I’ve been reading in Numbers 25 today, and I was struck by several observations:
Verses 1-3—What Balaam could not accomplish, the people did to themselves through their harlotry and idolatry.
It appears that all adultery has idolatry at its root . . . because in being unfaithful to the partner GOD has given us, we end up declaring our dissatisfaction with and failure to trust in God’s provision.
Verse 6—Here was a brazen act of defiance that must be dealt with, which is exactly what Phinehas did! (v. 7-8)
Verses 11-13—Phinehas was the GRANDSON of Aaron, who by this point had already died.
Amazingly, Phinehas was even MORE zealous for God and His holiness than his grandfather, who had succumbed to the wishes of the people at one point and made a golden calf at Mt. Sinai.
May it be so that OUR grandchildren are even more zealous for God than we are!!
What a picture of Generational INCREASE!!
Verses 14-18—These verses reveal that the seduction of the men of Israel by the women of Midian was VERY strategic.
That the Midianite women were sent forth “to do battle” with Israel—to corrupt them from the inside out.
From this incident, I think we can conclude that ALL pornography and sexual immorality has at its base a strategy to seduce, enslave, and destroy.
God’s people today are being destroyed in the same way!!
May God help us to open our eyes and see the schemes (v. 18) of the enemy, and may God give us more young men like Phinehas who are zealous for Him and His holiness!!
