Problem: The  Midianite virgins were not killed in Numbers 31:17-18 because they did not participate in the idolatrous sin of Baal at Peor. Let’s take a look.
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Problem: Why would God order the destruction of women and children? God is often judgmental in the Old Testament mostly to ensure the arrival of the Messiah. The enemy of the gospel always intended to destroy the people of Israel through whom the Messiah would come. If there is no Messiah, we have no redeemer and our entrance into hell is assured. But, because of God’s actions to execute some people in order to save others via the arrival of Jesus, we can then have our sins forgiven and enjoy God forever in heaven with him.
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Problem: After the Israelite men fall into sexual immorality with the Moabite women, Moses orders their immediate execution (v.5). Later, when a man takes one of the women into his tent, Phineas throws a spear through the man and the woman’s stomach (v.8)! Why is the punishment so severe here?
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Problem: Balaam says, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel, and shall crush through the forehead of Moab, and tear down all the sons of Sheth” (Num. 24:17). Biblical interpreters debate whether this is a biblical prophecy. This excerpt from the prophet Balaam is short, but seems to be predictive of the Messiah. Is this the case?
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Problem: Can Jesus be God if God is not a man (Numbers 23:19)?  Context is everything.  Let’s first take a look at the verse.
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Problem: Numbers records, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent” (Num. 23:19). Orthodox Jewish interpreters argue that this passage invalidates the notion that God could ever become a man (Jn. 1:14; Col. 2:9). Is this the case?
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Problem: Originally, God tells Balaam: “Since these men have come to summon you, go with them, but do only what I tell you” (Num. 22:21). But, in the very next verse, he gets angry with Balaam for going with him. Is this a sign of caprice on God’s behalf?
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Problem: John writes, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (Jn. 3:14-15). Why does Jesus claim that the story of the brazen (Num. 21:4-9) serpent prefigures his death on the Cross?
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Problem: Why would God kill someone for something as insignificant as gathering sticks? Does not seem a little excessive? The issue is that God had commanded the people of Israel to be set apart from the pagan ways of the unbelievers. There were many symbolic gestures that God instituted among his people. The Sabbath was a holy day. Ultimately, it represents the sacrifice of Christ in that we rest from our obligation to keep the law in order to be saved. Gathering sticks is work on that day of rest. It is, ultimately, a defiance of the atoning work of Christ. Of course, the person gathering sticks on the Sabbath hundreds of years before Jesus was born would not have known this. But, God set up a system by which salvation could come in the Sabbath is, ultimately, a sample of the work of Christ in our rest in him. So, to violate that is to ultimately deny the cross.
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