David Bahn – Reflections

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 25-27, Psalm 86.

Deuteronomy 26:16-19

“This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and rules. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. ¹⁷ You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. ¹⁸ And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, ¹⁹ and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised.”

How do you identify yourself? Sometime in the past when she was asked about her church, Diane responded, “I am a follower of Jesus, and I worship in a Lutheran community.” That might not satisfy some who would wish for either, “I’m a Lutheran,” or “I’m a Christian.” But I think it is just right. Some don’t know what a Lutheran is. Others have preconceived notions about both Lutherans and Christians. Follower of Jesus brings him to the fore of the conversation. That’s where he belongs.

Years ago a group of pastors were having lunch and our server made a point of telling us she was a lesbian. I’m not sure what she expected from us; and frankly it may have just been a way to fend off unwanted advances. But I was saddened that she felt the need to make that her identity. We are more than our sexual orientation. Much much more.

Then there are those who broadcast their political affiliations on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Others make it all about their favorite sports team. Have you seen how some people dress up for games?

How do you identify yourself? Notice how God identifies his people here. They are a people for his treasured possession, and that they shall be a people holy to the Lord your God.” Notice the words after each: “as he has promised.”

Our ultimate identity is not self-chosen. It’s not up to us to claim to be a child of God. We become children of God through faith. John says it well: To those who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). This is God’s promise. He has initiated the relationship by his grace. Just as he called Israel out of Egypt, God has called us out of the darkness of sin and death to faith in his Son.

We are his beloved sons and daughters by faith. That is our true identity. This is not only something to remember, it must shape our behavior in every aspect of life as we walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and obey his voice. This is how we show we have been redeemed, and that we are his children – all by God’s grace through faith in Jesus – in whom our true identity is founded and centered.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 22-24, Psalm 85.

Deuteronomy 24:17-22

“You shall not pervert the justice due to the sojourner or to the fatherless, or take a widow’s garment in pledge, ¹⁸ but you shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

¹⁹ “When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. ²⁰ When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over them again. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²¹ When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not strip it afterward. It shall be for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow. ²² You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this.

There are some wildly different rules and laws in these chapters. They range all the way from men wearing women’s clothing, to two kinds of grain in the same furrow, to the way a man is to treat his wife, and the manner in which restitution and repayment is to be required. Some of them seem tender: the way one is to treat a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs (22:6). Some of them seem curious, like the prohibition against wearing cloth of wool and linen mixed together (22:11).

These laws show how God’s people are to live out justice, holiness, and love for neighbor in the ordinary, everyday details of life. And that becomes more obvious as we look closer to see that some deal with the manner in which the love for neighbor is to be expressed. They deal with returning lost property (22:1–4), building a parapet on a roof for safety (22:8), caring for the vulnerable (widows, sojourners, the poor) (24:17–22), fair wages paid promptly (24:14–15).

Some of them deal with protecting the weak and vulnerable: women in marriage laws, the poor through gleaning laws, debtors through limits on collateral, hired workers through just treatment. Deuteronomy 22–24 may seem like a collection of disconnected rules, but together they paint a picture of what life with God looks like in practice. These laws take the command to love God and love neighbor and press it into everyday situations – how we treat others, how we handle property, how we exercise power, and how we care for the vulnerable. God is not only giving laws; he is forming a people whose daily lives reflect his justice, mercy, and holiness.

That becomes most clear in the admonition: “You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore I command you to do this” (24:22). That memory – and the call to show mercy, justice for the weak, and care for others – shaped Jesus’ ministry far more than concerns about what kinds of cloth may be worn together or the tassels on the corners of garments. He quotes Hosea 6:6: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,” pointing us to a righteousness of the heart and calling us to treat others with dignity.

This matters more than technical adherence to legalistic rules. This – more than any outward clothing or ritual observance – should mark us as followers of Jesus and heirs of his salvation.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 19-21, Psalm 84.

