Numbers 25: 1 – 18
Don’t let your guard down
25 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel. 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.” 6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ” 14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian. 16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Harass the Midianites, and attack them; 18 for they harassed you with their schemes by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”
We all stumble one time or another in our Christian walk. It might be with a particular sin that we struggle with or just an impulse reaction to something. Usually, after these series of events, we buckle down and eliminate the things in our lives that are a hindrance and start climbing the mountain again. We begin to read our Bible again, attend bible study regularly, and pray more often. As days and weeks and even months go by without any serious slip ups into this sin, we begin to get a false sense that we are in control of our lives. We need to be more like David when he asked our Holy Jehovah Elyon, The Lord Most High, to help him search out potential failures when he said in Psalm 139 verse 23 “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties
James 1:14 says, “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” So there you have it, James says it clearly, we will be drawn away at some point or another.
With that said, we must arm ourselves with the full armor, the full armor of God that is. What is the full armor of God? Ephesians 6:13-17 explains, “Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;”
As Christians, we have full life when we are aware of the reality of the presence of evil. As we struggle to stand firm in our faith, we must realize that the enemies we are up against are not merely human ideas, but real forces that come from the powers of darkness. The Bible says, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
So not only do we arm ourselves with ‘The Full Armor of God’, James 4:7 tell us to also, “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Why will resistance cause the devil to flee? Because he knows he cannot have victory over us if we are prepared to do battle against him.
Only a true believer wears the full armor because only those who have received God’s forgiveness by grace through faith have eternal salvation and the righteousness of Christ imputed to them.
Don’t let your guard down because, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy….” (John 10:10)
Let us pray for strength to resist evil and to actively battle against it; pray for wisdom in the conflict and most of all, we remain steadfast in our prayers, both for the ability to resist the devil and also for other believers who struggle with the temptation to sin. When the church, the body of Christ, stands united against evil, fully equipped with the armor of God, we present a formidable foe to the evil one and we will see God get the glory for the victory.
We cannot just put our live into ‘drive’ and live each day. We have to be aware that we are in a war daily. As the scriptures tell us in the book of Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12 we read, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” As being in the Lord’s army we must be ready every day and never let our guard down. Here are some words to encourage you to be ready.
Cause the look in their eyes says without a doubt
I won’t let my guard down
From cities, towns and farms
They stand arm and arm, shoulder to shoulder
Behind each face and name
A heart beats strong and brave in every soldier
At anytime they would risk it all
No they don’t mind answering the call
Cause they’re always there, always ready
Their will is strong and their aim is steady
Doing their best to keep us safe and sound
Oh it might get hard yeah it might get tough
But they won’t back down, no they won’t give up
Cause the look in their eyes says without a doubt
I won’t let my guard down
Its a creed, it’s a soldiers way of life
When it comes to freedom they won’t compromise
Cause they’re always there, always ready
Their will is strong and their aim is steady
Doing their best to keep us safe and sound
Oh it might get hard yeah it might get tough
But they won’t back down, no they won’t give up
Cause the look in their eyes says without a doubt
I won’t let my guard down
I won’t let my guard down
Don’t let your Guard down
Let them all sleep sound tonight
Count each breath until they float into their subconscious mind
Don't wake them up
Don't make a sound
Let them be how they were found
And let them slumber now
Believe when we say
That you can repay
The motivation it takes to see
How it works for you and me
Can make or break the fall
Statistics have shown
If we beat on a different drum
We can finally lead
Believe when we say
That you can repay
Your debts to your leader
By taking away what's yours
Don't be so down tonight
Please don't give up the fight
Don't let your guard down
Don't let your guard down tonight
Please don't give up the fight
Come on
Come on
Let's go now
Don't waste it for what it's worth
Stand up against your fears now
Live life just one more time
Don't be so down tonight
Please don't give up the fight
Don't let your guard down
Don't let your guard down tonight
Please don't give up the fight
Don't let your guard down
Don't let your guard down tonight
It is noteworthy that just as the glorious revelation on Mount Sinai was followed by the lapse into idolatry with the molten calf, so here the glorious repetition and expansion of the promises by Balaam is followed by gross immorality and idolatry. In each case the one contrasts with the other, the proclamation of the grace of God with the disobedience of man.
For having settled down in the Moabite plain Israel now demonstrated their propensity for sin at Shittim by enjoying close relations with the daughters of Moab, and ‘joining themselves’ to Baal-peor. In spite of all Yahweh’s warnings they engaged in idolatry and immorality. This would finally result in the death of a Simeonite chieftain and a plague on the people.
25 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
Settling down at Shittim after a period of continual travel, Israelite males began to take a fancy to certain young women who lived in Moab. Not being constantly on the move themselves their women were able to make themselves up more attractively, and the men of Israel clearly enjoyed the novelty. These were worshippers of Baal-peor that included sexual relations. In view of the nature of the religion of Baal with its fertility rites there may well have been ritual sex acts between them. Outwardly, however, the sin is said to be that of being present at the sacrifices to their gods, eating sacred meals with them and bowing down to their gods. Among others they were disobeying the first two commandments.
3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD was aroused against Israel.
