Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 25:1
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
1. abode in Shittim ] The name has the definite article, and means ‘the Acacias.’ The site is uncertain, but it lay somewhere in the steppes of Moab. The full form Abel-Shittim occurs in Num 33:49. It is perhaps to be identified with Abila, which Josephus locates 60 stadia from the Jordan. This verse may be considered the J E parallel to Num 22:1 (P ). Notice that the possession of the territory by the Amorites is, as before (see on Num 22:41), disregarded, for the Israelites here come into contact not with Amorites but with Moabites.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
1 5 . The Israelites sinned with the women of Moab, and were invited by them to the sacrificial feasts of the local god (J E ). 6 15. An Israelite brought a Midianite woman into the camp, and Phinehas, for his zeal in killing them both, received the promise that his descendants should perpetually possess the priesthood (P ). The narratives are quite distinct, but both express condemnation of the immorality of the Israelites in consorting with foreign women. The interest of the former is prophetic, and is concerned with the struggle between the pure worship of Jehovah and the native local cults. The interest of the latter is ecclesiastical, and is concerned with the succession of the Aaronite priesthood.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The records of the neighboring cities of the plain, and the circumstances of the origin of Moab (Gen 19:30 ff) suggest that the people among whom Israel was now thrown were more than ordinarily licentious.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Num 25:1-9
The people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
The sin of Israel at Shittim, and the judgment of God
I. The sin of the Israelites at Shittim.
1. The sin itself.
(1) Spiritual fornication, or idolatry (Hos 2:1-23.).
(2) Physical fornication.
2. The origin of their sin (Num 31:16; Rev 2:14).
3. The instruments of their sin: Moab and Midian.
4. The occasion of their sin.
(1) Their abode at Shittim. They were in the neighbourhood of sinful associations and corrupting influences. Near a fire, a serpent, and a wicked woman, no man can long be in safety.
(2) Their lack of occupation. Idleness leads to vice and mischief.
II. The judgment of God upon the Israelites on account of their sin.
1. The judgment inflicted immediately by God. In some form or other punishment ever follows closely upon the heels of sin.
2. The judgment inflicted by Moses and the judges by the command of God.
(1) Its nature : Death.
(2) Its publicity.
(3) Its executioners.
Lessons:
1. The secret of the security of the people of God: faithfulness.
2. The danger of those temptations which appeal to our self-indulgence or love of pleasure.
3. The terribleness of the Divine anger.
4. The solicitude with which we should guard against arousing this anger towards us. Sin calls it forth, therefore shun sin.
5. Tile earnestness with which we should seek the mercy and the protection of God. (W. Jones.)
Evil men proceed by degrees from worse to worse
In these words is offered unto us an example, expressing the nature of sin where once it is entertained. For behold here how they grow in sin. At the first, they departed out of the host of Israel and went to the people of Moab and Midian, with whom they coupled themselves; so that albeit they sinned, yet they had some shame of sin, and made some conscience of committing it openly amongst their brethren. But they proceed by little and little, from step to step, till they are ashamed of nothing. Therefore in the example of one man, here set before our eyes, Moses declares to what shamelessness they were come. For this man (who is afterward named), as if he had been absolute in power, as he was indeed resolute in will and dissolute in his whole life, brought his whorish woman in the sight of God, in the sight of Moses, in the sight of the congregation, and in the sight of the tabernacle, to show that he had filled up the measure of his sin.
1. The nature of sin is to draw all such as delight in it from one evil to another, until in the end they become most corrupt and abominable.
2. The wrath of Goal falleth upon such as make no conscience to fall into lesser sins, He giveth them over to a reprobate sense, and to hardness of heart.
3. Sin is fitly resembled to the fretting of a canker, and to the uncleanness of a leprosy, both which go forward until the whole body be infected and every member endangered.
Now let us handle the uses.
1. Consider from hence how dangerous it is to give entertainment unto sin at the beginning, which groweth to more perfection every day; we cannot stop this stream when we will, it goeth beyond the strength of our nature.
2. Seeing evil men wax worse and worse, we may conclude that their judgment sleepeth not, but is increased as their sin; yea, so it is not far off, but lieth at the doors.
3. Seeing men giving themselves over to sin, it is our duty to resist the beginnings, to prevent the breach, and stop the first course of it. It is as a serpent that must be trod on in the egg. Let us take heed that sin grow not into a custom and get an habit. (W. Attersoll.)
Sin deprives us of Gods protection
We have beard before that albeit that Balak and Balaam intended by their sorceries to curse the people of God, yet they could by no means do them hurt; they were guarded by the protection of God as with a sure watch. Rut so soon as they forsook the living God, and fell a whoring with the daughters of Moab and Midian, by and by God departeth from them, and His heavy judgments break in upon them. The force of sorcery could not hurt them, but the strength of sin doth weaken them. Hereby we learn that sin depriveth us of Gods protection, and layeth us open to the fierceness of His wrath, and to the fury of our enemies. The reasons being considered will make the doctrine more evident.
1. Sin maketh us execrable to the Lord and abominable in His sight. If, then, sin makes us to be had in execration it is no marvel if we be left destitute of Gods protection.
2. God departeth from them that fall from Him; they forsake Him, and therefore He forsaketh them. So, then, our lying in sin doth drive the Lord from us, that He will have no more fellowship with us to do us any good.
We are now to set down the uses of this doctrine.
1. This teacheth us to acknowledge that all judgments which fall upon us are righteous. God chastiseth us often, but always justly, never unjustly.
2. Seeing sin layeth us open to reproaches of enemies and to the judgments of God, as appeareth in this great plague upon the people, this showeth that we must not go about to hide our sin from God through hypocrisy. For all things are naked and open to His eyes, with whom we have to do; so that we must learn to confess them before His presence.
3. This serveth as a notable advantage for the servants of God when they have any dealings against wicked men; we have encouragement from hence that we shall assuredly prevail against them, because we have to do with weak men that are out of Gods protection. (W. Attersoll.)
Gods abhorrence of impurity
The Lord must have regard to two things in His own people–personal purity; and uncorrupted worship. In the very nature Of things it would be quite impossible to preserve purity of principle, clearness of understanding, and spirituality of affection, with corruption of life. It is a delusion of the worst kind, a master-device of Satan, the perfection of sins deceitfulness, and a perversion of all truth, justice, and grace, when men, in the retired indulgence of lusts within, or in open commission of crime, sit down tranquil under the defence of mercy, and fancy themselves with such interest in the robe of Christs perfection and beauty, that no spot or fault is in them. A sinner may come to Christ under every sense of imperfection, pollution, and vileness, and through faith in His mediation, may participate with appropriating joy and a well-founded confidence in all the interests of His atoning blood and justifying righteousness; nevertheless, he can never find anything in the nature and influence of evangelical truth but what has the most direct tendency and design to deliver from the power as well as to save from the desert of sin. To a gracious heart sin proves a plague and constant grief, and the cause, while it exists, of a never-ending strife. (W. Seaton.)
The valley of sensuality
In Java is a valley which is called the Valley of Poison. It is an object of veritable terror to the natives. In this renowned valley the soil is said to be covered with skeletons and carcases of tigers, of goats, and of stags, of birds, and even with human bones; for asphyxia or suffocation, it seems, strikes all living things which venture into this desolate place. It illustrates the valley of sensuality, the most horrible creation of social life. Few men who enter into its depths survive long; for it is strewn with dead reputations and the mangled remains of creatures who were once happy. (W. Seaton.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXV
While Israel abode in Shittim the people commit whoredom with
the daughters of Moab, 1.
They become idolaters, 2.
The anger of the Lord is kindled against them, and he commands
the ringleaders to be hanged, 3, 4.
Moses causes the judges to slay the transgressors, 5.
Zimri, one of the Israelitish princes of the tribe of Simeon,
brings a Midianitish princess, named Cozbi, into his tent,
while the people are deploring their iniquity before the
tabernacle, 6.
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, incensed by this insult to the
laws and worship of God, runs after them and pierces them both
with a javelin, 7, 8.
Twenty-four thousand die of the plague, sent as a punishment for
their iniquity, 9.
The Lord grants to Phinehas a covenant of peace and an
everlasting priesthood, 10-13.
The name and quality of the Israelitish man and Midianitish
woman, 14, 15.
God commands the Israelites to vex and smite the Midianites, who
had seduced them to the worship of Baal-peor, 16-18.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXV
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Shittim; a place called more largely Abel-shittim, Num 33:49, it being usual with the Hebrews to abbreviate long proper names, as Hermon is put for Baal-hermon, Jdg 3:3, Tholad for El-tholad, Jos 19:4, Nimrim, Isa 15:6 for Beth-nimrim, Num 32:36. And this was their last station, from whence they passed immediately into Canaan. So this is here noted as a great aggravation of their sin, that they committed it when God was going to put them into the possession of their long-expected and much-desired land.
The people; not all, but many of them, as appears from Deu 4:3,4; 1Co 10:8.
To commit whoredom, both corporally and spiritually, either because they prostituted themselves to them upon condition of worshipping their god; or because their filthy god was worshipped by such filthy acts, as Priapus and Venus were.
Of Moab, and of Midian too, as is evident from Num 25:6,17,18; Num 31:16; for both these people being confederated in this wicked design, the one is put for the other; and the daughters of Moab may be named, either because they began fine transgression, or because they were the chief persons, possibly, the relations or courtiers of Balak king of Moab.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Israel abode in Shittimaverdant meadow, so called from a grove of acacia trees which linedthe eastern side of the Jordan. (See Nu33:49).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Israel abode in Shittim,…. A place in the plains of Moab, so called from the shittim wood, which grew here in great abundance, so often mentioned in the building of the tabernacle; which was a sort of white thorn, or rather the acacia tree, since there was scarcely any thing else grew in the deserts of Arabia, [See comments on Ex 25:5] its full name was Abelshittim, Nu 33:49, here the Israelites abode even to the death of Moses, for this was their last station in the wilderness; they were now on the borders of the land of Canaan, and just ready to enter into it, which is an aggravation of the sins they here fell into, and are next observed:
and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; and of Midian also, as appears from Nu 25:6 by the advice of Balaam, the Moabites and Midianites found ways and means to become familiar with the Israelites, and to introduce their daughters into their company and conversation, and being ensnared and enamoured with them, they were drawn to commit lewdness with them, and hereby were led on to commit other abominations, which brought the divine displeasure upon them; so that what they dared not attempt by war, and could not effect by sorceries and divinations, they accomplished by those iniquitous arts, namely, bringing the wrath, the curse, and plague of God upon them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Lord had defended His people Israel from Balaam’s curse; but the Israelites themselves, instead of keeping the covenant of their God, fell into the snares of heathen seduction (Num 25:1, Num 25:2). Whilst encamped at Shittim, in the steppes of Moab, the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab: they accepted the invitations of the latter to a sacrificial festival of their gods, took part in their sacrificial meals, and even worshipped the gods of the Moabites, and indulged in the licentious worship of Baal-Peor. As the princes of Midian, who were allied to Moab, had been the advisers and assistants of the Moabitish king in the attempt to destroy the Israelites by a curse of God; so now, after the failure of that plan, they were the soul of the new undertaking to weaken Israel and render it harmless, by seducing it to idolatry, and thus leading it into apostasy from its God. But it was Balaam, as is afterwards casually observed in Num 31:16, who first of all gave this advice. This is passed over here, because the point of chief importance in relation to the object of the narrative, was not Balaam’s share in the proposal, but the carrying out of the proposal itself. The daughters of Moab, however, also took part in carrying it out, by forming friendly associations with the Israelites, and then inviting them to their sacrificial festival. They only are mentioned in Num 25:1, Num 25:2, as being the daughters of the land. The participation of the Midianites appears first of all in the shameless licentiousness of Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianitish prince, from which we not only see that the princes of Midian performed their part, but obtain an explanation of the reason why the judgment upon the crafty destroyers of Israel was to be executed upon the Midianites.
(Note: Consequently there is no discrepancy between Num 25:1-5 and Num 25:6-18, to warrant the violent hypothesis of Knobel, that there are two different accounts mixed together in this chapter-An Elohistic account in Num 25:6-18, of which the commencement has been dropped, and a Jehovistic account in Num 25:1-5, of which the latter part has been cut off. The particular points adduced in proof of this fall to the ground, when the history is correctly explained; and such assertions as these, that the name Shittim and the allusion to the judges in Num 25:5, and to the wrath of Jehovah in Num 25:3 and Num 25:4, are foreign to the Elohist, are not proofs, but empty assumptions.)
Shittim, an abbreviation of Abel-Shittim (see at Num 22:1), to which the camp of the Israelites in the steppes of Moab reached (Num 33:49), is mentioned here instead of Arboth-Moab, because it was at this northern point of the camp that the Israelites came into contact with the Moabites, and that the latter invited them to take part in their sacrificial meals; and in Jos 2:1 and Jos 3:1, because it was from this spot that the Israelites commenced the journey to Canaan, as being the nearest to the place where they were to pass through the Jordan. , construed with , as in Eze 16:28, signifies to incline to a person, to attach one’s self to him, so as to commit fornication. The word applies to carnal and spiritual whoredom. The lust of the flesh induced the Israelites to approach the daughters of Moab, and form acquaintances and friendships with them, in consequence of which they were invited by them “to the slain-offerings of their gods,” i.e., to the sacrificial festivals and sacrificial meals, in connection with which they also “adored their gods,” i.e., took part in the idolatrous worship connected with the sacrificial festival. These sacrificial meals were celebrated in honour of the Moabitish god Baal-Peor, so that the Israelites joined themselves to him. , in the Niphal, to bind one’s self to a person. Baal-Peor is the Baal of Peor, who was worshipped in the city of Beth-Peor (Deu 3:29; Deu 4:46; see at Num 23:28), a Moabitish Priapus, in honour of whom women and virgins prostituted themselves. As the god of war, he was called Chemosh (see at Num 21:29).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| The Sin of Israel. | B. C. 1452. |
1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. 4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. 5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.
Here is, I. The sin of Israel, to which they were enticed by the daughters of Moab and Midian; they were guilty both of corporal and spiritual whoredoms, for Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor, v. 3. Not all, nor the most, but very many, were taken in this snare. Now concerning this observe, 1. That Balak, by the advice of Balaam, cast this stumbling-block before the children of Israel, Rev. ii. 14. Note, Those are our worst enemies that draw us to sin, for that is the greatest mischief any man can do us. If Balak had drawn out his armed men against them to fight them, Israel had bravely resisted, and no doubt had been more than conquerors; but now that he sends his beautiful women among them, and invites them to his idolatrous feasts, the Israelites basely yield, and are shamefully overcome: those are smitten with this harlots that could not be smitten with his sword. Note, We are more endangered by the charms of a smiling world than by the terrors of a frowning world. 2. That the daughters of Moab were their tempters and conquerors. Ever since Eve was first in the transgression the fairer sex, though the weaker, has been a snare to many; yea strong men have been wounded and slain by the lips of the strange woman (Prov. vii. 26), witness Solomon, whose wives were shares and nets to him Eccl. vii. 26. 3. That whoredom and idolatry went together. They first defiled and debauched their consciences, by committing lewdness with the women, and then were easily drawn, in complaisance to them, and in contempt of the God of Israel, to bow down to their idols. And they were more likely to do so if, as it is commonly supposed, and seems probable by the joining of them together, the uncleanness committed was a part of the worship and service performed to Baal-peor. Those that have broken the fences of modesty will never be held by the bonds of piety, and those that have dishonoured themselves by fleshly lusts will not scruple to dishonour God by idolatrous worships, and for this they are justly given up yet further to vile affections. 4. That by eating of the idolatrous sacrifices they joined themselves to Baal-peor to whom they were offered, which the apostle urges as a reason why Christians should not eat things offered to idols, because thereby they had fellowship with the devils to whom they were offered, 1 Cor. x. 20. It is called eating the sacrifices of the dead (Ps. cvi. 28), not only because the idol itself was a dead thing, but because the person represented by it was some great hero, who since his death was deified, as saints in the Roman church are canonized. 5. It was great aggravation of the sin that Israel abode in Shittim, where they had the land of Canaan in view, and were just ready to enter and take possession of it. It was the highest degree of treachery and ingratitude to be false to their God, whom they had found so faithful to them, and to eat of idol-sacrifices when they were ready to be feasted so richly on God’s favours.
II. God’s just displeasure against them for this sin. Israel’s whoredoms did that which all Balaam’s enchantments could not do, they set God against them; now he was turned to be their enemy, and fought against them. So many of the people, nay, so many of the princes, were guilty, that the sin became national, and for it God was wroth with the whole congregation. 1. A plague immediately broke out, for we read of the staying of it (v. 8), and of the number that died of it (v. 9), but no mention of the beginning of it, which therefore must be implied in those words (v. 3), The anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. It is said expressly (Ps. cvi. 29), The plague broke in. Note, Epidemical diseases are the fruits of God’s anger, and the just punishments of epidemical sins; one infection follows the other. The plague, no doubt, fastened on those that were most guilty, who were soon made to pay dearly for their forbidden pleasures; and though now God does not always plague such sinners, as he did here, yet that word of God will be fulfilled, If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, 1 Cor. iii. 17. 2. The ringleaders are ordered to be put to death by the hand of public justice, which will be the only way to stay the plague (v. 4): Take the heads of the people (that is, of that part of the people that went out of the camp of Israel into the country of Moab, to join in their idolatries)–take them and hang them up before the sun, as sacrifices to God’s justice, and for a terror to the rest of the people. The judges must first order them to be slain with the sword (v. 5), and their dead bodies must be hanged up, that the stupid Israelites, seeing their leaders and princes so severely punished for their whoredom and idolatry, without any regard to their quality, might be possessed with a sense of the evil of the sin and the terror of God’s wrath against them. Ringleaders in sin ought to be made examples of justice.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
NUMBERS – TWENTY-FIVE
Verses 1-5:
Israel remained encamped at Shittim for a considerable time; from their arrival in Arboth until they crossed the Jordan.
“Shittim,” shortened from Abel-Shittim, or “Field of acacias.” It was during their stay here that some of the men of Israel began to commit fornication with Moabite women. These were likely temple prostitutes, who engaged in sex as an act of worship to their gods.
“They,” the women of Moab, then encouraged the men of Israel to join them in making sacrifices to their gods, and to partake of the feasts in their honor, see Ps 106:28.
“Baal-peon” the name of Baal (Chemosh) as the god of reproduction. Worship of this deity was characterized by acts of sexual depravity.
The Septuagint was etelesthe to beelphegor, “was consecrated or initiated unto Baal-peon” This was violation of the first three of the Ten Commandments.
This conduct angered Jehovah. He ordered Moses to put to death the “heads” or chiefs of the people, in punishment for this sin. The text implies that these chiefs were grossly negligent in their duty by failure to prevent this sin, and that many actually participated in it, as in the case of Zimri, verse 14. They were to be either impaled or crucified, likely having first been stoned to death, and their corpses exposed to the sun. This was to demonstrate that these were devoted to God’s wrath upon sin, see De 21:23.
“Judges,” shaphat, “act as a magistrate.” The verb form describes the duties of those who were appointed at Sinai. These were apparently not the same as the “heads” or chiefs of the people.
“Slay ye every one…” the command to the “judges.” This command was not the same as the previous command to execute the “heads” of the people. It pertained to all who were guilty of going after Baal-peor, not merely to the chiefs.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
1 And Israel abode in Shittim. From this narrative we learn assuredly that the people were no more able to bear prosperity than adversity. Heretofore, either worn out by fatigue, or rendered impatient by abstinence and famine, they had often rebelled against God; now, when they have entered a habitable land, and are resting in the midst of fruitful fields, they are incited by their more comfortable dwelling-places, and more pleasant mode of life, to lasciviousness, and the indulgence of filthy lusts. Moses relates how, when they had given way to their lust, they fell at the same time into whoredom and idolatry. We shall presently see that this arose from the counsel of Balaam, that the Moabites should prostitute their women to the Israelites, in order to entice them by their blandishments to unholy worship. Balaam had learnt by experience that God’s favor was an invincible safeguard to protect the people from all injury. He, therefore, invents a plan whereby they may destroy themselves, by not only depriving themselves of God’s protection, but also by provoking His wrath against them. By this fan, then, Balaam stirred up the fire, which impelled these poor wretches, inflamed by blind lechery, to another crime, by which they might arouse against themselves the enmity of God. Consequently Paul, referring to this history, informs us that the punishment, which will be mentioned immediately, was inflicted upon them for fornication. (1Co 10:8.) For, although it was God’s design to avenge the violation of His worship, still it is fitting to examine into the origin and source of the evil. Just as, if a drunken man has killed a person, the murder will be imputed to his drunkenness, so Paul, seeing the Israelites impelled by fornication to idolatry, sets before us the punishment as a warning to deter us from fornication, which was the primary cause of their chastisement, and the means of their corruption. Since, then, the fall from one sin to another is so easy, let us hence learn to be more watchful, lest Satan should entangle us in his snares. Let us also observe that he creeps upon us by degrees in order to entrap us. The Moabitish damsels did not straightway solicit the Israelites to worship their idols, but first invite them to their banquets, and thus tempt them to idolatry; for, if mention had been made at first of idol-worship, perhaps they might have shuddered at the atrocity of the crime, to which they allowed themselves to be beguiled by degrees. Now, to be present at a feast which was celebrated in honor of false gods, was a kind of indirect renunciation of the true God; and when they had been attracted thus far, they threw aside all shame, and abandoned themselves to that extreme act whereby they transfer the honor due only to the one true God, to false and imaginary deities.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
THE WOMAN AND THE WORD.
Chapter 25 ff.
Three of the most notable subjects are discussed here, namely, the question of the strange woman, that of woman suffrage, and that of woman subjection.
The 25th chapter is given almost entirely to the influence of the strange woman. It was Israels immoral relations with the daughters of Moab that invited a fresh judgment from God and involved the whole people in false worship. If we would know what the Scriptures have to say against the strange woman, read this 25th chapter of the Book of Numbers. God regarded adultery worthy of death. When Phineas saw it and took his javelin in his hand and thrust them to death, he executed the Divine command and brought upon himself the Divine approval. Compare that sentiment against this sin, with that expression in our sister city, by the recent conferee of physicians, some of whom favored legalizing adultery, and hang your head in shame that we have come upon a time that has witnessed the disgrace of a profession of otherwise high honor, and remember that the statements of Dr. Shaw and Miss Anthony had serious occasion, namely, that it were better to protect virtue than to attempt to legalize and approve vice.
The 27th chapter together with the 36th are devoted solely to the question of womans rights. The daughters of Zelophehad had been denied the possession among the brethren of their fathers estate, and Moses brought their cause before the Lord; and the Lord spoke unto Moses saying,
The daughters of Zelophehad speak right; thou shalt surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their fathers brethren; and thou shalt cause the inheritance of their father to pass unto them (Num 27:7).
When we remember that after the millenniums of so-called onward march in civilization, it is yet true in some states there is no law to compel a man to support his family; that in others there is no right of property accorded to women. In many states her private earnings cannot be her personal property; and in more she has no legal claim to her children. It would seem that our honorable legislators would need to go back and sit at the feet of Moses and learn of him, or attend on what God has said.
But while all this is true we are forced to call attention to womans subjection. In the 30th chapter attention is called to mans supremacy and womans subjection, and the order introduced into Genesis is emphatic as reminding us of the Divine will. I believe that order is at once wise and gracious. The family could never be a unit of power if it were a two-headed affair. As Dr. Parkhurst says, The husband is the house-band in every well ordered household. The man will defer to the woman and the woman will defer to the man, and there will be a good deal of domestic reciprocity. * * But when we have amplified all that we consistently can along that line, it still remains that it is the man and not the woman that is intended to be the house-band, and that the husband and father is the appointment of Divine determination. The Bible teaches us that this is so; all men know that this is so; most women know that this is so; and such women as do not have a presentiment to that effect go about with voices pitched sufficiently high to dull and deaden the note of those presentiments. So, after all that may be justly said about womans rights, it still remains the truth that Paul declared,
The head of the woman is the man; * * for the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man; neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord (1Co 11:3-11).
Finally let us revert in thought to the fourth great theme of these chapters.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES
Num. 25:1. Shittim. An abbreviation of Abel-Shittim, the meadow of the acacias. It was situated in the plains of Moab, at the northern extremity of the camp of Israel.
Num. 25:2. And they called, &c.; i.e., the daughters of Moab called: the verb, and the ensuing their, being in Hebrew, feminine.Speakers Comm.
Num. 25:3. Baal-Peor is the Baal of Peor, who was worshipped in the city of Beth-Peor (Deu. 3:29; Deu. 4:46; Num. 23:28), a Moabitish Priapus, in honour of whom women and virgins prostituted themselves. As the god of war, he was called Chemosh (Num. 21:29). Keil and Del.
Num. 25:4. Take all the heads, &c., i.e., Assemble them together.
Hang them. The them does not refer to the heads of the people, but to the guilty persons: these were to be first put to death (Num. 25:5), and then, as an aggravation of their punishment, and as a warning to others, they were to be publicly hung up, which was done by impaling the body upon a stake or fastening it upon a cross.
The fierce anger of the Lord was manifested in the plague with which he visited the camp of Israel (Num. 25:9).
Num. 25:6. One of the children of Israel, &c. This was Zimri (Num. 25:14).
A Midianitish woman,Cozbi, the daughter of Zur (Num. 25:15, and Num. 31:8).
Weeping, &c. On account of the wrath of God which had smitten the camp with the plague.
Num. 25:8. The tent, , not the ordinary tent. The word is only found here in the Hebrew Scriptures; it signifies arched or dome-shaped. From the Hebrew word, through the Arabic, the Spaniards derive their alcova, and we our alcove. Here the word denotes, the inner division of the tent, which was used as the sleeping room and apartment for the women in the larger tents of the upper classes.
Num. 25:9. Twenty and four thousand. In 1Co. 10:8, St. Paul gives the number as three and twenty thousand. In this he probably follows a tradition of the scribes, according to which, of the twenty-four thousand mentioned here, one thousand were put to death by the judges, leaving twenty-three thousand as the number of those who fell victims to the plague.
Num. 25:11. Zealous for My sake. Rather, as in the margin, Zealous with My zeal.
Num. 25:13. Made an atonement. The vengeance inflicted by Phinehas upon two of the most flagrant offenders was accepted by God as a propitiation (lit., a covering) for the sin of the people.
Num. 25:17. Vex the Midianites. The Midianitish women seem to have been most active in tempting the Israelites. Moreover their wickedness culminated in the shameless wantonness of Cozbi, the Midianitish princess.
THE SIN OF ISRAEL AT SHITTIM, AND THE JUDGMENT OF GOD
(Num. 25:1-5; Num. 25:9)
Consider
I. The sin of the Israelites at Shittim.
And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people, &c. (Num. 25:1-3).
1. The sin itself. Many of the people accepted the invitation of the daughters of Moab and Midian to a sacrificial festival, and then engaged in the worship of Baal-peor, which was associated with, and partly consisted in, the most licentious rites. Their sin was two-fold:
(1) Spiritual fornication, or idolatry (Hosea 2).
(2) Physical fornication.
2. The origin of their sin. The counsel of Balaam was the accursed root from whence it sprang (Num. 31:16; Rev. 2:14). Having found himself utterly powerless to curse them as a prophet or a magician, with hellish cunning he advised that others should reduce them to curse themselves by their sins (a)
3. The instruments of their sin. The daughters of Moab (Num. 25:2), and the daughters of Midian (Num. 25:17-18), were employed to tempt the Israelites. The Moabites and Midianites could not have vanquished the Israelites by the sword, but they speedily overcame them by the fascinations of their daughters.
