“While the Israelites were camped at Acacia Grove, some of the men defiled themselves by having sexual relations with local Moabite women. These women invited them to attend sacrifices to their gods, so the Israelites feasted with them and worshiped the gods of Moab. In this way, Israel joined in the worship of Baal of Peor, causing the Lord’s anger to blaze against his people. The Lord issued the following command to Moses: “Seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so his fierce anger will turn away from the people of Israel.” So Moses ordered Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.” Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man’s body and into the woman’s stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but not before 24,000 people had died. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.””
Numbers 25:1-13 NLT
The responsibility of a representative of God is the proper philosophy of blood, its purpose and its application. Here we see a swift act of Phineas, as a representative of God that is both shocking but important. In the middle of a meeting, he took independent action to violently and with prejudice stop immorality within the village. It was a swift and capital judgment. The crime was obvious, and brazen and there were no sinless parties. All involved were wicked before God. It wasn’t a murder. It was a judgment. Phineas’ action halted a cleansing on behalf of God that was already happening. By the time he had thrown the spear, 24 thousand people had already been killed by God. Gods response is not surprising. His covenants have been made in the a similar context before. Phineas’ willingness to match sin with swift judgment and the spilling of blood is a qualification for priesthood and service. This was true of the Levites at Sinai as well. A member of God’s officers must be willing to act swiftly and decisively, even if blood is spilt, to protect the justice, righteousness and holiness of God and his people.
Phineas’s Act: Phineas, as a representative of God, took swift and violent action to stop immorality within the village.
God’s Judgment: God’s response to the immorality was to send a cleansing that resulted in the death of 24,000 people.
Qualification for Priesthood: Phineas’s willingness to act swiftly and decisively, even if it meant spilling blood, demonstrates a qualification for priesthood and service to God.
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