ISRAEL S SIN WITH THE MOABITE WOMEN GOD S PUNISHMENT THE AFTERMATH NUMBERS 25:1-18

Transcription

1 1 ISRAEL S SIN WITH THE MOABITE WOMEN GOD S PUNISHMENT THE AFTERMATH NUMBERS 25:1-18

2 2 Text: ISRAEL S SIN WITH THE MOABITE WOMEN Numbers 25:1-18, GOD S PUNISHMENT THE AFTERMATH 1. When Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. 2. These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3. When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel. 4. The Lord said to Moses, Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. 5. So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baalpeor. 6. Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand,

3 and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. 9. Those that died in the plague were 24, The Lord spoke to Moses: 11. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. 12. Therefore, announce: I am going to give to him my covenant of peace. 13. So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites. 14. Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. 15. The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian. 16. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 17. Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, 18. because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor. (NET)

4 4 Introduction: This is a relatively short chapter, but has much to offer for the seeker! Commentary: Israel s Sin with the Moabite Women Numbers 25:1-3, When Israel lived in Shittim, (Hebrew word for Achaia trees that were plentiful there) the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab. These women invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; then the people ate and bowed down to their gods. When Israel joined themselves to Baal-peor, the anger of the Lord flared up against Israel. (NET) Note the progression here. The sin mentioned in verse one came about through an invitation to join the Moabites in a feast to their gods. This feast produced sexual activity (part of the worship of Baal), which resulted in bowing down to the most detestable of all the gods of that period of time! The bowing down led to a most severe punishment from The Lord! As someone so succinctly put it, They came to play, they stayed to pray and they had to pay! Two things facilitated this awful scenario their own lust, and the craftiness of Balaam taking advantage of it (so reminiscent of the Serpent in Eden!). Balaam s part in this is not mentioned here, but we are informed of it later. (Numbers 31:16 Look, these people through the counsel of Balaam caused the

5 5 Israelites to act treacherously against the Lord in the matter of Peor which resulted in the plague among the community of the Lord! NET) No doubt the people of Israel did not know who was behind it. In our own lives there is the same dual origin of all our fallings away from God and His grace. But each one is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desires. Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. James 1:14, 15 (NET) Because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. 1 John 2:16 (NET). Of course, beneath and behind all these temptations is the craft of an evil will working against the grace and purpose of God. So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. Romans 7:21-23 (NET). But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. Galatians 5:16-17 (NET). Be sober and alert. Your enemy the devil, like a roaring lion, is on the prowl looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 (NET). And we must take note of the fact that while Balaam could not harm them by his attempted curses or magical practices, he

6 6 undid them by taking advantage of their lust for food and sexual pleasure. The same is true of us. Our adversary has no power against us, except through our own sinfulness! It seems significant as well that Israel s sin began with relaxation and the reaction from toil and conflict. The text says they were living there, not camped there. This encouraged them to seek something more interesting than packing up for the next move! It seems 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 have been overcome and toils left behind. (Many recovering addicts relapse after a celebration of sobriety for a year or two or even more. Their testimony is that they thought the battle was won and so they relaxed. Then, out of the blue, they found themselves using or drinking again!) This incident also demonstrates the wisdom of God in forbidding Israel to fraternize with people whose religion and morality were vastly inferior to that of Israel. God s insistence that Israel stay separate from other nations was not because they were better but because they were to live by a different standard. The same danger is present with Christians. Our most likely avenue of departure from the Christian walk is becoming too closely allied with those whose lifestyles and values are radically different from that of disciples of Jesus. The great danger lies in the tendency to compromise 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.

7 7 That fatal step was induced by carnal pleasures, something that had not been available heretofore. This is still a frequent source of departure; a snare into which the most unlikely persons fall when it is suddenly presented to them. The Scriptures are filled with examples of those who were the greatest, intellectually, and most promising, spiritually, who fell into the trap of lust! Paul was not speaking idly when he said, So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he does not fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12. (NET) We must not assume that we are absolutely above certain sins simply because the temptation has yet never come in our way! It is always dangerous to say, I would never do what they did! Who knows what we would do in their circumstances? So, take the advice of Jesus in Matthew 26:41. Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (NET) The reason idolatry is so dangerous and forbidden is revealed in Hosea 9:10 where the prophet makes one of the many references to the incident recorded in Numbers 25. The last line of that verse reads: Then they came to Baal-Peor and they dedicated themselves to shame they became as detestable as what they loved. (NET) The principle stated here is surely worth our consideration. We become like that which we love! Here is a red flag for us. John warns, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the