4. The occasion of their sin. Two circumstances seem to us to have contributed to the success of the temptation.
(1) Their abode at Shittim. They were in the neighbourhood of sinful associations and corrupting influences. Near a fire, a serpent, and a wicked woman, no man can long be in safety. (b)
(2) Their lack of occupation. The Israelites were comparatively unemployed. Idleness leads to vice and mischief. (c)
II. The judgment of God upon the Israelites on account of their sin.
1. The judgment inflicted immediately by God. Those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. They joined themselves unto Baal-Peor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their inventions, and the plague brake in upon them (Psa. 106:28-29). As a punishment for their sin, the Lord sent among them this terrible pestilence. In some form or other, punishment ever follows close upon the heels of sin.
2. The judgment inflicted by Moses and the judges, by the command of God. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, &c. (Num. 25:4-5). Concerning this punishment notice
(1) Its naturedeath. Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-Peor.
(2) Its publicity. Hang them up before the Lord against the sun. After death their bodies were to be made a public spectaclea warning to others by indicating the evil of the sin and the severity of the wrath of God against the sinners.
(3) Its executioners. These are called the heads of the people (Num. 25:4), and the judges of Israel (Num. 25:5, and Exo. 18:25-26). It was their duty to maintain law and order, and to punish wicked doers, each one in his own jurisdiction (comp. Rom. 13:1-4).
III. The lessons which we should learn from this portion of Israels history.
1. The secret of the security of the people of God. While Israel was faithful to Jehovah their God, they were perfectly safe. Neither the subtlety nor the strength of their enemies, neither earth nor hell, could hurt them, while they were true to their covenant with Him. Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good. Their sins deprived them of the Divine protection, and brought down upon them the Divine anger. None can prevail against the servants of God, except by tempting them to sin. By our own sins we are overcome. Faith in God is the great condition of our strength and safety. Cleaving to Him by faith, we are inviolably secure.
2. The danger of those temptations which appeal to our self-indulgence or love of pleasure. In most cases ease and pleasure are more perilous to the spiritual life than toil and pain. The pleasures of sense are very prone to grow into the pleasures of sin. Many have been allured through the lusts of the flesh into the most grievous sins. (d)
3. The terribleness of the Divine anger. Calm, righteous, constant, and intense is the wrath of God against sin. Let no one deceive himself or dishonour God by imagining that, like some weak-natured man, He is too kind and indulgent to His creatures to be angry with them. With implacable hatred He hates sin. The wrath of the Lamb is unspeakably, inconceivably, terrible. Because there is wrath, beware lest He take thee away with his stroke, &c. (e)
4. The solicitude with which we should guard against arousing this anger towards us. Sin calls it forth, therefore shun sin.
5. The earnestness with which we should seek the mercy and the protection of God. We need His mercy for the forgiveness of sins in the past, and His protection to keep us from sin in the future. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) Among the people who knew and discussed the events which befell the Israelites since their migration from Egypt, it must have been notorious that there had been signal punishments inflicted upon them for breaches of fealty to their King. Pondering this in his mind, the infernal sagacity of Balaam led him to conclude, that if they could but be seduced from their allegiance to their Divine King, the protection which rendered them invincible would be withdrawn, and they would be easily subdued by their enemies. This discovery he made known to the King of Moab before his departure, and it illustrates the character of the man, that be could form this device, and counsel the King to act upon it, just after his mouth had poured forth, even by constraint, eloquent blessings upon the people whose ruin he now devises. And all this was purely gratuitous; for his business with Moab was ended. He could not curse Israel; and be had incurred the anger, rather than secured the honours, of the King of Moab. He seems to have retired among the neighbouring people of Midian, close allius with Moab, until he should behold the results of the course which he had thus suggested and in which he seems to have induced the Midianites to co-operate. However dissatisfied with the result of their sending for him, the Moabites were still too deeply impressed with the notion of his superhuman sagacity not to pay the most heedful attention to his advice. This was in effect that the women should be rendered instrumental in seducing the Israelites to take part in the obscene rites of Baal-Peor.John Kitto, D.D.
(b) As the Hebrews lay encamped in the plains of Moab, unsuspicious of the bad feeling of the Moabites and Midianites towards them, an intercourse gradually, and seemingly in due course, sprang up between the kindred nations. The daughters of Moab and Midian came to visit the women of Israel, and thus fell under the notice of the men. The men of Israel, also, new to a peopled country, and strange to a friendly intercourse with strangers, amused themselves and gratified their curiosity by visiting the towns and villages in the vicinity. This intercourse was perilous for them. Dazzled and bewildered by magnificent and seductive appliances of vice, to which in their simple wandering life they had been all unused, although their fathers had seen the like things in Egypt, they were prevailed upon by the idolators of Moab and Midian to take part in the riotous and lustful orgies of their gods. It does not appear to us that they meant to abjure their faith in Jehovah, or so much as adopted a belief in Baal Peor along with it. What they did was to participate in the licentions acts by which his votaries professed to honour him.Ibid.
Albeit we cannot at all times forsake the familiarity of the unfaithful, yet we must ever abandon and abjure their unfaithfulness and ungodliness: we cannot ever refuse their company, but we must evermore renounce their impiety. Let us take heed that we embrace none of their sins. He that standeth farthest from a raging flame, is freest and farthest off from burning; he that walketh a great distance from the bank of the river, is safest from drowning. He that cometh not near places of infection, is surest to escape the danger. And as we are to beware of all their sins, so especially it behoveth us to be suspicious and fearful of those sins, unto which we know ourselves most prone and inclined. For they do most of all delight us, and those are they which will soonest overturn us, and bring upon us destruction of soul and body.W. Attersoll.
(c) And was idleness think you nothing? Yes, yes, assure yourself, it is ever a chief agent in this business. Had our first mother been busy, she had not tattled with the serpent; and had they not been idle in Sodom, they had never fallen to that abomination; for idleness is mentioned as a means by the prophet (Eze. 16:49). Take idleness away, and Cupids bow casts the string: he will never do harm with all his arrows. Dost thou ask the question, how gistus became an adulterer? He was idle. David was idle on the top of the palace; and what followed? These Israelites are idle, and idle they tattle, and tattling they are invited to their sacrifice, invited, they go, and both spiritually and corporally they commit whoredom. A fearful fall in men so taught. But this is mans weakness and womans strength.Babington.
(d) Pleasures are of two sorts: some are simply unlawful, and not to be used at all, being directly contrary to the Word of God: such are the pleasures that carnal men take in eating till they surfeit, and in drinking till they are drunken; such are the pleasures that whoremongers take in adultery, fornication, and uncleanness. Others are of themselves indifferent, and in their own nature neither good nor evil, but according as they are used, as hunting, hawking, and other lawful recreations; and even these when they take up all our thoughts, and thrust better things out of the doors, are called thorns in the parable of the sower, as well as unlawful pleasures (Luk. 8:14). There is nothing doth so much choke the Word of God as the pleasures of the flesh; nothing causeth us so soon to forget it; nothing maketh us so soon weary and loath to hear it, as the desire to follow and pursue after our delights; so that it standeth us upon to cut them up, and pull them out of the ground of our hearts. We see many by experience, who in the days of tribulation have not given over their hold, but endured slanders, revilings, imprisonment, hunger, and thirst in a necessitous estate; yet have been overcome with peace, drowned with sensuality, and lulled asleep in carnal security Whilst David wandered in the wilderness, was hunted out of holes by Saul, into which he was glad to escape to hide himself, and was trained up in the school of afflictions, he comforted himself in the Lord his God, he made Him his rock and refuge, he asked counsel of Him and followed His direction; but when he had rest from enemies, safety from dangers, deliverance from troubles, comfort from sorrows, and freedom from afflictions, he fell into horrible sins, both in the matter of Uriah, and in numbering of the people.Attersoll.
(e) For illustrations on this point, see pp. 220, 221.
THE FLAGRANT WICKEDNESS OF ZIMRI, AND THE FERVENT ZEAL OF PHINEHAS
(Num. 25:6-15)
Notice
I. The flagrant wickedness of Zimri.
And, behold, one of the children of Israel came, &c. (Num. 25:6).
1. The heinousness of his sin. Fornication in any one is a great and grievous sin, but in one of the chosen people its enormity is far greater than in others. They had a clearer revelation of Gods will; they enjoyed superior privileges; they were called to a higher and purer moral life than their heathen neighbours; hence fornication in them was far more heinous than in their neighbours (comp. 1Co. 6:15-20).
2. The aggravations of his sin. His guilt was aggravated by
(1) The position which he occupied. The name of the Israelite that was slain with the Midianitish woman was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. It was incumbent upon him to set an example of order and purity and loyalty to Jehovah. His partner in guilt, too, was a princess. Her name was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian (comp. Num. 31:8).
(2) The effroutery with which he sinned. Not content with sinning amongst the Midianites, he brought the woman into the camp of Israel, which Jehovah had commanded to be kept pure (Num. 5:1-3). And this he did in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel. An utter absence of shame marked his vile conduct; he seems rather to parade than to hide his wickedness.
(3) The daring and defiant character of his sin. The wrath of God had gone forth and was smiting the people with the deadly pestilence: by his conduct he bids it defiance. The judges had been commanded to put to death the sinners: by his action he dares them to deal with him. He sinned presumptuouslywith a high hand (comp. Num. 15:30-31). (a)
3. The infamy of the sinners. Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, &c. (Num. 25:14-15). Thus the names, the families, and the rank of the evil-doers are perpetuated. An immortality of infamy is theirs.
II. The fervent zeal of Phinehas.
And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, &c. (Num. 25:7-8).
1. Its character. He was zealous with My zeal (Num. 25:11); he was zealous for his God (Num. 25:13). He abhorred the presumptuous wickedness of Zimri, as God abhorred it. He was filled with holy indignation against one who so flagrantly sinned and so greatly dishonoured God. His holy zeal burned to arrest the progress of the sin, and to vindicate the honour of Jehovah. (b)
2. Its expression. On seeing the conduct of Zimri, he promptly seized aspear, and following the guilty pair into the inner apartment of the tent, he thrust both of them through. The authority of Phinehas to execute summary vengeance on Zimri and Cozbi has been challenged. The case presents itself to us thus: the outrageous sin of Zimri imperatively demanded stern and immediate punishment; and the nature of that punishment was already declared (Num. 25:5). But they who should have inflicted it seem to have been sorrow-stricken, and made no attempt to deal with the offenders. Tears of grief and shame were natural; but surely at such a time stern and decisive action was the great need. The indulgence of sorrow should have been firmly repressed until the judgment of God had been executed. With rare discernment Phinehas perceived the treatment which should be dealt out to those atrocious sinners, and with zeal and courage equally rare he at once applied that treatment. The case was of exceptional flagrancy and enormity, and demanded exceptional treatment, and Phinehas administered that treatment. The deed was its own justification. Its merit consisted in the evidence it gave that his heart was right before God. He risked his own life by dealing according to their deserts with two influential and defiant evil-doers. (c) If his conduct needed apology we may well give it in the words of Bishop Hall: God pardoneth the errors of our fervency, rather than the indifferences of our lukewarmness. Moreover this act of Phinehas cannot without extreme unfairness be said to afford any countenance to acts of private revenge, of religious persecution, or even of irregular public vengeance. (d)
3. Its effect. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. Phinehas hath turned My wrath away from the children of Israel; and made an atonement for the children of Israel. The act of Phinehas was accepted by God as a national atonement, covering, or propitiation. By this act he publicly manifested
(1) a right estimate of the sin;
(2) right feelings in relation to it;
(3) right action in relation to ithe endeavoured to make an end of it. It appears to us probable that it was because of these qualities in the action of Phinehas that God accepted it as an atonement for the children of Israel. The due administration of justice by magistrates and judges tends to prevent the judgments of God. If they are lax in dealing with vice and crime, God will sternly deal with them Himself.
4. Its reward. For this zealous action Phinehas was
(1) Divinely commended. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, &c. (Num. 25:10-11, and Psa. 106:30-31).
(2) Divinely rewarded. Behold, I give unto Him My covenant of peace, &c. (Num. 25:12-13). The covenant bestowed upon Phinehas was the confirmation to him and his posterity after him of the possession of the priesthood. In accordance with this promise, the high-priesthood which passed from Eleazar to Phinehas (Jdg. 20:28) continued in his family, with the exception of a brief interruption in Elis days, until the time of the last gradual dissolution of the Jewish state through the tyranny of Herod and his successors. Thus for his zealous action Phinehas was himself rewarded, and his posterity was blessed for his sake.
Brave works for God win crowns. There is no merit in them. But the grace, which gives the will, and nerves the arm, and brings success, awards a recompense. Among earths happiest sons and heavens most shining saints, devoted labourers hold foremost place.
It is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. (e)
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) For an illustration on this point, see pp. 280, 281.
(b) Zeal may be defined as the heat or fervour of the mind, by which its vehemence of indignation goes out against anything which it conceives to be evil, and its vehemence of desire towards anything which it conceives to be good. In itself it has no moral character at all. It is the simple instinct of energetic nature, never wholly divested of a sort of rude nobility, and never destitute of influence upon the lives and upon the characters of others.W. M. Punshon, LL.D.
He that is not zealous, doth not love. Now right zeal acts, like fire, to its utmost power, yet ever keeping its place and sphere. If it be confined to the breast of a private Christian, whence it may not flame forth in punishing Truths enemies, then it burns inwardly the more for being pent up; and preys, like a fire in his bones, upon the Christians own spirits, consuming them, yea, eating him up for grief; to see Truth trodden under the feet of error and profanencs, and he not able to help it upW. Gurnall.
(c) I think I could give my own life, if called to do so, for the cause of Christ and the welfare of men. Why, then, should I hesitate to denounce anything that is opposed to the cause of Christ? Why should I hesitate to inveigh against anything, however sacred it may be to others, which is injurious to the welfare of men? I will not fear to condemn any organisation, or any institution, that seems to me to stand in the way of Gods glory or mans redemption. It is not personal bitterness that leads me to use severity. It is for men, and not against men, that I am inflamed and aroused. And my indignation is strong just in proportion as those for whom it is called out are weak and unable to defend themselves.H. W. Beecher.
(d) Zeal is indeed a wonder-working grace. It scales the heavens in agonizing prayer. It wrestles with Omnipotence, and takes not denial. Who can conceive what countries, districts, cities, families, and men have sprung to life, because Zeal prayed! It also lives in energetic toil. It is the moving spring in hearts of apostles, martyrs, reformers, missionaries, and burning preachers of the Word. What hindrances it overleaps. What chains it breaks! What land it traverses! It girdles earth with efforts for the truth: and pyramids of saved souls are trophies to its praise.H. Law, D.D.
(e) I know that the most of you are diligent in business. You never hear the ring of a guinea without being on the alert to earn it of possible. Your coats are off, and very likely your shirt sleeves are turned up when there is a chance of driving trade. That I commend; but oh! do let us have something like it in the service of Jesus Christ. Do not let us be drudging in the world, and drawling in the church; lively in the service of mammon, and then laggard in the service of Christ. Heart and soul, manliness, vigour, vehemencelet the utmost strain of all our powers be put forth in the service of Him who was never supine or dilatory in the service of our souls when they had to be redeemed.C. H. Spurgeon.
ZEAL
(Outline of an Address.)
(Num. 25:11-13)
We can lay no claim to saintship without zeal. When wickedness grows defiant, as in the case of Zimri and Cozbi, then zeal, as in the example of Phinehas, must be bold and daring.
I. The source of godly zeal.
It is from the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. It draws its vital force from the constant operations of the Spirit in the soul. Zeal is holy fire kindled in the heart. Coldness is barrenness, and ends in death. Jeremiah said: I will speak no more in His name. But silence was impossible. He exclaims: But His word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones. I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. Grace in the heart must break forth. I believed, therefore have I spoken.
II. Godly zeal has its seat in the heart.
When David penned that beautiful Psalm relating to the majesty and grace of Christs kingdom, he began by saying: My heart is inditing a good matter. The ideas of fullness and fervour are both expressed. My heart is hot as if it had holy fire within. Zeal is not a mere thing of the brain or of intellectual power, but a reality from a sanctified heart. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit makes us like John, who was a burning and shining light.
III. Mark the object of holy zeal.
We are to be zealous of good works. Men are often deceived in this matter. There is a great deal of party spirit, and deadly persecution, which often goes under the name of Christian zeal. Zeal is a mixed passion of grief and anger, fervent love and holy desire, all fused together in one holy emotion of the soul, spending itself for the glory of Christ. It is the fervour of heavenly benevolence. It thirsts for Divine knowledge, seeks for fellowship with Christ, and labours with self-denial for His sake. Zeal travails in birth for the salvation of souls; is ready for every good work; creates opportunities of usefulness.
IV. True zeal is blended with knowledge.
Zeal without knowledge is like a blind man running on a narrow plank. This was the case with John (Luk. 9:54-56). The zeal of Paul was wrong before his conversion. The Jews had zeal without knowledge when they rejected the righteousness of Christ in order to establish their own. Moses was rash when he broke the two tables on which the Law was written, because Israel had broken one. Minerva put a golden bridle upon Pegasus that he should not fly too fast. Blind zeal, as well as an offering without an eye, will both be rejected by God. To enlighten others we must have light ourselves.
V. Zeal is forgetful of itself.
Self-denial is an element of true greatness. Every grace must be strong for Jesus and do exploits, but this must be so especially with zeal. Paul in his perils, and Barnabas in the sale of his land, Bunyan in prison, and martyrs at the stake, Carey in India, Pierce in the pulpit, and Fuller in his travels for missions, are all worthy of imitation. Each of these men manifested forgetfulness of self. What more shall we say? Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion (Amo. 6:1).The Study.
THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MOVED THE ZEAL OF PHINEHAS
(Num. 25:13)
He was zealous for his God.
I. There was the enormity of their sin.
It included false doctrine and sinful practices, between which there is a closer connection than is always recognised.
II. There was the character of the instigator to the sin.
Balaam, a strange mixture of a man, whose character has been ably analyzed by Butler, Pye Smith, Arnold, and many others.
III. There was the extent to which the sin prevailed.
Among all classes. Logan on the Social Evil.
IV. There was the misery occasioned by the sin.
To the guilty, to their connections, to the community.
V. There was the dishonour done to God.
1. We should be zealous in religion.
2. Our zeal in contending against the sins of others should begin in zeal in contending against our own.George Brooks.
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE TEMPTERS
(Num. 25:16-18)
The Lord here commands Moses to avenge the wrongs which the Midianites had done to the Israelites. It is not private revenge which is here enjoined, but the avenging of a great injury inflicted by one people upon another. The carrying out of this command is given in chap. 31. In that place the subject will be more fully considered: at present it will be sufficient to notice the following observations, which the text suggests:
I. Sin, whether in the people of God or in His enemies, cannot go unpunished.
The Israelites, who had been seduced into sin, had been severely punished by God. And now, as was surely just, the Midianites who had been most active in seducing them, are to be punished also. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites, &c. Tempter and tempted, both had sinned, and both must be punished for their sin. When the child is punished for his sins, the stranger who has also sinned cannot hope to escape. Judgment must begin at the house of God, &c. (1Pe. 4:17). (a)
1. Here is warning to those who tempt others to sin. (b)
2. Here is warning also to those who yield to temptation. Tempters and temptations, howsoever seductive, cannot compel you to sin. If you yield to them, you will surely suffer loss, or chastisement, or judgment. (c)
(1) Avoid scenes of temptation and the society of tempters.
(2) Seek confirmation in the knowledge of the right and true, so that you be not deceived by temptations.
(3) Seek establishment in the practice of the right and true, so that you may the more successfully withstand and overcome temptations.
(4) Above all and in all look to God for help. (d)
II. Whatever tends to lead into sin should be viewed by the godly as an enemy to be contended against.
Vex the Midianites, and smite them; for they vex you with their wiles. Tempters and temptations often present themselves in very winning aspects; the most perilous influences are the most plausible; Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light; but whatsoever would lead us astray must be resisted as an enemy. If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, &c. (Mat. 5:29-30). (e)
III. Under certain circumstances war is justifiable.
It is here commanded by God. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites, and smite them; &c.
For notes and illustrations on this point, see pp. 1820.
ILLUSTRATIONS
(a) For illustrations on The certainty of the punishment of sin, see pp. 89, 225, 318, 374.
(b) The art of seduction from the ways of truth and holiness, discovers the man to be both the child and scholar of the devil. And as wise and painful ministers of Christ, who turn many to righteousness, shall have double glory in heaven; so these subtle and more active agents of the devil, who turn many from the ways of righteousness, will have a double portion of misery in hell.J. Flavel.
The drunkard enkindles his neighbours lust putting the bottle to him. O! what a base work are such men employed about! By the law it is death for any to set fire to his neighbours house; what then do they deserve that set fire to the souls of men, and that no less than hell-fire?W. Gurnall.
For another illustration on this point, see p. 265.
(c) For an illustration on this point, see pp. 97, 98.
(d) There are temptations in lifetemptations at every turning of the streettemptations in all the evolutions of daily circumstances, temptations that come suddenly, temptations that come unexpectedly, temptations that come flatteringly. There is no true, all-conquering, all-triumphant, answer to the temptations of the devil but thisGod! Be deep in your religion, have foundations that are reliable, know your calling, and God will protect you when the time of battle and storm and flood shall come. He will do it, if so be we put our trust in Him.Joseph Parker, D.D.
(e) In carrying out his tempting designs, Satan chooses such instruments as by relation or affection have deep interest in the persons he would gain. Some will kiss the child for his nurses sake, and like the present for the hand that brings it. It is not likely David would have received that from Nabal which he took from Abigail, and thanked her. Satan sent the apple by Eves hand to Adam. Delilah doth more with Samson than all the Philistines bands. Jobs wife brings him the poison: Curse God and die. Some think Satan spared her life, when he slew his children and servants,though she was also within his commission,as the most likely instrument, by reason of her relation and his affection, to lead him into temptation. Satan employs Peter the disciple to tempt Christ; at another time His friends and kinfolk. Some martyrs have confessed, the hardest work they met with was to overcome the prayers and tears of their friends and relations. Paul himself could not get off this snare without heart-breaking: What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?W. Gurnall.
And now, if it shall be allowed to stand for our excusing, that temptation came to us circuitously, veiled with the mask of virtue, then history has recorded few crimes that can be condemned. The business of our moral vigilance, and the test of our moral strength, is to penetrate the delusion, to tear off the mask, to recognize Satan even through his transformations. We should know our tempters as the sure instincts of innocent hearts know hypocrites, through the disguise they wear. Perhaps no tyrant, traitor, debauchee, or robber ever lived, who chose depravity for its own sake, or loved sin for its ugliness. If we are to be exculpated because temptation is cunning, oblique, crafty, then Herod was innocent, and Judas has been harshly judged; Nero is an injured man; Benedict Arnold has been misrepresented; and Jeffries and Rochester were rather sinned against than sinning. All our sins creep on us under concealment, creep on us circuitously. Our first lesson of resistance is to learn that Satan is a deceiver, transforms himself, looks an angel.F. D. Huntingdon, D.D.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
II. IN MOAB (Numbers 25; Numbers 26; Numbers 27)
A. GRAVE SINS WITH THE MOABITES (Num. 25:1-9)
TEXT
Num. 25:1. And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. 5. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.
6. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up 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 belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
PARAPHRASE
Num. 25:1. While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab. 2. They called the people to sacrifice to their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down unto their gods. 3. In this way Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4. And the Lord said to Moses, Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned from Israel. 5. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each one of you is to kill his men who have yoked themselves to Baal-Peor.
6. And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite woman to his family, in the very sight of Moses and of the whole congregation of the people of Israel, who were weeping in front of the door of the Tent of Meeting. 7. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he arose and left the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8. and went after the man of Israel, into the chamber, and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the woman, through her belly. And the plague was stopped from the children of Israel. 9. But those who had died from the plague numbered twenty-four thousand.
COMMENTARY
The harsh life Israel has led for nearly forty years is now drawing to its close. They are stationed in the final encampment before launching on the last leg of their long tripinto the Promised Land itself. This camp is at Shittim (the acacia trees), which lies directly opposite Jericho, approximately equidistant on the east side of the river. Throughout their time in the wilderness, God had proved His faithfulness in every respect. We would expect the people to be living in a thrilling anticipation of the new life before them. The incidents related in the opening verses of chapter 25 must have occurred as the people relaxed their guard prior to their push. Living near the Moabites, they observe the immoral religious rituals of these people at first hand, and yield to the seductions of the Moabite women. They join in the sacrificial festival of Baal-peor, who is believed to be the same as Chemosh, the Moabites national god. Along with the lustful conduct, gluttony was practiced by the defectors, who have been living on manna for forty years.
Gods anger rose high over the conduct of His people. Their complaints, criticisms, faithlessness and gross misconduct lead us to marvel at His patience. A time must certainly come, however, when divine mercy is inappropriate. The Lord summoned Moses and instructed him to kill the guilty sinners, especially their chiefs, who should have led the resistance to such a misadventure rather than becoming a part of it. The penalty was severe in proportion to the seriousness of their dereliction of duty. Divine justice has always held a special responsibility for those in special positions, and to impress the people with the gravity of the situation, the bodies of the chiefs are impaled in the open camp after having been first put to death. The properly appointed leaders of the people, their judges, are then commanded to put to death every man who had defected to the worship of Baal-peor.
At this point the account takes a turn which has been variously understood. Some (as IB and ICC) believe the incidents of Num. 25:1-9 are totally unrelated and incomplete, as the products of various writers which have been illogically combined. IB says the accounts are from JE and P respectively, . . . . the first, featuring Moabite women, lacks an ending; the second, introducing Midianite women, has no beginning, (p. 263). The judgment is unfair and inaccurate. Both stories are complete in themselves. The first ends quite appropriately with the sentence pronounced upon the adulterous miscreants. It is by no means a strain upon the text to have introduced at this point the appearance of yet another influencethat of the Midianite womancontributing to the evidence of deteriorating and blatant immorality among the Israelites. Even at the moment, the camp is under the pall of the sentence of the judges, and an aggressive Simeonite named Zimri introduces the daughter of a Midianite chief into the very central presence of Moses and the congregation, obviously for immoral purposes. The effrontery is revolting to good taste and common decency, but seems to be typical of the attitude of the camps more gross people.
By contrast with the licentious members of the nation, many Israelites are participating in a period of mourning because of the provocation against the Lord. The plague, which soon would claim 24,000 lives (Num. 25:9), visited those insensitive and disobedient ones who had flaunted the laws of God. The sin of Zimri is no more grave than those of the other Israelitesit is, however, more blatant and defiant and depicts a highly degenerative spiritual attitude. The quick action of Phinehas in slaying Zimri without waiting for a called assembly to stone the man is clearly defensible. The account makes it logical to infer that the sinning couple were slain in the very act of adultery, within the tent of their deed. Obviously the attitude of Zimri was known to the people generally, and word had been carried to the young priest; his response was essential to the best welfare of the entire camp. The punishment enacted upon the two, as well as the fulfillment of the instructions previously given to the chiefs, stayed the plague after it had exacted a bitter toll. Rabbinical tradition must be the source of Pauls statement (1Co. 10:8) that the deaths occurred on one day, since this book and no other in the Old Testament states the fact: and the Apostle also gives a figure of 23,000 which, according to the same rabbinical source, is the number of those who were victims of the plague itself, whereas the additional 1,000 were hanged (see KD, p. 206).
