The Spoils of the Battle (Num. 31:25-47)

2/25/2009 11:02 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The spoils of the battle

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                        Reference:  Numbers 31:25-47

 

            Message of the verses:  “25 ¶  Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 26  "You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the booty that was captured, both of man and of animal; 27  and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28  "Levy a tax for the LORD from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep; 29  take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as an offering to the LORD. 30  "From the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the LORD." 31  Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 32  Now the booty that remained from the spoil which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep, 33  and 72,000 cattle, 34  and 61,000 donkeys, 35  and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000. 36  The half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500, 37  and the LORD’S levy of the sheep was 675; 38  and the cattle were 36,000, from which the LORD’S levy was 72; 39  and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the LORD’S levy was 61; 40  and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the LORD’S levy was 32 persons. 41  Moses gave the levy which was the LORD’S offering to Eleazar the priest, just as the LORD had commanded Moses. 42  As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war— 43  now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep, 44  and 36,000 cattle, 45  and 30,500 donkeys, 46  and the human beings were 16,000— 47  and from the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded Moses.”

            This paragraph speaks of how the booty was divided up between the men who went out to war and those who stayed home.  It was divided in half and then both the soldiers and the people gave a percentage to the Lord, which went to Eleazar the priest.

            Eleazar the priest ended up with seventy-nine women who had never slept with a man for all of those who had were killed.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  These seventy-nine women went from living in a society where all kinds of sexual perversions were prevalent to a society where they would be serving the priest and the Levites who were serving the Lord.  People today need to take advantage of this kind of a situation, for someday this kind of a situation may not be as available as it is today.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1. Trust the Lord to guide my path today.
2. Learn contentment.
3. Give myself to the Lord for service and worship.
4. Trust the Lord that through His Spirit and His Word that my mind may be renewed.

 

2/25/2009 11:26 AM