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

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“The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace,’ declares the LORD of hosts.”” (Haggai 2:9 NASB)

The Messiah entered the Temple but when He left the Temple for the last time, shortly before His crucifixion, He issued a strong prophesy:

“Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and I say to you, you will not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!’” (Luke 13:35 NASB)

One challenge when reading prophetic literature is to discern what is in the now, the past and the future. History often repeats itself because carnal human nature does not change. Prophetic literature reveals what is happening in the physical world and the spiritual world. The shekinah leaves before the Temple is destroyed. The building comes down later. The signs happen in the people before they happen in the heavens. The spirit departs first and the physical happens later.

The Temple was still standing for 40 years after Yeshua died, but that edifice was devoid of its original purpose when the Messiah was executed, and resurrected. The Jews were more attracted to the edifice of the Temple than they were to the Owner of the Temple. They had 40 years to ask themselves why the owner of the house was gone and they never put two and two together and they lost their Temple in 70 AD.

Parallels between Pinchas, Eliyahu and Yeshua the Mashiakh

Parashat Pinchas	Haftarat Pinchas	Messiah
“he was jealous with My jealousy among them” (Num. 25:11)	“‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’” (1Kings 19:10)	“For zeal for Your house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.” (Psa. 69:9; John 2:13–21)
“eternal priesthood” (Num. 25:13)	Some sages took “eternal priesthood” to mean Pinchas lived forever and reappeared as Eliyahu. Others that Eliyahu came in the spirit of Pinchas. Yokhanan the Immerser was foretold to have “the spirit and power of Eliyahu” (Luke 1:17). Yeshua said Yokhanan was the “Eliyahu who was to come” (Matt. 11:14).	Yeshua holds an eternal priesthood, of Melchizedek (Heb. 7:16–17). Similar to how Eliyahu was taken up in the sight of Elisha, so too Yeshua was taken up in the sight of the Apostles.
“who will go out and come in before them” (Num. 27:17) Rashi: This refers to a leader who leads personally, as in “[David] went out and came in before them” (1Sam. 18:16).	Eliyahu personally confronted the king, queen and hundreds of pagan priests on Mt. Carmel.	“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4) “HE SHALL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON” (Rev. 2:27, quoting Psa. 2:9; Rev. 12:5; 19:15) “But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.” (Isa. 11:4)

Pinchas was already a priest but he was so zealous for God’s reputation that he was willing to throw away his status to redeem God’s reputation. Priests were not allowed to kill a human being, they were not allowed to be in any proximity to a dead person, yet Pinchas risked his status and the status of his heirs to put a stop to the plague of idolatry that was rampaging in the Israelite community. God responded by honoring him with an eternal name and an everlasting priesthood for his heirs.

When we go from Pinchas, the priest, the grandson of Aaron to Eliyahu, we see a similar burning zeal and audacity. We also see their zeal personified in the life of John the Baptist, which his mother Elizabeth detected even when he was growing in her womb. John the Baptist’s uncontainable excitement on meeting the Lord in Mary’s womb was palpable to Elizabeth.

Just as Elisha did greater works than Elijah, the Apostles did more abundant works than the Messiah. That doesn’t mean that Elisha and the Apostles were greater than their teachers, they were merely walking in the footsteps of their teachers. Elisha and the Apostles took the message of their Master further than their Teacher could on his own.

Pinchas, Eliyahu and Messiah “took care of business” on their own. They did not take a popular vote first, they saw that the people were going away from God and took decisive, zealous, even extreme action to turn the people from the wrong path to the right path. They looked like they were in the minority and were without support or power but all of them had the strongest power in the universe behind them. God had their back, so to speak and if God has your back, no one can defeat you.

Pinchas, Eliyahu and Yeshua weren’t given a mission to destroy the law but to magnify it and lift it up.

Who is Pinchas? How did his violent zeal bring a covenant of peace?

The name of Pinchas (Phinehas) has two main definitions in the lexicons:
- פִּינְחָס pinkhas (H6372), from Egyptian Pe-nehasi, the [black man]
  - Aharon’s grandson may have been dark-skinned, like the Nubians (Ethiopians).
- פִּינְחָס Piynchaç (H6372), apparently from H6310 and a variation of H5175, mouth of a serpent
  - פֶּה peh (H6310), from H6284, the mouth (as the means of blowing), whether literal or figurative (particularly speech)
    - פָּאָה paʾah (H6284), a primitive root; to puff, i.e. blow away
    - נָחָשׁ nachash (H5175) from H5172 (נָחַשׁ nachash, to hiss), a snake (from its hiss)

Haftarat Pinchas: 1Kings 18:46–19:21

The Sages connected the zeal of Pinchas in challenging the apostasy embodied in and that of Eliyahu (Elijah) in challenging Ahab, Yezebel and their 400 prophets of Ba’al. The Northern Kingdom had mixed the worship of Ba’al with the worship of YHVH and even mixed their names together.
- The LORD said: “ ‘Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy.’ ” (Numbers 25:11 NASB)
- Eliyahu said: “ ‘I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.’ ” (1Kings 19:10 NASB)
  - The ceremony of circumcision often starts with the recitation of Numbers 25:10–12 and on “Eliyahu’s chair” in memory of the prophet’s lament that Israel had strayed from the covenant.
- The Hebrew word translated jealous in Numbers 25:11 and zealous in 1Kings 19:10 is the same: קָנָא qanaʾ (H7065). It can mean jealous, zealous or envious, depending on the context.
  - “It may prove helpful to think of ‘zeal’ as the original sense from which derived the notions ‘zeal for another’s property’ = ’envy’ and ‘zeal for one’s own property’ ‘jealousy.’ ”
We often associate zealot and jealousy with negative outcomes, those blinded by passion. Is that always the case?

Good: The TaNaK quotation “zeal for Your house consumes Me” (Psalm 69:9 NASB;) was associated with Yeshua’s clearing of commerce and exploitation from the Temple (John 2:13–21).
Bad: Shaul of Tarsus was full of zeal in pursuing those of The Way (Acts 22:3–5). Even Shaul’s teacher had more temperance than he did and tried to warn him away from the extremist path he was walking.
Good: Jewish believers in Yeshua were “zealous for the law” (Acts 21:18–22).
Bad: The mob that wanted to kill Paul was so zealous they took an oath not to eat until they did so (Acts 23:12–14).

Adultery is seen as no big deal in today’s society. Modern American Christianity teaches that when Yeshua prevent the mob from stoning the woman caught in adultery, it meant that he didn’t think adultery was a big deal.

We can’t relate to the Torah ritual of a husband bringing his possibly adulterous wife to the priest to ascertain if she had committed adultery. Our culture pretends that adultery is a victimless crime, but we all know deep down that nothing can be further from the truth.

Consider how the aggrieved person in the relationship feels. It is like a surgery or amputation without anesthesia. It’s very hurtful. What God has brought together only God can take apart.

That’s why Israel’s running after false gods and treating YHWH with contempt or apathy is compared to adultery many times in Scripture. Israel is not merely a piece of land, or a nice flag. The purpose if Israel is to be a blessing to the nations.

This kind of unfaithfulness and rebuilding of the relationship between Creator and created is the subtext of this entire passage.

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

Summary: Tammy