QUESTIONS AND RESEARCH ITEMS
459.
Where is Shittim?
460.
Using a reliable Bible dictionary or reference book, read up on the ritualistic orgies which accompanied the worship of Baal-peor. Show how the Israelites who participated in such practices were in violation of various units of the Ten Commandments.
461.
Did the first overture in the incidents of this portion of Scripture originate with the Israelite men or with the Moabite women? Can you give any reason for your answer?
462.
What part did gluttony play in the series of events?
463.
Why was the punishment of the sinning people left in the hands of the chiefs?
464.
For what purpose were their bodies put on public display?
465.
How are the two incidents in this section substantially related? Why do some commentators attempt to separate them? Do you consider them complete units or only fragments? Why?
466.
Since the Moabites are the neighboring people at this time, how does a Midianite woman become involved?
467.
What factors make the sin of Zimn especially obnoxious?
468.
Why were the people weeping at the time?
469.
Can you justify the quick and decisive actions of Phinehas?
470.
What relationship is there between the actions of Phinehas and the arrested plague?
471.
How can the figure given in Num. 25:9 be reconciled to the Apostle Pauls words in 1Co. 10:8?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
XXV.
(1) Abode in Shittimi.e., Abel-Shittim (Num. 33:49). (See Note on Num. 22:1.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
ISRAEL SEDUCED INTO IDOLATRY, Num 25:1-3.
1, 2. Shittim These plains are in the El-Ghor, sixty furlongs east of the Jordan. Note, Jos 2:1. The daughters of Moab were the chief agents in the execution of this plot by forming friendly associations with the Israelites and then inviting them to the sacrifices of their gods a licentious festival. Thus all the animal appetites are addressed at once.
Such a temptation required stronger moral principles and a loftier spirituality than many Israelites possessed. The vices of the Canaan-ites, idolatry and whoredom, had infected Midian, a branch of Abraham’s family, (Gen 25:2,) through successive intermarriages with these tribes. The prostitution of a king’s daughter, (Num 25:6, note,) doubtless given by her father as a token of hospitality, a custom still found among some African nations, shows that the shocking depravity of Sodom (Gen 19:8) had corrupted the seed of Abraham.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Chapter 25 Israel Are Lured Into Sin By The Moabites and Midianites.
4). The Defeat of the Evil Influence of Moab ( Num 25:1-18
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 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. This would finally result in the death of a Simeonite chieftain and a plague on the people.
Analysis of the chapter.
a Israel sin at Shittim in regard to Baal-peor (Num 25:1-3 a).
b Yahweh is angry with Israel and demands their punishment. Moses calls on the judges to slay those who worshipped Baal-peor (Num 25:3-5)
c A Midianitish woman brought into the camp by a Simeonite chief for evil purposes (Num 25:6).
d Phinehas, son of Eleazar slays the chieftain and the woman (Num 25:7-8 a).
e As a result of his action judgment by plague is stayed (Num 25:8 b).
e Those who died in the plague are enumerated (Num 25:9)
d Phinehas is confirmed in the priesthood for his action (Num 25:10-13).
c The chieftain and the woman are identified (Num 25:14-15).
b Yahweh demands the punishment of Midian (Num 25:16-17)
a The punishment is in respect of the sin regarding Baal-peor (Num 25:18)
Israel Sin at Shittim in Regard to Baal-peor ( Num 25:1-3 a)
Num 25:1-2
‘And Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab, for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, 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, and who seemingly made themselves available. (Note that the Midianitish woman is seen as ‘a daughter of Moab’, that is a woman who lived in Moabite territory. There was clearly a very close relationship between these Midianites and 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, and we note that the sin is not said to have been sexual, although that no doubt occurred, but a turning to their idols, although in view of what follows sexual relations might well be seen as implied. And 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.
Yahweh Was Angry with Israel and Demanded The Punishment Of Those Who Had Sinned ( Num 25:3-4 ).
Num 25:3
‘And Israel joined himself to Baal-peor: and the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel.’
Thus Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor (the lord of Peor). That is they became involved in idolatry and all the behaviour that went with it. The lord of Peor may have been Chemosh, the Moabite god, or a local Baal favoured by the Midianites. This resulted in Yahweh’s anger being aroused, His righteous aversion to such evil behaviour. They had deserted Him and what He stood for and had chosen to follow idols and what they stood for.
Num 25:4
‘And Yahweh said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to Yahweh before the sun, that the fierce anger of Yahweh 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 – see Deu 24:16).
Num 25:5
‘And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Slay you every one his men who have joined themselves to Baal-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.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 25:1-18 Israel Commits Whoredom In Num 25:1-18 we have the account of Israel committing whoredom with the daughters of the Moabites and Midianites. We read in the previous passage of Scripture (Num 22:1 to Num 24:25) how Balaam, who had been hired by Balac, king of Moab, to curse the children of Israel, found he could only bless them. The next we read is how Israel is committing whoredom with the same people who tried to destroy them. Rev 2:14 gives us a clue as to why this took place. Because Balaam could not curse Israel, he advised Balak on how to remove them out from under God’s blessings through whoredom. Thus, they began “to eat things sacrificed unto idols” (Num 25:1), and “to commit fornication’ (Num 25:1).
Rev 2:14, “But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.”
Num 25:5 Comments – In God’s judgment of Israel, a few were sacrificed that the rest may live (Gal 5:9). Sin is judged within the camp and in New Testament Church (see 1Co 5:1-5). If we do not judge ourselves, God will judge us (1Co 11:31).
Gal 5:9, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
1Co 5:7, “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”
1Co 11:31, “For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.”
Num 25:8 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 belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
Num 25:8
Gal 6:16, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
1Co 3:16, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
1Co 3:17, “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
1Co 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”
Num 25:11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
Num 25:12 Num 25:13 Num 25:11-13
Num 31:6, “And Moses sent them to the war, a thousand of every tribe, them and Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, to the war, with the holy instruments, and the trumpets to blow in his hand.”
Num 25:17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
Num 25:17
Num 31:1-2, “And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Avenge the children of Israel of the Midianites: afterward shalt thou be gathered unto thy people.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Sin and its Punishment.
v. 1. And Israel abode in Shittim, v. 2. And they, the Moabites, called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat and bowed down to their gods. v. 3. And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor, v. 4. And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, v. 5. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE SIN OF ISRAEL AND ATONEMENT OF PHINEHAS (Num 25:1-18).
Num 25:1
Abode in Shittim. For a considerable time; from their first arrival in the Arboth Moab until the crossing of the Jordan. Shittim is the shortened form of Abel-Shittim, “Field of Acacias” (Num 33:49). It seems to have been the northernmost part of the last encampment of Israel on that side Jordan, and the head-quarters of the host (Jos 2:1; Jos 3:1). Began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. This commencement of sin seems to have been made by Israel without special provocation. The very victories won, and the comparative ease and affluence now enjoyed, after long marches and hardships, may well have predisposed them to this sin, for which they now for the first time found abundant opportunity.
Num 25:2
And they called, i.e; the women of Moab, encouraged to do so by the licentious intercourse which had sprung up. Without such encouragement it is difficult to suppose that they would have ventured on such a step. And the people did eat. Gluttony added its seductions to lust. No doubt this generation were as weary of the manna and as eager for other and heavier food as their fathers had been (see on Num 11:4; Num 21:5).
Num 25:3
Israel joined himself unto Baal-Peor. This is a technical phrase, repeated in Num 25:5, and quoted in Psa 106:28, expressing the quasi-sacramental union into which they entered with the heathen deity by partaking of his sacrificial meats and by sharing in his impure rites (cf. Hos 9:10 and the argument of St. Paul in 1Co 10:1-33). There can be little doubt that Peor (, from , to open) has the sense of aperiens, in usu obsceno, and that it was the distinguishing name of Baal or Chemosh when worshipped as the god of reproduction with the abominable rites proper to this cultus. For a notice of the same thing in the last days of Israel see Hos 4:14, and for the practice of Babylonian and (to some degree) Egyptian women, see Herodotus, 1.199; 2.60). The Septuagint has here , “was consecrated,” or “initiated,” unto Baal-Peor, which admirably expressed the sense.
Num 25:4
The Lord said unto Moses. It seems strange that so fearful an apostasy had gone so far without interference on the part of Moses. He may have been absent from the camp on account of the wars with the Amorite kings; or he may have trusted to the chiefs to see that due order and discipline was maintained in the camps. Take all the heads of the people, i.e; the chiefs, who ought to have prevented, and might have prevented, this monstrous irregularity, but who seem, if we may judge from the case of Zimri, to have countenanced it. The mere neglect of duty in so gross a case was reason enough for summary execution. Hang them up before the Lord. Either by way of impalement or by way of crucifixion, both of which were familiar modes of punishment. In this case the guilty persons were probably slain first, and exposed afterwards. The hanging up was not ordered on account of its cruelty, nor merely for the sake of publicity (“against the sun ), but in order to show that the victims were devoted to the wrath of God against sin (cf. Deu 21:23; 2Sa 21:2-6). The Septuagint has here . Cf. Heb 6:6, where this word is coupled with “crucify.” Them is no authority for referring the “them” () to the guilty persons instead of to the heads of the people, as is done by the Targums and by many commentators.
Num 25:5
The judges of Israel. . This is the first place where “the judges” are mentioned by this name (cf. Deu 1:16; Jdg 2:16), but the verb is freely used in Exo 18:1-27, in describing the functions of the officers appointed at Sinai. Every one his men. The men who were under his particular jurisdiction. This command given by Moses is not to be confounded with the previous command given to Moses to hang up all the chiefs. Moses only could deal with the chief, but it was within the power and the province of the judges to deal with ordinary offenders. It does not, however, appear how far either of these commands was put in practice.
Num 25:6
A Midianitish woman. Rather, “the Midianitish woman.” . Septuagint, . The writer deals with an incident only too notorious, and which by the peculiar aggravation of its circumstances had fixed itself deeply in the popular memory. This is the first mention of the Midianites in connection with this affair, and it prepares us to learn without surprise that they were in reality the authors of this mischief. All the congregation, who were weeping. According to the loose sense in which this expression is used throughout the Pentateuch, it evidently means that those who truly represented the nation, not only as a political, but also as a religions community, were gathered in this distress before the presence of their invisible King. They wept on account of the wrath of God provoked; probably also on account of the wrath of God already gone forth in the form of a pestilence.
Num 25:7
Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. See on Exo 6:25. He seems to have been the only son of Eleazar, and his natural successor in the office of high priest.
Num 25:8
Into the tent. . Septuagint, . The word signifies an arched recess (cf. the Arabic “alcove,” from the same root, and the Latin fornix), and means probably the inner division which served as the women’s room in the larger tents of the wealthier Israelites. There is no sufficient ground for supposing that a special place had been erected for this evil purpose; if it had been, it would surely have been destroyed. Through her belly. . Septuagint, . So the plague was stayed. No plague has been mentioned, but the narrative evidently deals with an episode the details of which were very fresh in the memory of all, and is extremely concise. That a plague would follow such an apostasy might be certainly expected from the previous experiences at Kibroth-hattaavah, at Kadesh, and after the rebellion of Korah.
Num 25:9
Were twenty and four thousand. “Fell in one day three and twenty thousand,” says St. Paul (1Co 10:8). As the Septuagint does not deviate here from the Hebrew, the Apostle must have followed some Rabbinical tradition. It is possible enough that the odd thousand died on some other day than the one of which he speaks, or they may have died by the hands of the judges, and not by the plague.
Num 25:10
The Lord spake unto Moses, saying. On the Divine commendation here bestowed upon the act of Phinehas see the note at the end of the chapter. In the Hebrew Bible a new section begins here.
Num 25:11
While he was zealous for my sake. Rather, “while he was zealous with my zeal”. In my jealousy. Rather, “in my zeal;” the same word is used.
Num 25:14
Now the name of the Israelite. These details as to names seem to have been added as an after-thought, for they would naturally have been given in Num 25:11, where the man and the woman are first mentioned. The woman’s name is given again in Num 25:18, as if for the first time. We may probably conclude that Num 25:14, Num 25:15 were inserted into the narrative either by the hand of Moses himself at a later date, or possibly by some subsequent hand. Zimri. This was not an uncommon name, but the individual who bears it here is not elsewhere mentioned.
Num 25:15
Head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian. Rather, “head of tribes (, for the use of which cf. Gen 25:16) of a father’s house in Midian.” It seems to mean that several clans descended from one tribe-father looked up to Zur as their head. In Num 31:8 he is called one of the five “kings” of Midian. That the daughter of such a man should have been selected, and should have been willing, to play such a part throws a strong light upon the studied character and the peculiar danger of the seduction.
Num 25:17
Vex the Midianites. The Moabites, although the evil began with them, were passed over; perhaps because they were still protected by the Divine injunction (Deu 2:9) not to meddle with them; more probably because their sin had not the same studied and deliberate character as the sin of the Midianites. We may think of the women of Moab as merely indulging their individual passions after their wonted manner, but of the women of Midian as employed by their rulers, on the advice of Balsam, in a deliberate plot to entangle the Israelites in heathen rites and heathen sins which would alienate from them the favour of God.
NOTE ON THE ZEAL OF PHINEHAS
The act of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, in slaying Zimri and Cozbi is one of the most memorable in the Old Testament; not so much, however, in itself, as in the commendation bestowed upon it by God. It is unquestionably surprising at first sight that an act of unauthorized zeal, which might so readily be made (as indeed it was made) the excuse for deeds of murderous fanaticism, should be commended in the strongest terms by the Almighty; that an act of summary vengeance, which we find it somewhat hard to justify on moral grounds, should be made in a peculiar sense and in a special degree the pattern of the great atonement wrought by the Saviour of mankind; but this aspect of the deed in the eyes of God by its very unexpectedness draws our attention to it, and obliges us to consider wherein its distinctive religious character and excellence lay.
It is necessary in the first place to point out that the act of Phinehas did really receive stronger testimony from God than any other act done proprio motu in the Old Testament. What he did was not done officially (for he held no office), nor was it clone by command (for the offenders were not under his jurisdiction as judge), nor in fulfillment of any revealed law or duty (for no blame would have attached to him if he had let it alone), and yet it had the same effect in staying the plague as the act of Aaron when he stood between the living and the dead with the hallowed fire in his hand (see on Num 16:46-48). Of both it is said that “he made an atonement for the people,” and so far they both appear as having power with God to turn away his wrath and stay his avenging hand. But the atonement made by Aaron was official, for he was the anointed high priest, and, being made with incense from the sanctuary, it was mate in accordance with and upon the strength of a ceremonial law laid down by God whereby he had bound himself to exercise his Divine right of pardon. The act of Phinehas, on the contrary, had no legal or ritual value; there is no power of atonement in the blood of sinners, nor had the death of 24,000 guilty people had any effect in turning away the wrath of God from them that survived. It remains, therefore, a startling truth that the deed of Phinehas is the only act neither official nor commanded, but originating in the impulses of the actor himself, to which the power of atoning for sin is ascribed in the Old Testament: for although in 2Sa 21:3 David speaks of making an atonement by giving up seven of Saul’s sons, it is evident from the context that the “atonement” was made to the Gibeonites, and not directly to the Lord. Again, the act of Phinehas merited the highest reward from God, a reward which was promised to him in the most absolute terms. Because he had clone this thing he should have God’s covenant of peace, he and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. This promise must mean that he and his seed should have power with God for ever to make peace between heaven and earth, and to make reconciliation for the sins of the people; and, meaning this, it is a republication in favour of Phinehas, and in more absolute terms, of the covenant made with Levi as represented by Aaron (see on Mal 2:4, Mal 2:5). Nor is this all. In Psa 106:31 it is said of his deed that “it was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations forevermore.” This word “counted” or “imputed” is the same () which is used of Abraham in Gen 15:6, and the very words of the Septuagint here ( ) are applied to the obedience of Abraham in Jas 2:23. It appears then that righteousness was imputed to Phinehas, as to the father of the faithful, with this distinction, that to Phinehas it was imputed as an everlasting righteousness, which is not said of Abraham. Now if we compare the two, it must be evident that the act of Phinehas was not, like Abraham’s, an act of self-sacrificing obedience, nor in any special sense an act of faith. While both acted under the sense of duty, the following of duty in Abraham’s case put the greatest possible strain upon all the natural impulses of mind and heart; in the case of Phinehas it altogether coincided with the impulses of his own will. If faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, it is clear that zeal was imputed to Phinehas for righteousness for evermore.
This being so, it is necessary in the second place to point out that the act in question (like that of Abraham in sacrificing his son) was distinctly one of moral virtue according to the standard then Divinely allowed. An act which was in itself wrong, or of doubtful rectitude, could not form the ground for such praise and promise, even supposing that they really looked far beyond the act itself. Now it is clear
(1) that under no circumstances would a similar act be justifiable now;
(2) that no precedent could be established by it then.
The Jews indeed feigned a “zealot-right,” examples of which they saw (amongst others) in the act of Samuel slaying Agag (1Sa 15:33), of Mattathias slaying the idolatrous Jew and the king’s commissioner (1 Macc 2:24-26), of the Sanhedrim slaying St. Stephen. But the last-mentioned case is evidence enough that in the absence of distinct Divine guidance zeal is sure to degenerate into fanaticism, or rather that it is impossible to distinguish zeal from fanaticism. Every such act must of necessity stand upon its own merits, for it can only be justified by the coexistence of two conditions which are alike beyond human certainty:
(1) that the deed is itself in accordance with the will of God;
(2) that the doing of it is inspired by motives, absolutely pure.
That Christ came to save men’s lives, and that God would have all men to repent, has made for us the primary condition impossible, and therefore the act of Phinehas would be immoral now. No one may take life unless he has the mandate of the State for doing’ so. But it was not so then; God was the King of Israel, and the foes of Israel were the foes of God, with whom there could be no peace or amity as long as they threatened the very existence of God’s people and worship. The Israelite who indulged in sinful intercourse with a heathen was a rebel against his King and a traitor to his country; he became ipso facto an “outlaw,” to slay whom was the bounden duty of every true patriot. If it be said that this view of things belongs to an inferior code of morality, which ignored the universal brotherhood of men and Fatherhood of God, that is admitted at once. The elder revelation founded itself plainly and avowedly upon the moral law as then universally held (and by no means supplanted yet by the higher law of Christ), that men were to love their brethren and hate their enemies. To complain that the act of Phinehas was moral in a Jewish and not in a Christian sense is only to find fault with God for suffering a confessedly imperfect and preparatory morality to do its work until the fullness of time was come.
While, therefore, we recognize the act of Phinehas as one determined, in its outward form, by the imperfect morality of the dispensation under which he lived, it is necessary to look below the act to the spirit which animated it for its permanent value and significance. That spirit is clearly defined by the testimony of God”while he was zealous with my zeal.” The excellence of Phinehas was, that he was filled with a zeal which was itself Divine against sin, and that he acted fearlessly and promptly (whilst others apparently hesitated even when commanded) under the impulse of that zeal; in other words, what pleased God so greatly was to see his own hatred of sin, and his own desire to make it to cease, reflected in the mind and expressed in the deed of one who acted upon righteous impulse, not under any command or constraint.
It is impossible, in the third place, not to see that this record throws a flood of light upon the doctrine of the atonement; for the act of Phinehas stands, in some respects, upon a higher level than all the types and shadows of the cross which had gone before; being neither an act of submission to a definite command, like the sacrifice of Isaac, nor a piece of ordered ritual, like the sending forth of the goat for Azazel; but a spontaneous deed, having a moral value of its own. Partly at least for the sake of what it was, not merely what it showed in a figure, it was accepted as an atonement for the sin of Israel (which was very gross), and was imputed to its author for an everlasting righteousness. Phinehas, therefore, in one very important sense, would seem to bear a stronger resemblance to our Lord in his atoning work than any other person in the Old Testament. It may therefore be submitted that we must seek the truest ground of the atonement wrought by Christ not in the simple fact of the passion and death of the God-man, nor in the greatness or value of his sufferings as such; but in that zeal for God, that Divine indignation against sin as the opposite of God, that consuming desire to cause it to cease, which first animated the life of the Redeemer, and then informed his death. Phinehas in his measure, and according to his lights, was governed by the same Spirit, and surrendered himself to the prompting of the same Spirit, by which Christ offered himself without spot unto God. And that Spirit was the Spirit of a consuming zeal, wherein our Lord hastened with an entire eagerness of purpose (Luk 12:50; Joh 2:17; Joh 12:27, Joh 12:28, &c.) to “condemn sin in the flesh” and so to glorify God, and to accomplish the object of his mission (Rom 8:3), not by the summary execution of individual sinners, but after an infinitely higher fashion, by the sacrifice of himself as the representative of the whole sinful race.
Lastly, it must be noted that as the act of Phinehas enables us, almost more than anything else, to enter into the nature of our Lord’s atonement, so it is only in the light of that atonement that we can justify to ourselves either the strength of the Divine commendation accorded to Phinehas, or the vastness of the promises made to him. For the deed was after all an act of violence, and a dangerous precedent, humanly speaking; and, on the other hand, the covenant of peace given to him and to his seed, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, failed to give any peace at all, save in a very broken and partial manner, and did not even continue in the keeping of his family. As the house of Eleazar was the elder of the two descended from Aaron, it would have been only natural that the high priestly dignity should remain with its members; as a fact, however, it passed to the house of Ithamar from the days of Eli until Solomon, for political reasons, deposed Abiathar in favour of Zadok; and it was lost for ever with the final fall of Jerusalem. As in so many cases, therefore, we have to acknowledge that the act of Phinehas was accepted as an atonement for the sake of that truer atonement which (in a remarkable sense) it anticipated; and that the promises given to Phinehas were only partially intended and partially fulfilled for him, while the true and eternal fulfillment was reserved for him of whom Phinehas was a figure. To Christ, in whom was combined an entire zeal against sin and an entire love for the sinner, was indeed given God’s covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood.
HOMILETICS
Num 25:1-18
SIN, ZEAL, AND ATONEMENT
We have in this chapter the sin of man and the righteousness of God set before us in the most striking light; the virulence of the one, and the triumph of the other through the zeal of God’s servant. We may contemplate here
I. The seductions of the flesh and of the devil, and the apostasy to which they lead;
II. The insolence of sin when allowed to gain a head;
III. The zeal against sin which pleases God and obtains favour;
IV. In a figure, the atonement wrought by God’s holy servant Jesus.
I. Consider, therefore, with respect to THE APOSTASY OF ISRAEL
1. That it was due to two thingstheir own licentiousness, and the craft of Balaam taking advantage of it. They knew not indeed that Balaam had any part in it, but we know that the instigation came from him. Even so there is the same double origination of all grave fallings away from God and grace. A man is drawn away of his own lust (Jas 1:14), and enticed by the lust of the flesh and of the eyes (1Jn 2:16); but beneath and behind all these temptations is the craft of an evil will counter-working the grace and purpose of God (Eph 6:11, Eph 6:16; 1Pe 5:8). And note that Balsam could not harm them by his curses or magical practices, but only by taking advantage of their evil concupiscence. So has our adversary no power against us, save through our own sins.
2. That the sin of Israel began with idleness, and the reaction from toil and victory, which encouraged them to give the rein to wandering desires. Even so the most dangerous moments, morally speaking, in a Christian’s life are those intervals of comparative inactivity and apparent safety when dangers seem to be surmounted, foes overcome, and toils left behind.
3. That the danger of Israel against which they had been so strongly warned now beset them, viz; the danger of too friendly intercourse with people whose religion and morality were altogether inferior to that of Israel. Even so the great and constant danger of Christian peopleespecially of such as mix much with otherslies in intercourse with a world which does not acknowledge the laws of God, and in the almost inevitable lowering of the moral and religious tone which follows.
4. That the first fatal step was indulgence in carnal pleasuresan indulgence such as was now for the first time thrown in their way. And this is still the frequent source of apostasy; a snare into which the most unlikely persons constantly fall when it is suddenly presented to them. How many of the greatest, intellectually, and most promising, spiritually, have fallen through lust! how many deem themselves absolutely above it simply because the temptation has never yet come in their way!
5. That fellowship in sin led directly to fellowship in idolatry: the two things being mutually intermixed in the abominations of those days. Even so it is impossible to take part in the sinful indulgences of the flesh and of the world without denying God and committing treason against him. Immorality is not simply evil in the sight of God, it is an outrage upon him, and a direct renunciation of our allegiance to him. The first Christians rightly regarded Venus and Bacchus as devils. Fleshly sin involves a quasi-sacramental union with the enemy of God (1Co 6:13-20; 1Co 10:21, 1Co 10:22; and cf. Psa 73:27; Act 15:20; 1Ti 5:11).
6. That the wrath of God burnt especially against the heads of the people, because they had permitted these iniquities to go on, and had perhaps encouraged them. Even so their sin is greatest and their punishment will be sorest who fail to use their position and authority to discourage vice; much more if they countenance it by their example.
7. That the sentence of death was pronounced upon all who were joined to Baal-Peor. It is not the will of God that sin as such should now be punished by the magistrate, but none the less is the sentence of eternal death gone forth against all who through sinful indulgence have made themselves over to the prince of this world (Rom 1:18, Rom 1:32; Rom 6:23; Eph 5:5; Rev 19:20; Rev 21:8).
8. That the judges of Israel were commanded to execute judgment, not indiscriminately, but each upon such as he was responsible for. Even so is every Christian held bound to extirpate by all needful violence his own sins and sinful inclinations which cleave unto iniquity and do dishonour to God. For each one of us is responsible for all that is within him, and not for others, save by example and admonition (Rom 8:13; 1Co 9:27; Gal 6:5; Eph 5:11; Col 3:5, where “mortify” is simply “put to death”).
II. Consider again, with respect to THE SIN OF ZIMBI
1. That the bad example and negligence of the chiefs went further in encouraging this evil than the declared wrath of God in discouraging it. It would have been impossible for such a thing to have occurred if the leaders of Israel had been doing their duty. Even so in a society nominally Christian the bad example of its leaders has much more effect than all the denunciations of Scripture. Nothing is more remarkable than the extreme insolence with which the worst vices are ever ready to assert themselves, and to flaunt their vileness in the face of day, if they find encouragement, or even toleration, with those that lead opinion and set the fashion. Worse sins than that of Zimri, such as adultery, and murder (in the form of duelling), have been and are practiced without shame and without rebuke by those who claim the name and privilege of Christians.
2. That the rank of the two offenders no doubt increased their presumptions, as shielding them from punishment. Even so in the Churches of Christ it has ever been the rich and the great who have dragged down the moral law and outraged the holiness of their calling, because they seemed to be beyond the reach of discipline or correction in this world.
3. That their sin was intensified by contrast with the penitential sorrow and the trouble all around them. Even so does the reckless sin of abandoned people assume a darker hue in the sight of God and of good men, because it shows itself side by side with all the sorrow and the pain, the penitence and supplication, which that very sin has worked in unnumbered souls. There is not a city in Christendom where that scene of sin and weeping in the camp of Israel is not ever being reproduced in full sight of God, if not of men.
4. That the sin of Zimri was, and is, revolting to everybody, not, however, because it was really worse than numberless other such acts, but only because it asserted itself in its naked hideousness. Even so the most revolting crimes which all men cry out upon are not really worse than those which are committed every day; it is only that circumstances have robbed them of the disguises and concealments beneath which men hide their ordinary sins.
