Números 25

Números 25

Constable explains that "To stop the plague God ordered the making of atonement by sacrificing the leaders within Israel. Since the whole nation had sinned God executed punishment on its leaders who stood for the people and should have restrained their apostasy. Israel’s judges carried out this order (v. 5). Guzik makes an excellent point - When sin such as this is tolerated or even approved in a culture, it is a sure sign of decay, and Moses wouldn’t accept that decay. He commanded the community to bring the offenders to be judged, to show they would not accept this kind of sin in their midst. Allen suggests that "As the animals and birds had been cut in half in the covenant ceremony at the beginnings of Israel’s history (Ge 15:10), so the bodies of these rebels were to be dismembered and displayed in an awful symbol of divine judgment....Chapter 25 is the nadir of the Book of Numbers. It is worse even than the sins of chapters 12–14. Here is the great sin at the end of the road.” Question: What was Baal Peor in the Bible? Answer: Baal Peor, or the Baal of Peor, was a local deity worshiped by the Moabites. When the Israelites, following Moses to the Promised Land, were in the vicinity of Peor, some of them fell into idolatry and worshiped Baal Peor. As a result of their sin, the men of Israel were judged by God. The story of Baal Peor starts when Balaak, the king of the Moabites, hired Balaam, a prophet-for-hire, to curse Israel. Balaak had seen the progress and might of Israel and was trying to do something that would stop them. Balaam took the money but was unable to curse Israel because the Lord would not allow him to do so. Balaam then met with the king of Moab and went through the motions of receiving a word from God; each time (seven times total) he ended up blessing Israel instead of cursing them (Numbers 23–24). At the time of the third oracle, Balaam and Balak were observing the Israelite camp from a place called Peor (Numbers 23:28). By the end of the seventh try, Balaak finally got the message that Balaam would not curse Israel for him. In Numbers 25, we find that the women of Midian began to seduce the men of Israel to sexual sin and to sacrifice to their gods. Since the gods of the pagans were often fertility gods, the “worship” often involved sexual acts. The incident is recorded in Numbers 25:1–3: “While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Midianite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.” As a judgment against the Israelites’ sin, God sent a plague among the people (verse 9). According to Numbers 31:16, the women did this on the advice of Balaam. It appears that, since he could not curse Israel, he found another way to fulfill the wishes of Balaak, who was paying him. Balaam knew that, if the Israelite men could be seduced into idol worship, that God Himself would curse them. The word peor simply means “opening” and is the name of the place (a mountain or a spot on a mountain) from which Balak and Balaam observed the camp of Israel. The meaning of the word may or may not be significant to the naming of the place. (Perhaps there was a cave opening there or some kind of mountain pass, or perhaps the place was called Peor for some other reason.) The word baal is simply the word for “lord,” “master,” or “ruler.” Baal became a technical or semi-technical name for the gods of the Canaanites. There was not just one god named Baal, but there were many Baals (many Canaanite “lords”). That is why Numbers 25:3 in the NIV does not use “Baal Peor” as if it were a proper name for a god but uses the term more as a description: “the Baal of Peor,” which could also be translated “the Lord of Peor” or “Lord of the Opening.” Peor might refer to the mountain top from which Balaam and Balak observed Israel, or it could have something to do with the literal meaning of the word peor (opening), which, in the context of Canaanite worship (and the context of Numbers 25), could have a sexual or scatological connotation. Perhaps the top of the mountain was called Peor because that is where the sexual rites took place. In any case, Baal Peor is really the Baal of Peor or simply the Lord of Peor, which distinguishes this Baal from all the others. This particular god is referred to again in Numbers 25:5. Then Numbers 25:18 speaks of “the Peor incident,” which sounds like Peor is being used as a place name rather than something based on the meaning of the word. Deuteronomy 4:3 uses Baal Peor as a place name to refer to the incident recorded in Numbers 25 and in the same verse as a designation for the pagan god. “You saw with your own eyes what the LORD did at Baal Peor. The LORD your God destroyed from among you everyone who followed the Baal of Peor.” Joshua 22:17 speaks of the “sin of Peor,” and Hosea 9:10 uses Baal Peor to refer to the place where this incident happened: “When they came to Baal Peor, they consecrated themselves to that shameful idol and became as vile as the thing they loved.” Psalm 106:28 also refers to the Baal of Peor: “They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.” So it seems that Peor and Baal Peor are both used as place names to refer to the place where Israel sinned in sexual immorality and in worship of a particular Baal. The Baal in question is referred to as Baal Peor. Perhaps he was already referred to by