The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 25 -

(1 Corinthians 10:1–13)

While the Israelites were camped at a place called Acacia Grove, some of the men became unfaithful to God by sleeping with some of the women of the Moab people group who lived in that area.

Then those women invited the men to come when the sacrifices were being offered to their gods. The Israelite men accepted. They went to the feasts with the women and worshiped the gods of the Moab people group.

By doing that, the Israelite people joined the women in worshiping the god Baal who the Moab people group thought lived on Mount Peor. That caused Yahweh to become very angry with his people, and he sent a severe plague on many of the Israelite people.

Yahweh said this to Moses: “Seize all the leaders of those who are doing this and execute them while I am watching. Do that in the daytime. After you do that, I will no longer be angry with the Israelite people.”

So Moses said to the other Israelite leaders, “Each of you must execute your men who have joined others in worshiping Baal.”

The Zeal of Phinehas

But later, while many people were crying at the entrance of the sacred tent, one of the Israelite men brought a woman from the Midian people group into his tent and started to sleep with her. Moses and all the people heard of it.

When Phinehas, who was a grandson of Aaron, heard this, he grabbed a spear.

Then he rushed into the man’s tent. He thrust the spear completely through the man’s body and into the woman’s belly and killed both of them. When he did that, the plague that had started to strike the Israelites stopped.

But twenty-four thousand people had already died from that plague.

Then Yahweh said to Moses,

“Phinehas has caused me to stop being angry with the Israelite people, by being as eager as I am to stop this sinful behavior. I was ready to get rid of all the Israelite people because I was extremely angry, but Phinehas has prevented me from doing that.

Now tell him that I am making a special peace agreement with him.

In this agreement, I am promising to give to him and to his descendants the right to be priests. I am doing this because he showed that he was very eager to honor me, his God, by stopping this sinful behavior. He has satisfied my holy righteousness against the sinfulness of Israel by causing me to forgive them for their sin.”

The Israelite man who was killed with the woman of the Moab people group was named Zimri son of Salu, who was the leader of a family from the tribe of Simeon.

The woman’s name was Kozbi. She was the daughter of Zur, who was the leader of one of the clans of the Midian people group.

Then Yahweh said to Moses,

“Take your men and attack the Midian people group and kill them.

They have become your enemies, because they tricked you Israelite people and induced many of you to worship Baal, and because one of your men slept with Kozbi, who was the daughter of a leader of the Midian people group. She was killed at the time the plague started because of the people who sinned at Mount Peor.”

(1 Corinthians 10:1–13)

Israel stayed in Shittim; and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab;

for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods. The people ate and bowed down to their gods.

Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

The 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.”

Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Everyone kill his men who have joined themselves to Baal Peor.”

The Zeal of Phinehas

Behold, 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.

When 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.

He 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.

Those who died by the plague were twenty-four thousand.

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.”