III. Consider again, with respect to THE ZEAL OF PHINEHAS
1. That it was well-pleasing in the sight of God because it was a zeal for God, and against sin. Even such must be the character of all true religious zeal; it must have no lesser or meaner inspiring motive than the pure desire that God may be glorified and sin may be destroyed. It is this zeal, and nothing else, which puts the creature at once on the side of the Creator, and produces an active harmony of will and purpose between God and man. How little religious zeal has this pure character! Hence, although it achieves much,builds churches, wins converts, gains all its ends on earth,yet it does not obtain any commendation or reward from God.
2. That it stood in strong contrast to the supineness of the chiefs, and even apparently of Moses; they (at best) only mourned, Phinehas acted. True zeal is always rare, and most rare in high places. It is so much easier to deplore the existence of evils than to throw oneself into active contention against them. The enthusiasms and reforms which have purged the Church of its grosser moral corruptions have never come from its leaders.
3. That it was all the more acceptable with God because it was spontaneous, and not official. Even so the zeal which pleases God is that which is not paid for directly or indirect]y, and which is not prompted by any human expectations, and does not wait for any advantages of position. How often do men tacitly agree to leave zeal for religion and morality to their official exponents, as if it were a professional matter to seek the glory of God and the triumph of righteousness!
4. That it merited the favour of Heaven because it was unhesitating and unabashed. No one else perhaps would have “followed” when and where Phinehas followed. Even so a genuine religious zeal does not hesitate to seek its ends by painful courses, and such as natural feeling and ordinary sentiment shrinks from. Zeal knows no shame except the shame of doing wrong or of suffering wrong to be done if it can be helped.
5. That the act of Phinehas was commended because it was
(1) according to the will of God, and
(2) inspired by zeal for God unmixed with lower motives.
According to the law of Israel, as then understood and sanctioned by God, it was right that these sinners should die, and right that any private person in Israel should execute judgment upon them if the rulers hesitated; and Phinehas had no private ends to gain or malice to gratify by what he did. Even such is the ultimate test of every act of religious zeal, by which it must be weighed in the last account. If a thing be right in itself, according to the revealed will of God, yet if it be done from any motive but the highest, it has no reward hereafter, because it seeks its reward here.
6. That the act of Phinehas was one which was right then, but would be wrong now, because the present dispensation is built upon eternal, not upon temporal, sanctions. Yet is his zeal and ours all one in its essence: we must put to death the deeds of the flesh by the arms of righteousness; every man must be a Phinehas to his own lusts in actto others in word and example only (cf. 2Co 7:11).
IV. Consider lastly, with respect to PHINEHAS AS A FIGURE OF CHRIST IN HIS ATONEMENT
1. That the act of Phinehas teas accepted as an atonement because it was inspired by a pure zeal for God and against sin, without regard of self. And this was the moral element, the controlling motive power, in the life and death of Christ, which made it infinitely precious in the eyes of God, and infinitely available for the remission of sins.
2. That God had sought for such an atonement before and it had not been given. And God had looked in vain among the children of men for any that should have perfect sympathy with his own hatred of sin, and perfect self-devotion in seeking to destroy it (cf. Isa 53:11, “my righteous servant;” Isa 63:4, Isa 63:5; Mat 3:17, &c.).
3. That Phinehas “satisfied” the wrath of God against sin, inasmuch as he gave expression in the most open and public way to the real mind of God in respect of sin. And our Lord did not merely regard sin with the eyes of God, but he manifested unto all the world in the very highest sense the righteousness of God as arrayed against the sinfulness of sin. Beholding the carcasses of those sinners, Israel awoke from his evil dream to a consciousness of what such lust really was. Gazing upon the dead face of him that was made sin for us, we realize what the hatefulness and hideousness of sin truly is.
4. That Phinehas condemned sin in the flesh by the deathsince nothing less would sufficeof the sinners. And God condemned sin in the flesh not by inflicting death, but by sending his only-begotten to suffer death in the name and in the place of that sinful race with which he had wholly identified himself.
5. That Phinehas, having displayed and vindicated the righteousness of God, delivered the rest of Israel from the plague. Even so our Lord, having condemned sin by his own death, through death destroyed the power of death, and delivered his brethren from the fear of death.
6. That Phinehas received for his zeal God’s covenant of peace, and the promise of an everlasting priesthood. And our Lord, for that he made atonement for the sins of the world, and reconciled in one life and death the holiness and the love of God, became himself our peace (Eph 2:14), and was made a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec (Heb 5:9, Heb 5:10).
7. That Phinehas could not abide because of death, nor his seed because of infirmity and change; wherefore the premise could not be permanently made good to him. But Christ abideth for ever, for ever the same, eternal inheritor of all the promises made to all holy men (Heb 7:24; Heb 13:8, &c.). See the note above.
HOMILIES BY E.S. PROUT
Num 25:10-13
A TERRIBLE ATONEMENT
We see in this narrative
I. THE NATION WHICH GOD HAD BLESSED, CURSED THROUGH ITS OWN SINS. The Israelites, impregnable against the curses of Balaam, succumb to his wiles. We discover parts of a plot. In the foreground are women (true daughters of Eve the tempter), alluring feasts, flatteries, idolatries. In the background we discern the malignant face of the covetous Balaam (Num 31:16; Rev 2:14), and behind him his master the devil. Learn to discriminate the seen and unseen agents of temptation (Eph 6:12), and to guard against the devices of our diabolical foe (2Co 2:11; 2Co 11:14, 2Co 11:15). Sin did what Balaam could not do. The wrath of God, the plague on the thousands of Israelites, the execution of the ringleaders, follow in quick succession. Note the destructiveness of sin. Of every sinner it may be said as of Achan, “That man perished not alone in his iniquity.” The guilt of the nation reached its climax in the shamelessness and audacity of the sin of Zimri. While shame, one of the precious relies of paradise, survives, there is more hope of restoration, but when shame is gone, sin is ripe for judgment (Jer 5:7-9; Jer 6:15). If God’s wrath had continued to burn, the whole nation must have perished.
II. THE WRATH REMOVED BY A TERRIBLE ATONEMENT.
1. The essence of it was not an outward act, but a state of heart. It was Phinehas’ zeal for God which made the act possible and acceptable. Just so in the atonement, of a very different character, made by the Lord Jesus Christ, the essence of it was the zeal for the will of God which prompted the obedience unto death, the offering of the body of Christ once for all (Heb 10:5-10).
2. The form of the atonement was a terrible manifestation of the righteousness of God in the prompt punishment of the two audacious transgressors. They expiated their crime by their lives. Phinehas’ conduct, being inspired by godly zeal, is justified by God himself. Instead of being treated as a crime, it is regarded as a covering over of the nation’s sin. Where that sin reached its climax, there it received such sudden retribution as to stamp it as an abominable thing which God hates. Zimri and his paramour are branded with eternal infamy, while Phinehas is rewarded by “the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.” We learn thus that there is more than one way of making an atonement to God. In both cases it is by the manifestation of the righteousness of God (Rom 3:21, Rom 3:25), but in different ways.
1. By his holy wrath flaming forth against sin, whether immediately (e.g; Jos 7:11, Jos 7:12) or through the zeal of a man of God. The weeping of the people was not an atonement, for it did not manifest the righteousness of God as the act of Phinehas did.
2. By his righteous grace allowing another to interpose on behalf of sinners, to do or to suffer whatever God sees needful for a manifestation of his righteousness in the covering over of sin. Thus Moses (Exo 32:30-33) and Paul (Rom 9:3) were willing to have made atonement, if possible. Thus the sinless Son of God did atone (Rom 3:21-26), and sin is covered not by the destruction of the sinner, but by the righteous pardon of penitents trusting the atonement of Christ.P.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Num 25:1-5
MOAB FINDS A MORE EFFECTIVE WEAPON
In spite of all his efforts and confident expectations, Balak fails in bringing’ down Jehovah’s curse on Israel. But what cannot be accomplished in the way Balak proposes now gives fair promise of being speedily accomplished in another way. While Israel abode in Shittim the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
I. ISRAEL, FULLY AWARE OF SOME DANGERS, IS EQUALLY REGARDLESS OF MUCH GREATER ONES. Israel having been refused passage through Edom, and having also had to fight its way through the strong opposing forces of Sihon and Og, came at last into the plains of Moab, doubtless expecting a similar conflict with Balak. While he was looking for Israel to attack him, Israel would be wondering why he left it unmolested. And while Balak is waiting for the expected curse, Moab puts on a peaceful, harmless appearance. What was more natural than that Israel should enter into neighbourly intercourse? The nearness of the two peoples gave every facility for this. There must also have been a great charm in seeing fresh faces and hearing unaccustomed voices. As day followed day without any signs of hostility, Israelite and Moabite would mingle more freely together. If Balak had followed the example of Sihon and Og, it would have been far better for Israel. The worst enemies are those who, on their first approach, put on the smiling face and give the salutation of peace. We know what to do with the open enemy, who bears his hostility in his countenance; but what shall we do with him who comes insidiously, to degrade, corrupt, and utterly pervert the life within; and this by a very slow process, of which the victim at the beginning must not be conscious at all, and indeed as little conscious as possible until it is too late for escape? Puritanism, so much condemned, laughed at, and satirized, is really the only safety of God’s people. Go with the courage which he inspires into any den of lions, into any physical peril whatsoever, remembering what Jesus has said: “Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it” (Luk 17:33); but refrain with equal courage from everything that is mere pleasure, mere comfort of the flesh, for in doing so you may keep clear from some temptations in a world which is crowded with them. Remember that to go in the way of one temptation is to go in the way of more than one, perhaps of many. Israel got conversing with the daughters of Moab, and this led to whoredom, which assuredly was bad enough; but worse remained, for whoredom led on to idolatry, and idolatry to the manifested wrath of God. The devil was delighted when he saw the sons of Israel, God’s own chosen and beloved race, of whom such glorious things had been spoken in prophecy, in abominable intercourse with the daughters of Moab; still more delighted when he saw the bowings to Moab’s gods; and his delight was crowned when 24,000 died in the plague. One cannot enter a grocer’s shop now-a-days without noticing how many things are hermetically sealed, in order to be kept free from taint. The very smallest crevice would be fatal. We cannot indeed be hermetically sealedthat would be to go out of the world, arid Christ’s prayer is, not that we should be taken from the world, but kept from the wicked one. But surely we shall not be slow in seconding Christ’s prayer and effort with our prayer and effort. We must live in this world as knowing how corruptible we are, and that ceaseless vigilance is the price of spiritual safety.
II. BALAK, FULLY PERSUADED OF THE POWER OF ONE WEAPON, IS UTTERLY UNCONSCIOUS OF THE GREATER POWER OF ANOTHER. Balak, sending all this long way for Balaam, was utterly ignorant of a resource lying close at hand, which probably began to operate even while his negotiations with Balaam were in progress. The world is not conscious of its greatest resources against the Church; it does its greatest damage unwittingly. Balaam certainly seems to have had something to do with bringing out to its full extent this power of the daughters of Moab (Num 31:16), but it must have been already in action, revealing to him something of the disposition of the Israelites, before he guessed what could be done with it towards utterly destroying them. The world inflicts much spiritual mischief simply by doing its own things in its own waypursuing, with energy and vivacity, its godless, mammon-worshipping, pleasure-loving path, and thus drawing towards it God’s people, never sufficiently heedful of their steps, never sufficiently looking away from the world to Jesus. It is in the resources which the world does not consider that we are to look for the greatest dangers. Balak was simply counting the fighting men of Moab; the women he considered of no consequence. The world, it would seem, is given to despise its own weak ones as much as it despises the weak ones of the Church. God takes weak ones to do his work, but he takes them consciously, deliberately, and with well-ascertained ends, serviceable to the good of his people and the glory of his name. The world also has weak ones to do its work, but it knows not all they do or can do. The lustful daughters of Moab were more dangerous than a corps of Amazons, for they led Israel into idolatry, and that was even worse than if Israel’s prime and strength had been stretched dead on some bloody field. Women have done untold and peculiar service in the Church; and what they have done is but a small part of their possible service, if they would only all waken to their powers and opportunities, and if they were only allowed to make full proof of them. The ill that these daughters of Moab did is the measure of the great good that truly Christian women may accomplish. Notice that all the daughters of Moab were not as these mentioned here. There was one daughter of Moab, not so many generations after, of a very different spiritRuth, the great-grandmother of David.Y.
Num 25:6-15
ZEAL FOR GOD: THE RESULT AND REWARD OF IT
I. ZEAL FOR GOD.
1. The occasion on which it was shown. The people were passing through great suffering, as is evident from the mention of the weeping crowd before the tabernacle, and the great number who perished in the plague (Num 25:9)a number much exceeding that in the great visitation of wrath after the rebellion of Korah. God himself had sentenced the leaders of the people to a peculiar and shameful death. The people had sinned, it would seem, even beyond their usual transgressions, and now they are being smitten in a way utterly to terrify and abase them. Yet Zimri, a man of high rank in Israel, and Cozbi, a woman of corresponding rank among her own people, choose this moment to commit a most audacious and shameless act in the presence of weeping Israel.
2. The person who showed this zeal. Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, and the man who in due time would become priest himself. He might have said, “Is it laid on me more than on any one else to become executioner of Heaven’s wrath on this daring couple?” or, “Doubtless the Lord will signify his will concerning them.” But holy indignation becomes his guide, and he rightly judges that this is an instance of presumptuous sin deserving immediate and terrible retribution. He shows here the true spirit of the servant of God in an office such as that for which he was in training. Those who had to do with the tabernacle as closely as the Aaronic family thereby professed to be nearer God than others. And if their service was anything more than a hollow form, then when the honour of Jehovah was peculiarly in question it was to be expected that his true servants would be correspondingly indignant. What would be thought of an ambassador who should listen cool, unmoved, and unresenting to the greatest insults upon the nation from which he had come? The act of Phinehas was not that of a common Israelite; there was not merely indignation because of Zimri’s callous indifference to the sufferings and sorrows of his brethren; he was zealous for the Lord. It was daring, shameless sin which provoked his wrath; it was as if he looked to heaven in going forth and said, “Against thee, thee only have they sinned.” To be easily tolerant in the presence of great sins shows a heart far from right towards God. Mere cynical observations on the frailties and eccentricities of fallen human nature do not fall with good grace from the lips of the Christian, however much they may consist with the conduct of a man of the world.
3. The way in which the zeal was shown. A violent and extreme measure certainly, but we are not allowed to judge it. God has taken judgment out of our hands by unmistakably indicating his approval. We must. distinguish between the spirit of the act and the outward mode of its commission. If the spirit and essence of the act be right, then the mode is a secondary matter. The mode largely depends on the times. Criminals were punished in England only a few centuries ago in ways which would not be tolerated now. What is wanted is that we should emulate the zeal of Phinehas without imitating the expression of it. One might almost say, better run a javelin through sinners than have that easy-going toleration for sins which some show who call themselves godly. If God is worth serving at all, he is worth serving with zeal. Zeal according to knowledge must be as free from mock-charity and humility on the one hand as from bigotry on the other. The more men there are in the Church of the stamp of Phinehas the better. There are even harder things to be done now-a-days than to thrust javelins through shameless fornicators. It needs a pure and fervent zeal to take one s stand with the few, or even alone, against all sorts of worldly principles and practices prevailing in what ought to be God’s kingdom through Christ Jesus. When Paul withstood Peter to the face because he was to be blamed, he did something quite as hard as if he had run a javelin through him.
II. THE RESULT. The plague was stayed. A strange difference in method, is it not, from that adopted on the occasion when Moses commanded Aaron to take the censer and stand in the midst of the congregation, making atonement for them? (Num 16:46). Why was not something of this sort done now? Did Moses feel that it would be of no use, or was his tongue mysteriously stayed from the command? It is plain that Jehovah felt his honour was seriously in question. The people had actually bowed before idols. The chosen race is disintegrating within sight of the promised land. The patriotism of the theocracy is dead. The shout of a king (Num 23:21) is not met by the answering shout of confiding and grateful subjects. They have utterly forgotten that God is a jealous God (Exo 20:5). Stay I there is one man at least, and he, be it marked, in the priestly succession, who does show an adequate jealousy against these idols, so suddenly and ungratefully exalted over against Jehovah. It is the act of only one man; but the act of one man rightly moved, full of holy indignation, energy, and heroism, is enough to stem Jehovah’s wrath. Mark, it is not said that Phinehas did this in order to stop the plague. The narrative is evidently intended to convey the impression that what he did was in holy indignation at the slight put upon Jehovah. But a righteous action is never wanting in good results. The zeal of Phinehas for Jehovah stood as an atonement for the monstrous disobedience of Israel.
III. THE REWARD. The result was in itself a reward. To a man of the stamp of Phinehas it must surely have been no small joy to see the plague stayed. May we not presume that even the leaders escaped their doom, as in a most comprehensive amnesty? But there is a specified reward beside. Phinehas has shown his fitness to wear Aaron’s robes; nay, in a sense he has worn them, seeing he has made atonement. The real reward for every one faithful to his present opportunity is to enlarge his opportunity and give him more and higher service. He who has the joy of faithfulness in present and perhaps humble duties cannot have a greater joy than that of faithfulness in all of larger and more conspicuous service that may come before him. Our Lord himself, being zealous for his Father on earth (which the formal and professed custodians of the Divine honour were not), cleansing his Father’s house from profane and even unrighteous uses, was advanced to still higher service in the glorious opportunities belonging to a place at God’s right hand. Among men there is lamentable waste, humiliating and ridiculous failure, because men are so seldom proportioned to the offices they fill. The fit man in the great multitude of instances does not seem to get his chance. But in God’s service every one really gets his chance. Phinehas got his chance here. Everything depended on himself. The act was the outcome of his honest, fiery, devoted, godly heart. He had not to go to his father or to Moses, saying, “Think you I should do this thing?” If there is zeal in us, occasion will not be lacking. Phinehas had been required to show the zeal of the destroyer, and it proved to be also the zeal of the preserver. We have to be zealous for a God who is not only righteous and holy, and jealous of rivalry from any other god whatsoever, but also loving, and who desires not the death of a sinner. The zeal that can do nothing but protest, denounce, and destroy, God will never approve or reward. The becoming, fruitful, and praiseworthy zeal under the gospel is that which, following in the train of Paul, is all things to all men in order to save some.Y.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Num 25:1-2. Israel abode in Shittim, &c. A place in the plains of Moab, where they were before encamped. It is called Abel-Shittim, ch. Num 33:49 i.e. the mourning of Shittim; probably on account of the mourning for the 24,000 who died here of the plague, Num 25:9. This was the last station which the Israelites made while they remained in the wilderness; for from this place Joshua removed them, after Moses’s death, to Jordan, whence they passed over to Gilgal, Jos 3:1; Jos 4:19. Wherefore they are admonished to remember “what Balak consulted, and what Balaam answered him, from Shittim to Gilgal, that they may know the righteousness of the Lord,” Mic 6:5 that is, that they might know the goodness of God towards them, in turning Balaam’s intended curse into a blessing. But what all the inchantments and divinations of Balaam could not effect, came to pass by the rebellion of the Israelites. Here it was that the kings of Moab and Midian put in practice the advice which Balaam gave them. He counselled them to think of drawing the Israelites into some heinous offence against their God; assured that there was no possible way of getting an advantage over Israel, unless they could be first drawn into sin, that so a breach might be made between God and them. This was a kind of Machiavelian policy, shrewd and deep laid, but cursed and diabolical. This project, in a great measure, succeeded: the daughters of Moab, and of Midian (Num 25:6; Num 25:17.) entered into a correspondence with the Israelites, and soon convinced them, that there were more dangerous charms than those of magic: they possessed themselves of their hearts and souls; they invited them to the sacrifices of their gods, and made this the price of their infamous compliance. The Israelites fell into the snare; they offered their homage, without scruple, to the gods of those women whom they themselves idolized; they did eat, and bowed to their gods. See chap. Num 31:16.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
SECOND SECTION
The Threatening Apostasy through the Seductions of Idolatrous Feasts Arrested by the Zeal of Phinehas
Num 25:1-18
1And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 4And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. 5And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baal-peor.
6And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 7And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8And 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 belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
10And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 11Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake1 among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 14Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house2 among the Simeonites. 15And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.
16And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 17Vex the Midianites, and smite them: 18For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peors sake.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[Num 25:3. Yoked. , to bind, fastento come under the yoketo be subject to discipline or rule, and so to serve.A. G.]
[Num 25:8. . The archthe alcoveapplied here to the inner or rear part of the tent.A. G.]
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[Balaam had not returned to his home, although he had turned towards it. It is not necessary to suppose that after leaving Balak he went to the Israelitish camp and revealed his prophecies to Moses in the hope that he might obtain the reward which he had failed to secure from Balak. The words he returned (Num 24:25) are hardly consistent with such a supposition. And there is nothing in the mental condition of Balaam, fallen now from the heights to which he had been taken, which should have led him to seek the camp of Israel. He was evidently burning with deep hostility towards Jehovah and His people. The loss of the coveted prize inflamed his anger. Moses may have learned his prophecies through other channels, may have received them directly from God, or perhaps, as Keil supposes, Balaam may have communicated them to the Israelites or to Phinehas when he fell into their hands. On his way homewards, burning with his anger and disappointment, he falls in with the Midianites who were then dwelling upon the Moabitish highlands. And here we have the plot which his malice and cunning suggested.A. G.]
The blessing of Balaam did not shield the people from the curse to which it exposed itself immediately afterwards without any suspicion of the protection which Jehovah had given it in that blessing. On the doctrinal side, with respect to its faith, the worldly spirit found no direct access to them; now it attempts, and with great success, to approach them on the practical side, undermining its faith by corrupting its moral character and practice. This also is a story of the most primitive antiquity, ever repeating itself anew, and too little studied in the instance before us.
It is worthy of notice in the first place that the people had just returned from their last great victory in the east of Perea, and were now, in a dangerous spiritual mood resulting from their victory, encamped with their spoil in the acacia plains, seeking repose. This encampment was their Capua.
Then begins the old story of the enticing idolatrous feasts, against which the earliest statutes had warned them, Exo 23:32-33; a story which is fatally repeated through the whole Israelitish history, comes out again in a new form in the first periods of the Christian Church (2 Peter and Jude), and in the Apocalypse casts its shadow down to the very end of time. In masked forms, especially under the guise of sensual and voluptuous delights, this temptation has often, even in the Protestant Church, wrought destructive results, e. g., in the army of Henry the IV.; among the Huguenots generally; among the Hungarian Protestants; at the court of the last of the Stuarts, and at many other times and places.
But in such cases the evil, the moral contagion, starts with the great, rather than with the humble, and this is strikingly exemplified in the present narrative. As the wrath of God broke out against Israel and revealed itself in its peculiar power and results, in impending death, in a terrible pestilence, then spake Jehovah to Moses, Take all the heads of the people (those who have been leaders in the sin) and hang them up before the Lord against the sun.Moses intended substantially the same thing when in other terms he said to the judges: Slay ye every man his men that were joined unto Baal-Peor.Just then occurs the most glaring example of the sin. Zimri, a prince of the tribe of Simeon, leads his paramour, a Midianitish princess, with shameless impudence, into his tent, in the presence of all the people. How much less guilty the common people were, in comparison with such effrontery, appears from the fact stated, that all the people who saw the outrage were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. Moses himself seems to have been confounded.
Nothing less than the exercise of a holy burning zeal, such as came upon Phinehas, could have stayed the tide of corruption. It is useless here to attempt to trace back to a definite statute or institution the zealot right which appears here in its strongest form. It wells up from the depths of the theocratic life, as a primitive form of police, having its precedent in the judgment exercised upon the more guilty offenders at the worship of the golden calf, and its analogies in the arbitrary exercise of justice, now in the vehme courts, now in lynch-law, etc. In Israel Zealotism was the complement of the law in its practical aspect, as Urim and Thummim were the complement of prophecy. There was here also a priestly basis and support. Phinehas was the son of Eleazar, the successor of Aaron. His heroic act confirmed to him the inheritance of his priesthood. The energetic character of his deed comes out in the strongest light in the text. This act was accepted as the decisive, satisfactory atonement of the collective guilt of the people. The plague was stayed.As the Israelites had before determined upon a later war of revenge against the king of Arad, so now Moses resolves to be avenged upon the Midianites. The breach between the easily deluded Israel, and this dangerous neighboring people, should be made sure and lasting.
There is moreover a very remarkable delicacy in the narrative, in omitting any allusion here to the instigator of the temptation. The great villain and his villanous deed, lies deeply concealed in the background, and the story leaves him in his concealment for the present, because it is concerned mainly to bring out the fact that the people, or rather the heads of the people, are chargeable for the sin. It knows nothing now of any sentimental palliation of their conscious guilt; but the demoniacal wickedness of the tempter, and the judgment which overtook him are related later, and from thence onward in all the theocratic tradition, he is the great type of such seducers. We may perhaps regard it as a consoling truth, that while retribution was so long delayed, while his godless villany lay hidden for so long a period, yet judgment overtakes him at last.
Balaam appears moreover to have reached the Moabites, through the mediation of the nomadic Midianites lying upon the borders of Moab. The Midianites accordingly form the connecting link between Israel and Moab; but the princes of Moab obviously consecrate their own daughters to the work of seduction.
Num 25:1. Shittim.An abbreviation for Abelshittim, see Num 22:1, a part of the plains of Moab in the direction of Palestine, Jos 2:1; Jos 3:1. It does not appear from the text that the fall of the people began with carnal lewdness. It began apparently with the invitation from the daughters of Moab to attend the sacrificial feasts of their gods. [The in the text, in its position and form, intimates that the invitation came from the daughters of Moab. And this is explicitly stated in the following verse. They, the daughters of Moab, called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods, the gods of those who extended the invitation. It is the usual process in the falls of Israel.A. G.]. Sins of the flesh and the falling away to idolatrous service were the results. But both sins are bound up in the one conception of whoredom. The prostitution, the selling as it were of human personality, follows upon the concessions of the personality of God. [The acacia and palm groves, with their shade, gave a welcome retreat after these long wanderings in the barren desert, and the sore struggles through which they had passed.A. G.]
Num 25:3. Baal-peor.Lascivious rites were widely spread and prevalent in Babylonia and Syria. See Knobel. [Also article Baal in Smiths Bible Dictionary.A. G.]. It was Baal, especially as he was worshipped at Peor, with lustful practice (hence Baal is sometimes called Peor). Beth-Peor, Deu 3:29; Deu 4:46. He was a Moabitish Priapus, in honor of whom virgins and women prostituted themselves. As the god of war he was called Chemosh, Keil. We distinguish in the same divinity between the god of fortune and the god of misfortune, thus: the first was worshipped with voluptuous sacrifices, the latter with human sacrificesMoloch-sacrifices. And the anger of the LORD was kindled. See Exo 4:24; Psalms 90.
Num 25:4. After the destructive pestilence had broken out among the people, Jehovah Himself appoints the first remedy. According to Knobel, whom Keil follows here, the heads of the people are only called out in order to hang the guilty ones among them. The whole narrative will thus lose its very nerve and substance, and surely this can scarcely be the true interpretation of . All the heads of the people must clearly refer only to the guilty: but these are to be discriminated by the judges. Hang them up before the LORD (as a curse-offering) against the sun.There were two principal modes of Oriental hanging. The one was fatal in its operationa literal crucifixionwhich however divided itself again into two kinds; nailing and impalement. In the other the criminals were slain first, and then fastened to a pole for exhibition or atonement, so that the impalement or crucifixion was only an aggravation of the capital punishment, like the burning in Lev 20:14, and the hanging in Deu 21:22. The rendering of the Sept. and Vulg. is and suspendere. Keil.
