Tag: Parashat Pinchas

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Discussions Torah

How God guides us to pursue real change by standing up for what’s right (Numbers 25–26)

How God guides you to pursue real change by standing up for what's right (Numbers 25-26). Oil painting style image of a white-clothed man standing while holding a spear.

People are looking at what is going on in American culture and government right now and see a repeat of what was going on in pre-Nazi Germany. Some are advocating for preparing to fight, and some look for guidance from priest Phinehas’ bold action in Torah reading פִּינְחָס Pinchas (Numbers 25–29) to stop iniquity in the house of God.

However, a look at the actions Pinchas actually took leading up to that moment reveals what was behind the extreme restraint exercised by the founders of the U.S., drawing from David’s example when persecuted by Saul. These lessons teach followers of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) how to “stand” as times get darker leading up to the Day of the LORD.

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Torah readings

Parashat Pinchas (פינחס): Numbers 25:10–30:1

Studies in Torah

Adultery is seen as no big deal in today’s society. Consider, though, how the hurt person in the relationship feels. That’s why Israel’s running after false gods and treating YHWH with contempt or apathy is compared to adultery many times in Scripture. This kind of unfaithfulness and rebuilding of the relationship between Creator and created is the subtext of this passage — פִּינְחָס Pinchas (“Phinehas”).

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Apostolic Writings Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

Why the Messiah has so much zeal for the LORD’s house. And why we should too (Numbers 25; John 2)

Why the Messiah has so much zeal for the LORD's house. And why you should too. (Numbers 25; John 2)

Passion to safeguard the ways of the LORD for future generation links the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (Numbers 25:10–30:1) with its parallel passages about the final days of the First Temple (Jeremiah 1:1–2:3) and the anger from Yeshua haMashiakh (Jesus the Christ) about the turning of the Second Temple into a “den of robbers” (John 2:13–22). Those accounts underscore that God has a passionate love for His people and doesn’t want them to succumb to the disastrous ends of their passions.

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Discussions Prophets and Writings Torah

How to know if there’s a leader worth following (Numbers 25–29)

How to know if there's a leader worth following (Numbers 25-29)

A peaceful transfer of power is worthless if the former leaders and the new leaders ignore God’s commandments. The only leaders who are worth following are those who inquire of God and lead the way He wants. That’s a key lesson of the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10-30:1).

When we look for leaders, we need to see if they have the humility of Moses and Jeremiah or if they have the arrogance of the rebellious leaders who Moses and Jeremiah confronted.

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Discussions Shabbat Torah

Why the Sabbath is an important first step in learning how to worship God (Numbers 25:10-30:1)

Sabbath: Discover why it's a key first step in learning how to worship God
Sabbath: Discover why it's a key first step in learning how to worship God

Selfless love. Righteousness. Mercy. These teach us how to be strong in our walk through life, how to keep from wandering from the path that the God of Israel has shown as the way life works best. These three show us what the point of our journey through life. They are the key lessons from the LORD’s appointments with humanity, further explained in the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10-30:1). Discover why chief among those appointments and the entry point for new believers is the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath).

Another key lesson in Pinchas is about the man after whom this reading is named. This junior priest, who would later be known as the “anointed for war,” looks forward to the coming Day of the LORD, when Yeshua (Jesus), the Messiah, the Melchizedek high priest, will serve on Earth side by side with the legacy of the Aaronic priesthood.

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Discussions Torah

Numbers 25:10–30:1: Righteousness apart from the law

What is righteousness apart from the law? graphic with open book and scales

When one is said to be “above the law,” that’s taken to mean the person flouts authority, in the sense second-century Roman jurist Ulpian meant when he wrote that sovereigns aren’t bound by laws.

There are plenty of scofflaws and tyrants recorded in the Bible. But an undercurrent in Heaven’s testimony from beginning to end is that true followers of the Creator are those who have so much trust (i.e., faith) in the instructions they’ve internalized that their actions follow the “spirit of the Law,” rather than the “letter of the Law.”

That’s what we see in the shocking actions recounted in Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10-30:1).

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Discussions Torah

Num. 25:10–30:1: Zeal for God’s house consumed Pinchas, Eliyahu and Messiah Yeshua

Yeshua/Jesus cleanses the Temple of money changers and merchants. (Photo by LUMO project via Freebibleimages.org.)

I used to find Yeshua’s actions in clearing the Temple of commerce very odd and seemingly out of character compared to the common teaching that Yeshua was always “meek and mild.” But the Yeshua (Jesus) in Scripture often shows His zealous side, which matches very well with the zealousness of Pinchas and Eliyahu (Elijah) and even His cousin Yokhanan (John the Baptist). 

As we’ll see in this study of Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10–30:1), sages of Israel saw a thread of connection between Melchizedek, Pinchas and Eliyahu. And the author of Hebrews connected the same thread to Messiah Yeshua Himself.