Numbers 25:6 - Meaning and Application

Here we see a striking contest between wickedness and righteousness, each showing boldness and resolve. In the end, righteousness wins, as it surely will in the end.

Never was sin more daring than in Zimri, a prince from an important Simeonite family. His wickedness had reached such a shameless point that he openly brought a Midianite prostitute, a woman of noble birth, before Moses and all the faithful people of Israel. He did not think it enough to join her in worshiping the gods of Moab. After that, he brought her back to dishonor the God of Israel. He not only publicly claimed her as his companion, above the daughters of Israel in his favor, but also went openly with her into the tent (Numbers 25:8). The word points to a booth or private place set up for sexual sin. He was as open in his shame as Sodom was, and he seemed to boast in what he should have blushed over.

Every part of this made his sin especially wicked and shameful. First, he insulted the justice of the nation and defied it. The judges had been ordered to put the criminals to death, but he acted as if he were too important for them to touch. He had clearly thrown off all fear of God, since he did not fear the rulers God had appointed to punish wrongdoers. Second, he insulted the religion of the nation and mocked it. Moses and the main body of the people who had stayed faithful were weeping at the door of the tabernacle. They were grieving over the sin and pleading with God to stop the plague. They were keeping a solemn fast, weeping between the porch and the altar, to turn away God’s anger from the people. Then Zimri came among them with his woman, as if to taunt them and show that he planned to rush into sin as fast as they were trying to stop it.

Never was virtue more bold than in Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron and the future high priest. When he saw Zimri’s bold wickedness, and likely when the whole congregation saw it too, he rose in holy anger from prayer, took his sword or spear, followed the shameless pair into the tent, and killed them both (Numbers 25:7, Numbers 25:8). This does not excuse private people from taking the law into their own hands. Phinehas was already one of the judges of Israel, ordered by God through Moses to kill those known to have joined themselves to Baal-peor. The civil ruler is the one appointed to punish evil and carry out wrath on the wrongdoer. No private person may take that work away from him.

God showed his approval of Phinehas’s godly zeal in two ways. First, he stopped the plague at once (Numbers 25:8). Their tears and prayers did not stop it until this needed act of justice was done. If rulers do not punish sin, God will, but their justice is the best way to prevent his judgment, as in Achan’s case (Joshua 7:13). Second, God gave Phinehas honor. He had done no more than his duty as a judge, but he did it with unusual zeal for God’s honor and Israel’s good. He acted when the other judges, respecting Zimri’s rank as a prince, were afraid to act. So God showed special favor to him, and it was counted to him for righteousness (Psalm 106:31). Nothing is lost when we risk ourselves for God. If Zimri’s relatives held a grudge against him, or his friends called him rash and harsh, that did not matter while God accepted him. In a good cause, we should be full of zeal.

On this occasion, though still a young man, Phinehas is declared his country’s patriot and best friend (Numbers 25:11). He turned away God’s wrath from the children of Israel. God delights to show mercy, and he is pleased with those who help turn away his anger. This is the best service we can do for our people. We can help by praying and by doing what we can in our places to stop wickedness. The priesthood was then secured to Phinehas’s family by covenant. It had been intended for him already, but now it was confirmed, and it became the reward of his zeal (Numbers 25:12, Numbers 25:13). It is called an everlasting priesthood because it would continue until the end of the Old Testament era, and then find its fullness and lasting meaning in the unchanging priesthood of Christ, who is set apart forever.

By the covenant of peace given to Phinehas, some understand a general promise of long life, prosperity, and every good thing. It seems more likely to mean the priesthood itself, since that is called the covenant of life and peace (Malachi 2:5). It was given for the keeping of peace between God and his people. Notice how the reward matched the service. By carrying out justice, Phinehas made atonement, that is, he turned away guilt and judgment from Israel (Numbers 25:13). So he and his family were afterward used in making atonement through sacrifice. He was zealous for his God, and so he received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. Ministers must not only be for God, but zealous for God. They are expected to do more than others for the support and growth of God’s kingdom among people.