Numbers 25:1-9, “While
Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of
Moab. (2) These invited the people to the sacrifices of
their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. (3) So
Israel yoked himself to Baal of Peor. And the anger of the LORD was kindled
against Israel. (4) And the LORD said to Moses, "Take all
the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the LORD, that the
fierce anger of the LORD may turn away from Israel." (5)
And Moses said to the judges of Israel, "Each of you kill those of
his men who have yoked themselves to Baal of Peor." (6)
And behold, one of the people of Israel came and brought a Midianite
woman to his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole
congregation of the people of Israel, while they were weeping in the entrance
of the tent of meeting. (7) When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of
Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose and left the congregation and took a spear in
his hand (8) and went after the man of
Israel into the chamber and pierced both of them, the man of Israel and the
woman through her belly. Thus the plague on the people of Israel was
stopped. (9) Nevertheless, those who died by the plague
were twenty-four thousand.”
Proverbs 14:12 teaches us that, “There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.” Numbers 25 shows the truth of this very
statement. The people of Israel did what was right in their own eyes, by
choosing to intermarry with the people of Moab.
Traditionally, intermarriage was seen as a
good thing rather than bad. It would have been customary for a king to give one
of his daughters to a foreign king in marriage. It would be through this marriage
that the two kingdoms would come together and be united. It would lead to
stronger relationships, security and trade. Here in Numbers 25, instead of
fighting against each other, the people of Israel and Moab intermarry and take
on each other’s customs and religions. How could this be a bad thing?
Some might think that God is being excessive,
unfair and harsh in His response and judgement. Surely all men are created
equal in God’s sight and there is no one nation that is better or greater than
another? What is God’s issue with intermarriage?
There are some key reasons why God commanded
the people of Israel not to intermarry and therefore why He responds with
judgement and punishment.
Firstly, it was for the protection of the
people of Israel, not just physical protection, but also spiritual protection.
We read of how intermarriage led to idolatry, the people of Israel worshipped
both God and Baal, they offered sacrifices to the true living God, and then to
false gods. They bowed down to worship God, and then bowed down to worship
idols made by human hands. God commanded them not to intermarry so as to
preserve their spiritual purity and keep them from idolatry.
Secondly, they were God’s covenant people.
This meant that they were exclusively God’s, only God had right and authority
over them. God was to be their God, their one and only God. By being led into
idolatry they were breaking their covenant with God, they promised that they would
be God’s people and God would be their God. But in bowing down to these idols, they
were giving themselves to these false gods, they were no longer exclusively God’s.
Thirdly, the people of Israel were to reflect
the nature and character of God. Which meant that they were to display to the
world the glory of God, to live in such a manner so as to draw people away from
their false gods and into worshipping the true living God. In order to do this,
they had to follow God’s example, one which Leviticus made clear, they were to
be holy as God is holy. The people of Israel were to give themselves to this
task of pursuing holiness by faithfully obeying God and His commands. They were
to be the outward symbol of God’s purity and holiness. Scripture is very clear
when it talks about how fiercely God guards His holiness and purity. The people
of Israel were violating, desecrating that which He had made holy and pure,
that which was His.
Such blatant and thoughtless sin cannot go
unpunished, furthermore had this continued on, the nation of Israel would have
ceased to exist. They would no longer be the pure, covenant people of God.
God responds so as to re-establish His
holiness and purity amongst His people, and He does so by removing those who
were impure in this regard. What is so tragic is that even though God’s
displeasure had been made known and seen, it continued on until Phineas rose up
and put a final end to it and God’s judgement lifted off the people. But the
damage of their disobedience, of their failure to uphold the glory, honour,
holiness and perfect of God, and their covenant with God came at a great cost.
Twenty-four thousand people died!
This chapter reminds us just how serious God
is when it comes to obedience and to His holiness. He will guard His holiness
with a fierce jealousy, and anyone who despises it, mocks it, or desecrates it
will come under severe God’s judgement.
If we grasp this, it will aid us in our battle
against sin, for God is not just our rescuer, our Saviour, He also strengthens
and equips us so that we can seek after holiness. As we understand this more
and more, we will be enabled to fight harder against sin and temptation, our
love and desire for holiness will grow and we will strive after purity. As
Christians we are now God’s people, those through whom God is represented to
the world. Therefore, it is important that we show ourselves to be true
ambassadors of God who seek to be like their Father and King. We are not to
give ourselves to the worship of anyone or anything else, we are exclusively
God’s, and we are to worship, love, serve and obey Him alone.
God of holiness, who dwells in light and glory, before whom the angels
proclaim, “Holy, holy, holy” day and night. We give thanks to You, for through
Christ You have made us holy, we have become Your people, Your nation and Your
children. May we show ourselves to be Your true children through the testimony
of our lives. Help us to pursue after holiness and turn away from sin, help us
to be holy as You are holy. All for the glory of Your Name. Amen.
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