Who are you Zelous for? (Numbers 25:1-18)

Notes
Transcript

Introduction

So far in the book of Numbers:
Gossip
Complaining
Rebellion
Sorcery
Compromising
Cursing
Althought Balaam was not successful in cursing Israel, there seems to be an open door to the “seduction” by Baal -
To bring Harlotry
Numbers 31:15–16 NKJV
And Moses said to them: “Have you kept all the women alive? Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Revelation 2:14 NKJV
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

Bible Study Scripture

Our Bible study is based on Numbers 25:1-18

Presentation

Numbers 25:1 (NKJV)
Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.
Harlotry
Commit Fornication - Sexual
Compared to serving other gods
Moab - From my Father -Son of Lot -Born of incest - Genesis 19:30-38
Leviticus 20:5 NKJV
then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.
There seems to be a gradual increase from just gossip to now Harlotry.
In Numbers 22:39-41 ended up offering sacrifice to gods.
As we continue to read, we can also see this in the next verses
Numbers 25:2–3 NKJV
They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
1 Corinthians 6:15–18 NKJV
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
So Israel is not only commiting harlotry at the physical level but also at the Spiritual level. This also happens to us when we commit adultery or fornicate. “Israel yoked himself”
Numbers 25:4–5 NKJV
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”
The price for rebellion and for yoking youself to idols and the enemy is death.
Isreael yokes himself to Baal- the god of fertility. Baal influence included agriculture, animal husbandry and human sexuality.
Sexuality was the first thing the enemy attacked and distorted.
Your sexuality is a good barometer (which measures pressure) of where you are with the Lord.
Numbers 25:3 NKJV
So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.
The Lord our God is a jelous God, and will not want to share His bride with anyone else. When we worship other gods we betray Him- commit fornication- Harlotry.
Exodus 20:5 NKJV
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Exodus 34:14 NKJV
(for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),
Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Hebrew (Old Testament)
7861 קָנָא (qā·nā(ʾ)): v.; ≡ Str 7065; TWOT 2038—1. LN 88.160–88.166 (piel) be jealous, be envious, i.e., have a feeling of ill will ranging even to anger, based on a perceived advantage, or a desire for exclusivity in relationship (Ge 26:14; 30:1; 37:11; Nu 5:14,30; 11:29; Dt 32:21b; 1Ki 14:22; Ps 37:1; 73:3; 106:16; Pr 3:31; 23:17; 24:1, 19; Isa 11:13; Eze 31:9; Joel 2:18; Zec 1:14; 8:2+); (hif) make jealous, make envious (Dt 32:16, 21a; Ps 78:58; Eze 8:3+); 2. LN 25.33–25.58 (piel) be zealous, i.e., have a strong desire and deep devotion for an object (Nu 25:11, 13; 2Sa 21:2; 1Ki 19:10,14; Eze 39:25+)
Numbers 25:6–7 (NKJV)
And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Now when Phinehas (Pinchas) the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand;
THREE ISSUES:
The first offender presented is a Midianite woman?
Is she the only Midianite woman?
Is there anything wrong with being a Midianite to be with the Israel and to worship God?
Moses marries a Midianite woman in Exodus 2:16-21
He is also challenged on this previously in Numbers 12:1
It was the seduction by the Baal “cult” of the specific women at Peor- who caused them to fall (Bible Knowledge Commentary)
Numbers 31:16 NKJV
Look, these women caused the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to trespass against the Lord in the incident of Peor, and there was a plague among the congregation of the Lord.
Revelation 2:14 NKJV
But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
2. They are weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting
They are weeping in regret of thier disobedience and because of the wrath of God, and are looking for the priest to minister
Joel 2:17 (NKJV)
Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, “Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples. ‘Where is their God?’ ”
3- Who is Pinchas?
“dark skin one” or “mouth of brass”
The son of Eleazar
The son of Aaron- the priest
Whose mother was also Midianite
Exodus 6:23-25 (NKJV)
Aaron took to himself Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as wife; and she bore him Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.
And the sons of Korah were Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph. These are the families of the Korahites.
Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
Aaron’s Children
Nadab
Abihu
Eleazar
Ithamar
Leviticus 10:1 (NKJV)
Then Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it, put incense on it, and offered profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them.
Leviticus 10:5 NKJV
So they went near and carried them by their tunics out of the camp, as Moses had said.
Leviticus 10:2 NKJV
So fire went out from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord.
1 Chronicles 6:4–8a (NKJV)
Eleazar begot Phinehas, and Phinehas begot Abishua; Abishua begot Bukki, and Bukki begot Uzzi; Uzzi begot Zerahiah, and Zerahiah begot Meraioth; Meraioth begot Amariah, and Amariah begot Ahitub; Ahitub begot Zadok,
Ezekiel 44:15–16 (NKJV)
“But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the blood,” says the Lord God. “They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge.
Exodus 2:16 (NKJV)
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters. And they came and drew water, and they filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.
Exodus 6:25 (NKJV)
Eleazar, Aaron’s son, took for himself one of the daughters of Putiel as wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites according to their families.
In some rabbinic midrashim Putiel is a name for Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law (cf. Rashi on Exodus 6:25 (The Tenth Plague (p. 107) Sisters at Sinai: New Tales of Biblical Women)
Putiel is more like his title name
Exodus 2:18 (NKJV)
When they came to Reuel their father, he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”
So Jethro, Putiel, and Reuel
and HOBAB are The same person
Who’s Who in the Jewish Bible, Mandel, David
Reuel (Hebrew origin: God is my friend) 1. (Genesis 36:4). 18th century b.c.e. Reuel was the son of Esau and his wife Basemath daughter of Ishmael. 2. (Exodus 2:18). 13th century b.c.e. Reuel the Midianite was the father-in-law of Moses. He was also called Jethro (Exodus 3:1) and Hobab (Judges 4:11). See the entry for Jethro. 3. (Numbers 2:14). 14th century b.c.e
Judges 4:11 (NKJV)
Now Heber the Kenite, of the children of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, had separated himself from the Kenites and pitched his tent near the terebinth tree at Zaanaim, which is beside Kedesh.
The Canaanite = Kenites?
Canaanite means merchant (to exchange)
Biblical Relevance The Lexham Bible Dictionary (3)
Biblical Relevance The Old Testament attests to the existence of fertility cults in the ancient world. The Canaanites living in the fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates perceived their regional gods to be fertile. One such Caananite god was Asherah, a fertility goddess believed to be the mother of the gods
Kenite means “smith” - like a blacsmith
The Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land-Negev, Avraham
KENITES In some of the Semitic languages the name Kenite is the equivalent of ‘smith’. This is the implication of ‘Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron’
Genesis 4:22 NKJV
And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
Kenite
קֵינִי
Canaanite
הַֽכְּנַעֲנִֽי׃
He took a javalin in his hand
Numbers 25:7 (NKJV)
Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand;
Numbers 25:8–9 NKJV
and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.
The sacrifice of one person being pierced stopped the curse.
Psalm 106:30 (NKJV)
Then Phinehas stood up and intervened, And the plague was stopped.
John 19:34 NKJV
But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)
But He was wounded (pierced through) for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Numbers 25:10–13 (NKJV)
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal.
Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace;
and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”
Phinehas was not part of Aaron’s Priesthood, but was granted the COVENANT OF PEACE
His descendants will be an everlasting priesthood.
Zealous
Also means to envy - to provoke to jelousy - to get heated
Zeal without knowledge?
Romans 10:2 NKJV
For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
Who do you have zeal for?
2 Samuel 21:1–2 (NKJV)
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
So the king called the Gibeonites and spoke to them. Now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; the children of Israel had sworn protection to them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the children of Israel and Judah.
2 Kings 10:15–17 NKJV
Now when he departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab, coming to meet him; and he greeted him and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is toward your heart?” And Jehonadab answered, “It is.” Jehu said, “If it is, give me your hand.” So he gave him his hand, and he took him up to him into the chariot. Then he said, “Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.” So they had him ride in his chariot. And when he came to Samaria, he killed all who remained to Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed them, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke to Elijah.
2 Kings 10:28–31 (NKJV)
Thus Jehu destroyed Baal from Israel.
However Jehu did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin, that is, from the golden calves that were at Bethel and Dan.
And the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in doing what is right in My sight, and have done to the house of Ahab all that was in My heart, your sons shall sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.”
But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he did not depart from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel sin.
Do you know who you have zeal for?
Genesis 12:6 (NKJV)
Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.
Exodus 20:5 (NKJV)
you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
Mark 3:16–18 (NKJV)
Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter;
James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
Mark 3:16–18 (NKJV)
Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Kananaios;
Kananaios = Cananaean (Aramaic)

