When Israel was camped in the place of the acacia trees women from the country of Midian came to talk with them.

They were beautiful women and led the men of Israel to turn their hearts from God to a bad one. They joined bodies with the women and bowed down to a bad one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If God let this continue it would lead all the people to terrible suffering and death.

This made God angry so He told Moses to take the leaders of the families of Israel and hang them up in the sun and then kill every one of Israel who had done this thing.

While all the children of Israel were weeping for the sadness they had brought on Israel, Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, saw a man from Israel sneaking into his tent with one of the beautiful Midianite women so he took a javelin and went in and speared right through them.

 

 

 

That stopped the terrible sickness that was spreading through the camp.

The Lord God told Moses, Phinehas has turned my anger away from the children of Israel. He was on fire for Me. For this I give him My special deal of peace. His family will be priests to Me forever because he was on fire for Me and covered the wrong of the children of Israel.

 

 

 

 

Because these people from the country of Midian have done this and 24,000 of My people died, Go and trouble them.

After the trouble, the Lord had Moses count the fighting men of Israel again, the ones over 20 years old that were left. There were 607,030 warriors to fight with God against the bad ones.

 

 

The Lord said, To these fighting men you will divide the land that I give you to inherit.

Each one will get property by the names you have written. If the family is big, you will give them a big piece of land. If the family is small, give them less land.

 

 

 

I will tell you by casting the lot who gets what part of the land.

God told them this to lift up their hearts to know that He still loved them after the trouble and He would still keep His promises.

 

The family of Levi had 23,000 men able to fight. But no land will be given to them because the Lord is their inheritance.

Of all the men that Moses counted, not one was left of the starting warriors who didn’t believe in God to go into the land forty years before.

Some ladies came to Moses who didn’t have brothers. They didn’t want their Dad’s name to be lost from the nation because they didn’t have brothers to get land for their family.

So Moses talked to God and God told him to let the ladies be given land, but only marry men from their family so the land wouldn’t move from one family into other families.

Then God told Moses, Go up to the top of this mountain and I will show you all the special land that I am giving My people. But you will not go in there to live because you made me look mad, and not kind, to My people when they needed water. I am bringing you to be with Me instead.

Moses said to God, Please give the people a new leader so they won’t be wandering around like sheep with no one to guide them.

So God said, Take Joshua, a man who has My Spirit inside him, and put your hands on him. Then put him in front of Eleazer and all the people and while they are watching, put him in charge of the people.

 

And put some of your specialness from Me on him so the people will obey him.

 

 

 

 

 

He will stand before Eleazer the priest to ask Me about things. And they will do what he says.

Remind the children of Israel to do My offerings: A lamb in the morning and in the evening to remind them how much I love them

 

 

 

 

And remember the bread offering to remind them that I am the food for their hearts; And mix the bread with oil to remind them of My Holy Spirit with them.

 

 

And on the 14th day of the 1st month remember to do the Passover ceremony to show how I cover and take away all your sins.

And remember your special thank you party when you gather in your crops. To thank God for so much goodness that He pours on you in making so many crops grow.

 

 

 

And always remember to rest on my special days and rest in My strength because I am your strength. I am the one who makes everything good happen.