[Knobel: Crucifixion was a mode of capital punishment in use among the nations of antiquity, and could not have been strange to the Hebrews; but among the older Hebrews rarely if ever, except in the suspending of the dead corpse as an aggravation of the punishment. Against the sun, i. e., publicly not in concealment. It was a public and shameful exhibitionas if the heaven and the earth were both unwilling to receive themand therefore added to the severity of the punishment. Before the Lord: not merely as sinners against Him, and hence in His presence, but as the preposition means to Himas a satisfaction to Him, to appease His wrath.A. G.].
Num 25:5. Keil says: This command of Moses to the judges was not carried out because the matter took a different turn. He adds, however, later, twenty-four thousand were killed by the plague. The Apostle Paul gives the number that fell as twenty-three thousand, probably from a traditional interpretation of the schools, that one thousand out of the twenty-four, perished by the judges, and only twenty-three thousand fell by the plague literallyto whom alone Paul refers. We must make a distinction also between the execution of the guilty generally, and the hanging up against the sun, the latter sentence being inflicted only upon the criminals of higher stations, and for purposes of intimidation.
[Slay ye every one his man.There is a reference to the local or tribal courts which existed even then. The judges were severally to execute the sentence upon the guilty belonging to his jurisdiction. Hirsch: The Jewish court had no right to intervene unless upon a public accusation. There need not be, however, any official public accuser. The whole people virtually occupied that position. Any two men might arrest the criminal and bring him before the court, and demand a punishment according to the offence. But as in cases like this, in which there is a wide and public apostacy, these steps were not taken, perhaps could not betherefore God Himself lets His anger flame against Israelassumes the responsibility and exercises the functions of the judge.A. G.].
Num 25:6-9. He leads her before the eyes of Israel into the female apartment of his tent. Phinehas pierced both of them through in the very act. The original will scarcely admit any other view, and the deviations from it among the Rabbins are untenable. [Keil: Upon this act of Phinehas and later examples of Samuel (1Sa 15:33) and Mattathias (1Ma 2:24), the later Jews erected the so-called Zealot-right, according to which any one, even though not qualified by his official position, possessed the right, in cases of any daring contempt of the theocratic institutions, or any daring violation of the honor of God, to execute vengeance upon the criminals. See Buddeus de jure zelotarum apud Heb. 1699. Kurtz, Geschich. des A. B. reminds us however that Phinehas as an actual priest and designated successor to the High Priest, had an official position, that Moses command to slay the transgressors had already been issued, that the circumstances were extraordinary, the boldness of the crime, the great interests, even the highest good imperilled, justified his assumption of authority, and his consecration to his judicial act. It would be very strange to construe such an act, by such a person, under such circumstances, into a precedent for irregular acts of zeal.A. G.].
Num 25:10-12. is not zeal for me, but my zeal, the zeal of Jehovah, with which Phinehas was filled, and impelled to put the daring sinners to death, Keil. The zeal of Jehovah manifested itself in the plague. Here the zeal of Phinehas for Jehovah is exalted according to its real merit. [Hath turned my wrath away. He made an atonement for the children of Israel. and covered, or was for a covering. Bible. Com.: The signal example thus made by Phinehas of a leading offender, was accepted by God as an expiation, and the exterminating wrath which had gone out against the whole people was arrested. I give him my covenant of peace.Give or fulfil. The covenant granted to Phinehas consisted in the fact that an eternal priesthood (i. e., the eternal possession of the priesthood) was secured to him; not for himself alone, but for his descendants also as a covenant, i. e., in a covenant or irrevocable form, since God never breaks a covenant that He has made. In accordance with this promise the high priesthood which passed from Eleazar to Phinehas continued in his family, with the exception of a brief period from Eli to David, until the typical priesthood of Aaron was merged into the actual priesthood of Christ. Keil. The covenant of peace, because it is only through the priesthood and its atoning sacrifices that peace between God and the sinful world can be established, as it was through the act of Phinehas, by which Gods right was vindicated and established in Israel, that His wrath was stayed, and peace restored.A. G.].
Num 25:14-15. Zimri was a prince out of the chief house of the tribe of Simeon, but the father of the Midianitish woman Cozbi was the head of several tribes, and of a chief house in Midian, and is called king, and numbered among the five kings of Midian who were slain by the Israelites, Num 31:8.
Num 25:16-18. Cozbi their sister.The repetition is emphatic, the clauses form a climax. It was an extreme case of the grossest outrage that Cozbi, a Midianitish princess, the sister of the people, i. e., of their chiefs, should herself be led in clear sunlight, into the sacred camp, to glorify lust, and render it an act of service or worship. [Baumgarten: Moses was commanded to vex the Midianites in order that the practical zeal of Phinehas against sin, by which expiation had been made for the guilt, might be adopted by all the nation.A. G.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
The history of the fall and sin of Israel through its participation in the idolatrous festivals of the Midianitish gods, can scarcely be too strongly emphasized, in its significance for the Christian history of the Church and world. Its particular features are, 1. The stealthy diabolical counsel of Balaam to destroy the people of the faith by beguiling them into lascivious worship, and worldly lusts and passions generally. This fiendish method has played a larger part in secret than has ever found publicity in history, poisoning individual characters, and whole nations. 2. The dangerous situation of Israel, as it is encamped in the acacia groves and celebrates its victories. 3. The alluring invitation to the idolatrous festivals and sacrifices. 4. The evil example of the great, and of the upper class in general. The fearful result of the enticement and sin of Israel, appears morally in a lapse from the faith and its pure morality, and physically in the outgrowth of deadly pestilences. On the other hand these offences call out in unexampled vigor the spirit of zeal, the primal source and type of all moral police, as it has celebrated its triumphs in Florence, Geneva and elsewhere. Such acts of moral defence and safety must be broadly distinguished from deeds of fanaticism; although the flame rarely begins without smoke. Generally we have here the primitive type of that ever returning freeing of the kingdom of God from all antinomianism, from all libertinism in the great, and all hypocrisy in the small, from all mingling of holiness with glittering fleshly lusts, and from all mingling of hallowed festal service, with seductive and corrupting feasts. The name Cozbi has especially furnished a basis for a long catalogue of sister names, who, like the Jezebel of the Apocalypse, have wrought fatal mischief in both worldly and spiritual circles.
[The history shows that the curse causeless never comes. Gods people are safe from the curse unless they bring it upon themselves. They never experience it unless they have practically renounced God and His law. The floodgates are open, then, and nothing but a vindicated divine right will stem the tide.A. G.].
HOMILETICAL HINTS
The enticement of Israel through the idolatrous Midianitish festivals. An old and new story. Cozbi a type of the historical and corrupting woman. The zeal of Phinehas or the distinction between religious and fanatical zealotism. The idolatrous Midianitish festivals, a lasting warning for Christendom. A warning also against the mingling of religious devotion with the sexual life, characteristic of some sects. The twofold correction of the divine righteousness for the Midianitish excesses. The plague or the pestilence, and the sword of Phinehas. How often may the judicial sword hinder or remove a pestilence. [Henry: We have here: 1. The sin of Israel. 2. Its punishment by the hand of the magistrate and by the immediate hand of God. 3. The zeal of Phinehas in slaying the impudent offenders. 4. Gods commendation of his zeal; and 5. The enmity put between the Israelites and the Midianites their tempters, as at first between the woman and the serpent. The heads of the people who were guilty are first slain. Ringleaders in sin ought to be made examples of justice. Zimris sin was a daring affront: 1. To the justice of the nation, and bid defiance to that. 2. To the religion of the nation, and put contempt upon that. In the face of the command to stay the criminals, and while the congregation were weeping at the door of the tabernacle. It was also a bold affront against God. Since it was committed while the plague was raging. God will surely deal with those who do the devils work in tempting men to sin.A. G.].
Footnotes:
[1]Marg. with my zeal.
[2]Marg. house of a father.
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
A melancholy relation is contained in this Chapter. The children of Israel fall into idolatry. The LORD’S visitation in a way of judgment follows. Phinehas distinguisheth himself amidst the general corruption in his zeal for the LORD’S honor, and is solemnly blessed of GOD for it.
Num 25:1
Reader! pause over this verse and seriously reflect, what various foes the LORD’S Israel in all ages have to contend with. Neither Balaam’s curse nor Balak’s sword could hurt Israel, but their own lusts did more injury than both. What hath not the sensual passions of the heart accomplished! It was a saying of one of the ancient fathers, LORD, keep me from that evil man, myself. Depend upon it we have more to fear from our own corrupt passions, than from the malice of all our enemies. And more cause to suspect danger from a smiling, than from a frowning world. But let the Reader recollect what Scripture tells us concerning Balaam, it was from his advice that Balak sent his enticing women to seduce Israel, and cast the stumbling block of iniquity before them. Rev 2:14 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
IX
ISRAEL’S SIN AND PHINEHAS’ ACT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND OTHER THINGS
Numbers 25-36
The twenty-fifth chapter of Numbers on many accounts is one of the most remarkable chapters of the Old Testament. In its notable character it is equal to the chapters on Balaam. Here are the children of the Promised Land with their pilgrimage ended. They have reached the banks of the Jordan. They are encamped there just over against Jericho. Nothing to do but go over and possess the land when God tells them. Just at this time Balak, the king of Moab, brings Balaam to curse them by divinations. Having failed in that, he makes the horrible suggestion that the Moabitish and Midianitish women be used as instrumentalities to cause Israel to sin and go into idolatry. Among the women mentioned was a princess, daughter of one of the five kings of Midian. They did what they did under the prompting of their religious instruction and they succeeded.
Very many of the people were seduced from their allegiance to God and not only sinned in a bodily respect but sinned in idolatrous worship and the heads of the people did not interfere to stop it. A plague went out from God on account of it. Moses, discovering the fearful demoralization of the people, gives the commandment that all the heads of the tribes shall be hanged up, either for active participation in this matter or for not using their authority to repress this very great disloyalty to God. It is as when a regiment has rebelled through connivance of its officers. There is the responsibility of leadership in a case of this kind and in military matters any officer, no matter bow high his grade, who would stand idle and see his troops go into rebellion without an effort to stay it, would be shot by the most summary process of court martial.
So Moses commands the leaders to be killed and hung up in the sight of the people. Whoever was hanged on a tree was accursed. Having disposed of the chiefs, he ordered the judges, you remember when two sets of seventy were appointed to help Moses in administrative and judicial affairs, to put to death every man who had committed a sin in that way. But the plague did not stop, though the chiefs of the nation were hanging on a tree, all the judges punishing every man with death, all the people weeping before the tabernacle. “But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe.”
Just at this time a son of one of the princes of the tribes comes openly into the camp with a princess of one of the five kings of Midian, in the sight of Moses and Eleazar; in sight of the weeping people; in full view of the dead hanging up and others dying, and brings his irreligious debauchery right into the very presence of God. Whereupon Phinehas, son of Eleazar, without command from anyone, without being especially appointed officer, in his holy wrath for God’s sake and bearing in his heart that indignation against sin that God bears, and God says of him, “Having my zeal,” takes a spear and goes into the tent and thrusts both of them through and kills them.
The most remarkable part of the transaction is in what God says. He uses language just like he uses when he said Abraham believed in Jehovah and it was counted to him for righteousness. As Abraham’s faith was counted to him for righteousness, the zeal of Phinehas so perfectly expressed God’s wrath against sin that it is reckoned unto him for eternal righteousness.
But that is not the strangest part of it, but that this display through Phinehas of the wrath of God against sin made an atonement for his sin. You strike a use of the word “atonement” there which stalls the commentators and theological seminary professors. Offhand I am going to give you my explanation of it. It is the most remarkable scripture in the Bible. Surely atonement for sin cannot be made which does not placate the wrath of God against sin.
A good many sentimentalist preachers tell you that the sole object of Christ’s work was to reconcile men to God, that God was already reconciled and did not have to be placated. This scripture is unquestionably the strongest in the Bible to show that Christ’s sacrifice was both toward God and toward men, toward God in that the sinner’s bodily and spiritual death for sin took place and otherwise there could have been no atonement. Hence Phinehas, in a very high sense, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The everlasting priesthood is promised to him. The covenant of peace is promised to him.
When we come to the study of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will see an expression in the casting out of the money-changers from the temple, where Jesus takes a scourge and scourges out of God’s house those who are defiling that house, whereupon it is stated that the scripture was fulfilled, “The zeal for thy house shall eat me up.” Such a shame against the sanctity of that house must be punished or it can never be forgiven. There must be a penal sanction to law. We see it repeated again when he comes to cleanse the temple the second time, and then when he comes to die that death of the cross, under the wrath of God, forsaken of the Father, unsaved from the sword of divine justice, unsaved from the lion, Satan, who goeth about to devour, unsaved from the bite of the serpent, that is, to placate by expiation the death penalty of sin. Now, Phinehas could in a typical way represent that.
What was the use for these people to come there and weep before the tabernacle with such an impious, presumptuous, daring sin committed right in the presence of God and nobody rebuking it? It wouldn’t do simply to hang a few of the officers. It wouldn’t do for the judges to put one or two, here and there, to death. There had to be some signal, sudden, utter display of divine wrath and that was furnished by Phinehas. If Phinehas had had a motive that was not exactly correspondent to God’s idea of wrath against sin, he would have been a murderer.
The only trouble about it is that men began to imagine long afterwards that they stood in the place of Phinehas and could kill those whom they thought to be violators of the law, and with inferior motives and without an express sanction of God, they committed sin. The case of Phinehas in that respect stands alone. Samuel, when he hacked to pieces the king, David when he said that the seven sons of Saul must be hanged on a tree to make atonement, represent somewhat the idea But it is not said with reference to them that it was imputed to them for righteousness.
In the case of Jesus, instead of striking the sinner that committed the sin, Jesus let God strike him after the sinner’s sins had been put on him. “Save me from the sword; save me from the lion. If it be possible let this cup pass from me, but nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me?” There never could have been any forgiveness of sin that was not based upon a penal sanction. The justice of God must be vindicated in some way. People will tell you that you are not punished because you have sinned but to keep other people from sinning. But sin is demerit and merits death. “The wages of sin is death.” And that death must come to the sinner himself, or it must come to the one upon whom his transgressions have been laid. See Psa 106:28-31 .
We turn now to Numbers 26-27 and include with them Num 36 . In this case you have the second numbering of the people. They are just ready to enter the Holy Land, and with the exception of the death of Moses, which came as a result of another principle, there is fulfilled the death threatened to all the grown men that came out of Egypt. This great sin committed on the banks of the Jordan was by the new generation and 24,000 of them perished in the plague. They did not number quite so many as in the first enumeration; then 603,550, now only 601,730. The only thing worthy of mention you can do for yourself. Take the numbers for each tribe as given in the two enumerations and put them down opposite each other. Some you will find have increased. The tribe of Simeon with others has fearfully decreased. You have the reason, viz.: this tribe suffered more than any other in this plague.
This enumeration is not merely for war, but the basis of the land allotment. The tribe which has the most men will get the most land. The daughters of a certain man who died want to know if their name is to perish in Israel and they are to be without inheritance. They are to have their father’s inheritance, and in Num 36 it shows how to safeguard the father’s part of the inheritance to the tribe, by permitting them to marry only in their own tribe.
In this chapter is the announcement to Moses that on account of his sin he is to die. He asks that a successor be appointed and Joshua is appointed. We come to the Numbers 28-29, which are upon one point unlike any other chapters. While they refer to a great many things in the previous books of Exodus and Leviticus, there is nothing like those two chapters anywhere else. They commence at the beginning of the year and show what offerings are to be made day by day, week by week, moon by moon, year by year, seventh year by seventh year, and Jubilee by Jubilee. These chapters constitute the basis of the poem of Keble, “The Christian Year,” as it is called by the Episcopalians, derived from the Old Testament, a matter that Paul condemns thus in the letter to the Colossians: “Ye observe months, days, weeks, seasons; touch not, taste not, handle not.” God nailed all that system to the cross of Christ.
The only thought in Num 30 that needs to be dwelt on is the bringing up of the vow question again. If a daughter makes a vow before she has attained to full age, it cannot be exacted of her, if her father does not sanction it. A wife cannot make a vow without her husband’s sanction. This chapter discusses the principle upon which the exceptions are made, and you can read it.
Num 31 is devoted to the war against Midian. God commanded Moses to make a holy war against Midian, who, acting on the suggestion of Balaam, had through their chief women brought about this great sin, when Israel had committed no provocation. This war is unlike other wars because of the number. Only 1,000 men from each tribe, or 12,000, are sent out to conduct the war. A priest, not a general, commands them. They suffer no loss. The destruction wrought is God’s destruction. God has condemned Midian for their awful sin and they are smitten. The spoils of the war are devoted to God because it was God’s war, not man’s. Everybody that looks at it will say that it was God’s war.
As they were encamped by the Jordan and ready to pass over, it was intensely important that they leave the rear safe. Midian is smitten clear to the Euphrates. Sihon and Og had been destroyed and Moab and Ammon and Edom are incapable of war. A vast portion of territory lying on the east of the Jordan is captured. That brings us to Num 32 . This captured land is the best pasturage in the whole country; two tribes and a half express the desire that they be allotted that eastern portion. Moses is very indignant because he understands that they mean this, that while the whole nation has captured this territory these tribes propose to stay over here and leave the other tribes to capture the remainder of the country. But they explain that they simply wanted to safeguard their women and children and villages and send their army on across the Jordan to fight with the others. So the allotment is made to Reuben, Gad, and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh.
In Num 33 there is only one thing to which your attention needs to be called. That chapter is devoted to the whole itinerary from Egypt to the Jordan. God tells Moses to impress one fact upon the minds of the people: “No terms can be made with these inhabitants of the land, for the territory was originally yours when the division was made in the days of Peleg, after the flood. But they took possession of the country.” God has not cast them out because their iniquity was not full. But their iniquity is full now and they are going to be cast out and “you are the executors of the divine will and if you leave corners around I give you warning that they will be thorns in your side forever. When you make war they will rise up in your rear. When you relax in watchfulness, they will lead you into sin.”
I preached a sermon on that once, in which I took the matter spiritually thus: Take a Christian who is regenerated, but he stops trying to expel the old inhabitants. He says, “I am all right if I am a Christian. That is enough.” He does not continue his war against the sinful nature. A large part of him he does not seek to bring under subjection through sanctification. Then he is going to have a thorn in the flesh. Say you take an occasional spree. Whenever you quit making a fight on the lower nature, you are going to be badly fooled. By careful analysis anyone can find out his weak point. Woe to the man who does not make war on that besetting sin. I do not say he will be lost in hell, but he will get some hard falls and be badly hurt.
Num 34 is devoted to a description of the border. You can take a map and trace it out. No particular skill is required.
Num 35 is devoted to two points well worthy of special study. It is a provision for the forty-eight Levite cities who were to have no part of the land for an inheritance, and also for the six cities of refuge; three east of the Jordan and three west. You ought carefully to note the purpose of these cities of refuge and how the roads are to be kept open.
QUESTIONS
1. Having failed to turn Jehovah against Israel by divination, how did Balaam turn Israel against Jehovah?
2. What penalty did Jehovah visit upon them and how many died?
3. What two efforts were made to stay the plague and the results?
4. What act of presumption was committed just at this time, the act of Phinehas and the result?
5. Expound the remarkable reference to Phinehas and particularly bring out the atonement idea in connection with his zeal.
6. Give result of second census. How many tribes had fewer than at first? Why the great difference in the tribe of Simeon?
7. What question came up respecting Zelophehad’s daughters and how settled?
8. Give the law of inheritance in Israel.
9. What announcement here made to Moses and his request?
10. What specially qualified Joshua for this place?
11. Describe the ceremony of the appointment and what the signification of the laying on of hands?
12. Try your hand on forming the calendar for the Jewish Holy Year.
13. What exceptions here to the law of vows previously given?
14. The war against Midian the character of it, why made, how unlike other wars and what was done with the spoils?
15. Give an account of the settlement of the territory east of the Jordan.
16. What terms were they to make with the inhabitants of the land?
17. What was the penalty for violating this command?
18. What right did the Israelites have thus to deal with the inhabitants?
19. Apply the case of these people in their new relation to the individual Christian.
20. Bound the Land of Canaan as promised to Israel. (See Atlas.)
21. What provision was made for the Levites in the land?
22. How many cities of refuge? Name and locate them. What was their purpose?
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Num 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Ver. 1. To commit whoredom. ] By the wicked counsel of Balaam, who knew well, that no one means hath more enriched hell than beautiful faces, and therefore taught Balak to lay this stumblingblock before the children of Israel; and is therein held by some to have sinned against the Holy Ghost. Howsoever he goes out in a stench, as it is usually said of his master the devil.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
abode: i.e. till after Moses’ death. Compare Jos 2:1; Jos 3:1, and see Mic 6:5.
Shittim. Called Abel-shittim in Num 33:49.
with = to (Hebrew. ‘el). Requiring the supply of the Ellipsis “to join themselves to”, from Num 25:3.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 25
AND Israel was abiding there in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people into the sacrifices of their gods ( Num 25:1-2 ):
You see they got the young guys and come on and go with me to the sacrifice of my god.
and the people did eat, and they bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor ( Num 25:2-3 ):
Or the lord of Peor. Peor was the name of the mountain there.
and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all of the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel ( Num 25:3-4 ).
In other words cut off the heads of these guys that are doing it, hang them up in the sun that my anger might be turned away.
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Slay every one of his men that were joined to Baalpeor ( Num 25:5 ).
Every man that joined in those rights.
And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation ( Num 25:6 ).
Here these guys were weeping and repenting before God for what was done and here comes this guy in with a prostitute right there where they could all see him, into his tent all excited and all.
And so Phinehas, the son of Eleazar ( Num 25:7 ),
He actually was the grandson of Aaron.
When he saw it, he jumped up, and grabbed his javelin; and went over to the tent, and thrust the guy through, and the woman through, both of them in their tent. And so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. But those that died of the plague were twenty-four thousand ( Num 25:7-9 ).
So Balaam was successful in bringing a curse in a secondary way. And by his advice to the king he laid a stumbling block before God’s people. So that when Moab was conquered and the Midianites were conquered and they were slain, Balaam was slain with them.
Now God said because of Phinehas’ heroic deeds and righteous deeds in the killing of these people, this man and this woman he said,
I’m going to give to Phinehas the son peace: [and the priesthood will come through his family.] the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and he made the atonement for the children of Israel ( Num 25:12-13 ).
And so it gives us the name of the man and the woman who was of the tribe of Simeon.
Chapter 26
Now in chapter twenty-six we again have the tribes numbered off. Now remember this is at the end of the forty years of wandering. At the beginning of the forty years of wandering they numbered the tribes and now the end of the forty years of wandering they number the tribes again. And it is interesting to compare the number of people at the beginning and at the end. And actually there’s a total loss of people of about two thousand, approximately two thousand less at the end of the forty years wandering. But some of the tribes, they were really wiped out, quite really decimated; others actually grew in number through the wilderness wanderings.
Towards the end of the chapter in verse fifty-nine we get a little history of Moses’ family. His father’s name was Amrams; his mother’s was Jochebed. She had three children; Moses, Miriam and Aaron. And it gives you a little history of Aaron’s family, the two sons again that died; Nadab and Abihu who offered the strange fire before the Lord. And now that generation has passed away, there’s no one left accept for Moses, of course, is still alive and Joshua and Caleb. But all of those who came out of Egypt who were twenty years old or older have now all died with the exception of these three men. Moses is soon to die before they go into the land.
Chapter 27
Chapter twenty-seven, we have the beginning of a woman’s lib organization.
Then there came the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher ( Num 27:1 ),
Now what had happened is that the dad had seven daughters but no sons. And as they were dividing off the land they were giving the sons the portions. The oldest son would get the portions and so forth. And so these gals said, “Hey now wait a minute. It’s not fair. We have equal rights you know, and our dad didn’t have any son. If you don’t give us any land then my father’s name will die in Israel”. So Moses said, “Well, we’ll take it before the Lord”. So the Lord said, the Lord says, “These gals are right. Give them the inheritance of the family”. And so, they won their case and the daughters of Zelophehad received the inheritance.
And so, God’s with you gals and He’s looking after ya and you got a just cause. But unfortunately these radical women are taking it far beyond God’s, you know, there is that which is right but then there is that taking it beyond and far beyond what God ever intended. So balance is such an important thing.
So he gave the law then of the inheritance. If there is no son then it goes to the daughters. If there are no daughters or sons then it goes to a man’s brothers. If he has no brothers then it will go to his father’s brothers. And if his father has no brothers then it comes to the next of kin, whoever is closest in the family to him.
Now the LORD said to Moses, Get up to the mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given the to children of Israel. And when you have seen it, there also you will be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered. For you rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to properly represent me at the water before their eyes: that is the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin ( Num 27:12-14 ).
So Moses, get up the mountain, you get to look at the land but then you’re gonna die. You’re not gonna be able to go in because of your misrepresenting of me there at the water of Meribah, the waters of strife.
Moses said unto the LORD, Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation ( Num 27:15-16 ),
Now this is an interesting little verse,
“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation.”
From this little verse, the Mormons have developed their whole doctrine of the eternal spirit of men. That you actually existed in heaven, your spirit existed there in heaven and then God made a body for you and put your spirit in it to see whether or not you would-could become a god by becoming a Mormon. And you have no memory of your pre-existence in heaven but all of you pre-existence in heaven as spirits but there is no way of telling up there whether or not you would be a good or bad, so he put you in a body and let you prove yourself down here. And if you become a good Mormon, wear your underwear and all then you will be god. And you and your wives that are sealed to you can go to some planet and you can have your own little kingdom that you can watch over and you’ll be god over that planet and you can develop it however you want-wish and so forth.
So, that whole doctrine comes out of this one little verse. I really don’t see it in this verse. “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh,” but it doesn’t say anything about the spirits pre-existing with God being in heaven before or anything; He’s just the God of the spirits of all flesh.
set a man over the congregation, which may go before them, which may lead them out, which may bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD will not be like a sheep, like sheep without a shepherd. And so the LORD said to Moses, Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him; And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before the congregation; and give him charge in their sight. And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all of the children of Israel may be obedient. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of the Urim before the LORD ( Num 27:16-21 ):
Now the Urim was a little thing that the priest wore, a little pouch of some kind, that they sought counsel from God through the use of the Urim and the Thummim. Lights and perfections is what the words Urim and Thummim mean. And some believe that they were just a little pouch and one had a white stone and a black stone and that when they would ask the Lord a question the priest would say, “Now God, show us which one” and he would pull out a stone. If it was the white stone, God would say yes, then they would ask the next question. And you know, they’d mix up the stones and you’d pull a stone again and they would get yes-no answers. So it’s sort of a twenty-one question kind of a thing where you get yes-no answers to then ascertain the will of the Lord. Now, God had a more direct relationship with Moses. God said, “Hey, there’s no one like this before after where I really speak to the fellow sort of face to face,” I mean direct speaking, a very powerful way.
Now Joshua who is to lead the people, he is to come before Eleazar the priest who will inquire of the Lord in questions. David so often would go to the priest, inquire “Should we go into battle against them?” and then “What time of the day should we start the battle?” And they would ask all of these questions of God in order to determine the will of the Lord. And it was oftentimes determined by the priest inquiring and by the use of the Urim, these lights and perfection. So just what the Urim and Thummim actually is, is not told to us. That’s what people surmise what it was, but exactly we don’t know. Surely it wasn’t a pair of glasses by which you could read hieroglyphics when you put them on. Hocus pocus.