8 8 flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains forever. 1 John 2: (NET) Since we become like what we love it behooves us to Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth... Colossians 3:2, and Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of respect, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if something is excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things. (NET) The first commandment of the ten and the commandment that Jesus said was the greatest give the same standards as these scriptures do. Exodus 20:2, 3, I, the Lord, am your God, who brought you from the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. Matthew 22:36 38, Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest? Jesus said to him, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. The divine wisdom behind these commandments is not far to seek. We become like that which occupies our mind and which

9 9 we love and especially what we worship. Therefore, God says think about uplifting things, love God and worship Him alone! Their fellowship in revelry led directly to their sharing in idolatry, the two things being part and parcel in the heathen worship of that time. Even though we are millennia separated in time from this incident, the principles are still the same. As Jesus himself said, Matthew 6:24, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (NET) It is impossible to take part in the indulgences of the flesh and of the world without betraying God. Fleshly sin involves a sacramental union with the enemy of God (1 Corinthians 6:13-20, Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but God will do away with both. The body is not for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. Now God indeed raised the Lord and he will raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Should I take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Or do you not know that anyone who is united with a prostitute is one body with her? For it is said, The two will become one flesh. But the one united with the Lord is one spirit with him. Flee sexual immorality! Every sin a person commits is outside of the body but the immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body. (NET) 1 Corinthians 10:14-22, So then, my dear

10 10 friends, flee from idolatry. I am speaking to thoughtful people. Consider what I say. Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread that we break a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share the one bread. Look at the people of Israel. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partners in the altar? Am I saying that idols or food sacrificed to them amount to anything? No, I mean that what the pagans sacrifice is to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be partners with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot take part in the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we really stronger than he is? (NET) Acts 15:19-20, Therefore I conclude that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things defiled by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled and from blood. (NET) All the above passages show the connection between worldly revelry and sexual sin and idolatry. God s sentence of death was brought on by this sin and executed immediately. Such immediate execution is seldom seen in God s dealings today (Exceptions are seen such as Acts 5:1-11, Now a man named Ananias, together with Sapphira his wife, sold a piece of property. He kept back for himself part of the proceeds with his wife s knowledge; he brought only part of it and placed it at the

11 11 apostles feet. But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back for yourself part of the proceeds from the sale of the land? Before it was sold, did it not belong to you? And when it was sold, was the money not at your disposal? How have you thought up this deed in your heart? You have not lied to people but to God! When Ananias heard these words he collapsed and died, and great fear gripped all who heard about it. So the young men came, wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. After an interval of about three hours, his wife came in, but she did not know what had happened. Peter said to her, Tell me, were the two of you paid this amount for the land? Sapphira said, Yes, that much. Peter then told her, Why have you agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out! At once she collapsed at his feet and died. So when the young men came in, they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear gripped the whole church and all who heard about these things. (NET)) but the sentence of death still stands against rebellious and unrepentant sin. Romans 1:18-20, 32, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, because they are understood through

12 12 what has been made. So people are without excuse... Although they fully know God s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but also approve of those who practice them. (NET) Romans 6:23, For the payoff of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NET) Ephesians 5:5, For you can be confident of this one thing: that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. (NET) Revelation 21:8, But as for the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, idol worshipers, and all those who lie, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. That is the second death. (NET) The guilt of the nation reached its climax in the shamelessness and audacity of the sin of Zimri. His sin is heinous because it is so shameless! While people are dying and Moses and the other leaders are weeping at the tabernacle, Zimri, in the sight of all, takes a Midianite woman to his tent! In the absence of shame there is no awareness of the sinfulness of sin and so there is no repentance. Jeremiah 6:15, Are they ashamed because they have done such shameful things? No, they are not at all ashamed. They do not even know how to blush! So they will die, just like others have died. They will be brought to ruin when I punish them,

13 13 Says the Lord. (NET) If Balak had confronted Israel as the kings before him had, he would have been soundly defeated (which he eventually was to be). He knew this and so he tried to get Balaam to curse the people. When that didn t work, he became angry with Balaam and sent him packing! However, as we learn later, before he went back home, Balaam gave Balak the key to defeating Israel. Satan hardly, if ever, confronts us with his undisguised self. Picture him showing up on your doorstep, smelling of fire and brimstone and introducing himself as Satan and asking if you would like to go to Hell with him! Few of us would give him an audience. Paul speaks of the schemes of the devil. Ephesians 6:11, Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 2 Corinthians 2:11,... I did so for you in the presence of Christ, 11 so that we may not be exploited by Satan (for we are not ignorant of his schemes). (NET) Satan s scheming has been tripping us up since Eden (See Genesis 3:1-19, Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Is it really true that God said, You must not eat from any tree of the orchard? The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die. The serpent said to the woman, Surely you will not

14 14 die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil. When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the orchard at the breezy time of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? The man replied, I heard you moving about in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid. And the Lord God said, Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman whom you gave me, she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. So the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman replied, The serpent tricked me, and I ate. The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life. And I will put hostility between you and the woman and between your offspring and her offspring; her offspring will attack your head, and you will attack her offspring s heel. To the woman he said, I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.