Deuteronomy 19:15-21

“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. ¹⁶ If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. ¹⁸ The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, ¹⁹ then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰ And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. ²¹ Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

In Deuteronomy 19–21, God’s law meets real life. These are not abstract commands, but concrete situations—questions about justice, responsibility, life, and death. Again and again, the pattern is the same: When this happens… here is what you are to do. God is shaping his people to live faithfully not just in principle, but in the complicated realities of everyday life. Moses is laying out a system of justice designed in such a way that, even when every possible situation is not addressed, there is a guiding principle for how God’s people are to act.

The scales of justice are meant to be balanced. When someone suffers loss, there is to be a just and measured restoration. In that light, the familiar phrase “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” sounds very different. Rather than a harsh or vengeful demand, it reflects a principle of fairness—justice that is proportionate and evenhanded. Years ago I heard it as a stern quid pro quo; here it reads more like a safeguard against excess, ensuring that justice neither overreaches nor falls short.

By the time Jesus came, however, these case laws had been so refined and expanded that the spirit of the Law was often obscured. People became more concerned with the details of Sabbath observance than with the purpose of the Sabbath—and failed to recognize the Lord of the Sabbath standing in their midst.

True justice amounts to more than keeping the scales balanced. When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” or was told, “Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me,” he did not simply apply the law—he called people deeper. At times he said, “Go and do likewise.” At other times, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and sin no more.” Jesus does not discard the Law, but fulfills it, revealing its true goal: faithful love and gracious compassion.

This is what pastors seek as they serve God’s people. We wrestle with real situations and real lives, asking: What does faithfulness look like here? In pastoral circles, this is often called casuistry—the careful application of God’s Word to specific and sometimes difficult circumstances. But it is not only about getting the answer right; it is about leading people to Jesus, the source of true justice, mercy, and love.

God’s justice is finally and fully revealed in Jesus Christ, and it is received by faith. So next time we are looking for justice, let our starting point be the justice and mercy Jesus provides, and let grace and truth guide our judgements.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

NOTE: As I thought about this post after I had sent it, I realized there is something more I would like to say at the end. So here again it is with an additional thought at the end.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 83.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 

A friend and colleague retired a couple of years ago and—as planned, and as I did—didn’t really retire. He recognized that his gifts and experiences, shaped through decades of faithful ministry (not always easy, but enduring), had equipped him to continue serving. In his case, that meant helping congregations navigate transitions following the retirement of a long-tenured senior pastor. His ministry is called Always Forward Ministries.

He was determined to keep moving forward, looking ahead, and helping others do the same for the sake of God’s mission. That idea resonates with me as well. I love helping churches engage in faithful, strategic mission planning—and I carry that same focus with me as I assist congregations in calling pastors to lead them into the future.

But neither my friend nor I can claim that orientation as our own. Moses, too, ends his ministry with his eyes on the future. Standing with Israel on the edge of the Promised Land, he points them beyond himself. He speaks of a prophet yet to come: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… to him you shall listen.” This is a messianic prophecy, pointing beyond Moses to the Messiah who was still to come.

Moses had been the great mediator of the covenant, yet he makes clear that another is coming—one who will speak God’s Word with full authority. This promise is not merely about the ongoing line of prophets, but about a greater prophet still to come. The urgency is unmistakable: when he comes, you must listen to him.

The New Testament identifies that promised prophet as Jesus. Peter applies this passage directly to Christ in Acts 3:22–23, and Stephen does the same in Acts 7:37. At the Transfiguration—where Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus—the Father’s voice echoes Moses’ words: “This is my Son… listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Moses prepared the way, but Jesus is the fulfillment—the final and authoritative Word of God to his people.

And yet, even though Jesus has come—God’s final Word (cf. Hebrews 1:1–2)—we live much like Israel in the wilderness. We have been rescued, but we have not yet entered the Promised New Heaven and New Earth. Jesus himself warns that many false prophets will arise and lead many astray before that day.