So Moses did as the LORD commanded him: he took Joshua, set him before Eleazar, and before all the congregation: he laid his hands upon him, and gave him the charge of the LORD, as he was commanded ( Num 27:22-23 ).
So he brought Moses laid his hand-I mean Joshua, laid his hands upon him and signifying that Joshua was now to begin to take Moses’ place as the leader of the people.
Chapter 28
The twenty-eighth chapter God sort of reiterates some of the commandments concerning the sacrifices. Every day they were to offer-every day of the year they were to offer two lambs as a sacrifice to the Lord, one lamb in the morning, one lamb in the evening; one during the morning oblations or prayers, another during the evening oblations or prayers. And so twice a day at least, there were these two lambs that were offered and the smoke would go up with the prayers of the people as a sweat smelling incense before the Lord. And they would offer daily in the morning and evening a lamb. That was just a daily-and every day of the year this would occur.
However, on the first day of the month, then they were to offer more animals on the first day of every month. They were to offer two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs of the first year without spot. And then they were-and the Passover time to offer the animals, the goats and all, in the Passover time. And then also for the first fruits or Pentecost he gives them the orders of the animals that were to be offered during that period.
So chapter twenty-eight deals with the sacrifices, the types of animals, the type of drink offerings and meal offerings that were to be offered to God daily and then annually on special occasions. And so, just sort of the repetition of some of the earlier commands that we had in Leviticus. Just sort of reinforcing that which he commanded earlier. So next week we’ll finish the book of Numbers as we get into chapter twenty-nine and we’ll begin there and finish the book of Numbers next week.
Shall we stand. “God is so good. God is so good. God is so good, He’s so good to me. Jesus is real. Jesus is real. Jesus is real, He’s so real to me. He saved my saved soul. He saved my soul. He saved my soul, and He made me whole. I praise his name. I praise his name. I praise His name, He’s so good to me.”
I realize that some of you may have come to church tonight in order that you might get saved and that’s a good idea. And so you can go back to the prayer room at this time and some of the pastors will go back there and meet with you and pray with you and lead you into a real relationship with Jesus Christ. If you came tonight in order that you might get saved, don’t get disappointed and don’t go home without being saved. So just go on back to the prayer room at this time as soon as we’re dismissed and the pastors will meet with you there.
May God bless you and just give you a beautiful week. May you experience really, the living presence of the living God within your life. Not needing any relics, but just be conscience of the nearness of God and of God’s great love wherein He loves you. He loves you so much that he doesn’t see anything wrong with you. Isn’t that neat? Man, that’s more than my wife loves me and she loves me an awful, awful lot. Oh, so glorious to be walking with the Lord and serving Him. May God just fill your life with joy, praises and thanksgiving all week long. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
The influence of Balaam is revealed in what is now recorded. The words of Jesus in His letter to the Church at Pergamum, quoted in our last note, are closely connected with the statement with which this chapter opens. “The people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab: for they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods; and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.”
This action would appear to have been one of simple neighborliness.
Tarrying in the vicinity of the Moabites, they attended their sacrifices and bowed down at their worship.
In doing this they were violating the principle of Balaam’s first vision of them as a people dwelling alone. It was an act of rebellion against God and so a corruption of the Covenant.
The account of the action of Phinehas the priest is a revelation of how one man in loyalty to God and jealous for His honor may stand against the false attitude of a people. Phinehas dared to refuse to take part in these false conventionalities and visited with immediate and terrible punishment the two notorious wrongdoers. His action stayed the plague and saved the nation.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
the Zeal of Phinehas against Impurity
Num 25:1-18
Unable to curse Israel directly, Balaam suggested to Balak the device of destroying the union between Israel and their divine Protector by enticing them into sin. Once bring license and passion into play, and let the seductions of evil prevail, and surely the holiness of God would compel Him to withdraw His protection! This was a diabolical suggestion to gain his wage. See Rev 2:14.
The women of the land, notorious for their wantonness, seduced the men of Israel to join in the sensual rites of their worship. All did not fall into this sin. See Deu 4:3-4. But it brought terrible chastisement on the offenders, 1Co 10:8. You must amputate a gangrened limb.
For Phinehas, see Mal 2:4, etc. Let us come out of the world, cleansing ourselves from its filthiness! 2Co 6:14, etc. There are crises when love for Gods honor demands strenuous action, which never fails, as in the case of Phinehas, of an abounding recognition, Num 25:12.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
2. Israels Sin with the Daughters of Moab: Phinehas
CHAPTER 25
1. The transgression and the anger of Jehovah (Num 25:1-5)
2. Phinehas action (Num 25:6-9)
3. Phinehas and his reward (Num 25:10-15)
4. The Midianites to be smitten (Num 26:16-18)
The sin of Israel was the result of Balaams work. He could not turn Jehovah from Israel (no enemy can), but he could turn Israel from God. While we do not read here that the fornication and idolatry into which Israel fell was Balaams work, elsewhere this information is given. See Num 31:16 and Rev 2:14. The stumbling block, which this instrument of Satan put into the way of Israel, by which they committed fornication and idolatry, were the daughters of Moab. Pergamos in the second chapter of Revelation is prophetically that period of the church which began with Constantine the Great. Then the church left the ground of separation and was wedded to the world. Spiritual fornication was committed and idolatry followed in its train. This was Satans work as much as Balaams act was. And today we see Christendom in the sad condition of Israel at Shittim. Separation is given up completely. Judgment will be visited ere long upon apostate, adulterous Christendom as it fell upon Israel. In the plague 24,000 died. In 1Co 10:8, we read, Neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. The record in Numbers speaks of a previous punishment when the heads of the transgressors were hung up before the Lord against the sun. Traditions among the Jews states that the number of those who were thus punished was a thousand, so that only 23,000 perished in the plague. In verse 9 this thousand is reckoned in, while in Corinthians they are left out.
Then followed an outrageous act of defiance (verse 6). The name of the Midianitish woman was Cozbi (my lie). By the zeal of Phinehas the people were saved from further judgment and Jehovah was glorified. He was zealous for His God and made an atonement for the children of Israel. He received for reward an everlasting priesthood. It is another type of Christ in His righteousness and holy zeal for God.
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Shittim: Num 33:49, Jos 2:1, Jos 3:1, Mic 6:5
the people: Num 31:15, Num 31:16, Ecc 7:26, 1Co 10:8
Reciprocal: Exo 23:32 – nor with Exo 34:16 – General Exo 36:20 – shittim wood Num 7:15 – General Deu 4:3 – what the 1Ki 11:2 – surely Ezr 9:1 – Moabites Psa 78:32 – they sinned Psa 106:28 – joined Pro 5:14 – General Pro 7:13 – she Pro 23:28 – increaseth Isa 2:6 – and they Isa 57:5 – Enflaming Jer 5:7 – by troops Eze 16:15 – and playedst Eze 20:21 – the children Joe 3:18 – the valley Eph 5:3 – fornication Rev 2:14 – Balaam Rev 2:20 – and to seduce
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Division 4. (Num 25:1-18; Num 26:1-65; Num 27:1-23.)
The testing in its consequences.
The fourth division is, naturally, of smaller compass than usual in the book of Numbers, which is throughout characterized by this number. In this division, it is testing in its consequences that is put before us. And this has three parts:
First, there is seen the necessity, in the high-handed departure from God that takes place, for such atonement as is made by Phinehas, -atonement to the government of God by judgment of the evil, for the zealous execution of which he gets the assurance of everlasting priesthood.
Secondly, the new numbering of the people shows how they have come through the wilderness, their increase or diminution, and God’s faithfulness to His word, whether in grace or judgment.
Thirdly, it is seen that for the realization of the inheritance Moses must give place to Joshua, -Christ personally with us to Christ in Spirit -typically what Christ declared to His disciples, when He said, “It is expedient for you that I go away; for, if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” The truth is not here that the law cannot bring us to heaven (as many think), true as, of course, this is, but one much less realized by the people of God than this; nor does Moses represent the law here. We shall speak of all this, however, better in its own place.
1. Israel abide in Shittim, no doubt, so called from its acacias; but the word literally means “things that turn aside,” as the acacias with their strong thorns do. Yet the acacia is only spoken of with commendation in Scripture, and so takes its place in the promises of blessing for the renewed earth. (Isa 41:19, Joe 3:18.) It furnishes the gum arabic of commerce, which, says Tristram, “exudes from the tree spontaneously, as I have often observed in hot weather, but is also obtained more systematically by making incisions in the bark; and the Arabs not only collect it for sale, but for food in times of scarcity. They also say that it allays thirst.” “It flourishes most in the dry beds of extinct water-courses, and where no other tree can find moisture. It is a very conspicuous feature wherever it occurs. The timber is very hard and close-grained, of a fine orange-brown color, with a darker heart, and admirably adapted for fine cabinet work.”
With so many precious reminders of Him who was indeed before God (not before man only, as so many think), “a root out of a dry ground,” the type of a life independent of circumstances and overmastering death; yielding spontaneously, yet also to the hand of violence, the precious sustenance for our souls; we can understand why the shittim-wood should furnish material for the ark, for the table of show-bread, and other furniture of the sanctuary which speak of Christ.
Yet the acacia has its thorns to guard the treasure that it carries, and such is the lesson we are to gather from it now. The resurrection-priesthood, so glorious in its efficacy for the people, as we have already seen, develops here new characters, characters which may at first seem even contradictory of the grace which has gone before, but which are not, -are only the other side of it. The priesthood of Phinehas springs from, and is the continuation of, the priesthood of Eleazar, yet is perpetuated and sustained by judgment; nay, strange as it may seem, atonement is made by judgment: “Phinehas hath turned away My wrath from over the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I consumed not the children of Israel in My jealousy. Wherefore say, ‘Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace; and it shall be unto him, and to his seed after him, a covenant of everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'”
A solemn and yet salutary theme, then, is before us. Again we see, at Shittim, the people of God in their constant liability to get away from God. They begin to give up their separation from the nations among which they are, and as this is no arbitrary thing, but needful separation from the iniquity in which these were plunged, a wild and awful license is the result. Idolatry, the degradation of God, issues (as always) in the degradation of man. “Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor, and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel.” Judgment, as is implied in this, goes forth: pestilence begins to do its deadly work, and to appease this anger the heads of the people are sentenced to be hung up to Jehovah before the sun.
But the zealous deed of an Israelite anticipates this sentence. In the midst of the outbreak of lamentation among the congregation, gathered now before Jehovah at the entrance of the tent of meeting, a man of the children of Israel shamelessly brings near before them all a Midianite woman to his tent. Now it is that the zeal of Phinehas awakes: he executes swift judgment, and God accepts this as atonement. It is God’s wrath he executes, and the wrath is stayed from Israel: the plague ceases.
Notice how, each time that Phinehas is named, his relation to Eleazar and to Aaron is insisted on. It is what man would most of all have put out of sight. Priestly intercession we understand, but execution of judgment we do not ordinarily consider priestly work: yet the connection here is emphasized. “Phinehas” means “mouth of brass,” and implies the firmness of the word of God which here he executes. So “Jesus Christ the righteous” is the title of Him who is our Advocate, -righteous, and the “propitiation for our sins.” (1Jn 2:1-2.)
Righteousness, yea, divine righteousness, was shown in the manner of His work for us; and the cross is the solemn declaration of righteous judgment upon sin. So much every Christian bows to and delights in; and herein was propitiation alone possible for us. He bare our sins, that we might not have to bear them; being borne for us we cannot bear them for ourselves. “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” is now the unchangeable word of the same righteousness of God which the cross has so fully manifested and glorified.
But if so, what is the typical meaning of the scene before us? Why is Phinehas the executor of judgment, instead of bearing it? Why is the everlasting priesthood declared his on this very account? And why, above all, does Jehovah’s own mouth declare, that in this execution of judgment he had “made atonement” for the children of Israel?
God’s Word is true and unchangeable, absolutely self-consistent throughout; and we need not fear to ask such questions. To shirk or shuffle over them would be to do grievous dishonor to His Word, and injury to our own souls. But what, then, are we to say of this certainly most exceptional aspect of atonement, by the execution of judgment, not upon a substitute for sinners, but upon the sinners themselves?
“For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,” says the apostle, “eateth and drinketh judgment* to himself; not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”
{*See Rev. Vers., 1Co 11:29, and margin of the common version.}
Note that he is writing explicitly to Christians, making no doubt of their Christianity, as we may see by his very language, “that ye should not be condemned with the world.” This means, of course, that they are not of the world. What an unscriptural and unchristian doctrine would it be, that the temporal judgments falling upon unbelievers here deliver them from final condemnation! No, assuredly; nothing but the blood of Jesus can put away sin from before God, or justify the ungodly, so that he shall not be judged forever.
The judgment spoken of here is the judgment of children, for it is children who are alone entitled to it, so that “if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? but if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” The thorn of tribulation grows for us thus on the shittah-tree: the cress it is that has procured for us a chastening so needful; and we surely see how the priest after all may have to do with it, how the work of intercession may bring it on. If we look back to that fundamental promise of God to Abram which we find in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis, there where Jehovah pledges Himself, by all the value of the sacrifice for Him, to fulfill the promise of inheritance, the emblems that represent Him in thus binding Himself are the furnace of fire and the burning lamp. This is the pledge that needful discipline shall not be wanting, where the “deep sleep” falling upon His people may require this. And to this afterward the burning bush answers, which is not consumed because God is in the fire. The Egyptian oppression was thus, on its reverse side, covenant mercy. And this is only an example of what is a constant principle of the divine ways.
And “when we are judged we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.” For though the cross is our salvation, God must be consistent with Himself. He must be holy in His ways, -must show that He cannot lightly deal with sin: His government must represent aright His character. Thus the cross cannot excuse from discipline, but secures it; as He says to Israel, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I punish you for your iniquities.”
If it is asked still how this can be called “making atonement,” we must remember how in the sixteenth chapter atonement is said to be made by the incense also, and that the Hebrew word, which is the intensive form of the verb to “cover,” is used with regard to every fresh application of atonement, as we should rather say. By his zealous action Phinehas,
in the line of the risen priesthood, as is impressed upon us here, covers the children of Israel, NOT apart from the value of that death which a risen priest implies, but rather as insisting on its value. The cross of Christ it is by which we are crucified to the world. If we do not maintain this position, God is true to it and to us in maintaining it as to us; and in respect to His government this is necessary: with regard to it this judgment covers, though only in the hands of our Phinehas could it do so.
2. (1) We have now the second numbering of the tribes, the wilderness-journey being accomplished, and in view of their speedy settlement in the land; to which the claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is evidently an appendix. This second numbering is, of course, intended also for comparison with the first, -a comparison which should furnish us with many lessons. We are dull, however, and slow in reading them;; few of us, it is to be feared, to the very last of our lives here, could give much account of the meaning of the Lord’s ways with us. There is a day coming, however, in which everything shall be told out, and its full meaning be apprehended.
The tribes come before us according to their relation to one another in their camps, the camp of Reuben, the natural first-born, being first, however, as in the former numbering, but here also Manasseh preceding Ephraim. It is accountability, not grace, that occupies us, although grace necessarily shines through all God’s dealings with His people. The relation of the tribes in their camps has important connection with their history, as we are formed so much by our associations (though in this case they are not voluntary, but ordained by God Himself) and has therefore a fitness which, in its spiritual meaning for us, we have already considered. Individual responsibility is in no wise affected by it. Let us look now at what this numbering presents to us, in contrast with the former one, and in connection with what we may find of their history elsewhere.
(a) First, REUBEN. Reuben according to his name speaks of sonship, natural rather than spiritual, and yet upon which the spiritual may be grafted. Man, as the offspring of God, is in His likeness prominently by that intelligent will, in the possession of which his responsibility is realized. By it he may degrade himself below the beast, and in yielding it to God alone he is blessed and ennobled. These lessons we have had before in connection with Reuben. (Gen 49:1-33; Num 2:1-34.) His four sons we have also briefly looked at in Exo 6:14 : Enoch -the “dedicated,” Phallu -the “separated,” Hetzron -the “enclosed,” Carmi -the “vine-dresser;” -all these are susceptible of a good meaning, although all these may be apart from fruit. They remain as permanent heads of families in the account before us, other names being added which are of great significance.
Thus the son of Phallu is Eliab -“God is Father,” -a meaning which, according to the peculiar ambiguity of these Reubenite names, may be either the claim of mere nature, forgetting the fall, or the true cry begotten of the Spirit in the heart of the child of God. That this is no mere fancy is proved by the names of those that spring from him. Dathan and Abiram have already shown us the spirit of rebellion which goes with the assumption of the merely natural claim. Nemuel, on the other side, -“circumcised of God,” -shows how, as brought to the realization of “no confidence in the flesh” (Php 3:3), we may obtain the true claim of grace, in new creation: for every child born in Israel was circumcised on the eighth day. (Gen 17:12.)
In Nemuel, then, is Reuben truly fruitful; -the promise of his name is fulfilled. And in the diminution of his numbers (from forty-six thousand, five hundred, at the beginning, to forty-three thousand, seven hundred and thirty, at the close), we may learn the loss resulting in our lives from fleshly reasoning and pretension. Let us notice, as in agreement with all that we have seen of Reuben, that he inherits Sihon’s territory, Heshbon itself being rebuilt by the men of Reuben (Num 32:37), although later it became a Levite city in the tribe of Gad. Of these things we may see more in their place.
(b) Of SIMEON it is difficult to speak with clearness. The name given him does not seem to characterize him, and Jacob does not in his prophecy as to the tribe appear to refer to it. Moses, in his blessing leaves out Simeon entirely. There is little or no history attaching to them: they seem to be found generally associated with others; in the land, with Judah; and their inheritance falls within the portion of Judah (Jos 19:1): they have no individual man of any special prominence.
All this, if put together, tells a tale, however, of its own, and it does not seem as if we could be wrong, in characterizing Simeon as the Lot among the children of Israel. Always seeking companionship, he takes the color of the company he keeps, and never attains to individuality. In the matter of Shechem, he would seem to have imbibed fierceness from Levi, who, upon another occasion and in a different spirit, still shows the unflinching determination which we see in the Hivite massacre. On the other hand, in the Midianite snare, we may easily understand them to have been deeply involved as we see, in fact, that it is the conduct of a prince of Simeon that rouses the zeal of Phinehas. Association is the bane all through, a spirit of dependence which seeks help, not of God, but man; and which, while it may give them a transient appearance of prosperity, in the result shows itself as disastrous. In the beginning of their wilderness history they are fifty-nine thousand three hundred strong, third among all the tribes; but at the end they are but twenty-two thousand two hundred, absolutely the weakest of all. Nor do they ever after come into prominence: no name of note occurs among them; hasty maturity, as so often, has passed into a long decay, which, as far as history goes, is final, although it cannot avail against the grace which gives Simeon his place at last in the revived nation.
Of this grace of God, in contrast so great with their history, the names of the tribal families seem to speak in a remarkable way. Thus they begin with another Nemuel, “circumcised of God,” which in Genesis appears as Jemuel, “may God circumcise him!” Here, indeed, Simeon’s own name is fulfilled: a hearing God hath heard! Blessed be He! we know Him well.
Next comes Jamin, “right hand,” the place of honor and dignity, to which grace alone can exalt the children of men. Then Jachin, “He shall establish.” Then Zerah, in which the former, Zohar, “splendor,” appears more significantly as the “sunrise.” And lastly, Saul, even as the son of the Canaanitess, may remind us of how the Canaanite is made to illustrate, as here in his connection with the families of Israel, redemption from the curse.
(c) The third tribe here is GAD. Both from his name and history, Gad seems a warrior-tribe; though, as with the Arab now, they could unite the pastoral occupation with it. In Jacob’s prophecy he is overcome before he overcomes, and thus knows how to turn defeat into a victory. In Leah’s mouth his name is a prophecy of increase; and his seven sons all survive in families.
The names here do not, however, fall into ready sequence, and are some of them difficult also to interpret certainly; nor does the blessing of Gad by Moses do more apparently than confirm the character which we have already seen to belong to him. Connecting all together, and allowing its due emphasis to Jacob’s original prophecy, it would seem that Gad represents the strength that is ministered when weakness and defeat have taught their lesson, -the divine strength thus found when our own has failed and broken down, -a practical power of resurrection, which suits well with the third place in which we find the tribe in this chapter.
Power seems to be indeed the lesson illustrated by this first camp all through -the camp of Reuben, whose standard we have seen to be faith. These two things, faith and power, are in necessary connection. In Reuben himself we find the source of it in God the Almighty, as declared in the covenant of circumcision, which affirms relationship to Him to be in grace, in new creation. In Simeon, next, the alliance that gives power is with God alone; though, of course also, if with God, we shall realize our relation, and be helpers to each other according to His ordinance. Here, however, we have to take exceeding care; for to lean upon each other is still weakness, and not strength. Here, therefore, as we find with Simeon now, the circumcised Nemuel must come first, that the Jamins and the Jachins may follow in due place. Thirdly, then Gad gives us the practical acquirement of the lesson, first of all by realized weakness and defeat, that God alone may be exalted, -a practical resurrection-lesson blessed to learn indeed.
(2) The second camp here is that of Judah, whose standard is righteousness, first in the order of march, as Paul names it in his epistle to Timothy (2Ti 2:22), “follow righteousness, faith.” Here there is a different thought, and another side of righteousness seen in the place assigned to Judah, which speaks, I believe, of service. All obedience is that, of course; even for those “who only stand and wait.” That Judah comes first of the three associated tribes is simple enough. The outflow of the full heart manward is in service, as it is Godward in praise. The spirit of praise it is that banishes legality and makes the life a true offering to God. Then, indeed, Issachar may follow, and the husbandman that laboreth be partaker of the fruit; Zebulon speaking of that open, recognized association of God with us, which is the seal upon true labor. Let us look at Judah, then, from this point of view, and see of what the names found may remind us.
(a) First, then, we are carried back to Er and Onan, that we may remember what a history was that of Judah’s family. In these the enmity to God, and the iniquity in which it displays itself find their condemnation and pass away. No fruit of righteousness -Tamar, the “palm” -can be from these. In the third son, Shelah, does Judah’s seed find, as it were, its resurrection, and his name tells of “peace,” now for the first time found.
Shelah is fruitful, but much more Tamar’s seed; of which Pharez, the “breaker forth,” breaks out into a multitudinous fruit, which fills up all the after history of Judah. Hence come her kings, and her great King; while twin with Pharez comes Zerah. or the [sun] rise, from whom come afterward singers, as Ethan, and warriors, as Shammah, Sibbechai, Maharai, stout defenders of the throne. A little care may easily find here the meaning.
Two families of Pharez have special mention, Hetzron (“inclosure”?), and Hamul (“compassionate.”) They may perhaps represent tendencies which easily come into opposition with one another, and which should not, whose true meaning is seen in union, as with the walled palm-stem of which we have been led to think, and which supports its plenteous fruit.
These histories at least, we may be sure, are parables, even to the genealogical tables, which, as merely that, have been so utterly neglected, or worked in a fashion which has been barren of all profit. Let us only remember, God in all His Word is thinking of our souls; and we have the fullest warrant for the interpretation of names. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing,” says the wise man; “but the honor of kings to search out a matter.” (Pro 25:2.) Where are God’s kings today? and who will listen to the voice that says, “Know ye not this parable? and how, then, will ye know all parables?”
(b) Issachar follows, looking, as his name imports, for recompense: so does every laborer expect the fruitful fields which are to justify his work. Issachar has but four sons, the name of the first of which is that of apparently the sole great man of his tribe, Tola, the judge of Israel after the death of Abimelech. Tola’s name is significant enough as -a lesson to the great: it means “a worm,” or rather, the coccus of the oak,* which produces the “scarlet” or “crimson” dye used in the East, and with which was produced the “scarlet” familiar to us in the vail of the tabernacle and elsewhere. Tola’s name, first in the list of the families of Issachar, seems clearly to teach what is.a fundamental principle for all who are to find from their labors the reward they seek. “Scarlet,” or better “crimson,” is the blood color, and the mode of its production speaks plainly in this respect. But how solemn, then, is the language of the twenty-second psalm, “I am (tola) a worm, and no man”! He whose this voice really is, went down indeed, to do for us His redemption-work, into a depth immeasurably below the place of man as God made him first, the place into which, simply as becoming man, He had descended. And the Tolas are they, who, having learned the depth of His humiliation, have learned in this to recognize their own, and so to take their place upon Job’s dust-heap, conscious henceforth that for them recompense, if it be not in hopeless judgment, must be “mercy” merely. (2Ti 1:18.)
{*Properly the kermes insect, Coccus ilicis, (Coccus of the oak); the cochineal being the coccus cacti, and American.}
How fittingly, then, does Tola lead among the families of Issachar. Then first with Puah does “utterance” become safe. It will no longer be for the glory of man, but in truthful testimony to Him who is no longer heard about with the hearing of the ear, but whom the eye has seen, and seen in fullest glory in the abyss of sorrow. Not simply will the lips either “utter” this: the life will be utterance, or there is no real one. So Jashub, “he returns,” following Puah, may indicate. So the prodigal; and this is what conversion in its true sense indicates, a turning back to God. Finally, and in the fourth place, suitably to the weakness of which it reminds us, we have Shimron with his warning note. “On guard” may better perhaps than any thing else express his name.
(c) This completes Issachar: Zebulon who follows is more difficult to interpret. In his name, and according to what he represents in Jacob’s prophecy, he may seem to have close affinity with Simeon in character. But there is a difference: Leah’s “Now shall my husband dwell with me” might well be the joyful language of Israel, in view of the relationship which He who dwelt in their midst had entered into with them. The separation to Himself implied by this, Zebulon, in Jacob’s words, disregards for commerce with the Gentiles. It is not positive alliance with this nation or that, that seems so much indicated, as the passing out of God’s enclosure to seek his own things outside untrammeled.
Here, on the other hand, Zebulon seems to rest in the shelter of the divine arms; and we think as we look at the names of his families of that association of God with us, which, where it is found, is the manifest seal of God upon the ways that please Him. What it implies in us can perhaps not be better expressed than just in contentment to be there, -the enclosing arms not felt as a restraint, but as a shelter, statutes but songs; with which we have traced the circle, and come back once more to Judah.
The names of the three families seem to speak of the realization of this being with God, in its results in blessing: Sered, escape,” the joy of the dove which has fled from the stormy wind and tempest to be at rest in its sanctuary home; Elon, “oak,” or “strength,” which the oak typifies, and which God is to the weakest that have fled to Him; lastly, Jahleel, “expectation of God,” the blessed result for one weaned from other dependences, in which the need of the creature finds its holiest expression, and its interpretation spiritually.
(3) The third camp now is Ephraim’s, in which we find, however, -it is quite intelligible why -Manasseh foremost. This, as we have seen, is the order of progress, if Ephraim give us the governing thought. In this place Manasseh may represent whole heartedness, as with the apostle in Php 3:13; and from him springs Machir, “one who recollects”? for as on the one hand forgetting is the fruit of remembrance, so also do we forget in order to remember: the resolute turning from things here is to occupy oneself with the things beyond: “set your mind on things above,” says the apostle, (Col 3:2, marg.) “not on things on the earth.” From hence springs again Gilead, the “rocky,” hard, as it may seem, and rough, but strong; and Gilead branchessss out into six families: Jeezer, “where there is help;” Helek, “equal division;” Asriel, “divine bond;” Shechem, “shoulder,” -that which bears the burden; Shemida, “name of knowledge,” -speaking of that one Name, in the apprehension of which is indeed true knowledge? Lastly, Hepher, “a digging, a well,” -the series ending with that which provides for permanent refreshment and growth.
