PINCHAS (Phinehas /‘dark skinned’ , ‘the bronze coloured one’)
By Raphael ben Levi
Pinchas (Phinehas) is this week’s parasha from Num.25:10-29:40, a fairly lengthy reading of nearly 4 chapters.
The Haftarah links to the Torah portion in many ways from 1 Kings 18:46-19:21 describing Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal on top of Mount Carmel as we will see, but let’s begin by reading the opening verses from the parasha in (Num.25:10-13)
“Phinehas (Eleazar’s son and Priest Aaron’s grandson) has done well. He saved the Israelites. Because he was so zealous on My account, tolerating no compromise, I did not consume the people of Israel with My jealousy. 12 So I want you to declare this: “I, your God, do pledge to Phinehas a covenant of peace, 13 not only for him but for his descendants too. I promise they will always be priests because in his zeal for Me, Phinehas covered the wickedness of the Israelites.”
The righteousness of one person has the capacity, as with Phinehas, to cover the wickedness of many. Phineas was a man of God, wholehearted in His love and pursuit of the Lord who God described as being “… zealous on My account, tolerating no compromise,.”
There are many other people in Scripture who in this sense were similar to Phineas who God commended for their wholeheartedness. For example in 2Kings18:5 King Hezekiah is described as a King with no equal, “ 5 He trusted in Adonai, the God of Israel. Indeed, none of all the kings of Judah after him was like him—and none before him.”); 23:25. Josiah was characterised likewise that “25 Before him there had never been a king like him, who turned to Adonai with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Torah of Moses, nor has any king like him risen since him.
The phrase, “none of all the kings of Judah after him was like him—and none before him” was a colloquial saying or statement of comparison (Kal v’Chomer – Light and heavy) emphasising the greatness of a person in comparison to others like him.
Whilst these people were worthy of commendation for their wholeheartedness, Deut. 6:5 makes it clear that this is something applicable to all believers as a command not an optional extra. For such people God will welcome them in Heaven with the words, “Well dome thou good and faithful servant thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt.25:31)
I say this because there are some professing Christians whose lives are like half-finished houses without roofs, because they have not ‘added to their faith’ – that is, to their ‘cleaving to the Lord.’ A person who knows Yeshua as Saviour but has not yielded themself wholeheartedly to the Lord is a life incomplete, like the rich young ruler who was willing to serve Yeshua solely on his own terms.
Evil flourishes when good people do nothing. The “fellowship of His sufferings” is where we are willing to pay the cost for standing against every manifold expression of sin as did Phinehas.
Phinehas refused to be a spectator in the Kingdom of God and his response to flagrant ungodliness that was tolerated by even the leadership of Israel is an example to us all. Here is the context as related in Num.25:1-9:
“While Israel was staying in Shittim, the people began to have immoral sexual relations with women from Moab. 2 Then they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, so the people were eating, and bowing down before their gods. 3 When Israel became bound to Baal of Peor, the anger of Adonai grew hot against Israel. 4 Adonai said to Moses, “Seize all the ringleaders and hang them before Adonai facing the sun, so that Adonai’s fierce anger may be turned away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Each of you, kill your men who have been joining themselves to Baal of Peor.”
But they neglected to respond to God’s instructions whilst the people flaunted themselves in open rebellion until finally as we continue in v.6:
6 Then behold, a man from Bnei-Yisrael came and brought a Midianite woman to his brothers before the eyes of Moses and of the whole assembly of Bnei-Yisrael, while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting!
7 When Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen saw it, he arose from the midst of the assembly, took a spear in his hand, 8 and went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced them through—both the Israelite man and the woman’s belly. Then the plague among Bnei-Yisrael was stopped. 9 However, 24,000 were dead because of the plague!
This was a tragic moment in Israel’s history. Ba’alim succeeded in seducing them into sinning against the Lord by encouraging them to identify with the Moabites whose paganism was steeped in satanic worship and practices including immorality, idolatry and inter-marrying with them to the point where they were willing to relinquish their identity as Israelites and God’s covenant people – 3 elements (Immorality, Idolatry and Murder) that according tot the Talmud (Talmud Yoma 9b led to the destruction of the 1st Temple.
Although the Israelites possessed God’s Torah it did not in itself create a godly people, no less true than with the Church throughout history despite constant reminders. Coloss.3:5 states that we are commanded to “Put to death, then, the parts of you that are earthly: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the greed that is idolatry.”
Phinehas took the law into his own hands and strictly speaking was guilty of murder according to Torah. However, in this case God didn’t punish Phinehas for taking the law in his own hands but instead rewarded him and made him the chief of Israel’s army.
God creates the rules but is not bound by them. To quote Joseph Shulam: “God will surprise you every time when you act outside the box with a pure heart and good honest motives and pursue godliness in season and out of season. We can and must break out of the box that is called “church” and step up to do what we can do as individuals. We can step out of the normal church behaviour and challenge the status quo.”
This was exactly what Phinehas did. More and more in these end times we see how sin is tolerated and abounding within the Church resulting in a spiritual plague running rife because of the ready acceptance of ungodly seductions.
Only one man, Phinehas, son of Eliezar the priest, and grandson of Aaron stood against the flow of the tide after 24,000 people had been destroyed by the plague as a direct result of their sin.
Names in the Bible hold status and function. “Phineas” can be translated as “the bronze coloured one.” Bronze is referred to in certain ways biblically but generally it’s symbolic of God’s judgement dealing with sin. For example, a few chapters earlier in Num 21 Moses fashioned a bronze serpent that was lifted up to save Israel after they had been bitten by poisonous snakes as a consequence of their rebellion.
God created us to be agents of righteousness who are participators not spectators and warriors for God instead of a people consumed with fear and worry. Yet we should always remember that being a disciple of the Lord is attached a high price tag. Standing up for righteousness will result in a direct clash with the principalities and powers of this world. As Yeshua said, in Matt. 11:12 “… from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (spiritual warfare)
In other words, if we seek the best in our relationship with God, we need to appropriate it zealously, passionately and aggressively. We see an example under the reign of King Ahab and Jezebel where Baal worship had become the official cult. God’s prophets were being killed and the rest were in hiding. Elijah responded by issuing a public challenge at Mount Carmel to the prophets of Baal to demonstrate who was the true God.
What motivated Elijah to act with such boldness and passion? Like Phinehas, Elijah was “…moved by zeal for the Lord, the God of Hosts….” (I Kings 9:9-10. I Kings 19:13-14).
The prophet Ezekiel (33:5) provides us with a sobering message that is applicable to each one of us: “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and fails to blow the horn to warn the people, and the sword comes and takes away a life, then that one will be taken away in his iniquity, but I will hold the watchman accountable for his blood.”
God honoured a violent act by Phinehas which ended a plague due to the sins of the Israelites. But what God was honouring Phineas for was not his violent act of retribution but rather his godly zeal.
The opposite of love is not hatred but passivity which God abhors, no better illustrated than with His stern rebuke of the Nicolaitain church in Rev.3.
The Kingdom of Heaven requires action from those who desire the best that God has for us. He searches people with godly zeal, passion and aggressiveness wholeheartedly who in obedience to the Holy Spirit are given authority to “…destroy spiritual strongholds and sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true]knowledge of God, taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Yeshua,” (2Cor.10: 4-5)
2 Chron.16:9 “For the eyes of the LORD roam to and fro over all the earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are fully devoted to Him.”
Phinehas’ action turned away God’s wrath from Israel and is the first occasion where the phrase “covenant of peace” is mentioned in Scripture, (significance of first mention): “12 So I want you to declare this: “I, your God, do pledge to Phinehas a covenant of peace, 13 not only for him but for his descendants too.”
It is described as being a covenant of peace because Phineas’ action brought reconciliation with God among the entire Israelite congregation and brought a promise of blessing to him and his descendants.
