Read Numbers 25
Moab Seduces Israel
25 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”
5 So Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”
14 The name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Treat the Midianites as enemies and kill them.18 They treated you as enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incidentinvolving their sister Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the plague came as a result of that incident.”
Go Deeper
As we read this chapter, it is important to remember that God had just protected Israel against Balaam and Balak, and the Israelites’ actions in this chapter are an ungrateful response to His blessings. While Israel had sinned in many ways during the exodus, this was the first time they openly worshiped another god. This awoke the anger of the Lord and caused a plague that killed thousands (v. 9). As one commentary explains, “What an enemy set out to do but could never accomplish, Israel did to itself through disobedience.” This disobedience was so renowned that it is remembered and memorialized thousands of years later in Revelation 2 when the connection is drawn between Balaam’s unsuccessful attempts to curse Israel with the successful planting of temptation through idolatry and sexual immorality. When Balaam couldn’t curse Israel, he instead sent the Midianite women to tempt the men of Israel–and his plan worked.
God’s response was to instruct Moses to judge the sin openly, through execution of the offenders in broad daylight. We see in verses 6-8, however, that one righteous man was “zealous” for God’s honor and this zeal saved God’s people. Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, witnessed an especially deliberate and provocative sin between an Israelite man and a Midianite woman in front of the tabernacle–a sin so blatant that it caused many to weep. Phinehas refused to accept this rebellion against God and killed them both with one spear.
Notice the language used in verse 11. Because Phinehas was “zealous for His honor”, the Lord made a covenant of peace with him and his family as well as provided atonement for the Israelites. The plague ended and lives were saved because of this one man’s zealous act for the Lord. There are similarities to be drawn with Jesus’s zealous anger and provision of atonement for the sins of many. But it is also important to note how the actions of one loyal man and his zeal for the honor of God make a big impact in his community.
We observe sinful behavior in and around us on a daily basis. Do those acts stir a similar response in us? Do we have such zeal for God’s honor that we are willing to defend His authority? For us that could be something as simple as refusing to engage in inappropriate conversations or speaking out against con-men practices or teachings that do not align with God’s word. It might lead us to a place of discomfort with those close to us, but God has shown He can and will honor one righteous act—and that can make all the difference.
Questions
- Would you consider yourself “zealous” in your defense of God’s honor? Why or why not?
- What do you think that looks like for you on a daily basis?
- What idols might you need to remove from your life in order to be less like the Israelite man and more like Phinehas?
A Quote
“Whereas it was Phinehas’ spear that pierced the sinners that made atonement for Israel, it was the nails and spear that pierced Jesus that made atonement for the sins of the whole world.” -Gordon Wenham
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4 thoughts on “Numbers 25”
Reading this chapter I was reminded of David when he writes “for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me” (Psalm 69:9).
Defined as “a passionate ardor for any person or cause” zeal is what God through his intense love and devotion expressed when he sent his son to redeem sinful, undeserving mankind. Oh, that we would grasp the magnitude of this gift, so that it ignites a holy fire in our hearts that drives us to live as boldly as Phinehas in denouncing sin that is glorified in our culture. It most likely won’t be with a spear in our hands, but by the sword of the spirit. It’s refusing to glorify and celebrate what Christ died for.
God wants you for Himself. He is after you minutely. He wants a sweet, beautiful, meaningful, intimate relationship with you. He did want that as well with the Israelites and now with us. Yes, we have grace and mercy but we use it wrong!!!! I will do what I want because God’s grace covers it, NO NO NO! We have lost our fear of the Lord. To fear Him is to be afraid of not being in His presence for one second. To fear Him is to respect, revere and to be obedient.
God thank You for loving us with all that grace and mercy but I thank You for endeavoring to do right things and make right choices the first time so that I edify You, so that all can see You shining out of me. God thank You for wisdom minutely to see what You want for me to be zealous about to Glorify YOU in Jesus name amen
WOOHOO!!!
Yes!
We don’t hear the word “zealous” much these days. Often only in the pejorative sense of being a “zealot”.
Lord, teach me what it means to be zealous for you in this present time!
There is a time and appropriate place to speak God’s truth. However, is not our place to be sin police. Let not our enthusiasm for the Lord’s righteousness be clouded by our own personal judgement. All glory to God.