Phinehas

No doubt one of my favorite Bible characters is Phinehas, the priest, grandson of Aaron.  While only mentioned in eleven verses, I believe the glimpse we see of his life gives us a powerful insight into God's zeal and desires.  After a brief mention of his birth, we encounter him in Numbers chapter 25.  Please read the following passage which illustrates his exploits and how he found favor with God.  To give you a bit of context, God was now rebuking the Israelites for taking heathen women and worshipping their gods.

"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 (because of God's judgment and shame) before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  And when Phinehas . . . saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand . . . and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman . . . so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel . . . And the Lord said to Moses, 'Phinehas . . . has turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, when he was zealous for My sake among them . . . Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace: And he shall have it, and his seed after  him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.'"  (Numbers 25:6-13)

WOW!  So while most of the Israelites were in the middle of repenting and mourning because of their sins with these heathen women, one decides to try to walk by with such a woman.  Phinehas stood up and killed them both, pleasing God and stopping the plague from over Israel.  And what did God do, God highly honored him, giving him a "covenant of peace" and a "covenant of an everlasting priesthood."

I can think of few times in the Bible that God so openly and highly honored a man's deed.  What an Exploit!  What an example!  No, I don't mean we should ever kill or hurt non-Christians (any such talk by Christians is completely ungodly), but I do mean that if someone brings something ungodly into our lives we need to rebuke it and get it out immediately.  We should stand for nothing ungodly in our homes, in our families, in our churches, in our offices, or in our nations. 

For example, I used to be a major fan of the Simpsons, but I saw them mocking God in an episode and that was the last episode I watched.  I threw away all the dvd's too.  I should allow nothing ungodly in my house.  I'm talking about the movies, the evil dealings, the strife, etc.  Any unclean thing, I should remove it from my midst with spiritual violence and righteous judgment.

Not only that, God said that Phinehas was zealous for His sake.  Phinehas cared for God and took it upon himself to act on God's behalf.  We should do the same.  We can't just sit by and watch our church get infiltrated by the world and sin and every other evil thing that exists.  We must rise up, and purge our body of all things unclean.  When we do this, God will honor us.  God will give us covenants of peace, and the everlasting priesthood.  That gets me fired up.  I hope it fires you up too.  What are you going to do? Are you going to be like the other Israelites (even Moses!) who just sat and watched? Or are you going to do something about it when the devil tries to bring sin into your life.  You must protect yourself, your family, your calling, you must do like Phinehas and take it out.

Let's look at the Bible's last mention of Phinehas, the (most likely) speaker is no less than the Psalmist, the great King David himself.  "Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so the plague was stayed, and that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations for evermore."  (Psalm 106:30,31)

That is one powerful passage, especially considering the phrase "counted to him for righteousness."  That phrase is only used for two people and in two circumstances, Abraham believing God's promises, and Phinehas executing the judgment shown above.  I tell you what, Phinehas honored God like few people do, and God honored him with words and promises reserved for an extremely exclusive group.  Remember  Phinehas.  Honor the Lord.  When something ungodly comes near your life, do like Phinehas, and with a Godly zeal stand up and eliminate it.