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,” Numbers 25:10–30:1).
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.
None of us would want to experience on purpose what ancient Israel did in the 40 years of wilderness travel between Egypt. For those of us living 4,000 years later, we can’t presume we would have acted better than they did. Considering how spoiled and comfortable we are with modern conveniences and dwellings, we probably would have complained even more about God’s “inadequate” hospitality in the wilderness.
Human nature doesn’t change. Only God can change human nature.
That’s where the annual celebration of Sukkot (Tabernacles or Booths) comes in. Each sukkah (booth) looks different, even if the same person builds it. Taken as a personal lesson, each our sukkot (plural) has a different calling, a different reason for being. Let’s explore further these lessons from the words of God and the Word Who tabernacled with us (John 1:14).
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).
Serpents are quiet, cunning, quick to act when a threat is imminent. A serpent bought a curse on mankind (Genesis 3) and we now meet a “serpent” who boldly and decisively saved his people from those who would deceive them to destruction. Later, Eliyahu (Elijah) also learned that God’s preferred way to communicate with His people is not through thunder and lightning but a “still small voice.”
The Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas,” Numbers 25:10–29:40) starts with the culmination of the events in the prior portion (parashah). The culmination of Israel “playing the harlot” with idolatry ended when Pinchas (Phineas), Aaron’s grandson, speared a Shimonite chieftain and a Midianite chieftain’s daughter through with a spear. Both of them were mentioned by name so they were both people of reputation.
This event was so significant, it’s even spoken about in the book of Revelation (Jude 1:11; Revelation 2:14). We can miss the why if we don’t understand the why of the original event.
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 the Torah reading פינחס Pinchas (“Phinehas”).
Learn how to see Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) in the qorbanot (offerings, sacrifices) presented in the Tabernacle on the moedim (appointed times, festivals) of Yom Teruah (Day of Blowing Trumpets), Yom haKippurim (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Tabernacles).