They Just Don't Get It

Numbers 29-32

Then the Lord said to Moses, “On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”

You would have thought that since this was going to be Moses' last battle that his people would be sure to do this battle right... one for the Gipper, so to speak. They fought valiantly, and were victorious (for the Lord was with them), and not a single one of their men was lost while all of the Midianite men were killed along with Balaam (for the Lord was really with them and he detested the Midianites and was sorely disappointed with Balaam). However, they completely failed at the finish line for they "captured all the women." Had they already forgotten that it was the Midianite women that had seduced them into sin, or were they remembering the Midianite women? How often do we unconsciously sin because the taste of pleasure is still in our memory? At least Moses saw the sin and called out the generals and captains for their lack of leadership with regard to the Midianite women, and then they stepped up and offered all of their share of the gold plundered (about 420 pounds of gold) out of thanksgiving to the Lord when they realized that none of their men had been killed. We need to always be on the lookout for the sin that creeps into our lives (to purge it) and the blessings in our life (to thank the great provider.)