Moses’ promise has been fulfilled: the prophet like him has come—and more than a prophet, he is the Son, the one to whom we must listen. In his death and resurrection he has secured forgiveness, life, and salvation, and he now speaks God’s truth and gives his grace for all. We receive these gifts not by our effort, but by faith, for Jesus has not only spoken the full and final word of God, he embodied God’s grace and truth and sacrificed himself for us and for our eternal salvation. He will come again at the end of time and receive all who are his own into his glorious everlasting kingdom – the ultimate Promised Land.

Additional Thought: So let’s do what Moses said we must, and what God himself confirmed on the mount of Transfiguration. Let’s listen to Jesus. Listen in the Hebrew sense which means listen to and do what Jesus says. Love one another. Share the gospel with the world. Repent and believe the gospel. Celebrate his Supper. Believe in him.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 16-18, Psalm 83.

Deuteronomy 18:15-18

“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— ¹⁶ just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ ¹⁷ And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. ¹⁸ I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 

A friend and colleague retired a couple of years ago and—as planned, and as I did—didn’t really retire. He recognized that his gifts and experiences, shaped through decades of faithful ministry (not always easy, but enduring), had equipped him to continue serving. In his case, that meant helping congregations navigate transitions following the retirement of a long-tenured senior pastor. His ministry is called Always Forward Ministries.

He was determined to keep moving forward, looking ahead, and helping others do the same for the sake of God’s mission. That idea resonates with me as well. I love helping churches engage in faithful, strategic mission planning—and I carry that same focus with me as I assist congregations in calling pastors to lead them into the future.

But neither my friend nor I can claim that orientation as our own. Moses, too, ends his ministry with his eyes on the future. Standing with Israel on the edge of the Promised Land, he points them beyond himself. He speaks of a prophet yet to come: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me… to him you shall listen.” This is a messianic prophecy, pointing beyond Moses to the Messiah who was still to come.

Moses had been the great mediator of the covenant, yet he makes clear that another is coming—one who will speak God’s Word with full authority. This promise is not merely about the ongoing line of prophets, but about a greater prophet still to come. The urgency is unmistakable: when he comes, you must listen to him.

The New Testament identifies that promised prophet as Jesus. Peter applies this passage directly to Christ in Acts 3:22–23, and Stephen does the same in Acts 7:37. At the Transfiguration—where Moses and Elijah appear and speak with Jesus—the Father’s voice echoes Moses’ words: “This is my Son… listen to him” (Matthew 17:5). Moses prepared the way, but Jesus is the fulfillment—the final and authoritative Word of God to his people.

And yet, even though Jesus has come—God’s final Word (cf. Hebrews 1:1–2)—we live much like Israel in the wilderness. We have been rescued, but we have not yet entered the Promised New Heaven and New Earth. Jesus himself warns that many false prophets will arise and lead many astray before that day.

Moses’ promise has been fulfilled: the prophet like him has come—and more than a prophet, he is the Son, the one to whom we must listen. In his death and resurrection he has secured forgiveness, life, and salvation, and he now speaks God’s truth and gives his grace for all. We receive these gifts not by our effort, but by faith, for Jesus has not only spoken the full and final word of God, he embodied God’s grace and truth and sacrificed himself for us and for our eternal salvation. He will come again at the end of time and receive all who are his own into his glorious everlasting kingdom – the ultimate Promised Land.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 13-18, Psalm 82.

Deuteronomy 13:1-11

“If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear him and keep his commandments and obey his voice, and you shall serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.

⁶ “If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son or your daughter or the wife you embrace or your friend who is as your own soul entices you secretly, saying, ‘Let us go and serve other gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷ some of the gods of the peoples who are around you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other, ⁸ you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him. ⁹ But you shall kill him. Your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. ¹⁰ You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. ¹¹ And all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you.

