Bird's-eye view
This remarkable passage concludes the account of Israel's holy war against Midian. After a stunningly successful campaign, the military commanders come before Moses with an astonishing report: not a single Israelite soldier was lost in the battle. This perfect preservation of the army was a manifest sign of God's total and sovereign protection. In response to this staggering mercy, the officers present a voluntary offering of gold from their plunder. They state that this offering is "to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh." This is not an atonement for some specific, gross sin committed in the battle, but rather a covering offered in humble gratitude and recognition of their creaturely status before a holy God who had fought for them. It was an act of worship acknowledging that their lives were in His hands, and His preservation of them was an unmerited grace. Moses and Eleazar accept this offering and bring it into the tent of meeting as a permanent "memorial," a reminder to all of Israel of God's perfect faithfulness and the appropriate, grateful response of His people.
The core of this text is the relationship between God's miraculous salvation and man's grateful worship. God acts first, preserving His people with absolute perfection. The human response is not one of arrogant chest-thumping, but of humble, costly worship. The gold, taken from God's enemies, is now consecrated to God's service, a picture of the way the gospel ransoms us from the domain of darkness and makes us instruments for righteousness. This is a profound Old Testament picture of grace, preservation, and the nature of true thankfulness.
Outline
- 1. The Astonishing Report (Num 31:48-49)
- a. The Commanders Approach Moses (Num 31:48)
- b. The Perfect Preservation of the Army (Num 31:49)
- 2. The Atoning Offering (Num 31:50-54)
- a. The Presentation of Plunder (Num 31:50a)
- b. The Purpose: Atonement Before Yahweh (Num 31:50b)
- c. The Acceptance of the Offering (Num 31:51)
- d. The Weight of the Offering (Num 31:52-53)
- e. The Memorial Before Yahweh (Num 31:54)
Context In Numbers
This section is the capstone to the war of vengeance against Midian. This war was commanded by God in response to the Midianites' seduction of Israel into idolatry and sexual immorality at Baal-peor (Numbers 25), a sin which resulted in a devastating plague. The war was not a land grab; it was a holy act of judgment executed by God through His people. The preceding verses in chapter 31 detail the battle itself, the righteous anger of Moses at the sparing of the Midianite women who caused the sin, the process of ritual purification for the soldiers, and the systematic division of the spoils. The plunder was divided between the soldiers and the congregation, with a tribute from each portion given to the Lord, one part for the priests and one for the Levites. This passage (vv. 48-54) is a separate, voluntary offering from the officers, over and above the required tribute, driven by their awe at God's miraculous preservation of their lives.
Key Issues
- The Miracle of Zero Casualties
- The Meaning of "Atonement" in this Context
- Voluntary Worship vs. Required Tribute
- The Consecration of Plunder
- The Nature of a "Memorial" Before God
Grace Before Gold
It is crucial that we get the order of events here right. God's grace comes first, and man's offering follows. The offering of gold did not purchase God's protection; it was a response to a protection already given, and given perfectly. The commanders did not say, "We will give this gold so that you will protect us." They said, in effect, "You have protected us beyond all comprehension, and so we must give this gold." This is the fundamental pattern of the gospel. God does not love us because we clean ourselves up and make ourselves presentable. He finds us in our sin, redeems us by the blood of His Son, and then, in response to that free and sovereign grace, we offer our lives, our bodies, our treasure, as living sacrifices. All true worship is responsive. Any religion that has us bringing our payment to God first in order to obligate Him is paganism, plain and simple. Here, in the middle of the Torah, we see the principle of grace laid out with beautiful clarity: God's salvation is perfect, and our worship is the grateful echo.
Verse by Verse Commentary
48-49 Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses, and they said to Moses, “Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing.
The military leadership, the men responsible for the lives of the soldiers, approach Moses. They have conducted a formal roll call after the battle. This is standard military procedure. What is not standard is the result. Not one man is missing. Out of twelve thousand soldiers who engaged in what was certainly fierce, hand-to-hand combat against the five kings of Midian, there was not a single casualty. This is not just a low casualty rate; it is a zero casualty rate. This is not good luck. This is not superior tactics. This is a flat-out, undeniable, staggering miracle. God had promised to fight for them, and here is the evidence in the muster rolls. The report itself is an act of worship, a testimony to the sovereign, preserving power of God. This is a faint echo of what the great Captain of our salvation will one day say to the Father: "Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one" (John 18:9).
