An Army of Phinehases – Part 1
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “ Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. Therefore say, ‘ Behold, I give him My covenant of peace...because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” [Numbers 25:10-13]
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Have you ever read those words before? I’m not being sarcastic. Honest! Most Christians have yet to read the Bible. Oh, many read parts of the Bible—favorite verses, chapters on the Christmas story, Psalms and Proverbs. But read Genesis through Revelation, an entire Bible book at a time? Sadly, but not too many do so.
This is why I asked you whether you ever read the words of our text before. Well, it makes for a never you mind for our purpose today. Whether you did or didn’t, when you read them now, what questions pass through your mind…aside from the foreign names, that is? I’ll suggest a few for you.
1. How can a mere man turn away God’s wrath?
2. How can a mere man have God’s jealousy?
3. What is God’s jealousy anyway?
4. How can a holy God kill people in jealousy and still be holy?
5. How can a mere man make atonement for other men?
Hmm. Those are some stimulating inquiries. I bet we’re in for a smorgasbord of spiritual victuals today. I hear the dinner bell, so we mustn’t dawdle. Let’s wash our hands, recline at the table, and get to eating!
To help us get a handle on the issue involved, perhaps a story or two for illustration purposes will benefit us. We all know the one about the preschooler and the cookie jar, don’t we? It goes like this.
Mom walks into the kitchen and discovers little Johnny boy on the step ladder, his hand deep in the cookie jar which reclines atop the kitchen cabinet. Mom grabs Johnny off the ladder, before he is startled by her presence and winds up falling off. As she places him on the floor, Johnny looks up in her face wearing a whimper sort of expression. A tear or two drops out of the corner of his eye as he whines, “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
Well, if we could play Johnny’s private thoughts on the TV screen at that moment, we’d be cut to the quick by his real mindset. He was sorry all right, but not because he disobeyed Mom by invading the domain of the cookie against her express instructions. No! We’d hear this:
I’m sorry, Mommy, that you came in when you did. If you’d only have been a few seconds slower, I’d have a handful of cookies out back, chowing down and having the time of my life! Why couldn’t you have just waited a few moments, Mommy? Why’d you have to go and spoil my life again? I never get to have any fun. Wish you’d chill and let me be for once.
We will continue the tale on the morrow. Let’s pause a while and spend time with the Lord now.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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