Idolatry

Today we finish and leave behind the book of Numbers and most of Deuteronomy. So how do we begin but with war of course. Well, war and a touch of rebellion as the warriors disobey by attempting to bring Midianite women into camp. These are the same women who just earlier had attempted to destroy Israel by sexually enticing them to worship the Baal of Peor.

In our modern sensitivities it is a difficult passage to begin with, there is bloodshed by God's people in time of war as well as in the aftermath of war. I definitely want to work through some of these hard questions on the blog, but unfortunately this isn't the time for it. I have a rather large portion of Scripture to read today and thus I must move on. But I cannot leave the 31st chapter of Numbers without observing that impurity must be purged even from the artifacts of another culture. It brings to mind the Haitian market which I've visited in the past.