Israel's temptations of the flesh

Numbers Chapter 25

The Israelites were camped at Acacia and some of the men defiled themselves by sleeping with the local Moabite women. The women invited the men to attend sacrifices to their gods and soon the Israelites were feasting and worshiping idols, including Baal of Peor, causing the Lord to blaze with anger against his people.

The Lord gave a command to Moses to seize all the ringleaders and execute them before the Lord in broad daylight, so Moses passed the order to Israel's judges to execute anyone who had joined in worshiping Baal. Just then, one of the men brought a Midianite woman into the camp right before the eyes of Moses and all the people as they were weeping at the Tabernacle.

When Phinehas (son of Eleazar, grandson of Aaron) saw this, he jumped up, took a spear and rushed into the man's tent. He thrust the spear all the way through the man's body and into the woman's stomach. God's anger had caused a plague to go on and it stopped when Phenehas took action, but not before 24,00 people died.

Then the Lord told Moses that Phinehas turned the Lord's anger away from the Israelites by displaying passionate zeal among them on his behalf. So the Lord agreed to stop destroying all of Israel as he had planned to do. Instead, he said to let Phinehas know that the Lord was making a special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, he and his descendants will be priests for all time because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the people.

The Israelite man killed was named Zimri, from the tribe of Simeon. The woman killed was name Cozbi, daughter of Zur, leader of the Midianite clan.

Then the Lord told Moses to attack the Midianites and destroy them because of their deceit and tricking the Israelites into worshipping Baal, and because of Cozbi the woman who was killed on the day of the plague at Peor.

BIBLE NOTES SHOW there was an ever-present temptation to consort with pagan Canaanite religions and cultures. These men had their sexual desires met and then started attending and getting absorbed into idol worship. Fun and pleasure cost them to loose their spiritual commitment. The Bible notes imply Balaam the sorcerer who earlier blessed Israel was responsible for combining sex and idolatry - these pagan ways were his practices and he inflicted great damage on the Israelites this way.
Baal was a popular God in Canaan. Prostitution played a large part in worship of Baal.
The man who took the Midianite woman into his camp, meant that he took her into the inner room of his tent, clearly for sex.
Bible notes point out that Phinehas's anger was proper and justified because of his zeal for the Lord. There are times when the Lord wants you to keep your feelings under control, and retaliation is usually the wrong way to justify anger.Phinehas's case was unique.

How does this chapter relate to us today? Wow, just like a soap opera, and haven't soaps gotten steamy nowadays? I think it is safe to say that the Israelite men succumbed to temptation. They lost sight of their beliefs for satisfaction of the flesh. Today's barrage of sex on television and in movies might help you to relax your standards. The Lord asks that you stay focused on him and his commandments. His standards are high. His standards are best for all of us. He never gives up on us, he is a forgiving Lord. But he can be pushed to the limit if we choose to worship other Gods. Baal could be your job, your salary, your car, your possessions, another man's wife - all false idols. Stay true to your Lord and savior!

Yours in Christ,
Mary