The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom, a word that refers to relationships between people and between God with men. In the ancient Hebrew script it means to destroy the authority that binds us to chaos. It places Phinehas’ actions in perspective that brought order out of chaos because he acted to ‘destroy the authority that threatened chaos and bring destruction to the camp of Israel.
Peace is directly related to the actions and attitudes of individuals; but is ultimately a gift from God available to all who choose to become His disciple.
Isaiah noted (ch 54) that during times of turbulence such as in these end times, “…the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but His covenant of peace will keep us in His perfect peace (whose mind is stayed on Him” – (ch.26:3) along with His steadfast love.
Phinehas has been compared by the rabbis to Elijah who walked in godly zeal and passion. Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to confirm that God is the Creator of the universe through whom all creation must bow the knee and it was in this sense that God honoured Phineas’ violence. It is an ‘all-or-nothing’ response. Anything less merely becomes the scraps under the table because as already mentioned the greatest enemy of love is not hatred but apathy, a poison which paralyses all who drink from its cup.
There is a direct link between the events surrounding Phinehas and the 4th and 5th months in the Hebrew calendar (‘Tammuz’ and Av) a period marked by tragedies in Jewish history that is linked to the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples.
We are currently in the period between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av (July 6-27) when orthodox Jews observe a period of 3 weeks known as ‘Bein ha Metzarim’ (between the straits), (Lam.1:3) to mourn and reflect upon the many tragedies that occurred between these dates.
Bein ha Mitzarim implies navigating your way between grave dangers on both sides blindfold leading to inevitable but avoidable destruction – like a ship trying to steer its way through narrow path to avoid an inevitable shipwreck. Should we ever relegate God to anything other than 1st place in our lives, we will find ourselves, “between the straits.” We need to take off our blindfold…
This term is also a term used for labour and childbirth. When a woman is in full labour she is said to be “bein ha mitzarim. In our walk with God we will face various ‘childbirth’ situations where we are ‘bein hamitzarim’ where the pain can be likened to that of childbirth especially in our intercessions for others. However, just as in the physical, travail leads to childbirth that ends with joy unspeakable, so too spiritually, when we place our lives at the feet of Yeshua. As Zechariah prophesied: “The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah.” (Zech 8:19)
God turns our mourning into dancing, removes our sackcloth and clothes us with joy. And as in Ps.30 so the glory of God within us will sing to Him and not be silent and we will ascribe praise to Him forever! (v.s 12-13)
It is in this knowledge that we stand firm as did Phinehas who was motivated by the fear of the Lord not the fear of man. The 17th of Tammuz is a minor fast that carries with it the hope of a major promise for us – a present and future hope of everlasting life as we dwell in His glorious presence!
Phinehas performed a great exploit by stemming a plague sent by God where 24,000 Israelites perished. How zealous are we for the honour of God? A plague has spread throughout the world today predicated by a staggering embrace of unrighteousness accompanied by high tolerance for lawlessness. As stewards of God’s ‘covenant of peace’, may we be spurred on by taking the example of Phineas to promote God’s mercy and judgement against the plague of sin that runs rampant in our midst: to release God’s order and hold all deception captive to His word: to reveal truth zealously in the spirit of agape love with limitless compassion toward others without compromise or discrimination. This is the violence that will shake nations and cause the enemy to flee!
Many times at the end of something He had taught, Yeshua would conclude with the words, “If anyone has ears, let him hear,” inviting people to experience transformation by placing theory into action. Many people are satisfied with just the theory. Yeshua could well have also added, “He who has sight, let him see.” God was ‘hiding’ in the world and has remained so until this day. He is the biggest secret in the world. He is so obvious and yet so hidden although He has clearly revealed Himself, because most people see only what they want to see.
We gain nothing by passively gazing intently into the eyes of good intentions. The Israelites were commanded to seek the ancient paths of righteousness, yet for the most part, failed to do so for this very reason. There can be no neutrality in the Kingdom of God.
And so my prayer is for Yeshua to provide us with ears to hear alongside clear sightedness. It’s something which keeps us on our knees. Because God longs for us to embrace His fullness and taste the unsearchable riches of His love that outshines the tears of our failures.
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