Zelophehad the son of Hepher is introduced here, not as the head of a distinct family in Manasseh, but as preparing the way for what follows in the next chapter.
Ephraim comes after Manasseh with three sons, and a grandson. Much difficulty is connected with these names, which need an intelligent believing study they have never yet received. I do not, therefore, attempt their explanation. And the same exactly is to be said of
Benjamin, where the many questions that have been raised, had they been sought to be answered with a more spiritual end than a mere dry settlement of difficulties, would long since have put us in possession of that which would have not only conclusively solved the difficulties, but been for us fruitful in true blessing; as it is, we must pass on, having no place for criticisms as yet unfruitful, and with which now almost every one who has the desire and skill can easily become acquainted. The connection of Benjamin with the camp of Ephraim has been already briefly considered.
(4) We come now to the fourth camp, that of Dan. Dan, though only second in number of the tribes of Israel, has but one family, that of Shuham, just as only one son is ascribed to Dan in Gen 46:1-34, Hushim. The natural inference is that Shuham and Hushim are the same, and that the one name by transposition has become the other; but then the transposition itself must have a meaning: the earlier name signifies “hastening,” while the latter is “depression, humiliation.” Dan, child of the bondmaid, stands yet for the spirit of rule -a rule which is rightly service, but which in man so easily becomes the tyranny of pride and self-interest. The first duty of government is self-government; and the ruler’s school is therefore that of discipline. So with God’s kings: the back-side of the desert was Moses’ school, where he who had once been hasty in judgment became the meekest of all men. David too had not only his shepherd training, but his affliction at the hand of Saul. And now for ourselves also the same rule holds good: if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.”
The one name here may have a meaning then; and its change from the old form show how from the hasty spirit of self Dan grows into his proper shape and into a multitude. Abasement is God’s way of exaltation and there is no other way: the heart is exercised, the eye is cleared, the mists roll off; the testing has done its work in transforming Hushim into Shuham. Dan becomes a prince indeed, and fulfills his name.
Asher is also the child of a handmaid, and his place in connection with Dan has been already indicated; but neither in the case of Asher nor of Naphtali do the names speak as yet with clearness, while prophecy and history are comparatively silent also. Unwillingly, therefore, we must leave them without notice here.
(5) With this closes the first part of what is clearly a septenary series; the last three parts being distinct from the first four, as even the numbering of Levi is distinct from that of Israel with whom they have no inheritance. This fifth section now provides that according to the number of the tribes their inheritance in the land shall be allotted them. These numbers evidently represent gains or losses for which they were responsible; and as they had thus flourished so should they inherit. The section fills, therefore, exactly its numerical place, and contains a very solemn warning for us. The “lot,” according to which the division was to be, makes this still more directly from the Lord. (Pro 16:33.)
So little complete -to our common shame -has the mere outline interpretation of this chapter been to us, that of necessity the lesson of the numbering itself could not be attempted to be given in detail. I add therefore here from another some remarks which are not only of much interest in themselves, but which may help to stimulate the zeal of others to look more believingly into the seemingly more barren places of God’s precious Word. In barren spots it is that the ore is found by the miner’s labor.
“Here, not less than elsewhere, numbers are significant, indicating prosperity (Gen 48:19) and strength (Luk 14:31).
“Reuben (Num 1:20; Num 26:5) heads the list, -the first-born, and therefore entitled, according to nature, to the leadership; but because of sin, he was not to have the excellency. In these forty years’ wanderings, his numbers dwindle, -at the close, we see him weaker than at the beginning. Looking at his history for a reason for this we come to the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram, who were of this tribe (Num 16:1). Desiring to be leaders, under pretense of claiming their rights for the people, they rebel against God’s authority in Moses, turn back in heart to Egypt, and murmur at the trials of the way. Swift judgment overtakes them, -the earth opens and swallows them up, but the leaven of their example spreads among the people, and rebellion is only checked when fourteen thousand are slain by the plague. (Num 16:49.) How many, like these children of Reuben, rebel against God’s authority, in pure self-will, and murmur at the trials of the way, only to weaken themselves and their brethren, finding that, instead of being exalted by their independence, they have become abased!
“In looking at Simeon, we are struck with the shrinkage from fifty-nine thousand, three hundred, to twenty-two thousand, two hundred, -his strength but little more than one third of what he had at the start, and we cannot help remembering that it was a prince of this tribe who was the leading offender at Baal Peor, upon whom also judgment was summarily executed (Num 25:8); and doubtless his brethren (v. 6) who were sharers in his sin partook also of his judgment, leaving Simeon’s ranks woefully depleted. But what was this sin that wrought such havoc? What Balak’s efforts at cursing could not effect, mixture with the Midianites did, in measure. Rebellion, the sin of Reuben, does not leave the tribe so weak as mingling with strange people does Simeon. How many, alas! of God,s people have proven, as Simeon did here, that mixture with the world saps their strength and destroys their spiritual prosperity! It is the Pergamos state of the Church -marriage with the world, and is so described in Rev 2:1-29. Then, too, as though in solemn warning, it was at the close of the journey that Simeon thus sinned, and there was no time for recovery. Like Solomon afterward, and Lot before, the last thing mentioned is the sin, and their lamp (of testimony) goes out in obscure darkness. David failed grievously, but there was a good measure of recovery (though he bore his scars to the grave). Let us beware of the first symptoms of coldness or worldliness, lest we too, like Simeon, find our last days here blighted by irremediable failure.
“Gad also shows a weakening at the close. His outward history shows no reason for this, unless his close connection with Reuben and Simeon (Num 2:10-16) made him a sharer in their sin and judgment. Association with evil workers, even where one outwardly is not a partaker, has a weakening effect. How we can see this all around! -a repetition of Jonathan, -upright himself; yet linked with the house of Saul. Many of God’s people are growing weaker, through ecclesiastical, business, social, or family relationships with those who drag them into worldliness.
“Secret causes sap the strength of Naphtali, and he comes out of the course weaker by eight thousand men than when he entered it. With nothing unusual laid to his charge, he has gone backward. Let us beware lest some little foxes’ spoil our vines, -lest, while outwardly blameless -with nothing positive in our conduct to be condemned as in Reuben, or in our associations as Gad, we may show even greater deterioration than either. It is loss of first love, even where there are abundant works, which brings such weakness.
“Fruitful Ephraim seems to contradict his name, losing eight thousand men. It is one thing to have a name by grace, quite another to prove it in our walk.
“But this catalogue has also a bright side. Warnings alone might discourage us. Besides, it is not true that the wilderness is a place that only weakens: on the contrary, rightly gone through, the strength is renewed -‘thy pound hath gained ten pounds.’ There is Judah, who gains nearly two thousand in those forty years of trial. Did Caleb’s faith stimulate them all? (Joshua was not, perhaps, so closely identified with Ephraim, though of that tribe, being the companion of Moses -Exo 33:11.) Jonathan and David, and a host of others, show what the faith of one man can do in encouraging others. Companionship with a man of faith is helpful; unless, like Lot, we lean on him, instead of imitating his faith. Caleb, at the close of his journey, could say (Jos 14:11), ‘As yet, I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out and to come in.’ So the numbers of Judah speak of vigor undiminished. May it be so with us at the close. Issachar and Zebulon, in the same camp with Judah, can bear the same testimony -that the wilderness does not necessarily weaken. Even here there is a difference, -Issachar’s increase of nearly ten thousand being much greater than that of Zebulon. Those who succeed, do so in various degrees.
“Manasseh reverses Ephraim’s experience, and is an illustration of the fact that ‘many that are first shall be last, and the last first.’ Many a sincere, quiet, plodding Christian, with nothing brilliant, will show at the close a brighter record than his brother who apparently had so much better prospects.
“Dan, already large, increases; while Asher, from being one of the smaller tribes, takes his place with the largest. Friend, come up higher’ might be said of him.
“What varied results, both of failure and success! and to be explained by various reasons. Here are indications of little failures and great ones, of small progress and astonishing progress. Can we not take these two catalogues, and seeing in them a picture for ourselves, learn the lesson? God shows us that at the close, an examination will be made -‘we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ.’ In these pictures, we can read the end from the beginning, and so be wise, and seek to gather daily gold, silver, precious stones, shunning all that would weaken us, and counting on that grace which bears us on eagle’s wings.
“Though the way be long and dreary,
Eagle strength He’ll still renew;
Garments fresh, and foot unweary,
Tell how God hath brought thee through.”
(S. Ridout, Help and Food, vol. 7, pp. 253-257.)
(6) We now find separately the families of Levi, and their number. With the names we are more or less familiar. Beside the three main families of Gershon, Kohath, and Merari, into which the tribe as a whole was divided, we find in Gershon the family of Libni prominent, in Kohath, that of Hebron, while Merari’s two sons have gained an equal rank; to these are added the Korahites, also of Kohath, but whom their history gives an exceptional place. Finally, of Kohath also come Aaron and his priestly house, Moses, and Miriam. Aaron’s four sons are specified, and the death of Nadab and Abihu. Nowhere is evil more conspicuous than in the tribe of Levi; nowhere is the victory of grace over it more manifest. These depths and heights known are quite fitted to make effective ministers and joyful worshipers such as are represented in this tribe.
(7) The seventh section brings us to the impressive close, in which we find how surely God’s word has been fulfilled as to the generation sinning in the wilderness. So will the history of man at last show His faithfulness and truth all through, till the last “It is done” confirms the new heavens and new earth in eternal blessedness..
(Appendix.) The appeal of the daughters of Zelophehad is clearly an appendix to the twenty-sixth chapter, in which the people have been numbered in view of the inheritance. It is a supplement to the law of inheritance whereby God assures the faith that reckons upon Him without title (save that, surest of all, in His own nature) of His power and will to answer it.
3. We come now to what already anticipates what we only fully reach at the end of Deuteronomy. Joshua is appointed to succeed Moses, as Eleazar has succeeded Aaron; and it need not be strange to find that as Moses and Aaron were connected for the deliverance from Egypt, so now Joshua and Eleazar are connected for the entrance into the land. Their relation is different in this respect, that whereas Moses is every way foremost in the first case, now it is Eleazar, and not Joshua. And here, again, the spiritual meaning so governs all, that we must have the typical significance clearly ascertained in order to understand this, which is then at once intelligible.
Eleazar we have already seen to represent Christ in His heavenly priesthood -as risen and gone in to God, as Aaron speaks of Him in connection with the sacrificial work of the cross especially, although there are links on either side with the other, which show the identity of the priest all through, and this naturally much more upon Aaron’s side than Eleazar’s. The cross is the fundamental priestly work, Aaron the head of the priestly house, and therefore Aaron it is who is seen entering the sanctuary on the day of atonement, while Eleazar is only once seen sprinkling the blood, in the case of the red heifer, where plainly the point of view suits with the “Minister of the sanctuary.”
If we compare Joshua with Moses, -both, again, types of Christ, -we shall find Moses representing Him, as it would seem, in almost every possible way. He is, indeed, the type of Christ in person; Joshua, of Christ in spirit, not person -acting in His people by the Holy Ghost; and thus it is that Joshua stands before Eleazar, the work of the Spirit being dependent upon the priesthood of Christ on high. Thus through the wilderness also Moses and Joshua are found together, but the latter the attendant upon the former; while Joshua it is who leads Israel into the land, figuring present realization of the inheritance by faith, as, in a somewhat different aspect, Abraham does.
As has been already said, the giving way of Moses to Joshua here is evidently, therefore, in type, what our Lord says to His disciples, -“It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” (Joh 16:7,) This is a truth upon which we must pause, however, as even yet, for many Christians, there is no proper understanding of it.
The departure that He speaks of is quite plain, indeed. He was leaving His place on earth among His own, to depart to heaven from whence He had come. Sent by the Father into the world upon His glorious mission, His work was now just about completed, the cross being at the next step upon His path, to be followed then by His resurrection and ascension to the Father. It was a real personal departure, no one doubts; and the coming of the Spirit in His place is represented by Him as just as real and personal. The difficulty arising in our minds with regard to this seems to be twofold: first, that the Spirit of God, as a divine Being, is omnipresent; and secondly, that He has always been the Author of all spiritual work in those converted to God: both which things are undeniable by any who are subject to Scripture. But the first is not against a special coming,” such as is often in the Old Testament ascribed to God, when He manifests Himself here or there in any special way; and the second is quite consistent with that indwelling in believers now, in which His “coming” finds its confirmation and interpretation.
That it is a thing of wondrous value, our Lord’s words assure us: of how much value, if, that it might be, it were expedient that He should go away! How much would the presence of Christ with us in the world -such a presence as His disciples enjoyed -mean for us today! With it, they themselves were blest as none before had been; yet here is blessing for which it is worth while even to lose that blessing! Certainly no display of power, as in the miracles of Pentecost and after, could be intended. Such things had been before, -did not need Christ to be away that they might have them, -did not “abide” when they came, as He declared the Comforter should abide. But what miracles could be to us, if we had them, what Christ our Lord would be? But the presence of the Spirit of God within us, making our bodies the temples of the Holy Ghost; Spirit of truth, Spirit of holiness, Spirit of adoption, Comforter, fount of knowledge, spring of living water, so that we thirst not, but out of the belly shall flow rivers of living water! this is something far beyond any gift of miraculous power: it is the Church’s endowment for the place to which she is destined, -her competency to enter into and to fill it. “We have received,” says the apostle, “not the spirit that is of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God.” (1Co 2:12.)
Here Christ’s absence has its power for us also. He is gone to prepare for us the many mansions of the Father’s house, because where He is we are to be also; and the Spirit of God, taking of the things that are Christ’s to show them to us, develops in us the heavenly character, which is in effect our sanctification. Our hearts are drawn out of the world. The power of what is unseen and eternal delivers us from the whole scene in which are hid all the snares and entanglements of the subtle adversary. While in it, we are not of it: in faith is the victory over the world. The glory of Christ beheld in faith changes us from glory to glory. Christ thus before us, an object imprinted upon our hearts, becomes thus Christ in practical reality: Christ and the Spirit become practically one for us, and of this Joshua therefore is the type: “the Lord the Spirit” identified in this way with “the Spirit of the Lord,” as the apostle shows us in Corinthians. (2Co 3:17.)
Thus we can see also why it is just at this point that Joshua is formally designated as the leader. In the wilderness, as to guidance, we are to walk as He walked. (1Jn 2:6.) His living form is before us, as presented in the gospels, Moses rather than Joshua, though the latter, as we have seen, also has his place, and accompanies us all through. But when the wilderness is no longer in question, but the land, then Moses gives up his place, although his word still abides as guidance which Joshua himself follows. (Compare Jos 1:1-18.) Every thing is therefore in harmony, as always in the precious, perfect, unerring Book with which we are occupied.
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
BALAAMS SCHEME
We are not through with the hireling prophet. We find him referred to in three places in the New Testament. 2Pe 2:15 speaks of his way, Jud 1:11 of his error and Rev 2:14 of his doctrine.
His way is that which characterizes all false teachers, viz: making a market of their gifts. His error lay in failing to see the principle of the vicarious atonement by which God can be just and yet the justifier of believing sinners (Rom 3:26). In other words, he felt that a holy God must curse such a people as Israel, knowing only a natural morality. His doctrine, which concerns us more particularly just now, refers to his teaching Balak to corrupt the people whom he could not curse (compare Num 25:1-3 with Num 31:16).
HARLOTRY AND IDOLATRY (Numbers 25)
Into what sin did the people fall (Num 25:1)7 This fall in morality was soon followed by what fall in religion (Num 25:2-3). Baal was a general name for lord and peor for a mount in Moab. The real name of this lord of the mount was Chemosh, whose worship was celebrated by the grossest obscenity.
What punishment fell on them (Num 25:4-5)? Capital punishment in Israel meant that the victim was first stoned to death or otherwise slain, and then gibbeted. The heads of the people means the chief leaders in the outrage.
Num 25:6 speaks of a flagitious act in connection with this disgraceful conduct, promptly revenged by whom (Num 25:7)? What reward to him follows (Num 25:12-13)? What judgment had come to Israel (Num 25:8)? What judgment does God order upon the Midianites (Num 25:17-18)?
SECOND NUMBERING (Numbers 26)
What new command is now given Moses (Num 26:1-2)? The probability is that the plague just mentioned had swept away the last of the older generation and hence the census.
This census was necessary to preserve the distinction of families in connection with the distribution of Canaan soon to take place.
By comparing the numbers with those of chapter 1, it will be seen that divine judgments had reduced the ranks of some of the tribes which had been particularly disobedient, while others had been increased so that Israel still continued about the same in numbers at the close of this period of thirty-eight years as at the beginning. What was the total diminution?
Before passing to the next chapter observe Num 26:64 and note that its statement must not be considered absolute. For, besides Caleb and Joshua, there were alive at this time Eleazar and Ithamar, and in all probability a number of Levites, who had no participation in the defections in the wilderness. The tribe of Levi, having neither sent a spy into Canaan, nor being included in the enumeration at Sinai, must be regarded as falling outside the range of the sentence; and therefore would exhibit a spectacle not witnessed in the other tribes of many in their ranks above sixty years of age.
A BRIEF GLANCE AT Numbers 27-30
We pass over the request of the daughters of Zelophehad (Num 27:1-11), the injunction to Moses (Num 27:12-14), and the ordination of Joshua (Num 27:15-23), as requiring no explanation under the circumstances. The same may be said about the offerings (chap. 28) whose repetition was probably necessary because a new generation had sprung up since their enactment, and because the people would soon be settled in the land where they could be observed.
THE MIDIANITES JUDGED, AND BALAAM SLAIN (Numbers 31)
What is practically the last command of Moses received from God (Num 31:1-2)? The Midianites, as may be recalled, were descendants of the marriage of Abraham with Keturah, and occupied the east and the southeast of Moab. They were the chief actors in the plot to seduce Israel into idolatry, by which it was hoped Jehovah would withdraw His blessing from them and permit their enemies to triumph. Were the plan successful it would mean in so far the defeat of Gods purpose for the redemption of the nations through the instrumentality of Israel as we have already learned. An understanding of this fact is necessary to preserve this chapter from misinterpretation.
A RELIGIOUS WAR
Who were to be avenged according to Jehovah (Num 31:2)? And who according to Moses (Num 31:3)? How interesting to perceive here another illustration of the identification of God with His people! They have the same cause, the same friends, and the same enemies. Compare Act 9:4-5.
And note another circumstance equally strange as the world considers things; viz: the preparation for death enjoined upon Moses! Were these Midianites his own enemies merely, one would expect him to be exhorted to forgive them and thus die in peace with all the world. But being Gods enemies, the most appropriate close of his earthly career would be to execute Gods judgment upon them.
Are there not lessons here for the peace advocates of this century? While sympathizing with them in many things, yet if they expect wars to cease until God has had a final settlement with the wicked nations of the earth, they are yet in the primary class of Bible instruction.
SOME THINGS ARE HARD TO UNDERSTAND
The faith of some will stumble at things in this record, but a deeper knowledge of God makes all plain, and our duty is to trust Him until that knowledge comes.
The slaying of the males (Num 31:7) was in accord with the divine principle in all such cases (Deu 20:13). In this instance, however, the destruction seems to have been only partial, if we may judge by Jdg 6:1 and the following verses. Perhaps this is explained by the circumstance that only those families were slain who were near the Hebrew camp or had been accomplices in the plot. Many may have saved themselves by flight.
The slaying of Balaam (Num 31:8) raises a question when we compare the statement with Num 24:25. Perhaps he changed his plan about returning home after starting, and remained among the Midianites for the evil purpose already spoken of; or, learning that Israel had fallen into the snare laid, he may have returned to demand his reward from Midian. His judgment was just in consideration of his sin in the light of special revelations received from God.
The killing of the women and children (Num 31:14-18) will stagger us till we remember that Moses wrath was not an ebullition of temper, but an expression of enlightened regard for the will of God, and the highest interests of Israel. By their conduct the women had forfeited all claims to other treatment, especially in view of the sacred character of this war. As to the male children, it is to be remembered that a war of extermination required their destruction. We will deal with this subject more fully when we come to the broader illustration in the destruction of the Canaanites in Joshua.
Observe the declaration in Num 31:48-50, especially the last clause of Num 31:49. Here we have an astonishing miracle witnessing to the interposition of God in this whole matter, and in so far silencing every objection raised on the ground of cruelty and injustice. Compare here the opening verses of Psalms 44, and other similar places. These judgments of God on sin and disobedience should open our eyes to its nature, should cause us to tremble at the fear of it, and adore the grace which has given such guilty souls as we a sin bearer in Jesus Christ.
QUESTIONS
1. How is Balaam spoken of in the New Testament, and by whom?
2. Define the meaning of Baalpeor.
3. Define capital punishment in Israel.
4. What was the need for this census?
5. Which tribe had the most of the older men at this time, and why?
6. Who were the Midianites, and where were they located?
7. What justifies their punishment?
8. What comment on the universal peace theory does this lesson contain?
9. What particular circumstance shows Gods approval on the extermination of these enemies?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Num 25:1. Israel abode in Shittim And this was their last station, from whence they passed immediately into Canaan. This is noted as a great aggravation of their sin, that they committed it when God was going to put them into the possession of their long-expected land. The people Many of them. Whoredom Either because these women prostituted themselves to them upon condition of worshipping their god, or because their filthy god was worshipped by such filthy acts as Priapus and Venus were. The daughters of Moab And of Midian too; for both these people being confederated in this wicked design, the one is put for the other, and the daughters of Moab may be named, either because they began the transgression, or because they were the chief persons, probably the relations, or courtiers of Balak.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 25:1. The people began to commit whoredom. Balaam stands accused of being the adviser of this intercourse with the Israelites. These illicit practices prepared the way for the feast, so that this pollution was double, bodily and spiritual.
Num 25:3. Baal-peor. See on Num 32:38. The Priapus of the Romans.
Num 25:4. Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up. The number was about a thousand that now perished; these were chief men, and of what are called the better sort of families. The captains of thousands and hundreds readily executed the divine command. The execution was according to the law of the Lord, to which they had all subscribed. See Deu 29:18-20, and other places. It is a recent fact fully substantiated, that the Egyptians put many women to death who had been attached to the French army under Buonaparte, and afterwards women who had been connected with the English. What then shall we say of Christians, who actually in Paris and in Amsterdam license brothels!
Num 25:9. Twenty and four thousand. This includes the thousand who were hanged. St. Paul says that twenty three thousand fell in one day. 1Co 10:8.
Num 25:14. Zimria prince. When noblemen violate marriage, it has a wide influence on the morals of the people, and they are so much the more guilty. It is difficult to say what the consequences may be.
REFLECTIONS.
In this chapter we have one of the most singular scenes which either sacred or profane history can afford. Moab and Midian, not daring to appear before the Israelites in arms, and availing themselves of the advice of Balaam, sent a multitude of their most beautiful women, probably with fruits and favours, to the camp, while the priests prepared a great sacrifice to Baal; and these proved far more fatal to the Israelites than an army with banners. Having first succeeded in drawing the men to their embraces, they next succeeded in alluring them to the altars of Baal. Here was a double crime in one; and here the victims received a fatal fall. Let us learn to beware of the wiles of the devil. If providence surrounds us with danger, let the greatness of the sin and the terror of the punishment ever be before our eyes. Let us remember how many have fallen here, whose reproach cannot be wiped away.
Zimri, a prince by birth, equally despising Moses and the law, brought a princess of Midian into his tent, having presumed that his rank would exempt him from punishment. In Zimri we see an original portrait of a multitude of men in our own age, distinguished by fortune or by birth, who despise marriage, and insult the lenient laws of their country. From these the poor take a license to indulge in sin: and where are the people to weep; where are the magistrates to act; and where is the Phinehas zealous for his God? Lord God, are then our sins to go unpunished? Are they to accumulate till there be no more remedy?
Though the charms of vice may draw the crowd; though good men, seeing the multitude of the wicked, may merely mourn, and seclude themselves from the contagion; yet God will testify his indignation with a high voice. Take, said he to Moses, the heads of the people, the ringleaders in the revolt, and hang them up till the going down of the sun. But who will dare to hang Zimri, son of Salu, a prince of Simeon? Here human prudence would have suggested a thousand cautions, and a thousand fears. But Phinehas, the young priest, having received his commission in common with the rulers, and fearing none but God, took his javelin or spear, and going alone to the princes tent, pierced both him and the Midian princess, probably at a single stroke. Great occasions cause worthy characters to become great: and as one bad action may undo a man for ever, so one heroic deed may procure him immortal fame. The magistrates having slain about a thousand men who had been joined to Baal, the plague from God, and apparently the same day, consumed twenty three thousand more. May the christian church be instructed by such a divine visitation. And though ministers cannot now approach the adulterers bed with the shafts of death; they may nevertheless assiduously pursue him with the sharper sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, who will speedily execute the sentence. And in a cause so divine, why fear that daring offender? Is it because he is rich, because he has influence, because he will resent your holy zeal? Remember Phinehas, and stand on the Lords side.
The young priest, by this noble act of faith and confidence, is classed by St. Paul among those who obtained promises. The Lord gave to him and his seed the covenant of peace, and an everlasting priesthood. No man that faithfully acts for God shall ultimately lose his reward.
The judgments having first begun at the house of God, must next be extended to his enemies. This is altogether proper, that his vanquished foes may never be able to impeach his justice. The Midianites, who had combined craft with crimes, must not be suffered to exult in Israels fall. They fly in all directions; they fall wounded by the sword of Israel. Many of their towns surrender as a helpless prey. Balaam, blinded by his sin, unable to foresee or avert the invasion, is slain among the crowd, and all the secrets of his wickedness come to light. Hoping that many who died obtained pardon; yet that being doubtful, we cannot but tremble for the interview which these priests of Midian and those dancers around the altars of demons would have in the invisible world. Imagine therefore for a moment, that you see a multitude of the men of Israel in the dark shades of Tophet. Imagine that presently you see an equal number of the men and women of Midian, with Balaam at their head, rush into the awful abyss. The ruined and ruiners meet together, and without much lapse of time. Full of anguish, horror and despair, how would they now accost one another? What sort of embraces would now ensue; what sort of songs and dances would now follow; and how would Balaam be treated? What sort of attacks would be made upon him on the ground of his prophetic character, his avarice and pride? Ah, who can bear the irony of hell! Let all christians then be warned, and let them neither touch nor taste the unclean thing; but abide in close covenant with God; for every christian, so called, who leaves the vows of baptism to indulge in whoredom and riotous living, is, like Israel, under the wrath of God, and liable every moment to be visited with this awful death.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Numbers 25
Here a new scene opens upon our view. We have been on the top of Pisgah, hearkening to God’s testimony respecting Israel, and there all was bright and fair, without a cloud, without a spot. But now we find ourselves in the plains of Moab, and all is changed. There, we had to do with God and His thoughts. Here, we have to do with the people and their joys. What a contrast! It reminds us of the opening and the close of 2 Corinthians 12. In the former, we have the positive standing of the Christian; in the latter, the possible state into which he may fall if not watchful. That shows us “a man in Christ” capable of being caught up into paradise, at any moment. This shows us saints of God capable of plunging into all manner of sin and folly.
Thus it is with Israel, as seen from “The top of the rocks,” in “The vision of the almighty,” and Israel as seen in the plains of Moab. In the one case, we have their perfect standing; in the other, their imperfect state. Balaam’s parables give us God’s estimate of the former; the javelin of Phinehas, His judgement upon the latter. God will never reverse His decision as to what His people are as to standing; but he must judge and chasten them when their ways comport not with that standing. It is His gracious will that their state should correspond with their standing. But here is, alas! where failure comes in. Nature is allowed to act in various ways, and our God is constrained to take down the rod of discipline, in order that the evil thing which we have suffered to manifest itself may be crushed and subdued.
