Responses to the Skeptic's Annotated Bible Cruelty Short List - Numbers

Numbers:

Numbers 11:1 - "And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD: and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and consumed them."

Scripture speaks of the triune God of the Bible as being a consuming fire (Deu. 4:24; Heb.12:27-29). Jesus, who is by nature fully God and fully man (John 1:1, 12-14; Col. 2:9), is also pictured as judging the world in blazing fire in his second coming and return (2 Thess. 1:7-8). Allusions of fire in the Bible often refer to the Lord’s divine presence (Psalm 50:3). This is information is necessary to understand because God is a God that takes sin and judgment very seriously. In the context of Numbers 11:1, for instance, the Israelites were given a command to go forward (see chapter 10) and they failed to do so by complaining to the Lord. While it is unclear which part of the camp was consumed by fire—leaders, laypeople, etc.—the point is that occasion for the divine judgment is the complaining of the people against an already-revealed command of God. Such complaining may seem trite from our vantage point in the twenty-first century, but scholars agree here that the murmuring (“it displeased the LORD”) directly revealed a lack of trust, faith, and understanding of the nature and character of God, specifically his goodness power, and holiness, and should serve as warning to us today that God is as much love as he is wrath.

Numbers 11:33 - "And while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great plague."

As with all difficult passages of Scripture, one must astutely examine and study the surrounding context as well as the historical-grammatical elements of the text. The reason for the plague coming upon the Israelites is given in Numbers 11:34: “they buried the people that craved different food.” The people longed for the food they had in Egypt as slaves (11:4-6) and despised the very manna that God supernaturally provided for them each day. Although the LORD granted their request for meat, it was not without punishment, for their complaining declared and showed with consistency their lack of faith and trust in God’s supply. God’s hand of provision to provide is not limited in power and scope, so long as it is consistent with his nature and purpose (11:23). Moreover, this sin had been warned against and punished already (11:1), indicating that even with a greater scope of the Law by God, the Israelites were being judged in a greater sense now for their rebellion. Later theological reflections indicate this to be the case (Psalm 78:30-31; 106:14-15). In the greater context of Scripture, denying the sufficiency of God’s greatest act of love for humanity in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and mine results not in a temporary plague that causes death, but eternal and everlasting judgment (Romans 6:23).

Numbers 15:32-36 - "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day ... And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones."

The Law of God given to Moses took the Sabbath day of rest and reflection very seriously (Exo. 31:14-15; 35:2). Breaking the Sabbath for any reason was grounds for death, as this text indicates. Why did the people surrounding the issue seemingly “forget” the commands of God concerning this important day? Perhaps it centered on an uncertainty of whether the Law applied to this situation or simply a neglect to swiftly take care of the offender. In either case, God is not a divine child abuser or divine tyrant as some have purported. Rather, in consistent action with His revealed Law and in step with his perfect holiness that demands justice for lawbreaking, God faithfully carried out the command. As Calvin wrote, “Moreover, by this severity God testified how much stress He laid upon the observance of the Sabbath. The reason of this has been elsewhere set forth, viz., that by this mark and symbol He had separated His chosen people from heathen nations. Whence also arose the main reproach against the Jews, when they were called Sabbatarians” (Calvin’s Commentary, Vol. 6).

Numbers 16:35 - "And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense."

The context here refers to the rebellious people who followed the direct leadership of Korah and his cohorts. It was not for the incense that they were consumed necessarily; they were consumed because they tried to usurp the divinely-established rule extended to Moses and Aaron by questioning their leadership and authority (16:1-5). From 16:2, the text indicates that these men were “leaders of the community,” that is, probably judges of some kind. They were not ordained as priests to burn incense, which stains them with guilt in the sight of God who commanded only priests to observe religious duties such as incense (cf. Lev. 10:2). The sin, as Dr. Blake Hearson points out, is simply “grasping to be in control and usurp the place of someone else to be like God.” Is this fair of God to do? 11:28-30 suggests that God affirmed Moses and His command was proven true. Yes, then, God is justified in the death of these people, just as he in the eternal judgment of those who deny Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, the only way to heaven (2 Thess. 1:7-8; John 14:6; Acts 4:12).

Numbers 21:6 - "And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died."

As with other similar passages mentioned above, the Israelites complained against the provision of food given by God (21:4-5 [The literal rendering of the Hebrew about the complaining Israelites’ view of the food can be translated ”good for nothing, worthless, miserable.”). In past times, God used fire to consume those that rebelled against him in clear mistrust or lack of faith. Their impatience, coupled with the aforementioned qualities, contributed to the Lord sending the fiery serpents. A lackadaisical-type attitude existed among the people in that their concern is relief from the punishment, not reformation, as the Lord commands (21:7). God has already commanded to them the holiness that he required (Lev. 11:45; 20:7). As was written, “If you do not obey me and keep all these commandments– 15 if you reject my statutes and abhor my regulations so that you do not keep all my commandments and you break my covenant– 16 I for my part will do this to you: I will inflict horror on you, consumption and fever, which diminish eyesight and drain away the vitality of life. You will sow your seed in vain because your enemies will eat it” (Lev. 26:15-16).

Numbers 23:24 - "Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain."

This quotation is in the midst of an oracle given by the prophet-for-hire, Balaam. Balak, the wicked king, is concerned about the numbers of the people and seeks to buy Balaam’s services. Scholars agree that Israel need not fear the incantations of an international wizard such as Balaam because of God’s sovereignty in the entire situation. Concerning 23:24 specifically, the implication is that whatever comes against Israel in the form of military strength, no matter how massive or powerful, the God of Israelites, who Balaam refers to in the Hebrew as only Yahweh (Deu. 6:4), will be destroyed. The passage drips with symbolism in that the eating and drinking of the slain and the prey is to be taken as literal but rather as figurative. This is because the God of Israel cannot be overcome and the army of Israel will be like that of a lion. The God of the Bible is not a safe God, and we must keep in mind the picture of Jesus in Revelation coming with a sword to judge the world in righteousness. If we, like the Israelites, take our relationship with Him for granted and our access, we do so with our own peril. He wants us to come into his presence and be in a relationship with Him, but He is not our “pal”…He is our God—holy, just, and righteous.

Numbers 25:4 - "And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel."

The context of this section refers to the Israelites marrying outside the prescribed boundaries of the covenant community of Israel. The Israelites settle down with the Moabite women, who are diametrically opposed religiously and socially to the commandments given by God by Moses. Not only did the Israelites intermarry with the Moabites, but they also bowed the knee to their deities (25:2-3). Because the leaders were directly responsible for the pure worship of the Israelite community, the LORD held them accountable (cf. James 3:1) for the sins of the people. They had not only disobeyed the God-given command, but they also participated in the worship themselves, thereby prostituting themselves in word and deed. The hanging of the bodies of the leaders reminded the people the leaders and the participants that the Law cannot be so easily set aside without retribution and an upholding of God’s character, which is reflected in the practical reality of keeping the Law.

Numbers 31:15-19 - "And Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive? ... Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves."

The context of these verses is holy war against Midian for the seduction of Israel. Similar to the episode of the Moabites in Numbers 25, God’s standards would not allow the Israelites to marry or have foreign women as wives. The command in holy war to kill women and children seems in modern times a terrible thing to do (and it was), and something they ought not to have done. But this criticism fails to understand the situation in the ancient world. The entire life of the ancient world was tribal warfare. God's judgment is poured out on whole groups of people who act with moral abandonment and in sinful pursuits.

Recommended Resource: When Critics Ask by Norm Geisler.

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