I don’t know if you’ve realized it yet, but there is a divine pattern set down in Scripture concerning how God doles out punishment and vengeance.
The divine pattern can be expressed in this one phrase: TO THE JEW FIRST, AND THEN THE GENTILE.
We mustn’t lose sight of this.
The Lord always deals with his own people Israel FIRST before he deals with the gentiles who persecuted His People.
Keep this in mind because this is a foundational God-principle that informs us of how God governs Israel in juxtaposition to all the other gentile nations of the earth.
And there’s another foundational principle connected to this one.
It is this: ALL WILL PERISH FOR THEIR SINS IF THEY DO NOT ACCEPT THE GRACE OF GOD AS AN ESCAPE ROUTE.
Salvation has always been about grace (yes, even before the advent of Messiah).
Remember God saved Israel from slavery in Egypt first by His Grace, and then afterwards gave them the Law.
In the last chapter, we’ve just studied how God laid waste to thousands upon thousands of His own people for rebelling against Him.
Now we’re going to see God lay waste to thousands upon thousands of gentiles (the Midianites) because they led His people into idolatry.
And by the way, the large scale destruction of those who would rebel against the Lord, whether Jew or Gentile, is not something that was done away with when Yeshua came.
It isn’t just some OT principle.
Heck, in the 20th and 21st centuries alone, we’ve watched the Lord bring down those very nations who sought to exterminate the Jews.
And I remind you, in the New Testament book of revelations, Yeshua, who is usually stereotyped as the “mild and meek savior” is going to return as the most ferocious warrior king the world has ever seen in a final battle to end all wars.
We’re told that the amount of blood letting at his hand is going to be so tremendous, it will reach the height of a horse’s bridle.
Understand that our God is NOT a God who joyfully kills.
It is His will that ALL will be saved.
However, HASHEM does and will continue to destroy those people and nations He deems as wicked in order to achieve His divine purposes.
And THE MOST IMPORTANT of His divine purposes is to save Israel and protect those who are His own.
So again, recall the backdrop of what’s about to happen here in Numbers 31.
God’s set apart people allowed themselves to become entangled with the women of Moab and Midian and as a result fell into fornication and gross idolatry.
Actually, from God’s perspective, the real crime that was committed was adultery.
Because HASHEM is Israel’s husband, and by worshipping CHEMOSH, HASHEM’s wife Israel in a very real literal sense had an affair with another God.
And what does the law say the penalty for adultery is?
The penalty is death.
Therefore, God demanded the death of more than 24,000 Israelites, which He wiped out with a divine plague, due to their committing adultery with Chemosh, the God of Moab.
Remember, “to the Jew FIRST, and then the gentile“.
Now that God has justly punished His own people for their rebellion, in Numbers chapter 31 where we’re at now, we’ll see the Lord now turn His attention to the foreign nation who tempted Israel to sin: the Midianites.
So that’s what Numbers chapter 31 is all about.
God will use His People Israel to carry out His vengeance against the Midianites.
This will be a HOLY WAR, and as we’re about to find out, it ain’t gonna be pretty.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Yes, he will pay back misery and anguish
to every human being who does evil,
to the Jew first, then to the Gentile;
but glory and honor and shalom
to everyone who keeps doing what is good,
to the Jew first, then to the Gentile.”
-Romans 2:9-10
I also read a book that identified a different viewpoint of the Gospels regarding ‘to the Jew first.’ That viewpoint was that any Gospel preached that is not acceptable first to a Jewish person is not a proper Gospel for a Gentile.
I interpret this as meaning that when we talk about the Gospels it has to be as a function and in relation to the Old Covenant references to the Messiah God promised to the Jews. When Christians preach about Jesus and reference the New Covenant, they are not effectively preaching to Jews because none of that Gospel will be acceptable to a Jew. They need to preach about the Old Covenant promises and Messianic prophecies, then show how Yeshua (NEVER use “Jesus” when addressing a Jewish person) filled those promises.
Thanks for your comment Steven. Very interesting. I really like the part where you say “any Gospel preached that is not acceptable first to a Jewish person is not a proper Gospel for a Gentile”. Well, that pretty much does away with a lot of the aberrant theology concerning the Law and the nature of Yeshua being preached and taught in the gentile churches today. Thanks again for sharing!!!