this name, as he was seen to be in charge of this particular location, or perhaps this is the name that the Israelites gave him after the fact. In any case, this incident at Baal Peor stands out as the first of many times that Israel fell into immorality and idolatry, and it also serves as a warning to Christians. The Corinthians would have been particularly susceptible to this kind of temptation, as the city of Corinth was filled with idolatry and sexual immorality. The question of eating at idol temples was debated within the congregation. Although he does not mention Baal Peor by name, Paul refers to that incident in 1 Corinthians 10:8: “We should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did—and in one day twenty-three thousand of them died.” In verses 11–14, Paul goes on to say, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the culmination of the ages has come. So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.” Many things have changed since Israel’s sin at Baal Peor, but the basic temptations have not. Sexual temptation is ever present in modern societies, and the idols of money, pleasure, fame, and “the good life” also vie to take the place of the One True God in the hearts of many people. Even today, Christians must guard against the sin of Baal Peor. GotQuestions.org Numbers 25:6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. BGT Numbers 25:6 καὶ ἰδοὺ ἄνθρωπος τῶν υἱῶν Ισραηλ ἐλθὼν προσήγαγεν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὴν Μαδιανῖτιν ἐναντίον Μωυσῆ καὶ ἔναντι πάσης συναγωγῆς υἱῶν Ισραηλ αὐτοὶ δὲ ἔκλαιον παρὰ τὴν θύραν τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου NET Numbers 25:6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought to his brothers a Midianite woman in the plain view of Moses and of the whole community of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. NLT Numbers 25:6 Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. ESV Numbers 25:6 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. NIV Numbers 25:6 Then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. KJV Numbers 25:6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. YLT Numbers 25:6 And lo, a man of the sons of Israel hath come, and bringeth in unto his brethren the Midianitess, before the eyes of Moses, and before the eyes of all the company of the sons of Israel, who are weeping at the opening of the tent of meeting; LXE Numbers 25:6 And, behold, a man of the children of Israel came and brought his brother to a Madianitish woman before Moses, and before all the congregation of the children of Israel; and they were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of witness. ASV Numbers 25:6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, while they were weeping at the door of the tent of meeting. CSB Numbers 25:6 An Israelite man came bringing a Midianite woman to his relatives in the sight of Moses and the whole Israelite community while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. NKJ Numbers 25:6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. NRS Numbers 25:6 Just then one of the Israelites came and brought a Midianite woman into his family, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of the whole congregation of the Israelites, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. NAB Numbers 25:6 Yet a certain Israelite came and brought in a Midianite woman to his clansmen in the view of Moses and of the whole Israelite community, while they were weeping at the entrance of the meeting tent. NJB Numbers 25:6 One of the Israelites came along, bringing the Midianite woman into his family, under the very eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israelites as they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. GWN Numbers 25:6 One of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman to his brothers. He did this right in front of Moses and the whole community of Israel while they were crying at the entrance to the tent of meeting. a Midianitish: Nu 25:14,15 22:4 31:2,9-16 in the sight of Moses: Nu 15:30,31 De 29:19-21 Jer 3:3 8:12 36:23 42:15-18 43:4-7 Jer 44:16,17 2Pe 2:13-15 Jude 1:13 weeping: Jdg 2:4 Ezr 9:1-4 10:6-9 Isa 22:12 Eze 9:4-6 Joe 2:17 Numbers 25 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries FLAGRANT FLAUNTING OF SIN Behold (also in Nu 25:6) (02009) (hinneh) is an interjection meaning behold, look, now; if. "It is used often and expresses strong feelings, surprise, hope, expectation, certainty, thus giving vividness depending on its surrounding context." (Baker) Hinneh generally directs our mind to the text, imploring the reader to give it special attention. In short, the Spirit is trying to arrest our attention! The tent of meeting - The Tabernacle. Why were they weeping? Some think they were mourning over and confessing their sins. This could be as it appears the plague had already broken out and people were dying that might cause some weeping! One of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel - So this Israelite Zimri not only attended the pagan ritual but even brought home a pagan "prize!" Thus this man did not even try to hide his sin, so deceived and ensnared was his heart. The NIV picks us a sense of the shock of such flagrant flaunting of sin translated it "right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly!" The