Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has averted My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I am giving him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and for his descendants after him, a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” (Numbers 25: 10-13)
The story of Israel’s apostasy that we read about in Numbers 25 follows the rather long and detailed story of the pagan prophet Balaam and his unsuccessful effort to curse the children of Israel at the behest of the King of Moab. While Balaam may not have been successful in cursing Israel from the outside, Israel managed to find a way to bring a curse onto itself as they lingered in the neighborhood of the Moabites. Numbers 25:1 says,
Now Israel remained in Shittim and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. They invited the people to the sacrifice of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods.
Every time, every single time, the people of Israel think they can mix and mingle with their pagan neighbors and still remain loyal to Yehovah their God. And every single time, their hormones get the best of them
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Matthew 26:41)
What is notable about this story is not that Israel succumbed to their fleshly desires, but rather what one man did in response to this whole sordid affair.
Pinchus (or Phinehas) was the grandson of Aaron the first High Priest of Israel. In this position as a Levitical priest, he was responsible for protecting the sanctity and holiness of God’s Tabernacle,
And when the Tabernacle is to go forward, the Levites shall take it down and when the Tabernacle is to be set up, the Levites shall set it up. The outsider who comes near shall be put to death. (Numbers 1: 51)
.. but the Levites shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the children of Israel and the Levites shall keep watch over the Tabernacle of the Testimony. (Numbers 1:53)
Pinchus understood the gravity of his duty to God.
Thus we find that when Pinchus witnessed an Israelite man bringing a Moabite woman into the God’s Tabernacle, he responded in the way he had been trained--- he followed the man and woman into the Tabernacle and thrust a javelin through both of their stomachs. The fact that only one javelin was needed clarifies exactly what this Israelite man and Moabite women were doing at the time.
God responds to Pinchus’ deed by bestowing upon him an everlasting Covenant of Peace.
Why a Covenant of Peace?
In today’s world, the word peace has come to imply a need for compromise, getting along, concessions, a little give and take.
This idea of peace is a complete inversion of God’s idea of peace.
The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It is made up of four Hebrew letters. As a pictographic language, Hebrew letters are the building blocks of word stories that help us understand the meaning of any given word.
The Hebrew letters (read from right to left) for the word Shalom are
Shin, Lamed, Vav, Mem.
Each letter contains a “picture”.
Shin means “to destroy.”
Lamed means “authority.”
Vav means “establishes”
Mem means “chaos”
As we read the word story for shalom, we read that shalom is “destroying the authority that establishes chaos.”
So much for tolerance!
The only way to achieve lasting peace is to destroy the source of chaos.
Chaos is the guaranteed fruit of intentional lies and deception. Chaos results from the failure to uphold order, rules and laws, leading to confusion, mistrust, and fear. It can result in violence-- looting and destruction of property, physical and psychological abuse, even assault and murder.
We are seeing so much chaos in our nation because we have allowed the conditions for chaos to reign.
Tolerance of chaos is not compassion. Tolerance breeds more chaos, more heartache, more fear and more violence and death.
How does a nation and its people destroy the source of chaos?
The rule of law must be upheld---those who commit property and personal crimes must be arrested and punished appropriately.
Life must be protected by the state with capital punishment laws for those who murder innocents.
And lies and deceptions fostered by individuals, corporations and even our own political leaders must be vigorously challenged and held up to the light of truth.
Achieving shalom is no small matter. It requires diligence, commitment and obedience. If we as a nation and as people of God are engaged in destroying the authority that establishes chaos, then we become partners with God in bringing true peace to our world.
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