Numbers 25:1-9 “And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor. And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand”
Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations 3:21-23, “This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness”
None of us would be here today if it were not for the mercy of God. Psalm 130:3 “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”
On the other hand to put God into the box that says He never gets angry at sin, we have no responsibility for the consequences of our actions, and God’s grace causes him to look the other way regardless of whether we repent or not, is to totally disregard many scriptures in the Bible.
Paul wrote in the New Testament, “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off”. Romans 11:22
Paul instructed us that it is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance. Romans 2:4. Furthermore he said, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Clearly the New Testament scripture does not give us license to sin! In fact, we only have a form of religion and deny the power of God when with a permissive gospel we make excuses for living a lifestyle of sin.
In our text we find that Israel disobeyed God and went after the daughters of Moab, which they were instructed not to do. The main reason for this was, God knew they would turn their hearts away from serving him and be turned to idols. They went from sinning with the daughters of Moab first and then succumbing to the worship of their false gods. One sin always leads to another. Because of this, a plague started as God became angry with their transgressions.
One of the Israelite men, Zimri, was brazen enough to parade a Midianitish woman named Cozbi, in front of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the church. Sometimes we must take action against sin’s impudence as it was displayed by Zimri and Cozbi. Phinehas no doubt was among those weeping tears of repentance when something came over him. He arose from prayer and grabbed a javelin. Others looking on must have been dumbfounded as he marched right into the tent where the debauchery was taking place and thrust the javelin through both of them. As a result of Phinehas’ zeal, the plague was stopped, but not before it took the lives of 24,000 individuals.
We are in spiritual battle for the lives of many, not to mention our own families. Our battles are not going to be won with carnal weapons made by man but with the spiritual weapons obtained through prayer! The kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent taketh it by force. We need the spirit of Phinehas to come upon us and take the sword of the Spirit and thrust it through the sins that have individuals bound today. Sometimes in order to rise up victorious in a world where sin is abounding, we need to stop weeping and take action. Repentance truly means to turn away from sin. I have witnessed individuals literally take and destroy the things that had them bound and then receive the grace they needed to never turn back to the bondage that once controlled them.
What would happen in the world we live in if through prayer we rise up boldly to destroy the sins that have the world and even some Apostolics bound? Where are the Phinehas’ of today that take appropriate action against the invading demonic spirits of rebellion and sexual promiscuity of our day and declare this plague is done destroying our families? A laissez-faire attitude of, “What will be will always be”, must go. It must be replaced by getting inspired to take action against the darkness and spiritual wickedness of the world we live in today!
I am not advocating that we pursue with misguided zeal to destroy individuals. Too many have died that way in the name of religion. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood! Instead, we need to pursue the weapons that are mighty through God even to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself again the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. II Cor 10:4-5
Prayer is the vehicle that affords us the spiritual weapons we need to fight off the wiles of the devil. Through prayer you can obtain the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the loins girt about with truth, and feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Furthermore, through prayer you can take the shield of faith to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and the sword of the Spirit to go on the offensive and attack sin.
Our world is in a spiritual battle today and we can make a difference through prayer. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Phinehas’ fervency stopped the plague. Your prayers are vital today.