God leads with: take revenge, and then you will die.
And Moses seems to say, “Ok, then, let’s get ‘er done.”
First, he organizes a posse of 12,000 to wage war. Then, he’s got to figure out what to do with all the women the soldiers brought home. Next, he had to make sure everything was purified properly, as there were lots of dead Midianites lying around. As if that wasn’t enough, Moses then had to make sure all this plunder was divided fairly. By this time, he may have been thinking, “Man, when are you just going to let me DIIIIIIIE, Lord???”
But alas, even after warring and killing and sorting and purifying and doling out treasures, Moses still had to ask for a pardon for the generals and captains – all while knowing he was about to die!
And I’m still uncertain as to whether the military commanders were giving the plunder as a “thanks for not killing a single one of us” or as a “sorry we kept some stuff we knew we weren’t supposed to keep.”
What do you think? Were the commanders repenting or showing thanks? Either way, they went straight to the top, to Moses and Eleazar, the two people who could get nearest to God. And since God accepted their gifts, I’m guessing their hearts were pure about the decision, regardless of the reason.
Writing prompt: the right stuff
Write about a time you did the right thing.
jugglingfire.com 