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Jun 15, 2022 18:30pm

Above All Else

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Everybody else is doing it…

That statement seems to be the epitome of teenage decision making. Everyone had their own rules they had to follow, but they had a choice whether or not they would. And when the time came, and the pressure was on, did you cave? Or did you obey no matter the cost?

“And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.” (Numbers 31:1-2)

Wage war against the Midianites. Take them all out. That was the command coming from God. So, who were these Midianites?

They were the descendants of Abraham and his second wife Keturah. In chapter 25, we learned that they were the sinful people luring the Israelites to join them in worship to their idols. Phineas killed an Israelite man and the Midianite prostitute he brought into the camp to save the people from disobeying God and to stop His wrath on them.

Moses was now challenged to do the same thing. But the Midianites weren’t just “some” people to Moses, they were part of his family.

When Moses fled Egypt as a young man, he found refuge with a group of people. He ended up marrying one of the women and staying there for several years before the Lord called him to service. His wife and her father were Midianites.

God was telling Moses to destroy the very people that he considered family and had given him refuge.

So, what does Moses do?

When the time came, and the pressure was on, did he cave? Or did he obey God no matter the cost?

“And Moses spake 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 ye send to the war. So there were delivered out of the thousands of Israel, a thousand of every tribe, twelve thousand armed for war. And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand. And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD commanded Moses; and they slew all the males.” (Numbers 31: 3-7)

Moses did what had to be done. He obeyed God, even if the cost was high. Because the cost of not doing what God commanded was even greater. Moses knew that if the Israelites were to mingle with the Midianites again, it would be disastrous. He knew this was the only way to keep the people from sinning against God and to give his all to the Lord. This was his last fight, his last act of service unto God. God had told him that once they had gone into battle, that Moses would be gathered unto the people, meaning, it would be time for his death.

Are you willing to obey God no matter the cost? What is the cost if you don’t do what He has commanded? We are all faced with tough decisions in the life. Jesus said that to follow Him we would have to put Him first, even above family.

“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27)

The word hate here means, “to love less”. Jesus wanted His followers to know that in order to follow Him, they had to deny themselves and they had to put God first, above everything, even family.

Moses had to make a choice. We have that same choice. Will you choose obedience no matter the cost?