Recently I watched an exposé on the collapse of Robert Schuller’s ministry and the ultimate bankruptcy and sale of his Crystal Cathedral to the Roman Catholic Dioceses of LA or Southern California. It is quite a saga – and a sad one on many counts.

The producers of that video offered a false prophet checklist to help people today from being taken in by those teachers and preachers who leverage God-talk for their own personal gain. The list is centered mostly around financial transparency, personal aggrandizement, and moral behavior, and as far as it goes it’s not too bad.

Biblically speaking, a true prophet both speaks what is true and leads people to the true God; failure in either reveals a false prophet. The New Testament adds that a true prophet points people rightly to Christ. Is the prophecy true to the revealed word of God? Do the predictions come to pass? Does the message point people rightly to Christ? These are the three critical questions we must ask if we are to avoid being misled into sin and misbelief.

In the case of the people of Israel the question of other gods was clear and obvious. The pagan religions had their gods and were unashamedly devoted to them. Moses was warning the people not to be taken in by their religious fervor or prevelance. Stay true to the LORD he was saying here. Watch to see if what they predict comes to pass he says in chapter 18.

This is so important that he attaches the death penalty to anyone who would lead them astray. And it is brutally to be carried out. That was so all Israel shall hear and fear and never again do any such wickedness as this among you (13:11).

Few people wish to return to such brutal justice today. Jesus himself refused to condemn a woman caught in the act of adultery, refusing to condone stoning her. And those who were the keepers of the true faith of Israel conspired to have him killed by Roman authorities for blasphemy and being essentially the worst kind of false prophet.

Jesus, however, being the embodiment of truth showed himself to be a true prophet by pointing people again and again to God’s promises and validating those promises by rising from the dead just as he said he would. That truth connected with the profound grace of God is the foundation of true religion. He is the One who is the source of covenant faithfulness – which is what the book of Deuteronomy is all about.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Deuteronomy 1-3, Psalm 78.

Deuteronomy 3:23-29

“And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, ²⁴ ‘O Lord God, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your mighty hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do such works and mighty acts as yours? ²⁵ Please let me go over and see the good land beyond the Jordan, that good hill country and Lebanon.’ ²⁶ But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not listen to me. And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough from you; do not speak to me of this matter again. ²⁷ Go up to the top of Pisgah and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward, and look at it with your eyes, for you shall not go over this Jordan. ²⁸ But charge Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of this people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see.’ ²⁹ So we remained in the valley opposite Beth-peor.

I will be taking a few days off from posting since I will be recovering from hip replacement surgery. I’m scheduled for Wednesday March 18 at 10 AM. I hope to be back at it by Monday. In the meantime, I notice how Moses is rehearsing the history of Israel’s travels from the Red Sea to the entrance to the Promised Land.

We need to be reminded of our history – not only so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past, but also so that we recall the favor, goodness, grace, and blessings of God.

What blessings do you need to recall today? How has God been at work in your life through the years? Today is a good day to reflect on those things.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 34-36, Psalm 77.

Numbers 34:1-12

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), ³ your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east. ⁴ And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵ And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

⁶ “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.

⁷ “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad. ⁹ Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰ “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹ And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east. ¹² And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

The LORD described the borders of the Promised Land to Moses in Numbers 34. See below for an interpretation of that outline. I am intrigued when I compare it to the borders of modern-day Israel. But I have no desire to make any political comment or connection in that regard.

I want to talk about traffic! We’ll come back to Israel’s borders then and now.

Years ago the street on which St. John Lutheran Church is located was being expanded from a tree-covered two lane road to a divided four lane thoroughfare. It was disruptive to traffic and frustrating to many of our members. The quiet lane was soon to become a busy traffic artery. Our peaceful lane would be transformed to a noisy traffic-congested road. It’s true: bigger roads don’t really solve traffic issues; they just invite more traffic! But I digress.