NLT says "the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people." Allen adds that "His sin is a deliberate provocateur of the wrath of the Lord, flaunting and taunting holiness in an almost unbelievable crudity." This man was brazenly committing sin in broad daylight! And as the next verse shows, their "in your face sin" (even with the background noise of the entire assembly weeping!) stirred the priest Phinehas to action! The name of the slain man was Zimri and the woman was Cozbe (Nu 25:14, 15). So while Israel was in the land of Moab and the women in Nu 25:1 were Moabite woman, Cozbi the woman brought back by Zimri was a Midianite. Wiersbe conjectures that "Zimri was a prince in Israel and Cozbi was the daughter of a prince, so perhaps they thought their social status gave them the privilege of sinning." While they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting - Why were they weeping? Weeping is usually associated with mourning over something as when someone dies. Certainly people were dying in the sight of all the people. Some commentators feel the Israelites were weeping over their sins and they were confessing their sins. That is certainly possible but it is difficult to prove that definitively from the text. Ronald Allen raises the thought that the tent into which they went was not the family home but the Tent of Meeting! He paraphrases Nu 25:6 "Then a certain Israelite man brought the Midianite woman to the Tent [of God] right before the eyes of Moses and the eyes of all the congregation of Israel; and they were sporting at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting." He adds "It is most shocking that the tent may be the Tent of Meeting!....It was the brazenness of the acts of these two that made them not just sinners but an abomination to the Lord. Here is a frontal assault on the true, high, and pure worship of the Lord that the priestly interests in the Book of Numbers stress repeatedly. Only an act of equal force to the nature of the affront will suffice. That powerful act came in the person of Phinehas." (Ibid) George Bush - Behold, one of the children of Israel came, and brought unto his brethren, etc. Heb. “Brought near to his brethren;” i. e. brought near in the sight of his brethren. This is the only sense in which she was brought to them, implying a peculiarly open, public, and shameless proceeding on the part of the offenders. It was done not only in the sight of the brethren of the culprit, but of Moses also, and of a large portion of the congregation who were at that time collected at the door of the Tabernacle weeping and mourning over the fearful transgression. It is not improbable, in fact, that the judgment had even then begun, and what must have been the enormity of introducing a paramour, in these circumstances, into an Israelitish tent, in open defiance of every restraint of decency and religion! Merrill - At that moment, one of the guilty men strutted “right before the eyes of Moses and all the people” (Nu 25:6). Commentators give three suggestions for identifying the offense: (1) illicit sex (Keil 1869:205), (2) foreign marriage (Baentsch 1903:624–625; Binns 1927:178; Budd 1984:280; Noordtzij 1983:241; Noth 1968:198; Sturdy 1976:184), or (3) cultic offense (Cross 1973:201–203; Levine 2000:280; Milgrom 1989:212, 214, 476–480; de Vaulx 1972:299; G. J. Wenham 1981:187). Ashley concludes, “All three factors seem to apply” (Ashley 1993:520). (CBC-Nu) Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, BGT Numbers 25:7 καὶ ἰδὼν Φινεες υἱὸς Ελεαζαρ υἱοῦ Ααρων τοῦ ἱερέως ἐξανέστη ἐκ μέσου τῆς συναγωγῆς καὶ λαβὼν σειρομάστην ἐν τῇ χειρὶ NET Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up from among the assembly, took a javelin in his hand, NLT Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear ESV Numbers 25:7 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 NIV Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand KJV Numbers 25:7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; YLT Numbers 25:7 and Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, the priest, seeth, and riseth from the midst of the company, and taketh a javelin in his hand, LXE Numbers 25:7 And Phinees the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, and rose out of the midst of the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand, ASV Numbers 25:7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation, and took a spear in his hand; CSB Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand, NKJ Numbers 25:7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; NRS Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he got up and left the congregation. Taking a spear in his hand, NAB Numbers 25:7 When Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, and taking a lance in hand, NJB Numbers 25:7 The priest Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, on seeing this, stood up, left the assembly, seized a lance, GWN Numbers 25:7 Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, saw this. So he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand, Phinehas: Ex 6:25 Jos 22:30,31 Jud 20:28 a javelin: 1Sa 18:10,11 19:9 Numbers 25 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Phinehas takes a spear - Nu 25:7,8 PHINEHAS MAKES A POINT! When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand -