Pinchas
Phinehas
“A Covenant of Peace”
Numbers 25:10-30:1[29:40]
1 Kings 18:46-19:21
excerpted from TorahScope, Volume III
This week’s Torah parashah begins with a summary conclusion to Balak (Numbers 22:2-25:9), describing the gruesome consequences of the sin of Baal Peor (Numbers 25:9-10). This is followed by describing the zeal of Phinehas who stopped the plague upon Israel (Numbers 25:10-18), a census of the Israelites is taken (Numbers 26:1-65), laws of inheritance including women’s rights to inheritance are stated (Numbers 27:1-14), there is a transfer of authority to Joshua (Numbers 27:15-23), and laws for different offerings, often associated with the appointed times, are specified (Numbers 28:1-29:40).
What gets the most attention for readers, to be sure, is how certainly after the tragic events of the lascivious and licentious actions with the women of Peor—resulting in the deaths of many thousands of Israelites—the Lord wanted to restore a sense of order back into the camp, before proceeding with the invasion of Canaan. In the introductory paragraph, the zealous and righteous stroke of Phinehas, to halt the flagrant act of Zimri and Cozbi, was rewarded with a perpetual covenant of peace to the Aaronic heirs, commencing with Phinehas. Such blessings were to follow in the line of succession of future high priests:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I didn’t consume the children of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. It shall be to him, and to his offspring after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” Now the name of the man of Israel that was slain, who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a fathers’ house among the Simeonites. The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur. He was head of the people of a fathers’ house in Midian. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Harass the Midianites, and strike them; for they harassed you with their wiles, wherein they have deceived you in the matter of Peor, and in the incident regarding Cozbi, the daughter of the prince of Midian, their sister, who was slain on the day of the plague in the matter of Peor’” (Numbers 25:10-18, WMB).
Phinehas’ zealous piercing, of the quite shameless, copulating couple, was what halted the ensuing plague. This was reminiscent of Aaron’s use of the incense from the altar after Korah’s rebellion, which too saw many Israelites perish (Numbers 16:46:50). More importantly to be sure, the “covenant of peace” bestowed upon Phinehas for his zeal, serves as a foreshadowing of what the Holy One will give to His people, in His instruction that Israel expand their outreach to the nations—despite a human proclivity to wander away from Him. The Prophet Isaiah declared,
“‘Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth! Break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who didn’t travail with child! For more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,’ says the LORD. ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities. Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth. You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more. For your Maker is your husband; the LORD of Hosts is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth. For the LORD has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,’ says your God. ‘For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the LORD your Redeemer. For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed, but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,’ says the LORD who has mercy on you” (Isaiah 54:1-10, WMB).
Despite the unfaithfulness of Israel to the Holy One, He has promised to maintain a covenant of peace with them, and He will surely remain true to His Word. However, as was true then and remains consistent today—if and when His people disobey, there are always consequences. The universal principle of reaping what is sown, embedded in the Creation, always applies.
With the offensive to cross the Jordan on Israel’s agenda, as burial parties were surely having to attend to the massive amount of casualties from the plague, the Lord through Moses established some guidelines for distribution of the Promised Land among the various tribes. A census was taken to determine the size of the tribes (Numbers 26:1-51), with fairness to be controlled by a casting of lots, with attention paid to the remaining tribal numbers, in order to evenly allocate various parcels of land:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘To these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. To the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance. To everyone according to those who were counted of him shall his inheritance be given. Notwithstanding, the land shall be divided by lot. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit. According to the lot shall their inheritance be divided between the more and the fewer’” (Numbers 26:52-56, WMB).
With the methodology for land assignment described, Moses reminded the Israelites that the Levites, because of their unique status as priests with various responsibilities, were not to be counted among those receiving a physical land inheritance. In this description, some personal genealogical data is also included, with some specific reminders about the special position of the line of Aaron. Also seen is a reminder about the dreadful deaths of Nadab and Abihu, who perverted their duties (Leviticus 10:1-2):
“These are those who were counted of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, and the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister. To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the LORD. Those who were counted of them were twenty-three thousand, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not counted among the children of Israel, because there was no inheritance given them among the children of Israel. These are those who were counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. But among these there was not a man of them who were counted by Moses and Aaron the priest, who counted the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. For the LORD had said of them, ‘They shall surely die in the wilderness.’ There was not a man left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun” (Numbers 26:57-65, WMB).
