Big Idea: God condemns the wicked but rewards his people.

Understanding the Text

Numbers 31 resumes the story of Numbers 25 in which a Midianite princess, Kozbi, and an Israelite man, Zimri, commit a flagrant act of disobedience (Num. 25:6–9, 14–15). Theirs is one of many acts of immorality and idolatry (Num. 25:1) that have brought God’s wrath on Israel in the form of a plague. As a result, God tells Moses to treat the Midianites as an enemy and kill them (Num. 25:16–18).

Numbers 31 fulfills God’s command to attack Midian. Among those killed are Kozbi’s father, Zur, and the pagan seer Balaam (Num. 31:8). This chapter reveals that the women seducing the Israelite men to immorality and idolatry in Numbers 25 are actually part of a plot by Balaam to bring God’s plague on Israel.

Interpre…