Hello my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever had a wound which became infected? You could see the discoloration of your skin around the wound area and perhaps the swelling as your body attempted to fight the infection. I wonder what you did to kill the infection and return your body to health? Now let me ask a deeper question: what does moral infection look like and how do you fight that infection?
Today in our journey with Moses and the Hebrews in the desert, we encounter an experience of moral infection that nearly destroyed them. It’s important we look at this scene for this infection can be found in every city in the world, and perhaps even in your own extended family. There are important, perhaps life saving lessons to be learned here. Numbers 25 is where you find the story and it follows the story of Balaam and Balak which we looked at in the past few days. In one sentence Moses summarizes the problem: “While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited the men to the sacrifices to their gods… So Israel joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor and the LORD’s anger burned against them.” (Numbers 25:1-3)
Do you see the problem my friends? Do you see how one thing led to another and before long these Hebrews were enslaved again, this time in sexual immorality and idol worship? Unlike in Egypt where Pharaoh enslaved the Hebrews by his great power and military force, this time the people enslaved themselves through their own appetites for immorality and spiritual experimentation. By the way the worship of Baal often involved orgies and other sexual immorality. Both the immorality and the idolatry were radical, overt, rejections of Holy God and the Covenant the Hebrew people had made with God. (Exodus 20) So what do you think would be the appropriate response of Holy God for such rebellion among His people? The Covenant was clear. Both these actions incurred death as holy justice.
Now let’s take just a moment to look around your world and mine, my friends. What are some of the powerful enticements which you see affecting the thinking, emotions, choices and finally behavior of people where you live? How would you compare morality today with what morality was like 20 years ago, 50 years ago where you live? What are the things you see which have caused the moral deterioration of societies all around the world? And what have been the responses of the leaders in your city, your society as ethics and morals have deteriorated? How has your society responded when it was leaders themselves who were caught in unethical or immoral behavior?
Did you notice what God instructed Moses to do in Numbers 25? “The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight…” (Numbers 25:4) Now that’s radical isn’t it? What is God trying to teach His people here? Do you remember what James wrote in the New Testament: “Not many of you should presume to be teachers (leaders) for you know that we who teach (lead) will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) Do you agree that those in leadership roles should be held to a higher standard because their leadership roles position them to have greater influence in society than the average person? Do you see leaders in your society, your city, being held to very high standards? This applies to the family too, doesn’t it? Parents and grandparents should be held to a higher standard than children, for adults have great influence in the lives of children, and adults have had much more time to develop their characters, their morals, their ethics.
So look at what Moses did in response to God’s instructions in the face of this gross immorality and idolatry failure among the Covenant people of God: “So Moses said to Israel’s judges, ‘Each of you must put to death those of your men who have joined in worshiping the Baal of Peor.” I see something very significant here my friends. Of course God could have easily put to death each person who had violated the Covenant either through immorality or idolatry. But instead God called leaders to take responsibility and lead by bringing justice to this situation. Once again I invite us to look at our societies. Are leaders taking responsibility and addressing the problems in your city, your society head on? Is there a sense of remorse for the deep immorality and widespread wickedness where you live?
Moses records for us that a large group of people gathered at the Tent of Meeting in tears. Remorse was evidently turning to repentance and God always looks for repentant hearts and when He finds repentance, God responds with forgiveness and restoration. Have you seen this? 1 John 1:9 says: “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Have you experienced the wonderful power of forgiveness from God my friends? Do you understand God is always ready, day or night, anytime, to receive the repentant cry of a sinner and He will always respond with forgiveness?!
In Numbers 25 Moses recounts for us a terrible incident which is a reflection of so much of our world. While many people were weeping in repentance, one man was passionately pursuing wickedness. Moses records it this way: “Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and those weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into his tent. He drove the spear through both of them – through the Israelite and into the woman’s body. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped, but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” (Numbers 25:6-9) Oh my, that is so graphic, so ugly, so violent! I wonder what you see in this event my friends? Can you place yourself there, watching it all with your own eyes? We don’t know exactly what this plague was which was killing the people, but normally that word “plague” is only used when it is a judgement sent from God. 24,000 people died… oh my, that’s serious!
Perhaps you wonder why the plague stopped when Phinehas took a spear and killed these two people actually engaged in immoral sexual acts, while others were weeping in repentance? Moses records for us: “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My anger away from the Israelites, for he was as zealous as I am for My honor among them..” (Numbers 25:11) There it is my friends. God is HOLY and He is both jealous and zealous for HIS holiness to be honored by His people. When God’s people defile themselves and God’s holiness in the eyes of people who do not know God, that moves God to action in defending His holy honor! Now ponder that my friends, it’s very important.
May I call us to pause here in reflection with three Scriptures which speak to this issue:
Ezekiel 36:16-36 is one of the most powerful Scriptures about this… “…when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions…I poured out My wrath on them…I judged them according to their conduct… I had concern for My holy name which the house of Israel profaned among the nations… I will show the holiness of My great name which you have profaned… Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself Holy through you before their eyes.”
In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote this to the Christians in the decadent city of Corinth: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ they are a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come. All this is from God who has reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal [to the world] through us.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-20) Can you see the privilege and responsibility of being an ‘ambassador of Christ’ in our world?
Peter wrote it this way: “Just as He who called you is holy, be holy in all you do…You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His wonderful light. I urge you to abstain from the sinful desires which wage war against your soul. Live such godly lives among the pagans that though they may accuse you of doing wrong, they will glorify God…” (1 Peter 1:15; 2:9-12)
I love the fact that God’s Word can be a source of great encouragement and hope and joy. But also, it calls us to look honestly at our world and see ourselves through God’s eyes. Today, we’ve looked at a harsh reality both in the days of Moses and in our day, no matter where you and I live. Wickedness abounds, but that’s normal in people and places where Holy God is unknown. Darkness can only be dark. The message from Numbers 25 is that God responds in judgement when wickedness, darkness defiles His holiness among God’s people!
Here’s a last word for us to contemplate today: 1 John 5:6,7 “This is the message we have heard from Him [Jesus] and declare to you: God is light (pure) in Him there is no darkness (evil) at all. If we claim to have fellowship with God yet we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.” Oh that’s really good, wonderful, important truth for us to ponder today… and here’s a song to help us worship holy God in this holy truth:
Today’s Scripture is Numbers 25.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Pinterest
Email
WhatsApp