Καναναῖος Kananaios; of Ara. or.; Cananaean, Ara. for Zealot, surname of one of the twelve apostles:—Zealot(2).

Mark 3:18 (NKJV)
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot;
1 Kings 19:7–14 (NKJV)
And the angel of the Lord came back the second time, and touched him, and said, “Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.
And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
To be zealous for the Lord means to constantly demonstrate your disposition for Him. To have an ear for Him. To know Him - to the point that I am able to recognize Him in the middle of the storm- in the tribulation, in the thunder.
So is it possible to have zeal for the Lord without knowing Him?
When there is no knowledge of the Lord, is it possible we are going out of our own interest, anger - from our own rightousness?
Romans 11:33 NKJV
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Hosea 4:1 (NKJV)
Hear the word of the Lord, You children of Israel, For the Lord brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “There is no truth or mercy Or knowledge of God in the land.
Hosea 4:6–7 (NKJV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. “The more they increased, The more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame.
John 14:17 NKJV
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

Summary

Open doors lead to more destruction: from gossip to horlotry
Just like Phinehas we can seem to have zeal - anger, personal interest as he was not part of the priesthood, but his children got in the covenant of everlastiong priesthood.
Zeal- even when compromising
One man’s act can cut the curse for the subsequent generations
Best zeal in the knowledge of the Lord
Our children receive the benefit of our zeal for God
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