Ethan was the kind of Christian man people admired from a distance. Handsome, articulate, and successful, he had climbed the corporate ladder at a major tech firm while staying active in his church. He taught a men’s Bible study, led worship on Sundays, and could quote Scripture with ease.
When his employer faced a massive crisis—losing its biggest client and teetering on layoffs—Ethan stepped up. He worked eighteen-hour days for three straight months. He negotiated, strategized, and rallied the team with passionate speeches that sounded half motivational talk, half sermon. Against all odds, they not only saved the client but landed two more.
Revenue soared. Ethan received a huge promotion, a corner office, and glowing press coverage. At the company celebration, the CEO publicly called him “the hero who saved us all.”
That night, standing on the stage, Ethan smiled widely as the crowd cheered. In his acceptance speech, he thanked his team, his wife, and his children. He even mentioned the Lord. However, deep down, Ethan believed he had done it. The success was due to his intelligence, his work ethic, and his leadership. God had been… supportive, but the victory belonged to Ethan.
When we fight through obstacles, we have to exert intelligence and strength to achieve victory. Because we have to put forth so much effort, it is easy to think we achieved the accomplishment. The 31st chapter of Numbers reminds us to give God credit for every victory.
When Balak, king of Moab, saw the military successes of Israel, he sent emissaries to Midian, and together they hired Balaam to curse Israel (see Numbers 22). Yahweh did not allow Balaam to curse Israel. However, Balaam wanted to help Moab and Midian anyway, so he advised them how to put stumbling blocks before Israel (see Revelation 2:14). Balaam suggested the women should entice the men of Israel to worship Baal instead of Yahweh (see Numbers 25).
Later, after an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman into his tent, Yahweh commanded Moses to be hostile to the Midianites and strike them (see Numbers 25:17). The 31st chapter of Numbers contains the account of Moses doing that just before he died.
Moses sent 1,000 men from each tribe to wage war against Midian. Israel successfully killed all the men, burned the cities of Midian, and brought much loot back to the Israelite camp.
Num. 31:25 ¶ Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num. 31:26 “You and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers’ households of the congregation take a count of the loot that was captured, both of man and of animal;
Num. 31:27 and divide the loot between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation.
Even though the loot was divided equally between the men who went into battle and the rest of the congregation, the men who went into battle got a much greater share because there were only 12,000 of them; whereas, there were around 600,000 total men of Israel.
Num. 31:28 And you shall exact a levy for Yahweh from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons and of the cattle and of the donkeys and of the sheep;
Num. 31:29 take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest, as a contribution to Yahweh.
Notice the levy from those who went to war was one in five hundred, and that levy went to Eleazar, the high priest. The text is not clear about this, but I assume some of this was shared with Aaron’s other descendants.
Num. 31:30 And from the sons of Israel’s half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons, of the cattle, of the donkeys, and of the sheep, from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of Yahweh.”
In contrast, the levy from those who did not go to war was one in fifty, which was much more, but it was also divided amongst many Levites, not just Eleazar.
Num. 31:31 Moses and Eleazar the priest did just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Num. 31:32 ¶ Now the loot that remained from the plunder which the men of war had plundered was 675,000 sheep,
Num. 31:33 and 72,000 cattle,
Num. 31:34 and 61,000 donkeys,
Num. 31:35 and of human beings, of the women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were 32,000.
The loot included 808,000 animals. For scale, a dairy farm in the United States with 1,000 animals is a large farm. Most family farms have less than 500 animals.
Num. 31:36 ¶ And the half, the portion of those who went out to war, was as follows: the number of sheep was 337,500;
Num. 31:37 and the levy of Yahweh from the sheep was 675;
Num. 31:38 and the cattle were 36,000, from which the levy of Yahweh was 72;
Num. 31:39 and the donkeys were 30,500, from which the levy of Yahweh was 61;
Num. 31:40 and the human beings were 16,000, from whom the levy of Yahweh was 32 persons.
Eleazar received 808 animals. That is equivalent to a medium-sized farm. Eleazar needed a lot of servants to feed and care for those animals day after day.
Num. 31:41 And Moses gave the levy, which was the contribution to Yahweh, to Eleazar the priest, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
Num. 31:42 ¶ As for the sons of Israel’s half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war—
Num. 31:43 now the congregation’s half was 337,500 sheep,
Num. 31:44 and 36,000 cattle,
Num. 31:45 and 30,500 donkeys,
Num. 31:46 and the human beings were 16,000—
Num. 31:47 and from the sons of Israel’s half, Moses took one drawn out of every fifty, both of man and of animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept the responsibility of the tabernacle of Yahweh, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses.
The Levites received 8,080 animals.
Num. 31:48 ¶ Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the commanders of thousands and the commanders of hundreds, came near to Moses,
Num. 31:49 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.
Don’t miss the last phrase. The men of Israel went to war, defeated Midian, killed the five kings of Midian, killed all the men of Midian, and came home with massive loot, but they did not suffer even one casualty. Not a single man was missing.
Num. 31:50 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 officers correctly understood that Yahweh was the One who gave them the great victory, so they brought an offering to Yahweh.
Num. 31:51 And Moses and Eleazar the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of crafted articles.
Num. 31:52 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.
Notice the word “contribution”. This is a translation of the Hebrew word “terumah”, which usually refers to a voluntary offering.
Num. 31:53 The men of war had taken plunder, every man for himself.
Num. 31:54 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 Israelite soldiers went into battle, put their lives on the line, and had to exert energy in order to win the fight. However, even though they had to work for victory, they still acknowledged that Yahweh was the One who gave them the victory.
This illustrates how we can and should obey the New Testament commands to give thanks. Philippians 4:6 tells us to pray and give thanks in every situation. Colossians 4:2 tells us to be devoted to prayer, and to be thankful in our prayers. Every time we accomplish something, we should thank God.
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“Scripture quotations taken from the (LSB®) Legacy Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2021 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org and 316publishing.com.”