An Army of Phinehases – Part 6
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 25:10-12]
The Lord is holy. If man is to be in a relationship with Him, we have to be holy also. This means we cannot live to please self and do our own thing. We cannot worship and serve other gods…or money…or sex…or fame. We have to worship and serve the Lord alone. We have to practice fidelity to one Spouse, the Lord.
The pubescent Israelites didn’t do this. The only alternatives then were either for the Lord to leave and give man his way, or else for the Lord to stay and send man away. Putting sinful man to death removed the sin and maintained God’s holiness. It sent sinful man away so that the Lord could stay (answer to question 4).
The final question (#5) is, “How can a mere man make atonement for other men?” Answer: in just the way Phinehas did, viz., by following the Word of God and judging sin accordingly. The sin wasn’t atoned for in the case of the sinners. They weren’t atoned for: they were judged and condemned! The sin was atoned for in the case of the Israelites who weren’t committing the sin.
Sin in the camp of Israel required that the camp of Israel be judged. So the plague from the Lord struck the camp of Israel. So long as this fraternizing with the enemy continued, the rest of the Israelites were susceptible to being entangled in the devilish web. Phinehas put an end to the fraternizing by his bold act. No other Israelites volunteered to fraternize any longer, considering the consequences!
Ergo, Phinehas atoned for the sin by terminating its practice, as well as by judging the offenders according to the Word of God. The operative phrase is “according to the Word of God”. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land. It was given at Mount Sinai and went into effect forthwith. God gave them His Law in preparation for having their own country. He was the King of Israel.
We Christians today are not Israel in the Promised Land. The Law of Moses wasn’t given to govern us: the New Testament was. However, we still learn spiritual truths about God from the Lord’s picture stories in the Old Testament, so we continue to study it. However, let’s not be overly eager and go to executing sinners!
In the Church today we need an army of valiant Phinehases to combat the Gospel of Affluence which pervades the Christian community. Alas, but what we have seems to be a nursery full of wimpy Zimris. If you want to know what a Zimri is, read Numbers 25 and see. If you want to enlist in the army of Phinehases, report to the Lord in prayer. Think I’ll do so now. Want to join?
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...
The Lord is holy. If man is to be in a relationship with Him, we have to be holy also. This means we cannot live to please self and do our own thing. We cannot worship and serve other gods…or money…or sex…or fame. We have to worship and serve the Lord alone. We have to practice fidelity to one Spouse, the Lord.
The pubescent Israelites didn’t do this. The only alternatives then were either for the Lord to leave and give man his way, or else for the Lord to stay and send man away. Putting sinful man to death removed the sin and maintained God’s holiness. It sent sinful man away so that the Lord could stay (answer to question 4).
The final question (#5) is, “How can a mere man make atonement for other men?” Answer: in just the way Phinehas did, viz., by following the Word of God and judging sin accordingly. The sin wasn’t atoned for in the case of the sinners. They weren’t atoned for: they were judged and condemned! The sin was atoned for in the case of the Israelites who weren’t committing the sin.
Sin in the camp of Israel required that the camp of Israel be judged. So the plague from the Lord struck the camp of Israel. So long as this fraternizing with the enemy continued, the rest of the Israelites were susceptible to being entangled in the devilish web. Phinehas put an end to the fraternizing by his bold act. No other Israelites volunteered to fraternize any longer, considering the consequences!
Ergo, Phinehas atoned for the sin by terminating its practice, as well as by judging the offenders according to the Word of God. The operative phrase is “according to the Word of God”. The Law of Moses was the legal code for the Israelites while they inhabited the Promised Land. It was given at Mount Sinai and went into effect forthwith. God gave them His Law in preparation for having their own country. He was the King of Israel.
We Christians today are not Israel in the Promised Land. The Law of Moses wasn’t given to govern us: the New Testament was. However, we still learn spiritual truths about God from the Lord’s picture stories in the Old Testament, so we continue to study it. However, let’s not be overly eager and go to executing sinners!
In the Church today we need an army of valiant Phinehases to combat the Gospel of Affluence which pervades the Christian community. Alas, but what we have seems to be a nursery full of wimpy Zimris. If you want to know what a Zimri is, read Numbers 25 and see. If you want to enlist in the army of Phinehases, report to the Lord in prayer. Think I’ll do so now. Want to join?
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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