Numbers 31:13

Numbers 31:13 says, And Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and all the princes of the congregation, went forth to meet them without the camp.  Moses and Eleazar went out to meet those returning from the war.  Today, we as followers of Christ often go to meet those returning from mission trips, where they have been spiritually at war with the forces of evil in the world.  Verse fourteen add, And Moses was wroth with the officers of the host, with the captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, which came from the battle.  Moses did not meet them to celebrate, though, but he was angry with them.  Verse fifteen continues, And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?  Moses asked them if they had saved all the women alive, which was not what God had told them to do.  We as Christians may not always agree with what God tells us to do, but we cannot change it and be successful spiritually.  Verse fifteen declares, Behold, these caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against the LORD in the matter of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the LORD.  Moses said it was the woman of the Medes who had caused the men of Israel to commit the sin of following Baal at Peor, which caused a plague amongst the Israelites.  Now, they had not only been spared, but they had been brought back to Israel.  We must do our best to keep those who would lead us away from God from being placed in a position where the can tempt us to stray away from God.  Verse seventeen adds, Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.  Moses told them to kill all the male children and all the women who had been sexually intimate.  We may think this to be excessively cruel, but it is not what happens in this life that matters.  Verse eighteen continues, But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.  Those women who had not been sexually active could be kept.  Verse nineteen states, And do ye abide without the camp seven days: whosoever hath killed any person, and whosoever hath touched any slain, purify both yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.  All those who had killed someone or had touched a dead body were to remain outside the camp for seven days, and they were to purify themselves and their captives on the third and seventh day.  The fact that they had been sent to war and returned victorious did not releave them of the responsibility of following God's law.  Verse twenty adds, And purify all your raiment, and all that is made of skins, and all work of goats’ hair, and all things made of wood.  They were also to purify all their clothes, anything made of skin or goats' hair,  and everything made of wood.  Matthew Henry said these were the spoils of war that had been used by the Midianites and must therefore now be purified before being used by the Israelites.