Equitable, Not Equal

Numbers 31:25 The Lord said to Moses, 26 “Take the count of the plunder that was taken, both of man and of beast, you and Eleazar the priest and the heads of the fathers' houses of the congregation, 27 and divide the plunder into two parts between the warriors who went out to battle and all the congregation. 28 And levy for the Lord a tribute from the men of war who went out to battle, one out of five hundred, of the people and of the oxen and of the donkeys and of the flocks. 29 Take it from their half and give it to Eleazar the priest as a contribution to the Lord. 30 And from the people of Israel's half you shall take one drawn out of every fifty, of the people, of the oxen, of the donkeys, and of the flocks, of all the cattle, and give them to the Levites who keep guard over the tabernacle of the Lord.”

God had Moses spend several chapters on all the problems the Midianites gave Israel, trying to keep them from entering the promised land.  In this chapter He had them go in and take back reparations. What we notice here is that when they were divided up first the Levites, God's servants received theirs, to remind the people that ultimately God provides all. Then, those warriors who went out and actually did the work received a greater portion. In other words, God did what was equitable, not equal. So often we fall into the cry of the world that everything and everyone should receive "equal", when what is really fair and just is equity.  What are you whining about?