Saturday - Numbers 31 - Sic 'em Moses

Prior to the Deluge, men did not have a mandate from God to exercise justice upon one another.  Neither war nor civil law had yet been ordained. In fact, governments and nations didn't even exist... at least not like we find after Noah's flood. God didn't institute government until Genesis 9:6. But, once He extended to us some of His jurisdiction of justice, human history became a record of wars and power struggles. Not to imply that government is the problem. Genesis 6:11 tells us that the earth was filled with violence BEFORE God submerged everything and started again from scratch. No, government is the solution... at least it was intended to be a partial one.

Now, in the OT one of God's primary tools of military justice against corrupt cultures and nations was Israel. In Numbers 31 we find one of many stories about God commanding the Jews to annihilate an evil nation. True, vengeance belongs to God, not to us (Deuteronomy 32:35, Psalm 94:1 & Hebrews 10:30). Yet, when God gives a directive, arguments about rights and authority should come to an end. In this case, God commanded Moses to "avenge" the Hebrews of the Midianite treachery (related to the advice of Balaam and Peor).