Numbers 25:6-13: a reflection

6Behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the Tent of Meeting. 7When Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the middle of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand. 8He went after the man of Israel into the pavilion, 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. 9Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 11“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. 12Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. 13It 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.’”

This is a hard passage. Amid a plague sent because Israel had joined itself to idolatry and immorality, a man named Phinehas acts decisively against the flagrant sin being paraded before the whole congregation, and the plague is stopped. God commends Phinehas, saying he was jealous with God's own jealousy, and grants him a covenant of peace and an everlasting priesthood, because, God says, he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the people. The specifics of Phinehas's violent act belong to their own harsh moment in Israel's history, and are not a pattern for us to imitate. But God's commentary points to something enduring: a passionate concern for God's honor and holiness.

Set aside the violence, which belongs to that time, and notice what God commends: a heart that was not indifferent to sin and to God's honor, that grieved at flagrant evil rather than shrugging at it. In an age when Israel was growing casual about God's holiness, Phinehas cared, deeply, that God's name and holiness were being trampled. God commends that zeal, that refusal to be indifferent to what dishonors him.

But Scripture also directs such zeal into Christlike channels. When his disciples wanted to call down fire, Jesus rebuked them; when Peter drew a sword, Jesus told him to put it away. The zeal for God's honor that Phinehas embodied is meant, under the gospel, to be expressed not in violence against others but in a holy grief over sin and a passion for God's name, held together with the love and mercy of Christ. And the true covenant of peace, and the true atonement, come not through the blood of others but through Christ, who made peace by his own blood. Care deeply for God's honor; let sin grieve you rather than leave you indifferent. But channel that zeal as Christ did, into holiness, love, and the making of peace, and rest your peace on the atonement he made by giving himself.

Lord, in a hard passage you commended Phinehas for being jealous with your jealousy, zealous for your honor when your people had grown casual about your holiness. Give me a heart that is not indifferent to sin or to your honor, that grieves at what dishonors you rather than shrugging. But teach me to channel such zeal as Christ taught, not in harm to others, for he rebuked those who would call down fire and told Peter to put away his sword, but in holiness, in love, and in the making of peace. And thank you that the true covenant of peace and the true atonement come not through the blood of others but through Christ, who made peace by his own blood. Make me zealous for your honor and gentle toward people, and rest my peace on the atonement Christ made by giving himself.