15 15 But to Adam he said, Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return. (NET)). Balak had merely counted his fighting men, he had not considered the power of a seductive woman! It is a well-known fact that once a man has been enticed and has begun to lust, there is no end to his weakness! Balaam put Balak onto this trick and Israel cursed themselves by their sensuous behavior which led to the breaking of the first commandment. The women of Moab get a black eye here, but we meet one later who is the very opposite of these. Her name was Ruth and you can read her story in the Bible book that bears her name. God s Punishment Numbers 25:4-9, The Lord said to Moses, Arrest all the leaders of the people, and hang them up before the Lord in broad daylight, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each of you must execute those of his men who were joined to Baal-peor. Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the

16 16 assembly, took a javelin in his hand, and went after the Israelite man into the tent and thrust through the Israelite man and into the woman s abdomen. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. Those that died in the plague were 24,000. (NET) Notice that the wrath of God burned especially against the leaders of the people because they had permitted these activities to go on apparently with their knowledge and maybe even their approval. Therefore their sin is greater and their punishment more severe. James 3:1, Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, because you know that we will be judged more strictly... (NET) The boldness of Phinehas is celebrated here. While others were weeping over the sinful behavior, Phinehas put a stop to it! What he did was bold and perhaps dangerous (since nobody wanted the party to stop). The Aftermath Numbers 25:10-18, The Lord spoke to Moses: Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites, when he manifested such zeal for my sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in my zeal. Therefore, announce: I am going to give to him my covenant of peace. So it will be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of a permanent priesthood, because he has been zealous for his God, and has made atonement for the Israelites. Now the name of the Israelite who was stabbed the one who was stabbed with the Midianite woman was Zimri

17 17 son of Salu, a leader of a clan of the Simeonites. The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi daughter of Zur. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian. Then the Lord spoke to Moses: Bring trouble to the Midianites, and destroy them, because they bring trouble to you by their treachery with which they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague that happened as a result of Peor. (NET) God rewards him with a permanent linage of priesthood for his family. In this regard Phinehas is a prototype of Jesus who boldly sacrificed his life to end our bondage to sin and became a priest forever. Hebrews 7:14-17, For it is clear that our Lord is descended from Judah, yet Moses said nothing about priests in connection with that tribe. And this is even clearer if another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about physical descent but by the power of an indestructible life. For here is the testimony about him: You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. (NET) As we noted earlier, the Moabites and the Midianites were living in the same kingdom. Both Moab and Midian were kinfolk to Israel. This last act of defiance caused the Lord to condemn the Midianites.

18 18 Questions on Numbers 25: What is the more common name for Shittim wood? 2. What important articles of worship were make of this wood? _ 3. The terrible sin of Israel began with what seemingly harmless invitation? 4. Who had suggested this as a way to bring Israel down?

19 What kind of war did Paul say was going on in his mind? 6. How does the Apostle Peter characterize the devil? 7. Why was God so adamant about Israel s staying separate from the nations around them? 8. What connection can be made between their eagerness to partake of the feasts with the Moabites and the problem stated in chapter 21:5?

20 State the principle that Hosea gave in his reference to this incident in chapter What advice does Paul give concerning our thinking? 11. Which commandment of the ten is first? 12. What commandment did Jesus say was the greatest?

21 How does this fit into the story in chapter 25? 14. As the gospel spread into the Gentile World, from what did the Apostles and Elders tell Gentile converts to abstain? 15. What sentence was passed and carried on the leaders of Israel who participated in this sin? 16. How soon did the execution of this sentence take place? 17. How is this different from God s sentence of death on unrepentant sinners today?

22 What made the sin of Zimri so much worse than the others?_ 19. Jeremiah said that the people had forgotten what? 20. Name a Moabite woman who was opposite in character to these in chapter What heroic act did Phinehas perform to stop the plague?

23 With what did the Lord reward him? 23. This is somewhat reminiscent of Jesus according to what scripture?