Thus Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor (the lord of Peor). That is they became involved in idolatry and all the behavior that went with it. The lord of Peor may have been Chemosh, the Moabite god, or a local Baal favored by the Midianites. These acts resulted in Yahweh’s anger being aroused, His righteous aversion to such evil behavior would cause Him to deal with His people. They had deserted Him and what He stood for and had chosen to follow idols and what they stood for.
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the LORD, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.”
That the failure took in a large number of Israelites is made apparent by the fact that only the chieftains among them were to be executed. Yahweh told Moses to hang up before Yahweh, in the sun, all the chieftains of the people who had been misbehaving. This suggests that a good number of chieftains were involved, which made the position even worse. Only then would His anger be turned away. (‘Them’ cannot mean all the chiefs in Israel, for Moses now turned to some of them for assistance. It refers to those who were among those who had sinned – (Deuteronomy 24.16).
5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
So Moses went to the high chiefs of Israel with special responsibility as judges and bade them slay all in their tribes who had committed idolatry and participated in the worship of Baal-peor, thereby ‘joining themselves’ to him.
6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
But even while the judges were meeting, and there was weeping at the door of the Tent of meeting, because of the sin of Israel and presumably because of the plague which had now broken out, ‘one of the children of Israel’ (a Simeonite chieftain - verse 14) boldly and blatantly brought into the camp a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses and all who were gathered before Yahweh. He appears to have had no shame in the matter. He presented her to his brethren before taking her to his ‘pavilion’ or inner portion of the tent. His open and brash involvement with the Midianite women was made very clear. It was high handed sin.
Prior to this it would appear that all the ‘sinning’ occurred outside the camp. So this was an increase in offence by the introduction of idolatrous behavior into the holy camp of Yahweh. That was what justified Phinehas’ instant action.
7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel.
Phinehas, the son of the High Priest Eleazar, was appalled at this behavior, and constrained at the plague which had broken out. He rightly saw the man’s behavior as an insult against Yahweh and as bringing shame on Yahweh’s name, and as defiling the camp. And leaving the gathered throng he seized a spear, and followed them into their tent, and thrust the spear, first through the man and then the woman. Someone who saw it remembered that it was through her stomach. That was where her childbearing would become apparent, and he made the punishment fit the crime
In acting like this Phinehas would see himself as fulfilling his priestly duty, for the penalty for idolatry was instant death. He was acting as public executioner against an open sin (Deuteronomy 13.9), but because the plague had broken out he had recognized the need for fast action. He was also in principle carrying out Yahweh’s command in verse 4, for those who were hung out in the sun would have to be slain before they were hung out.
His action was actually very similar to that commanded by Moses at the incident of the molten calf at Sinai when he had commanded the responding Levites to slay those who had sinned (Exodus 32.27). Indeed he may well have remembered that and been determined to demonstrate that he was on Yahweh’s side.
We are now told that in fact a plague, previously unmentioned, had broken out in the camp. But as a result of the decisive action of Phinehas the plague was now stayed, and its effect began to die down
9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal.
God then spoke to Moses and praised what Phinehas had done. Take note now the emphasis on the fact that he was a grandson of Aaron the Priest. Like God Himself he had been jealous for the name and honour of Yahweh (Exodus 20.5). As a result he had turned away Yahweh’s wrath directed at the children of Israel. If we would deal with sin in our midst, Yahweh would not have to.
12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”
Because Phinehas had done what he had done out of concern for Yahweh’s name and honor God now gave him and his descendants His ‘covenant of wellbeing’. That is, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. By his act he had shown himself a true priest by being jealous for his God and by making a covering for the sins of Israel, an atonement or reconciliation for the children of Israel. Thus he and his were confirmed in a permanent priesthood.
14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites.
The man who had done this thing was now named and shamed. He was Zimri, son of Salu, a chieftain of a father’s house in Simeon. As we noted earlier he had introduce the woman among his brethren and they had not protested. Thus it would appear that the tribe of Simeon had been heavily involved in the idolatry. This explains why, when a name had to be omitted in the list of tribes publicly blessed by Moses, Simeon’s name was missing (Deuteronomy 33). They had to do penance for their failure by being temporarily ‘blotted out of Israel’. Levi had proved faithful once again and Simeon had sinned grievously, so that they could not be coupled together as they had been by Jacob (Genesis 49.5).
15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian.
The name of the Midianitish woman was also given. She was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, a Midianite high chieftain, a ‘head of a father’s house’ (Joshua 13.21).
16 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Harass the Midianites, and attack them; 18 for they harassed you with their schemes by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”
What had happened had been a result of a deliberate policy by the Midianites. They had hoped that by wooing Israel from Yahweh they would turn Him against them. Thus they had approved of their young women leading Israelite males astray for this purpose. It was seen to be Midianite policy (31.16) that had brought the plague on Israel and had led so many into idolatry and death. They were thus murderers. Therefore, like the Canaanites, they had to be slain. There had to be death for death.
It is noteworthy that this section of Numbers, which has contained so much of victory, should end with Israel’s failure. It was Yahweh’s constant reminder that pride comes before a fall. It was an early warning of how careful they must be when they entered the land.
