Numbers 25:14

"Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers' house among the Simeonites. And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers' house in Midian."

In the extremely high rank of the principals in this sordid drama one may read the undeniable evidence that nothing casual or accidental occurred here. This was a well-planned, skillfully-coordinated, and boldly-executed plan to free the people of the obligations imposed by the Decalogue. In Zimri's marriage to a Midianite princess, the purpose was to violate and negate God's prohibition against Israel's intermarriage with foreign peoples. We agree with Cook that, "Her (Cozbi's) high rank proves that Zimri had not fallen in with her by mere chance, but had been deliberately singled out by the Midianites as one whom, at any price, they must lead astray."[12] Why Zimri? Perhaps because of his popularity and open opposition to the policies of Moses. That the Midianites employed the services of Cozbi to ensnare Zimri was also due evidently to the rare beauty and attractiveness of Cozbi, the very word "Cozbi," having the meaning of "voluptuous in a sexual sense."[13]

The immediate result of the events related in this chapter was a war of extermination waged against the Midianites by Israel. In this Divine order, we read the truth that the Midianites indeed were the perpetrators of this evil assault upon God's people. The Moabites were merely tools of the Midianites in the whole episode.