Numbers 31 - Isaiah 13 – 1 Corinthians 12 – 1 John 3

Numbers 31
- God told Moses to avenge his people against the Midianites.
- After that Moses would die.
- Moses told the people to prepare for battle
- Army of 12,000 (1,000 from each tribe)
- Moses sent Phinehas (son of Eleazar, grandson or Aaron)
- Phinehas went with vessels from sanctuary and a trumpet
- The killed the men of Israel and the kings: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba
- They also killed Balaam with the sword.
- They took the women and children captive and kept their cattle, flocks, and goods
- The army brought the captives and spoil to Moses and Eleazar at Jericho.
- Moses and Eleazar met them outside the camp and Moses was angry.
- He reminded them of how Balaam’ s advice had brought a plague on Israel
- Moses told them to kill all the women who had been married and all the boys.
- Why did he let the virgin girls live?
- They had to stay outside the camp for 7 days (because they had been by dead bodies)
- Moses reminded them to purify themselves, their clothes, and every wooden thing on the 3rd and 7th day
- Eleazar told them to cleanse the gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, and lead in the fire then in water.
- He reminded them to wash their clothes on the 7th day.
- God told Moses to tell the people to divide everything in half, half for those in battle and half for the congregation.
- Then Levy a tribute to the Lord of: 1 out of 500 of people, oxen, and donkeys from the soldiers
- The people would give one out of 50 of the people, oxen, donkeys, sheep, and cattle to give to the Levites
- The total spoils were: 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, 32,000 people (virgin women)
- The army got:
- 337,500 sheep (gave God 675)
- 36,000 cattle (God got 72)
- 30,500 donkeys (God got 61)
- 16,000 women (God got 32)
- Each soldier (assuming no one died) would get about 2,500 sheep, 3 cattle, 2-3 donkeys, and 1-2 women
- The congregation got the same but gave 2% to the Levites
- It says that they counted those who were missing and everyone was still alive.
- The commanders brought in gold articles to make atonement for themselves.
- Their offering of gold articles was 16,750 shekels
- Moses and Eleazar brought the gold as a memorial to the people.

Isaiah 13
- Isaiah received an oracle about Babylon
- They would wave their hand to enter
- God has summoned “might men” to execute His anger.
- There is a loud noise coming from the mountains as God gathers men.
- They are coming to destroy everything
- Destruction from The Almighty will come
- The result is feeble hands and melting hearts
- They will be shocked as God makes the land desolate and destroys sinners.
- Even the stars won’t give them light and the sun will be dark
- God will punish the world for its evil and iniquity and end the arrogance
- Man will become rare.
- The earth will be shaken out of its place and each people will flee to his own land.
- There infants will be dashed to pieces and wives ravished.
- The Medes will come against them.
- The Medes don’t care about gold or silver but they destroy everything.
- Babylon will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
- It will never be inhabited again
- It will be full of wild creatures, like ostriches, owls, hyenas, and jackals
- Their time is coming to an end

1 Corinthians 12
- Paul answers their questions about spiritual gifts.
- Paul reminds them how they were led astray by mute idols.
- No one speaking in the Spirit can curse God.
- There are many gifts through one Spirit.
- There are varieties of service and activities but God empowers them.
- The gifts = utterance of wisdom, utterance of knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, ability to distinguish between spirits, tongues, and interpretation of tongues.
- The Spirit gives gift as he wills
- The body of Christ has many parts like the body has many parts
- The ear or arm can't say they don't want to be part of the body
- Just an "eye" would lack hearing, smell, etc.
- God arranged all members of the body as He chose.
- One Christian is nothing without the body.
- The "weaker" body parts are indispensable, unrepresentable parts are treated with modesty.
- God gives the "weaker" parts equal honor so that there is no division.
- If one member suffers all suffer or all rejoice.
- God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
- Paul says to seek higher gifts and foreshadows showing them a greater way.

1 John 3
- The love God has given us is to be called His children.
- The world doesn't know us because it doesn't know God.
- We will be like Him when He appears.
- Those who hope in Him are purified through Him.
- Sin = lawlessness
- Christ came to take away sin and He had no sin in Him.
- No one who has seen Christ keeps sinning.
- John cautions them not to be deceived.
- Those practicing sin are of the devil.
- The devil has been sinning from the beginning.
- Jesus appeared to destroy the works of the devil.
- John again says that those of God cannot keep on sinning.
- Those who do not practice righteousness or love his brother are not from God.
- John tells them they must love one another.
- We shouldn't be like Cain who murdered his brother.
- He killed his brother because his deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous.
- We have passed from death to life by loving our brothers.
- Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and doesn't have eternal life.
- We know love because Christ laid down His life for us and we should do the same for our brothers.
- If anyone has much according to the world but closes his heart to a brother in need does not have God's love in him.
- Love shouldn't be word or talk but in deeds and truth.
- Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts.
- If we have confidence in God we will receive whatever we ask.
- We should keep His commandments and seek to please Him.
- God's command is to believe in Christ and love one another.
- John repeats loving brother, keeping commandment thought 2 more times to close this portion