Our God is a holy God and He wants us to be holy and be zealous for Him. What does that mean? It simply means hating what He hates, loving what He loves and condemning evil anywhere it is found. When we do that, God will be happy with us and we will reap the benefits.
When the children of Israel started indulging in fornication and adultery with the daughters of Moab in Numbers 25 and also bowing down to Baal, God became very annoyed with them and He ordered that the heads of all those who committed the atrocities should be taken off and hung up before Him against the sun, to abate His anger.
While that was on and people were weeping before God for forgiveness, one of the children of Israel had the audacity to take a Midianitish woman into his tent in front of Moses and all the people of Israel as if nothing was happening and as if that was the right thing to do.
Do you know that so many people are committing blatant sins today as if such acts are norms and that there is nothing wrong with them? How will you explain a Pastor sleeping with a member of his church?
From our story, if nothing had been done quickly, God might have been so angry and He might have destroyed the whole congregation but for the intervention of a zealous Phinehas. He went into the tent and thrust the two of them through with a javelin and the bible recorded it that God was pleased with him.
“And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” Numbers 25:10-13 (ESV)
Lessons
- Anywhere you see evil acts being committed against God and humanity, condemn it. God will be happy with you.
- Don’t keep quiet. If you do, you will be an accomplice.
- Don’t partake in evil deeds.
- Keep yourself holy unto the Lord.
- Let the zeal of the Lord consume you to fight against wicked acts without fear or favour.
- Be on the Lord’s side all the days of your life.