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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).
When a character in the TaNaK (Torah, Prophets and Writings, aka Old Testament) acts out of place, doesn’t follow the Torah’s explicit instructions, yet is successful, I wonder why he was successful.
Zimri, the Simeonite, who we meet in today’s Torah reading, was not just a random Israelite man. He was an nasi, which means he was a “prince” or an elder of the tribe of Simeon.
Phineas, on the other hand, was not a nasi, or High Priest Why did Phineas act when others who were of a higher rank did not?
Zimri was never arrested, or put on trial. He was, in our modern language, summarily executed, as was the Midianite woman he was cavorting with.
Phineas went outside his authority and performed an act that we would call vigilantism, yet God does not criticize Phineas for his act but actually praises him and even makes an eternal covenant with him and his descendants.
This story has helped me understand some of the New Testament passages where the Apostles say that there is the Law then there is a law above the Law (Matt. 5:20; Rom. 2:12–16; 3:21).
There are other stories of men who have done things that seem to be outside the Torah, yet God tells them “well done my faithful servant.”
Second census
There is a second census listed here. This is the second generation of Israelites. This second census tells us a sad story.
For example, five entire families are missing from Benjamin, at least one family is missing from Simeon and Asher.
Asher is the only one where a daughter is the head of a clan. (Numbers 26:46). There are matriarchs as head of families in the Torah. These subtleties tell us of the transitions of time, place and people.
We see even here an example of God treating women with equality.
Zimri’s personal tent was very close to the tabernacle. Everyone saw him bring the Midianite princess to his tent.
Zimri was a head of household, he had men under his command, including an entire battalion of fighting-age men. He was no ordinary man.
This may explain a little bit why others were standing by and crying but refusing to take any action against Zimri’s flagrant sin. Assassinating a high-level national leader could easily have started a war. Phineas’ act could have easily and quickly started a civil war in the nation of Israel. WWI started this way, for example.
During the 40 years in the wilderness, the tribe of Simeon lost 60% or so of their fighting men. How he lived set an example for the entire tribe, and even the entire nation.
Zimri’s corruption caused the entire tribe of Simeon to suffer terribly.
What blessing did Phineas receive from his quick action?
“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘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. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’” (Numbers 25:10–13 NASB)
Shadow of Melchizedek
Jewish tradition says that Phineas lived to be 200 years, as a blessing and award for his zealousness. We see in his “perpetual priesthood” an echo of the Melechzedek priesthood. Messiah is of the tribe of Judah, yet we understand that He is a priest in the line of Melechzedek.
God will never break His promise to Phineas, just as He never broke His promise regarding Messiah Yeshua.
I want to look at the story of Jehonadab (2 Kings 9:1-10,10:1-27; Jer. 35:1-12). I think his story will give us insight into why God was pleased with Phineas.
Jehonadab, son of Rechab, was a follower of HaShem. He witnessed to and agreed with what Jehu did in killing all the sons of Ahab, as well as the priests and high-level worshippers of Ba’al. We see Jehonadab’s name again in Jeremiah 35, when his descendants meet with Jeremiah.
Jehonadab made a unique command to his descendants: they do not drink wine, or live in the way that “civilized” people do. They listened and followed him for generations. God recognized the fact that the descendants of Jehonadab, son of Rechab and blessed them because they obeyed all their ancestor’s precepts. The promise God made to this family is strikingly similar to the promise He made to Phineas.
Even in the Messianic age, there will be a male descendant of Phineas holding the title of Priest and there will be a male descendant of Jehonadab, son of Rechab alive in the Messianic age, too. Both of these promises are eternal. God does not break His promises.
Promises that are eternal
How does God make eternal promises when we can’t really see them? We see this in the book of Ezra.
“Of the sons of the priests: the sons of Habaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai, who took a wife from the daughters of Barzillai the Gileadite, and he was called by their name. These searched among their ancestral registration, but they could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest stood up with Urim and Thummim.” (Ezra 2:61–63 NASB)
The sons of Habaiah may have been legit but until they had a legitimate High Priest, a descendant of Phineas, who could consult the Urim and Thummim to confirm their lineage.
There is still a man alive today, a descendant of Phineas, who is alive today. There is also a man alive today who is a descendant of Jehonadab. These clans will always exist. We may now know who they are, but God does.
The Messiah, who is the only one High Priest, in the line of Melechzedek, is clean enough and holy enough to communicate with God. Messiah Yeshua will be the one who will reveal the descendants of Phineas and Jehonadab, son of Rechab, but we believe by faith that they are alive even today.
God is the only one who can really keep track of the descendants of Abraham.
Both Phineas and Jehonadab walked outside the bounds of their station and were blessed by God. Jehonadab, son of Rechab, told his descendants to not live in homes, not to grow crops or vineyards and not to drink wine. He knew that the people around him weren’t following God’s instruction to let the land rest every 7 years. By telling his descendants not to plant crops, they were following God’s instruction to allow the land to have a Shabbat. He knew God better than most people do and established these instructions for his children.
On the one hand, Jehonadab, son of Rechab, was a very good Torah student, yet he witnessed the execution of many people without trial.
Phineas knew that God had already instructed them to execute all of those who worshipped foreign gods and had sexual relations with the Midianite women, yet Zimri hadn’t been executed. Phineas simply followed God’s command to its logical conclusion.
God also had commanded Jehu to wipe out Ahab’s entire house. God did not condemn Jehu even though he was overly zealous and bloodthirsty in doing so.
Jehu went beyond just killing Ahab’s clan and going on to kill all the worshippers of Ba’al as well. The killing of Ahab’s clan and the prophets of Ba’al was vengeance against all the innocent prophets of God that Ahab had executed in the name of Ba’al during his reign.
Was God rubber-stamping vigilanteism by not punishing or condemning Phineas, Jehonadab and Jehu? No, He is advocating obedience to Him, and He is the one who decides who is obedient and who is not.
Summary: Tammy