Why did God have the Israelites kill the midianites in Numbers 31?

as we continue to read through the Old testament one of the most challenging observations is the number of time God commanded the Israelites to kill their enemies. in this video I make reference to Paul Copan's book is God a moral monster? in order to put these atrocities in their proper perspective.

[pastorbensadler]

How do you understand God's command to kill certain people groups?

[myk_D]

I always wonder why people are so fixated on this verse specifically. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but people are unusually attracted to critique this passage as a blight on God's morality.
It was done to the Amalekites, the Canaanites, the Egyptians the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, and even the Israelites themselves. God told Abraham that if he finds even 10 people innocent in a city, he would not destroy it. So I trust God and his Judgement and his mercy, just like I always have.

[rolandallen]

I was really struggling with this chapter, so thank you very much! This really did bless me! I appreciate you!

[christianprince]

Numbers 31- 17-18 has been a favorite area for the critics of the Bible.  This answer is good if the person asking the question is a Christian. But if its coming from an Islamist or a deep bible critique then we have to provide a full defense

There key areas usually they poke with Numbers 31:
(1) Why does God order a complete wipe out including small male children?
(2) Why was Moses assigned to do the killing when killing was considered a sin.
(3) Regarding female virgins, the verse says "keep alive for yourselves". Was it for Sex slavery?
(4) Was God so cruel to order (1) (2)  and (3)?

There is something in verses 16, 19 and 20 that gives a very good  justification  other than just the Gods punishment.

16 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.
17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.
19 And do ye abide without the camp *seven days* : whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the *third day*, and on the *seventh day*
20 And *purify* all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats' hair, and all things made of wood. note

In *Verse 16*,   he mentions plague as the reason.   Numbers 25:9,   also talks about plague killing  24, 000 Israelites and the source was referred to as Midianites spreading it.
Then in *Verse 17* he says hence kill all of them except the female virgins. That means all the active women and men were affected with Plague through sexual transmission.  As part of their Baal worship they used to have sexual parties and used to cut themselves in the area of Worship. Also young boys used to undergo circumcision in the same area of  Worship.   That means except female virgins others might be carrying this plague and hence decided to keep female virgins alive.

Now if you look at *Verse 19*,   he is talking about a 7 day quarantine before entering the town. That means they have to make sure that they haven't received the disease during the war.
In *Verse 20*, he is talking about sanitizing all the equipment used in the war to make sure that they won't carry the disease back to town.

So I believe *Plague*, *quarantine* and *sanitization*  are a key indicator here. And only those little female virgins were not affected with disease and hence they were saved.  So the rest of the Males, women and boys were killed to stop the spread of Plague.   So it's fair to assume that Midianites were the source and carriers of plague...  Otherwise we need to have a good explanation for why a quarantine was required and why a sanitization of the equipment was required for those who came in contact with Midianites in war.. 

If wanted, God would have caused some local natural calamities like the Great flood to wipe out  Midianites, but then the young females would not have been saved. Hence Moses was tasked for the same.

Now a question can come on whether the young females were saved for Sex Slavery?  Its a pure speculation.. We cannot make our speculation a ground for strong interpretation and argument.. Instead let's look at what Bible rules talks about females caught in war, which will get applied here. Deuteronomy chapter 21 lays the rule on how you treat a female when they get captured in a war.. If they make her a sex slave then it's  a sin and against the will of God

[asimjaleel]

Weren't Jethro and Zipporah Midianites? Or are there two different types of Midianites?

[MartySeeks]

Could it be that God knew these people were not of his kind and were beyond salvation much the same as Sodom and Gomorrah, God read their hearts and you and me can’t, his ways are higher than our ways. It was also a test of obedience to carry out Gods will.

[earlfithian]

Of course the murder of innocent woman and children can always be justified by those that are as sick as the ones doing the murdering.

[jumpingmoose]

I know this video is a little old, but thank you for making this

[darthkahn]

You don't need nearly 10 minutes to answer a simple question
Is there any possible context that would make the mass murder of children, rape and sexual slavery of little girls excusable: no

[Kain-he]

When moses first fled from Egypt it was the midians who took him in and in return for their kindness he killed them

[peggymoll]

Thanks for your helpful YouTube commentary! I especially needed the reminder that it's the same God of both the New Testament and Old Testament. He is patient, loving and long-suffering, Full of Grace and mercy for those who turn to the Lord.  But as is the case of the Midianites eventually brings His righteous anger and judgment down on hundreds of years of unrepented, rebellious sin. "The last straw” was going after Israel's spiritual and moral integrity by devising and carrying out a plan to lead Israel into pagan worship!

[HowardLKing]

ALMIGHTY GOD'S thoughts are higher than our thoughts. GOD always knows what is best for His children. 🙄🤔😌❤️🦾🙏🙏🙏

[real_Hamilton]

Instead of trying to make excuses for the fact that Yahweh ordered the deaths of innocent children, why can't we all just accept that he has a dark side? He's both a creator AND a destroyer. I think people just need to accept that. Isaiah 45 : 7 says "I, Yahweh am the author of all things, light and darkness, peace and calamity (destruction)"

[ReddAethelwulf]

First time reading the Bible myself and when I came across this it honestly shocked me. You explain parts of it efficiently however o still have a question about the 16 virgin sacrifices that Moses gave to Eleazar ? Did I miss your explanation of that in this video? Did they actually sacrifice them or? Also when it says virgin are they specifically speaking of females or are their males among that group as well?

[unkown]

I believe rn from what i understand, is that we need to realize that all this is happening so that the seed of Christ can be planted properly. The truth is that we are a fallen ppl. We deserve hell. If we look in Genesis we see that the Angels came down from heaven for the likes of human women. They had sexual relationships with these women to conceive a race that could destroy Christ's bloodline. CHRIST has prevailed.

[brianhermanstyne]

Meeno buddae .. I just going with the flow .. and trying to correct everything I used to think as a child in conversations like just to sound scary never knew I would've been in this position for real like spirituality

[ichigo]

Your interpretation is exactly that, an interpretation. Don't try to butter us up about killing innocent people. If God is a God with emotions that sometimes get the best of him, then that is not a God or the true God.

[LivingLife]

i'll put it simply, GOD is a GOD of EXTREMES. He has no problem killing you with viciousness if you disobey him BUT HE IS Also a GOD who will humbly become a man and DIE FOR YOU.

[wilsonfamilyvideos]

This helped me see the bigger picture. I definitely struggle with separating OT God and NT God - I think I tend to equalize it with law and gospel. And then anything OT that doesn't fit my human thoughts of what God "should" do, I write off as "Well, that was OT and Jesus fulfilled the law, so it's doesn't matter anyways." Then instead of trying to understand God at work in the OT, I just move on. I'm realizing the weaknesses of that surface line of thinking and digging deeper.
Also, the connection to Deuteronomy 21 filled in the blank about how those women were treated.
Thank you! Really appreciate the video - and the book recommendation!

[PheonixStarsx]

Funny how people always say abortion is a sin but murdering babies is what god does all the time