31:1,2
The Midianites had been involved in the Israelites committing adultery and idolatry (Num 25), and Moses had been told to treat them as enemies and kill them (Num 25:17). They had also sold Joseph to Potiphar as a slave (Gen 37:36). Moses is to lead the Israelites to take vengeance on them. After that Moses would die. It should be noted that Israel was taking vengeance on God’s behalf. Now with this it is essential that they only do this at the command of the Lord, not at their own behest.
31:3-6
It stresses that the men were carrying out “the Lord’s vengeance”. If we take things into our own hands then that leads to all sorts of evil. Moses was to choose one thousand men from each tribe, so the whole nation was involved in the act. Phinehas was to be involved as a sort of chaplain. His father was a priest, and he could not be involved because he would inevitably be in contact with death, and so would be unclean. Phinehas was the one whose actions stopped the plague on Israel then they committed adultery and idolatry (Num 25:7).
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