50 So we have brought near as an offering to Yahweh what each man found, articles of gold, armlets and bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before Yahweh.”
The word "so" connects their offering directly to their astonishment at God's grace. Because not one man was lost, they bring this offering. This is the personal plunder of the officers, not the general plunder that was already divided and tithed. It is a freewill offering. And notice the purpose stated: "to make atonement for ourselves." The Hebrew word for atonement, kaphar, means to cover. It is not that they were atoning for a specific sin, as though they had disobeyed an order. Rather, this is a general acknowledgment of their own frailty and sinfulness in the presence of a holy God who had shown them such mercy. It is like a "covering" for their souls, a recognition that even in a righteous war, they are still men in need of grace. They have just been instruments of God's wrath, they have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and they have been preserved. Such an experience rightly drives a man to his knees. This offering is a tangible prayer, a confession that their lives belong to God and that His preservation of them was an act of pure, unmerited favor.
51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of crafted articles.
Moses, the civic leader, and Eleazar, the high priest, accept the offering. This shows the unity of purpose between the civil and the religious spheres in Israel. The offering is appropriate, and it is received by the constituted authorities. The gold itself consists of "crafted articles," things made by men. These pagan ornaments, once used for vanity and idolatry, are now being repurposed for the worship of the true God. This is a picture of sanctification. God takes the things of this world, the things that have been captured by sin, and He redeems them for His own glory. This is what we do when we "plunder the Egyptians," taking the skills and resources of the unbelieving world and consecrating them to the service of the kingdom.
52-53 And all the gold from the contribution offering which they raised up in offering to Yahweh, from the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, was 16,750 shekels. The men of war had taken plunder, every man for himself.
The total weight is given, amounting to well over 400 pounds of gold. This was a significant and costly offering. Verse 53 clarifies that this was separate from the plunder taken by the common soldiers. "Every man for himself" is not a criticism here, but rather a statement of fact that private plunder was permitted. This highlights the voluntary and extraordinary nature of what the officers were doing. They were not required to give up their personal share, but they did so out of a sense of overwhelming gratitude and awe. True worship is never stingy.
54 So Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and they brought it to the tent of meeting as a memorial for the sons of Israel before Yahweh.
The gold is not pocketed by Moses or Eleazar. It is brought into the Tabernacle, the center of Israel's life and worship. Its purpose is to be a "memorial." A memorial is not simply for jogging human memory, lest we forget. A memorial "before Yahweh" is something that stands in God's presence as a perpetual testimony. It was a reminder for God, in an anthropomorphic sense, of the faithfulness of these commanders, and a reminder for all of Israel, for all generations, of the perfect saving power of their covenant God. Every time an Israelite saw the treasures made from this gold in the Tabernacle, they would be reminded of the God who fights for His people and preserves them, and the kind of grateful, wholehearted response that such a God deserves.
Application
This passage is a beautiful illustration of how Christians ought to live in light of the great salvation we have received. Like the Israelite army, we have been engaged in a spiritual war, and our preservation is not due to our own strength, but to the sovereign grace of God. Our High Priest, Jesus, will present us before the Father and say, "not one of them is missing." Not one of His true sheep will ever be lost. He has secured a perfect, 100% successful salvation.
What should our response be? It should be the same as these commanders. Our lives, our resources, our "gold," should be brought as a voluntary offering to Him. We do not give in order to be saved; we give because we are saved. Our giving, our service, our worship is a "memorial" that testifies to the grace we have received. We should be overwhelmed with gratitude for the miracle of our salvation. We were facing certain death, and yet in Christ, we have been preserved for eternal life without a single spiritual casualty on the books of heaven. This should lead us not to pride, but to a humble, generous, and joyful consecration of all that we are and all that we have to the glory of God. We take the plunder from our defeated enemies, sin, death, and the devil, and we dedicate it to the construction of God's temple, the Church.