Thus it is in Numbers 25. Balaam, having failed in his attempt to curse Israel, succeeds in seducing them, his wiles, to commit sin, hoping whereby to gain his end. “And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. and the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.” (Ver. 3, 4.) Then we have the striking record of the zeal and faithfulness of Phinehas: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous For My sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.” Verse 10-13.
God’s glory and Israel’s good were the objects that ruled the conduct of the faithful Phinehas on this occasion. It was a critical moment. He felt there was a demand for the most stern action. It was no time for false tenderness. There are moments in the history of God’s people in the which tenderness to man becomes unfaithfulness to God; and it is of the utmost importance to be able to discern such moments. The prompt acting of Phinehas saved the whole congregation, glorified Jehovah in the midst of His people, and completely frustrated the enemy’s design. Balaam fell among the judged Midianites; but Phinehas became the possessor of an everlasting priesthood.
Thus much as to the solemn instruction contained in this brief section of our book, May we profit by it. May God’s Spirit give us such an abiding sense of the perfection of our standing in Christ, that our practical ways may be more in accordance with it!
Fuente: Mackintosh’s Notes on the Pentateuch
Numbers 25. In this chapter fragments of two distinct narratives have been united. In the first (from JE), the Israelites sin with Moabite women, and the sin is punished by the judicial execution of the offenders. In the second (from P), the sin is committed with Midianite women, and is avenged by a plague. The first fragment lacks a conclusion, the second its beginning.
Num 25:1-5. (JE). Immorality with Moabite Women at Shittim.This was followed by participation in the idolatrous worship of the Moabite god Chemosh (Num 21:29), who was styled (Num 25:3 mg.) the Baal (or lord) of Peor (just as there was a Baal of Hermon, and a Baal of Lebanon). The carrying out of Moses sentence (Num 25:5) is not recorded.
Num 25:6-18. (P). The Slaying of Zimri and Cozbi by Phinehas.This narrative begins abruptly; but it must be assumed that the people were suffering under, and bewailing (Num 25:6), a plague (Num 25:8) inflicted for intercourse or intermarriage with Midianite women, who had seduced the Israelites at the suggestion of Balaam (Num 31:16). Zimri aggravated his offence by bringing a Midianitess into the Israelite camp instead of visiting her at her own home. The story of Phinehas zeal in slaying the offenders is designed to support the exclusive claim to the priesthood of the descendants of Zadok (cf. Eze 44:15 f.*), who traced their descent from Phinehas (1Ch 6:1-15).
Num 25:9. twenty and four thousand.Paul, who alludes to the incident in 1Co 10:8, gives the number as three and twenty thousand (perhaps by a lapse of memory).
Num 25:11. he was jealous . . . jealousy: i.e. his resentment adequately expressed the Divine resentment.
Num 25:12. covenant: here used with the meaning of promise, not compact (cf. Gen 9:9; Gen 9:11; Gen 9:16, Jer 31:31 f.).
Num 25:15. head of the people of: better, head of the clans of.
Num 25:18. the matter of Peor: the editor confuses the two distinct stories contained in Num 25:1-5 and Num 25:6-15; cf. Psa 106:28-31.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
ISRAEL SEDUCED BY MOAB
(vs.1-18)
God had intervened to bless Israel when Moab was anxious to curse them. How inappropriate and senseless therefore was the harlotry of the men with the women of Moab. They were invited by the Moabites to the sacrifices made to their gods, and they joined in their idolatrous worship (vs.1-3). Num 31:16 reveals that this was instigated “through the counsel of Balaam.” He was Satan’s cunning tool, for when Satan is unable to defeat God’s people, he will befriend and corrupt them, if they will listen to his subtle wiles. This counsel of Balaam shows that he was still an enemy of God, as is confirmed in 2Pe 2:15 and Jud 1:11.
The Lord’s judgment of this was immediate and without mercy. He told Moses to take all the leaders of the people and hang those responsible for this corruption, so that God’s anger would turn away from Israel (v.4). Moses therefore brought the message to the judges that they were to kill all those under their jurisdiction who had joined in with the idolatrous worship of Baal (v.5).
Totally insensible to the Lord’s word and to the weeping of the people at the door of the tabernacle, an Israelite man boldly brought a Midianite woman to present her before the congregation (v.6). But Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, did not even argue with him. He immediately took a javelin and went into the tent where they had gone and killed both of them. This certainly was not murder, but obedience to the Lord, and consistent with Old testament law, requiring judgment without mercy in such cases. Of course under grace God does not require any such penalty, though the sin of association with idol worship is just as abhorrent to Him now as it was then.
But the Lord had sent a plague that destroyed 24,000 people, showing how widespread their corruption had been. The action of Phinehas however stopped the plague (vs.8-9). This illustrates the fact that one man, standing for God in judgment, can avert greater judgment. In this he reflects the Lord Jesus, whose faithfulness in judging evil at the end of the Great tribulation will mean deliverance for the many who will bow to His authority.
The Lord then addressed Aaron, telling him that Phinehas had by his action turned back God’s wrath from the children of Israel, thus averting the more sever judgment of God (vs.10-11). Therefore God was giving Phinehas His covenant of peace, a promise that would extent to his descendants also in the way of an everlasting priesthood (vs.12-13). This is really only typical of the everlasting priesthood of the Lord Jesus because of His faithfulness in making atonement in a far higher way by His great sacrifice of Calvary. But it does teach us how greatly God values faithfulness to Him.
The name of the Israelite who was killed is now given as Zimri, son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house in Israel (v.14). How often it seems that prominent men are deceived by the cunning subterfuge of the enemy and become emboldened in their evil because they think their high position will protect them. This seems to be particularly true in the cases of sons of prominent men. They are often looked up to by the people just because their fathers were prominent. Having such a place of recognition, they are in grave danger if they have not learned the humility that comes through honest self-judgment. Their fathers may have learned well the lesson that one who exalts himself will be abased and one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luk 14:11), but the sons want the exaltation without the humbling. Some striking cases are those of Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli (1Sa 2:22-25) and Absalom, son of David (2Sa 1:5), then also Adonijah, son of David (2Ki 1:5-7). Because of men like this, who indulge in evil practices, the common people also think they can get away with such things.
The name of the woman is also given, Cozbi, daughter of Zur, who was also a prominent man in Midian. Satan knows that it is much more effective to use people of prominence, for they give the common people more excuse for their wrong doing. It is evident that Midian was connected with Moab, as is seen in chapter 22:4, and of course in this chapter (25) from verse 1 to verse 18.
Because of this deceit of Midian, the Lord told Moses that Israel was to harass and attack the Midianites (vs.17-18). This did not take place immediately, however, for there were other matters first to take care of dealing with Israel’s relationship to God. the actual attack against Midian is recorded in chapter 31:1-11. God’s rights are first to be recognized before the enemy is punished.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the {a} daughters of Moab.
(a) With the women.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Israel’s final rebellion and the termination of the older generation ch. 25
This chapter contains one of the great failures of Israel that followed one of its great blessings. Compare the giving of the Mosaic Law and the making of the golden calf, the consecration of Aaron and the failure of his sons, etc. As God was preparing to bless His people, they were preparing to disobey Him.
"So now we come to the ultimate rebellion of Israel in the desert. The time is the end of the forty-year period of their desert experience. The place is the staging area for the conquest of the land of Canaan. The issue is that of apostasy from the Lord by participation in the debased, sexually centered Canaanite religious rites of Baal worship-that which would become the bane of Israel’s experience in the land. This chapter is an end and a beginning. It marks the end of the first generation; it also points to the beginning of a whole new series of wicked acts that will finally lead to Israel’s punishment . . . . But this chapter is unique in the record of the experience of Israel in their move from Sinai to Moab-it describes their involvement in the worship of another deity [cf. Exodus 32]." [Note: Allen, "Numbers," pp. 914-15.]
"The chapter is placed between the Balaam oracles and the second census account for theological and literary reasons. In relation to the Balaam oracles it shows that, even while God was blessing Israel through Balaam on the heights of Peor, below on the plains of Moab Israel was showing its weak and sinful character. The parallel between this incident and that of the Torah at Sinai and the golden calf (Exodus 20-32) is obvious." [Note: Ashley, p. 515.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The Moabites and Midianites were partners in the spiritual and sexual seduction of the Israelites. Ironically the Midianites, among whom Moses had found refuge from Pharaoh and from whom he had taken his wife, became one of the instigators of Israel’s major religious apostasy since she left Sinai. The plan to curse Israel had failed, so now these enemies undertook a second approach that proved successful. Compare Pharaoh’s three plans to suppress the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 1). In chapters 22-24 the Moabites took the lead in overthrowing Israel and Midian played a minor role, but in this chapter the Midianites take the lead with the Moabites supporting them. The Moabites seduced the Israelites to idolatry. Balaam had counseled them to intermarry with the Israelites (Num 31:16). The princes of these people led this plot. Cozbi (Num 25:15) was the daughter of a Midianite prince. The worship of Moab’s gods involved sacred prostitution and eating sacrifices offered to the dead (Psa 106:28).
"It was the assumption of the [Baal Peor] cult that the fertility of people, cattle, and crops depended on the sexual linkage of a god and goddess. By imitating this union of the gods, men and women would seek to induce the gods to grant a greater measure of fertility. Such cultic practices were common in all of the nations surrounding the Israelites." [Note: Maarsingh, p. 92.]
This violation of the heart of the Mosaic Covenant, which demanded total and exclusive allegiance to Yahweh, resulted in a plague that killed 24,000 people (Num 25:9; cf. Exo 32:35). To stop the plague God ordered the making of atonement by sacrificing the leaders within Israel. Since the whole nation had sinned, God executed punishment on its leaders who stood for the people and should have restrained their apostasy. Israel’s judges carried out this order (Num 25:5).
"As the animals and birds had been cut in half in the covenant ceremony at the beginnings of Israel’s history (Gen 15:10), so the bodies of these rebels were to be dismembered and displayed in an awful symbol of divine judgment.
"Chapter 25 is the nadir of the Book of Numbers. It is worse even than the sins of chapters 12-14. Here is the great sin at the end of the road." [Note: Allen, "Numbers," p. 917.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
5
THE MATTER OF BAAL-PEOR
Num 24:10-25; Num 25:1-18
THE last oracle of Balaam, as we have it, ventures into far more explicit predictions than the others, and passes beyond the range of Hebrew history. Its chief value for the Israelites lay in what was taken to be a Messianic prophecy contained in it, and various bold denunciations of their enemies. Whether the language can bear the important meanings thus found in it is a matter of considerable doubt. On the whole, it appears best not to make over-much of the prescience of this mashal, especially as we cannot be sure that we have it in the original form. One fact may be given to prove this. In Jer 48:45, an oracle regarding Moab embodies various fragments of the Book of Numbers, and one clause seems to be a quotation from Num 24:17. In Numbers the reading is, “and break down, all the sons of tumult”; in Jeremiah it is, “and the crown of the head of the sons of tumult” The resemblance leaves little doubt of the derivation of the one expression from the other, and at the same time shows diversity in the text.
The earlier deliverances of Balaam had disappointed the king of Moab; the third kindled his anger. It was intolerable that one called to curse his enemies should bless them again and again. Balaam would do well to get him back to his own place. That Jehovah of whom he spake had kept him from honour. If he delayed he might find himself in peril. But the diviner did not retire. The word that had come to him should be spoken. He reminded Balak of the terms on which he had begun his auguries, and, perhaps to embitter Moab against Israel, persisted in advertising Balak “what this people should do to his people in the latter days.”
The opening was again a vaunt of his high authority as a seer, one who knew the knowledge of Shaddai. Then, with ambiguous forms of speech covering the indistinctness of his outlook, he spoke of one whom he saw far away, in imagination, not reality, a personage bright and powerful, who should rise star-like out of Jacob, bearing the sceptre of Israel, who should smite through the corners of Moab and break down the sons of tumult. Over Edom and Seir he should triumph, and his dominion should extend to the city which had become the last refuge of a hostile people. Of spiritual power and right there is not a trace in this prediction. It is unquestionably the military vigour of Israel gathered up into the headship of some powerful king Balaam sees on the horizon of his field of view. But he anticipates with no uncertainty that Moab shall be attacked and broken, and that the victorious leader shall even penetrate to the fastnesses of Edom and reduce them. A people like Israel, with so great vitality, would not be content to have jealous enemies upon its very borders, and Balak is urged to regard them with more hatred and fear than he has yet shown.
The view that this prophecy “finds its preliminary fulfilment in David, in whom the kingdom was established, and by whose victories the power of Moab and Edom was broken, but its final and complete fulfilment only in Christ,” is supported by the unanimous belief of the Jews, and has been adopted by the Christian Church. Yet it must be allowed that the victories of David did not break the power of Moab and Edom, for these peoples are found again and again, after his time, in hostile attitude to Israel. And it is not to the purpose to say that in Christ the kingdom reaches perfection, that He destroys the enemies of Israel. Nor is there an argument for the Messianic reference worth considering in the fact that the pseudo-Messiah in the reign of Hadrian styled himself Bar-cochba, son of the star. A pretender to Messiah-ship might snatch at any title likely to secure for him popular support; his choice of a name proves only the common belief of the Jews, and that was very ignorant, very far from spiritual. There is indeed more force in the notion that the star by which the wise men of the East were guided to Bethlehem is somehow related to this prophecy. Yet that also is too imaginative. The oracle of Balaam refers to the virility and prospective dominance of Israel, as a nation favoured by the Almighty and destined to be strong in battle. The range of the prediction is not nearly wide enough for any true anticipation of a Messiah gaining universal sway by virtue of redeeming love. It is becoming more and more necessary to set aside those interpretations which identify the Saviour of the world with one who smites and breaks down and destroys, who wields a sceptre after the manner of Oriental despots.
In Balaams vision small nations with which he happens to be acquainted bulk largely-the Kenites, Amalek, Moab, and Edom. To him the Amalekites appear as having once been “the first of the nations.” We may explain, as before, that he had been impressed on some occasion by what he had seen of their force and the royal state of their king. The Kenites, dwelling either among the cliffs of Engedi or the mountains of Galilee, were a very small tribe; and the Amalekites, as well as the people of Moab and Edom, were of little account in the development of human history. At the same time the prophecy looks in one direction to a power destined to become very great, when it speaks of the ships of Chittim. The course of empire is seen to be westward. Asshur, or Assyria, and Eber-the whole Abrahamic race, perhaps, including Israel-are threatened by this rising power, the nearest point of which is Cyprus in the Great Sea. Balaam is, we may say, a political prophet: to class him among those who testified of Christ is to exalt far too much his inspiration and read more into his oracles than they naturally contain. There is no deep problem in the narrative regarding him-as, for instance, how a man false at heart could in any sense enter into those gracious purposes of God for the human race which were fulfilled by Christ.
Balaam, we are told, “rose up and returned to his own place”; and from this it would seem that with bitterness in his heart he betook himself to Pethor. If he did so, vainly hoping still that Israel would appeal to him, he soon returned to give Balak and the Midianites advice of the most nefarious kind. We learn from Num 31:16, that through his counsel the Midianite women caused the children of Israel to commit trespass against Jehovah in the matter of Peor. The statement is a link between chapters 24 and 25. Vainly had Balaam as a diviner matched himself against the God of Israel. Resenting his defeat, he sought and found another way which the customs of his own people in their obscure idolatrous rites too readily suggested. The moral law of Jehovah and the comparative purity of the Israelites as His people kept them separate from the other nations, gave them dignity and vigour. To break down this defence would make them like the rest, would withdraw them from the favour of their God and even defeat His purposes. The scheme was one which only the vilest craft could have conceived; and it shows us too plainly the real character of Balaam. He must have known the power of the allurements which he now advised as the means of attack on those he could not touch with his maledictions nor gain by his soothsaying. In the shadow of this scheme of his we see the diviner and all his tribe, and indeed the whole morality of the region, at their very worst.
The tribes were still in the plain of Jordan; and we may suppose that the victorious troops had returned from the campaign against Bashan, when a band of Midianites, professing the utmost friendliness, gradually introduced themselves into the camp. Then began the temptation to which the Midianitish women, some of them of high rank, willingly devoted themselves. It was to impurity and idolatry, to degradation of manhood in body and soul, to abjuration at once of faith and of all that makes individual and social life. The orgies with which the Midianites were familiar belonged to the dark side of a nature-cultus which carried the distinction between male and female into religious symbolism, and made abject prostration of life before the Divinity a crowning act of worship. Surviving still, the same practices are in India and elsewhere the most dreadful and inveterate barriers which the Gospel and Christian civilisation encounter. The Israelites were assailed unexpectedly, it would appear, and in a time of comparative inaction. Possibly, also, the camp was composed to some extent of men whose families were still in Kadesh waiting the conquest of the land of Canaan to cross the border. But the fact need not be concealed that the polygamy which prevailed among the Hebrews was an element in their danger. That had not been forbidden by the law; it was even countenanced by the example of Moses. The custom, indeed, was one which at the stage of development Israel had reached implied some progress; for there are conditions even worse than polygamy against which it was a protest and safeguard. But like every other custom falling short of the ideal of the family, it was one of great peril; and now disaster came. The Midianites brought their sacrifices and slew them; the festival of Baalpeor was proclaimed. “The people did eat and bowed down to their gods.” It was a transgression which demanded swift and terrible judgment. The chief men of the tribes who had joined in the abominable rites were taken and “hanged up before the Lord against the sun”; the “judges of Israel” were commanded to slay “every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.”
The narrative of the “Priests Code,” beginning at Num 25:6, and going on to the close of the chapter, adds details of the sin and its punishment. Assuming that the row of stakes with their ghastly burden is in full view, and the dead bodies of those slain by the executioners are lying about the camp, this narrative shows the people gathered at the tent of meeting, many of them in tears. There is a plague, too, which is rapidly spreading and carrying off the transgressors. In the midst of the sorrow and wailing, when the chief men should have been bowed down in repentance, one of the princes of Simeon is seen leading by the hand his Midianitish paramour, herself a chiefs daughter. In the very sight of Moses and the people the guilty persons enter a tent. Then Phinehas, son of Eleazar the priest, following them, inflicts with a javelin the punishment of death. It is a daring but a true deed; and for it Phinehas and his seed after him are promised the “covenant of peace,” even the “covenant of an everlasting priesthood.” His swift stroke has vindicated the honour of God, and “made an atonement for the children of Israel.” An act like this, when the elemental laws of morality are imperilled and a whole people needs a swift and impressive lesson, is a tribute to God which He will reward and remember. True, one of the priestly house should keep aloof from death. But the emergency demands immediate action, and he who is bold enough to strike at once is the true friend of men and of God.
The question may be put, whether this is not justice of too rude and ready a kind to be praised in the name of religion. To some it may seem that the honour of God could not be served by the deed attributed to Phinehas; that he acted in passion rather than in the calm deliberation without which justice cannot be dealt out by man to man. Would not this excuse the passionate action of a crowd, impatient of the forms of law, that hurries an offender to the nearest tree or lamp-post? And the answer cannot be that Israel was so peculiarly under covenant to God that its necessity would exonerate a deed otherwise illegal. We must face the whole problem alike of personal and of united action for the vindication of righteousness in times of widespread license.
It is not necessary now to slay an offender in order clearly and emphatically to condemn his crime. In that respect modern circumstances differ from those we are discussing. Upon Israel, as it was at the time of this tragedy, no impression could have been made deep and swift enough for the occasion otherwise than by the act of Phinehas. But for an offender of the same rank now, there is a punishment as stern as death, and on the popular mind it produces a far greater effect-publicity, and the reprobation of all who love their fellowmen and God. The act of Phinehas was not assassination; a similar act now would be, and it would have to be dealt with as a crime. The stroke now is inflicted by public accusation, which results in public trial and public condemnation. From the time to which the narrative refers, on to our own day, social conditions have been passing through many phases. Occasionally there have been circumstances in which the swift judgment of righteous indignation was justifiable, though it did seem like assassination. And in no case has such action been more excusable than when the purity of family life has been invaded, while the law of the land would not interfere. We do not greatly wonder that in France the avenging of infidelity is condoned when the sufferer snatches a justice otherwise unattainable. That is not indeed to be praised, but the imperfection of law is a partial apology. The higher the standard of public morality the less needful is this venture on the Divine right to kill. And certainly it is not private revenge that is ever to be sought, but the vindication of the elemental righteousness on which the well-being, of humanity depends. Phinehas had no private revenge to seek. It was the public good.
It is confidently affirmed by Wellhausen that the “Priestly Code” makes the cultus the principal thing, and this, he says, implies retrogression from the earlier idea. The passage we are considering, like many others ascribed to the “Priests Code,” makes something else than the cultus the principal thing. We are told that in the teaching of this code “the bond between cultus and sensuality is severed; no danger can arise of an admixture of impure, immoral elements, a danger which was always present in Hebrew antiquity.” But here the danger is admitted, the cultus is entirely out of sight, and the sin of sensuality is conspicuous. When Phinehas intervenes, moreover, it is not in harmony with any statute or principle laid down in the “Priests Code”-rather, indeed, against its general spirit, which would prohibit an Aaronite from a deed of blood. According to the whole tenor of the law the priesthood had its duties, carefully prescribed, by doing which faithfulness was to be shown. Here an act of spontaneous zeal, done not “on the positive command of a will outside,” but on the impulse arising out of a fresh occasion, receives the approval of Jehovah, and. the “covenant of an everlasting priesthood” is confirmed for the sake of it. Was Phinehas in any sense carrying out statutory instructions for atonement on behalf of Israel when he inflicted the punishment of death on Zimri and his paramour? To identify the “Priestly Code” with “cultus legislation,” and that with theocracy, and then declare the cultus to have become a “pedagogic instrument of discipline,” “estranged from the heart,” is to make large demands on our inattention.
In the closing verses of the chapter another question of a moral nature is involved. It is recorded that after the events we have considered Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, “Vex the Midianites, and smite them; for they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor.” Now is it for the sake of themselves and their own safety the Israelites are to smite Midian? Is retaliation commanded? Does God set enmity between the one people and the other, and so doing make confession that Israel has no duty of forgiveness, no mission to convert and save?
There is difficulty in pronouncing judgment as to the point of view taken by the narrator. Some will maintain that the historian here, whoever he was, had no higher conception of the command than that it was one which sanctioned revenge. And there is nothing on the face of the narrative which can be brought forward to disprove the charge. Yet it must be remembered that the history proceeds on the theocratic conception of Israels place and destiny. To the writer Israel is of less account in itself than as a people rescued from Egypt and called to nationality in order to serve Jehovah. The whole tenor of the “Priests Code” narrative, as well as of the other, bears this out. There is no patriotic zeal in the narrow sense, -“My country right or wrong.” Scarcely a passage can be pointed to implying such a sentiment, such a drift of thought. The underlying idea in the whole story is the sacredness of morality, not of Israel; and the suppression or extinction of this tribe of Midianites with their obscene idolatry is Gods will, not Israels. Too plain, indeed, is it that the Israelites would have preferred to leave Midian and other tribes of the same low moral best unmolested, free to pursue their own ends.
And Jehovah is not revengeful, but just. The vindication of morality at the time the Book of Numbers deals with, and long afterwards, could only be through the suppression of those who were identified with dangerous forms of vice. The forces at command in Israel were not equal to the task of converting; and what could be achieved was commanded-opposition, enmity; if need were, exterminating war. The better people has a certain spiritual capacity, but not enough to make it fit for what may be called moral missionary work. It would suffer more than it would gain if it entered on any kind of intercourse with Midian with the view of raising the standard of thought and life. All that can be expected meanwhile is that the Israelites shall be at issue with a people so degraded; they are to be against the Midianites, keep them from power in the world, subject them by the sword.
Our judgment, then, is that the narrative sustains a true theocracy in this sense, exhibits Israel as a unique phenomenon in human history, not impossible, -there lies the clear veracity of the Bible accounts, -but playing a part such as the times allowed, such as the world required. From a passage like that now before us, and the sequel, the war with Midian, which some have regarded as a blot on the pages of Scripture, an argument for its inspiration may be drawn. We find here no ethical anachronisms, no impracticable ideas of charity and pardon. There is a sane and strenuous moral aim, not out of keeping with the state of things in the world of that time, yet showing the rule and presenting the will of a God who makes Israel a protesting people. The Hebrews are men, not angels; men of the old world, not Christians-true! Who could have received this history if it had represented them as Christians, and shown us God giving them commands fit for the Church of today? They are called to a higher morality than that of Egypt, for theirs is to be spiritual; higher than that of Chaldea or of Canaan, for Chaldea is shrouded in superstition, Canaan in obscene idolatry. They can do something; and what they can do Jehovah commands them to do. And He is not an imperfect God because His prophet does not give from the first a perfect Christian law, a redeeming gospel. He is the “I Am.” Let the whole course of Old Testament development be traced, and the sanity and coherency of the theocratic idea as it is presented in law and prophecy, psalm and parable, cannot fail to convince any just and frank inquirer.
The end of Balaams life may be glanced at before the pages close that refer to his career. In Num 31:8, it is stated that in the battle which went against the Midianites Balaam was slain. We do not know whether he was so maddened by his disappointment as to take the sword against Jehovah and Israel, or whether he only joined the army of Midian in his capacity of augur. F. W. Robertson imagines “the insane frenzy with which he would rush into the field, and finding all go against him, and that lost for which he had bartered heaven, after having died a thousand worse than deaths, find death at last upon the spears of the Israelites.” It is of course possible to imagine that he became the victim of his own insane passion. But Balaam never had a profound nature, was never more than within sight of the spiritual world. He appears as the calculating, ambitious man, who would reckon his chances to the last, and with coolness, and what he believed to be sagacity, decide on the next thing to attempt. But his penetration failed him, as at a certain point it fails all men of his kind. He ventured too far, and could not draw back to safety.
The death he died was almost too honourable for this false prophet, unless, indeed, he fell fleeing like a coward from the battle. One who had recognised the power of a higher faith than his country professed, and saw a nation on the way to the vigour that faith inspired, who in personal spleen and envy set in operation a scheme of the very worst sort to ruin Israel, was not an enemy worth the edge of the sword. Let us suppose that a Hebrew soldier found him in flight, and with a passing stroke brought him to the ground. There is no tragedy in such a death; it is too ignominious. Whatever Balaam was in his boyhood, whatever he might have been when the cry escaped him, “Let me die the death of the righteous,” selfish craft had brought him below the level of the manhood of the time. Balak with his pathetic faith in cursing and incantation now seems a prince beside the augur. For Balaam, though he knew Jehovah after a manner, had no religion, had only the envy of the religion of others. He came on the stage with an air that almost deceived Balak and has deceived many. He leaves it without one to lament him. Or shall we rather suppose that even for him, in Pethor beyond the Euphrates, a wife or child waited and prayed to Sutekh and, when the tidings of his death were brought, fell into inconsolable weeping? Over the worst they think and do men draw the veil to hide it from some eyes. And Balaam, a poor, mean tool of the basest cravings, may have had one to believe in him, one to love him. He reminds us of Absalom in his character and actions-Absalom, a man void of religion and morals; and for him the father he had dethroned and dishonoured wept bitterly in the chamber over the gate of Mahanaim, “My son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!” So may some woman in Pethor have wailed for Balaam fallen under the spear of a Hebrew warrior.