Numbers 31:1-18; Following the events of Numbers 27, where Moses was informed by the LORD that his days were drawing to a close, Joshua was named as his successor. The next three chapters detail types of offerings and festivals the Israelite community were instructed to celebrate. Chapter 31 shifts to holy war ordered by Yahweh-God against the Midianite clans who led Israel into sexual immorality and idolatry at Peor. The divine mandate of holy war against the enemeies of the LORD are difficult and graphic to modern sensibilities, but clearly reveal the Holiness of God.