Title: Law of Sharing (Numbers 31~25~54)
Contents Before entering the mainland of Canaan in earnest, God gave the Israelites a great victory in the war against Midian. The sheer amount of loot they collected after winning a war shows how great that victory was.
However, not a single one of the Israelites' soldiers who went to war was killed or wounded. (Verses 48-49) This kind of war is a war that cannot exist in common sense. Even if you look at the recent war between the United States and Iraq, it was an incomparable war, but nevertheless, many American soldiers lost their lives in the war.
The Israelites were not originally skilled at war. It is a very self-evident fact that during their 40 years of living in the wilderness, they could not have mastered the art of warfare, nor could they be equipped with war weapons. Nevertheless, this unilateral victory was not because they won the war with their strength and ability, but because God unilaterally gave them victory.
“And this crowd will know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear; for the war is the Lord’s, and he will deliver you into our hands” (1 Samuel 17:47).
Winning a war is bound to bring you loot. As we saw earlier, the people of Israel took on a huge amount of booty.
However, God established a rule so that the spoils should be shared so equally among each other.
First, he tells us to divide the loot in half, the same for those who went to war and ordinary people who did not go to war. From the point of view of those who went to war, it seems so unfair, but if you admit that it is God who made you win the war in the first place, you have no choice but to accept it.
He then tells the priests to give 1 of 500 of the portion that the soldiers received to the priests, and give 1/50 of the portion that ordinary people received to the Levites. Since the priests and the Levites had no special means of living because they were assigned to serve in the tent of meeting, God told them to take care of their share.
There are two lessons to be learned from this verse today.
First, just as the people of Israel won a one-sided victory with God's help in war, in our lives, God can help us in all things that happen in our lives, such as material or family peace, business blessings, children's blessings, and church revival. It is a fact that He also gives us such victories and blessings. We should become those of us who have been faithfully blessing us in the past and believe that He will continue to bless us in the future, giving thanks to God.
Second, if we too have received such graces and blessings by God's grace, we should be able to share them with others. First, like the people of Israel, we should be able to set aside what we give to God and give it to God and then share the grace and blessings we received with others around us. Whether it is material or something else, there are many things that God has been with and blessed us with in our lives. It is God's desire for me to share it fairly with others, rather than enjoying it alone and being happy.
I thank God for being with us in our lives today and giving us grace, and I hope that you and I will be able to share it with others in joy.