I shared with our members how the Apostle Paul spoke of the movement and placement of people groups and peoples throughout the ages. He spoke of how God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). It was God’s providential determination where people lived and when they occupied the land.

I will admit to the frustration of traffic congestion, expanded streets and highways only serving to bring more people, cars, trucks and motorcycles to our neighborhoods. But then I recall the rest of what Paul said. He spoke of places and boundaries God has set so “that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”

The placement of Israel’s boundaries and borders was not just about their right to the land or God’s command to take the land. It was to fulfill a promise that God had given Abraham years earlier, that he would give Abraham’s descendants the land, so that they would be a blessing to others. “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,” God had promised.

The placement of Israel – and nations and tribes, churches and individuals down through the ages – was and is so that the grace and truth of God and his ways might be known, and people might be brought into a living relationship with him.

You nor I live where we do when we do by accident. God’s has placed us where we are here and now so that we may honor him and declare his glory among the nations. We and Abraham, Moses, and all God’s people throughout the ages are where we are so that we may be a blessing to those around us.

Click here for an audio version of this blog post.

These devotions are part of the Follow the Word Bible reading program at St. John Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas. This year we are reading through the Scriptures together, listening for how God speaks through his Word day by day. I hope you will join me on this journey.

Today’s readings are Numbers 31-33, Psalm 76.

Numbers 31:1-6

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Avenge the people of Israel on the Midianites. Afterward you shall be gathered to your people.” ³ So Moses spoke to the people, saying, “Arm men from among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord’s vengeance on Midian. ⁴ You shall send a thousand from each of the tribes of Israel to the war.” ⁵ So there were provided, out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand from each tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. ⁶ And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand from each tribe, together with Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, with the vessels of the sanctuary and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand.

In Numbers 31, God commands Israel to go to war against the Midianites. Their destruction is to be decisive and total. This will not be a distant or clinical act of war. It will be brutally up-close and personal. Such passages are difficult for us to comprehend. And in the context of the current Middle East conflicts, few of us want to talk about war, much less read about the brutal treatment of women and children recorded here.

The command concerning Midian in Numbers 31 is one of the most troubling passages in the Old Testament. Yet the biblical narrative gives important background that helps explain why the judgment appears so severe.

The immediate context is the episode at Baal Peor in Numbers 25, where Midianite women enticed Israel into sexual immorality and the worship of Baal. The text tells us this was done through the counsel of Balaam (Numbers 31:16). The result was a devastating plague that killed 24,000 Israelites. In the biblical narrative, the attack on Midian is therefore presented as divine judgment for a deliberate attempt to destroy Israel spiritually, not merely a military conflict.

The command itself is described as the Lord’s “vengeance for Israel” (Numbers 31:3). In the Old Testament, such commands are rare and tied to specific moments in Israel’s history. Israel was not given a standing command to destroy other nations indiscriminately.

Passages like this tempt us to place God in the dock, as C. S. Lewis famously put it. We put God on trial for actions we deem troubling or unjust. That is a dangerous posture to take. And even when we struggle with such texts, we must not ignore the far more frequent testimony of Scripture concerning God’s mercy and kindness.

The Old Testament repeatedly describes the Lord as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (ḥesed). This refrain—especially from Exodus 34:6–7—became something of a creedal description of God’s character and echoes throughout Israel’s Scriptures, even as God also maintains his righteous judgment against evil.

Should you want to see how often the Old Testament bears witness to God’s mercy and steadfast love, consider these passages:

Exodus 34:6–7; Numbers 14:18; Psalm 23:6; Psalm 86:15; Psalm 103:8–13; Psalm 136:1–26; Isaiah 54:10; Lamentations 3:22–23; Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18–19.

Yet the fullest revelation of both God’s justice and his mercy is seen in Jesus. On the cross, God did not ignore the judgment sin deserves; he took it upon himself. And there we see most clearly the God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love toward us.