Ben from Lost and Killing Kids in the Bible

I've been trying to read through the bible in a year now, but I confess I'm a little behind. I've alternated old and new testament books and am just finishing up Numbers right now. Sometimes the Old Testament can be hard to read because it seems so immoral. I mean, killing kids is something that usually sets off our moral radars.

When the Lord avenged Himself and the Israelites by eliminating males (even the little lads) in Midian, it did seem a bit unfair on the kids. I mean these were kids, right?

I watched Lost last night, and somehow the main characters went back in time and found one the present characters named Ben when he was just a boy. One of the "good guys" shot the boy in the stomach and then there was a concomitant race to save young Ben's life. I won't give away the ending of the episode in case you actually watch the show and DVR'd it or something. But let's just say that many were in favor of saving this child's life. Even though he would grow up and kill loads of people mercilessly. Even though he would grow up and look like this: the dude looks way creepy and those in favor of saving his life definitely forgot that.

Those in favor of saving the child said, "I know who he turns out to be, but this is just a little kid now." Very few could see the bigger picture, even the child's Dad, who was later killed by his son Ben.

Now this episode doesn't end all discussion, nor does it exhaustively explain God's heart behind these tough commands. Nevertheless it helps me to see that God always has a bigger picture in mind. God knew what they would and of course did do when these cute little kids grew up and led people in all kinds of evil.