Numbers 25 · The Lantern

Moab Seduces Israel

And Israel stayed at Shittim; and the people began to go whoring with the daughters of Moab.

And they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods.

And Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor; and the anger of the LORD burned against Israel.

And the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD in the sun — that the burning anger of the LORD may turn back from Israel.”

And Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Kill, each man, his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor.”

The Zeal of Phinehas

And look — a man of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers the Midianite woman, before the eyes of Moses and before the eyes of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting.

And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it; and he rose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,

and went after the man of Israel into the chamber, and pierced the two of them through — the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. And the plague was held back from the sons of Israel.

If Phinehas by his zeal in slaying the evildoer appeased the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew no other but "gave himself a ransom for all," take away God's wrath against humanity?

But when we are aware of his attacks, we ought to repeat to ourselves the apostolic words, "As many of us as were baptized into Christ were baptized into His death." Now if we have been conformed to His death, sin henceforth in us is surely a corpse, pierced through by the javelin of Baptism, as that fornicator was thrust through by the zealous Phinehas.

Slaughter has brought about righteousness, and mercy has been a cause of condemnation more than slaughter, because the latter has been according to the mind of God, but the former has been forbidden. It was reckoned to Phinehas for righteousness that he pierced to death the woman who committed fornication, together with the fornicator.

And those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath back from the sons of Israel, in being jealous with my jealousy in their midst — so that I did not finish off the sons of Israel in my jealousy.

Therefore say: Look — I am giving him my covenant of peace.

And it shall be for him, and for his seed after him, a covenant of everlasting priesthood — because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the sons of Israel.”

Now the name of the man of Israel who was struck down, who was struck down with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a fathers’ house of the Simeonites.

And the name of the Midianite woman who was struck down was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian.

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Treat the Midianites as foes, and strike them —

for they have been foes to you with their schemes, by which they schemed against you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi the daughter of the leader of Midian, their sister, who was struck down on the day of the plague over the matter of Peor.”

Numbers25

Moab Seduces Israel

The Zeal of Phinehas