After restating how the deaths of all the Israelites who believed the bad report from the ten spies (Numbers 14:27-30)—Moses now turned to establishing some key rights for the women, who were likely widowed in the years prior to the anticipated invasion. Here in the Torah, the daughters of Zelophehad pled for equity when it came to land distribution, and the Lord granted their request, with a statute prohibiting any potential discrimination based on gender:
“Then the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph came near. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the princes and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying, ‘Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from among his family, because he had no son? Give to us a possession among the brothers of our father.’ Moses brought their cause before the LORD. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘The daughters of Zelophehad speak right. You shall surely give them a possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You shall cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his kinsman who is next to him of his family, and he shall possess it. This shall be a statute and ordinance for the children of Israel, as the LORD commanded Moses’” (Numbers 27:1-11, WMB).
After the issue of equity for the daughters of Zelophehad was resolved, the immediacy of Moses’ impending death was addressed—with a significant display of how the Lord desired His authority to be relegated to future generations. With the pain of remembering the rebellion, which compelled the Lord to not let Moses enter the Promised Land, Moses recognized that Joshua was his heir to guide the Israelites into Canaan. Moses stood before the recently anointed high priest Eleazar and the congregation, in order to commission Joshua in their sight:
“The LORD said to Moses, ‘Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered; because in the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin, to honor me as holy at the waters before their eyes.’ (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, ‘Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who may go out before them, and who may come in before them, and who may lead them out, and who may bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be as sheep which have no shepherd.’ The LORD said to Moses, ‘Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him. Set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and commission him in their sight. You shall give authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may obey. He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.’ Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. He laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD spoke by Moses” (Numbers 27:12-23, WMB).
This precedent, of properly recognizing the authority, and bestowing it upon those who the Lord has called into His service—was established by what occurred through the transfer of authority from Aaron to Eleazar, at Aaron’s death (Numbers 20:25-29), and recurred with the conveyance of Moses’ weight of responsibility by the laying on of hands. Centuries later, the Apostle Paul continued this precedence with the laying on of hands to his young disciple Timothy, who Paul recognized as one of his successors, in continuing the work he had started:
“having been reminded of the sincere faith that is in you, which lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, in you also. For this cause, I remind you that you should stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God didn’t give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:5-7, WMB).
“Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. Until I come, pay attention to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching. Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elders. Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all. Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:12-16, WMB).
Further clarification, on how the Scriptures describe this transfer of authority, can be gleaned from how Aaron and his sons were originally anointed for their priestly responsibilities. This was to involve an oil anointing of the right ear lobe, right thumb, and right big toe (Leviticus 8: 23-24; 14:14-18). The key to understand, is how those who serve the Lord should, by and through their dedicated service, be best able to discern just who it is who is to continue their work, when their own term of dedicated service is largely over.
Our Torah portion includes a long reiteration of all of the offerings required for the daily morning and evening sacrifices, New Moon sacrifices, and the offerings for the appointed times of the Lord (Leviticus 23). These are restated to emphasize the importance of compliance, to this relatively young generation of Israelites, poised to enter the Promised Land:
“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Command the children of Israel, and tell them, “See that you present my offering, my food for my offerings made by fire, as a pleasant aroma to me, in their due season.” You shall tell them, “This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: male lambs a year old without defect, two day by day, for a continual burnt offering. You shall offer the one lamb in the morning, and you shall offer the other lamb at evening, with one tenth of an efah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with the fourth part of a hin of beaten oil. It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Its drink offering shall be the fourth part of a hin for each lamb. You shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD in the holy place. The other lamb you shall offer at evening. As the meal offering of the morning, and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma to the LORD. On the Sabbath day, you shall offer two male lambs a year old without defect, and two tenths of an efah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, and its drink offering: this is the burnt offering of every Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. In the beginnings of your months, you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect, and three tenths of an efah of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for each bull; and two tenth parts of fine flour for a meal offering mixed with oil, for the one ram; and one tenth part of fine flour mixed with oil for a meal offering to every lamb, as a burnt offering of a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb. This is the burnt offering of every month throughout the months of the year. Also, one male goat for a sin offering to the LORD shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, is the LORD’s Passover. On the fifteenth day of this month shall be a feast. Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days. In the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work, but you shall offer an offering made by fire, a burnt offering to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, and seven male lambs a year old. They shall be without defect, with their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil. You shall offer three tenths for a bull, and two tenths for the ram. You shall offer one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you. You shall offer these in addition to the burnt offering of the morning, which is for a continual burnt offering. In this way you shall offer daily, for seven days, the food of the offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to the LORD. It shall be offered in addition to the continual burnt offering and its drink offering. On the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. Also in the day of the first fruits, when you offer a new meal offering to the LORD in your feast of weeks, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work; but you shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs a year old; and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil, three tenths for each bull, two tenths for the one ram, one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; and one male goat, to make atonement for you. Besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering, you shall offer them and their drink offerings. See that they are without defect”’” (Numbers 28:1-31, WMB).
“In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no regular work. It is a day of blowing of shofars to you. You shall offer a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old without defect; and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the ram, and one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; and one male goat for a sin offering, to make atonement for you; in addition to the burnt offering of the new moon with its meal offering, and the continual burnt offering with its meal offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, for a pleasant aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. On the tenth day of this seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall afflict your souls. You shall do no kind of work; but you shall offer a burnt offering to the LORD for a pleasant aroma: one young bull, one ram, seven male lambs a year old, all without defect; and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for the bull, two tenths for the one ram, one tenth for every lamb of the seven lambs; one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the sin offering of atonement, and the continual burnt offering, and its meal offering, and their drink offerings. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. You shall keep a feast to the LORD seven days” (Numbers 29:1-12, WMB).
“‘You shall offer these to the LORD in your set feasts—in addition to your vows and your free will offerings—for your burnt offerings, your meal offerings, your drink offerings, and your peace offerings.’ Moses told the children of Israel according to all that the LORD commanded Moses” (Numbers 29:39-40, WMB).
In reading these instructions—in light of Yeshua’s atoning work for sinners, as our perfect sacrifice—it is easy to understand why the Apostle Paul would admonish Believers to demonstrate their faith as a living sacrifice:
“Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. For I say through the grace that was given me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think; but to think reasonably, as God has apportioned to each person a measure of faith” (Romans 12:1-3, WMB).
While Paul did not necessarily know that the Temple in Jerusalem was going to be destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E.—which to this day has prevented the ability of the Levites to perform the various sacrifices and offerings at the holy place—he knew that it was critical for followers of Yeshua the Messiah, to offer up their lives to service for the Almighty. More difficult than individuals living as a sacrifice to be sure—is for all Believers to be functioning together as a living sacrifice, accomplishing the Lord’s purposes in the Earth. Paul expected the holy ones or saints, to be purified via a washing of the word (Ephesians 5:26), which can and should be done by all born again Believers through daily prayer, supplication, praise, worship, and constant communion with the Lord through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. The most important “word,” though, which must be embraced, is the good news or gospel of salvation—which definitively results in each of us receiving a redeemed heart of flesh, which has God’s commandments supernaturally written upon it (Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:26-27).
If someone truly wants to serve the Holy One, then he or she will be wholeheartedly thankful for the forgiveness received. By the love one has for Yeshua the Messiah, Believers are to be compelled by the Holy Spirit to obey His commands. As the carnal nature decreases and conformity to the Messiah increases (Romans 8:29-30; John 3:30), then the sort of zeal exhibited by Phinehas should come without reservation, as the Spirit leads and one learns to walk in the ways of God (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25; Romans 8:14) to truly seek to please Him. This should all ultimately culminate, in a personal covenant of peace between oneself and the Creator, and in having the assurance that being counted among the redeemed is one’s final destiny.
May this be our individual and collective testimony, as God’s representatives to this wicked and perverse generation. The world around us needs not only our prayers, but our resolute actions to show them the way to salvation!
