Day 64 – Numbers 23-25

Talking Points

• Balak wants Balaam to curse Israel. Instead, Balaam speaks what God has spoken to him, blessing Israel again and again. God keeps His promises and not one word fails.
• Despite God’s blessing them, the Israelites start worshiping false gods and committing vile sin with the Midianite woman. The Bible says, “the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab” (25:1). To play the harlot is best translated, “commit profanity by fornicating.” Again, to profane is to take what is holy and sacred and make it common. Their sin was not just having sex with the Midianite women, it was to take what God had made holy and try to make it less than.
• Notice the spiral downward in the account. Sexual attraction misplaced led to fornication. Fornication led to false worship. False worship resulted in a callousness to sin and an acceptance of the culture. What once was atrocious and unacceptable, an Israelite now attempts, even in the view of the leadership.
• God judges sin — 24,000 people die. The bold Israelite and his Midianite mistress are run through with a spear.
• God’s grace in the midst of vile sin and rebellion is showcased again. Phinehas, the priest, makes atonement for the people.

Thoughts

Whose side are we on — the world’s or God’s? Is it really that simple of a distinction? Are there really sides to choose from? Actually, yes. The Bible says we either love the world, or we love God. We either serve the world, or we serve God. And, as much as we might like there to be, there is no middle ground. So, whose side are we on?

In this account, Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas, acts to uphold the honor of God. The Bible says that Phinehas was jealous for what God was jealous for (25:11). Evidently, what upset God upset Phinehas as well. Evidently, he was not content to sit idly by, as the reputation of his God was profaned by sin. And, so he drew a line.

Today, drawing such a line is met with great disdain. Our culture likes people of faith, so long as that faith is not radical enough to draw lines. Drawing lines is called judgmental, intolerant, and even hateful. Yet, the truth remains we are to be holy as He is holy. Like Phinehas, we are to be jealous for what God is jealous for. Today, while we do not execute God’s justice, we are still called to draw a line — a distinction between the world and God, the holy and the profane.

Lord, help us to be zealous for the world to see your glory!