowledge already of Midian because of past dealings.
Results of the Battle	All Males of Midian slain Women and Children taken captive; brought to Moses, then women and male children killed: virgins left alive. Spoil of cattle, flocks and goods taken. All their cities burned.
Reward	Spoil taken (see above) Young maids kept for Israel
Spiritual Implications	God in His justice, allows Moses last battle to be one of vengeance: to requite what the Midianites had done to Israel but then Moses is to go to his God. The battle is God-commanded. Even in the Old Testament, vengeance belongs to the Lord. There are only a few cases in scripture where God directs man to enact vengeance, mostly in the passage/taking of Canaan.
Implications for Faith	Since cases of vengeance are rare, it is mostly likely to be the case that God does not tell you to take vengeance: He will perform it. The killing of the Males in battle was so that the nation could not rise back up in a generation against Israel, within Israel. The killing of the Sons is so the sons when older do not wreak vengeance on their fathers' slayers; the killing of the women in this case, was the same. War often requires a different morality than the Lord's ideal, but that less-desireable morality may need to be enacted for the preservation of His people. To note the seriousness of the taking of life, even of brutal enemies, God requires afterwards a cleansing and purification rite 31:19-24 Even clothing had to be purified: metals which survived the fire could be kept: spoil was to be divided half between the troops that went to war and the populace. God is Life: even when He commanded the taking of it so that Israel and His sovereign plan would survive, he required repentance, purification or a form of restitution.
Cross-references & Other Critical Facts	1Midian was where Moses took Tzipporah to wife; his father-in-law Jethro was a Midianite. Midian joined in cursing Israel when Moab sought Balaam to curse but ended up blessing. Balaam was killed in this battle for the very crime of goingto curse Israel.