Numbers 25:1-18

Satan has several different tactics that He uses against the people of God.  These tactics have not changed very much throughout the centuries.  His ultimate goal is to destroy God’s people in any way he can.  Nations arise to kill God’s people, but God supernaturally protects them so this tactic has not been very successful.  Next he tries to deceive God’s people by causing us to doubt God’s goodness and he fosters dissatisfaction in our hearts.  This has been a very effective means of drawing the hearts of many of God’s people away from the Lord.  Finally, Satan strives to destroy God’s people by tempting them to sin so that the very wrath of God will bring them to destruction.  This too has been very effective and we can see this taking place in Israel as well as in our own cultures today.  Satan pretends that he is promising to bring the pleasure that he says we deserve; but his true purpose is to lead us into a path of pain and destruction brought about by sin.

IDOLATRY AND IMMORALITY BRING A PLAGUE FROM GOD: The people of Moab wanted to destroy the children of Israel, but Balaam made it very clear that God would not allow them to destroy them through a war so they try another tactic.  They try to assimilate the people into their own culture through the pleasures of the flesh.  They invite the people to participate in their feasts that center around idolatry and they invite the children of Israel to have relationships with their daughters.  They use food and sex to get at the hearts of the men of Israel and the plan works.  Man’s desire to fill his stomach and to have sex has led him down the path of destruction repeatedly throughout the history of the world and will continue to do so as long as sin and Satan run unchecked in this world.  However, God does not just stand silently by as men practice sin.  God brings about severe consequences for sin and inflicts the children of Israel with a plague that begins to kill the people and He calls the righteous men of Israel to move into action and kill those who are rebelling.  Satan would lie to us and have us ignore all of the consequences of sin and focus only on the pleasure that sin affords.  This is a lie that is designed to destroy us and we must not fall for it.

REPENTANCE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS BRING PRAISE FROM GOD: God calls Moses and the leaders of Israel to bring a halt to this sin and debauchery that is running rampant in Israel.  The response of the leaders is to repent on behalf of the people.  They gather in the tent of meeting and lament over this sin and call for the leader to go forth and kill those who are practicing these acts of idolatry and immorality.  Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron and son of the current high priest sees a man flaunting a Midianite woman before the people and his righteous indignation causes him to go forth with a spear and he runs both the man and the woman through inside of their tent.  Radical sin calls for radical response and Phinehas is praised by God for his zeal.  We must never allow ourselves to become comfortable with sin in our lives or the lives of the people around us.  We must not be timid about confronting sin and calling people to repent.  It is easy for us to be deceived into believing that we need to tolerant and politically correct; when in reality what we need is more righteous indignation.  I am not suggesting that we confront sinning brothers with spears, but I am certain that we are to confront them with the Sword of the Spirit, the Bible, and call them to repent or else cast them out of the church.  If we expect God to bless our lives and our churches we must call ourselves and others to repentance and righteousness.