Numbers 25:1-5: a reflection

1Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; 2for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the LORD’s anger burned against Israel. 4The LORD said to Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them up to the LORD before the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel.” 5Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”

This passage records a low moment for Israel. While camped at Shittim, the people begin to mingle with the women of Moab, are drawn to their idolatrous feasts, and end by bowing down to a false god, Baal of Peor. Set aside the harsh details, and notice how the fall happened: not all at once, but step by step. It began with compromising associations, led to sharing in idolatrous feasts, and ended in open idolatry. What started as mingling ended in bowing down to a false god.

Notice the gradual slide into sin. Israel did not decide one day to abandon God and worship an idol; they were drawn in by stages, one compromise leading to the next. First the mingling, then the feasts, then the worship; each step made the next easier, until they found themselves bowing to a god they would once have rejected. The great sin at the end grew out of small compromises at the beginning.

That is how much of our own falling into sin happens: not in a single dramatic choice, but by a gradual slide, one small compromise leading to another, until we find ourselves somewhere we never meant to go. The associations we allow, the small compromises we make, the lines we let blur, can lead us step by step into what we would have refused outright at the start. Guard against the gradual pull. Watch the small compromises and the associations that begin the slide, for the great falls usually grow from small beginnings. Do not tell yourself a small compromise is harmless; it may be the first step on a path that ends in what you never intended. Guard the beginnings, and you guard against the end.

Lord, at Shittim, Israel fell into idolatry not all at once but by stages, drawn in step by step, from mingling to idolatrous feasts to bowing down to a false god; the great sin at the end grew out of small compromises at the beginning. Show me how my own falling into sin often happens the same way. I rarely fall in a single dramatic choice, but by a gradual slide, one small compromise leading to another, until I find myself somewhere I never meant to go. The associations I allow, the small compromises I make, the lines I let blur, can lead me step by step into what I would have refused outright at the start. Help me guard against the gradual pull. Make me watchful of the small compromises and the associations that begin the slide, for the great falls usually grow from small beginnings. Keep me from telling myself a small compromise is harmless. Help me guard the beginnings, and so guard against the end.