I used the NIV version of the Bible in the Scriptures quoted below.
Introduction
Welcome to the God Kills Children series, Part 3. This one isn’t as well known as the Flood and the killing of all the firstborns in Egypt. It is a brutal story of the war between the Israelites and the Midianites. The Israelites went in and killed all the men but captured the women and children. They killed the five kings of Midian and Balaam (The guy whose donkey talked to him). Not only did they take their women and children, but they basically plundered their animals and valuables.
They eventually came back to Moses with all the spoils of war; however, Moses was unhappy because they brought back the women and children. So, Moses told them that they must kill every male child and all the women who were not virgins.
Instructions To Kill All the Boys
Numbers 31:17-18 – “Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”
The virgins they could keep for themselves and force them into marriage. This was one of the greatest atrocities of God, but the story is hardly remembered. I have come across books and websites that ask this question: “How could they tell the virgins from the non-virgins?” Perhaps we should not think of that too much. It might be too disturbing to many of us, so I’ll leave it as is. I remember debating a Christian over this story, and they told me that they viewed it as God having mercy because he spared the virgin women. This is because women were viewed as property and by having the Israelites marry them, they wouldn’t be on their own. It was very difficult for a woman to be alone in those days.
Getting Armed
The story starts off by telling the people to get armed, and they send out a thousand men from each tribe, totaling 12,000 soldiers.
Numbers 31:1-5: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, :Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto they people.” And Moses space unto the people, saying, “Arm some of yourselves unto the war, and let them go against the Midianites, and avenge the Lord of Midian. Of every tribe a thousand, throughout all the tribes of Israel, shall yet send to the war.’ So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war.”
War with the Midianites
Next, the Israelites go to war with the Midianites and they capture all the women and children, along with flocks and goods as plunder. They brought that which they captured to Moses and Elsazar the priest.
Numbers 31:9-12 – “The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as all their camps. They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, 12 and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eleazar the priest and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab, by the Jordan across from Jericho.”
Moses’s Anger
However, Moses was pissed off because they allowed all the women to live. He then instructs the Israelites to kill all the boys, and all the women that have already had sexual relations with a man. However, they could save the virgins for themselves and marry as they wished.
Numbers 31:14-17 – “Moses was angry with the officers of the army—the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds—who returned from the battle. “Have you allowed all the women to live?” he asked them. “They were the ones who followed Balaam’s advice and enticed the Israelites to be unfaithful to the Lord in the Peor incident, so that a plague struck the Lord’s people. Now kill all the boys. And kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”
Historical Context Argument
So, how do apologetics try to get around this? They, of course, resort to the historical context argument which basically says something like, “What the Israelites did was a common form of warfare that took place in ancient times.” While this argument appears to be valid, why would the supposed One True God follow in suit with the other nations? Wasn’t he supposed to be different and show his love and mercy? Did he not tell the Israelites to not be like the nations that surrounded them. It seems like that I remember that God called the Israelites to be his special people, even though God constantly terrorized them. This chapter in Numbers makes the Israelites as guilty as the surrounding nations. Why couldn’t an all-powerful God spare the male children and show his power by providing for those children?
Male Children Getting Older
One of the arguments that may hold a little weight was that when the male children got older they may cause an uprising and try to overthrow the Israelites from within. It was true that this was very well the possibility back then because there were warring tribes. One example is given in the fictional movie, “The Princess Bride.” One of the main characters, Inigo Montoya, is obsessed with getting revenge on the man who killed his father. However, even that doesn’t seem to justify the slaughter of little boys.
God Forseeing the Future
Another argument often given is the idea that God could foresee the future, and would foresee the fate of the Midianite men. One idea that is popular in Christianity is the idea that children and infants can automatically enter Heaven. This is one of those impossibilities that we will never know. It’s hard to respond to something when there is no proof.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
There was the possibility of sexually transmitted diseases affecting the population, especially the male gender and non-virgin women. Perhaps God knew of this disease and knew that only the virgin women were safe from it. I suppose this is a possibility, but again, it is one of those things that we will never know for sure. The Bible doesn’t tell us this.
Related To Giants
Another argument is the idea that these people were related to the giants mentioned in Genesis 6, where it says there were giants in those time and after.
Genesis 6:2-4 – “the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their days will be a hundred and twenty years. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”
This is a strange Scripture, but one interpretation believes that the sons of God were fallen angels that married human women and reproduced the giants. It is thought that the reason God would order the slaying of all these people was because they had giant blood mixed in their genes. One of the problems with this interpretation is that wouldn’t the virgin girls who were taken also carry giant blood? I don’t know if this Scripture refers to angels or not, but there are good arguments used to support both sides. It also should be noted that in today’s age, we aren’t seeing angels coming down and marrying human women. Of course, I can’t prove that. However, I don’t feel the burden of proof is me because it is up to those who believe angels can mate with human women to prove that it still could be happening.
Allegorical?
Just like everything else people use to defend the Bible, they will interpret these passages as being allegorical instead of literal. Now, what the heck lesson are we supposed to learn here? Some would say that it is an example of good triumphing over evil. If this were the case, then why not just end with Israel defeating its enemies? Why do male children and non-virgin women need to be slaughtered specifically? Regardless of whether this story is believed to be historical or believed to be allegorical, it is an awful story.
Out of all my time in churches, I never heard them refer back to this story. Church leaders like to stick to the positive Scriptures, which I suppose is a good thing.
All-Knowing God
Another point is that if God were all-knowing, he would have foreseen the doubt that passages like these could have performed better miracles.
Testing the Israelites
Some may say that God was testing the Israelites’ obedience by having them slaughter the boys and women. Like I say so many times, couldn’t God have used a different method instead of violence against people to prove his point?
Moral Progression Argument
Some people use the moral progression argument. They say that stories like these belong to a more primitive society that was going through a series of progression. However, it doesn’t seem like much progression happened from the time of Genesis to the time of Saul and David. I mean, in order to win over Saul’s daughter, David brought back 200 foreskins of the Philistine’s to prove that he had killed them.
1 Samuel 18:27 – David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage.
Also, The Bible says that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Why did he have to start off with a more barbaric society? God could have made people better to begin with instead of making humanity to be morally progressive.
God Do As He Pleases
There is, of course, always the argument that he is God and he can do as he pleases. This would work if you gave God attributes like being evil, morbid, jealous, etc. Wait, the Bible actually does say that he is a jealous God. However, Christians try to pass him off as a God full of love and mercy. Anyway, I can not find any satisfying arguments to justify this story.
Conclusion
The story of Numbers 31 is an utterly disgusting story, and if God was good, he could have provided a way for the women and male children to survive. Dashing knives through four-year-old boys should make anyone vomit. Remember this grotesque story next time someone tries to convert you. There is a highly likely chance that they don’t even know this story. Church leaders veer away from passages like these in their sermons.
Opposing View Points
Why did God command the Israelites to completely destroy the Midianites in Numbers 31:17?
Related Articles
God Kills Children Part 1 – The Flood
God Kills Children Part 2 – First Born
God Kills Children Part 4 – Abortion