Numbers 25 / Psalm 89 "Being Brazen with Sin"

READ: Numbers 25 / Psalm 89

Verse chosen for meditation: Numbers 25:10-13

¹⁰ And the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹ “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, ¹³ and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”

REFLECT

This chapter is about the sin of Peor. Israel had stayed in Shittim for a while, during which the women of Moab seduced them to both sexual sin and idolatry. We have read how Israel sinned many times, through their complaints, lack of faith and ingratitude. But what made this sin so serious was that they had outrightly worshipped another God. Previously in the golden calf incident, it was also idolatry as people wrongly claimed the image of the calf could represent God, making their worship perverse. Here, they yoked themselves with another God altogether, a very attractive one at that.

The worship of Baal, Canaanite God of fertility, proved very alluring to the Israelites, with its rituals probably involving sexual acts with foreign women. The novelty of it all posed a constant temptation for Israel and her descendants for ages to come. Temptations of this nature led to the downfall of even the great and wise King Solomon. This obviously sparked great anger in God, who ordered for the direct perpetuators to be killed. We read of a plague, which woke Israel to her transgressions, as seen in the congregation weeping to their sins. Amid this, an Israelite brazenly paraded in with a Midianite woman. This blatant act implied how used they were to this sinful culture. Sins that were done in hiding previously were now carried out in public unashamed. This was outright rebellion towards God, which prompted Phinehas to pursue and silence them.

Phinehas’ actions stopped the plague and God blessed him for it. What made Phinehas’ act so favourable to God was his zealousness toward making a stand for righteousness and keeping the honour of God. He was passionate about things God is passionate about.

RELATE

The way Israel fell to sin and her brazen attitude towards sin form a similar picture to our fallen modern world, more than we’d like to admit. If Balak sent armed men to fight, Israel would have resisted and conquered them. Instead, he sent beautiful women on the advice of Balaam, as revealed in Revelations 2:14. This shows we are more endangered by the charms of a smiling world, than by the terrors of a frowning world. The modern world has plenty of such charms, with its deceptive and subtle forms and we always let our guard down to them.

As we assimilate into the cultures of the world, we also justify more and more various acts and mindsets. Among these, are there some that God is frowning upon, yet we go on doing them thinking it’s not a big deal? Like Israel, we could well be desensitized with certain sins, even trivialising them to the point that we do them blatantly, without remorse. Especially when the whole world is dancing to the same tune. This brazen attitude, where there is no shame, is what dooms us. We have great hope that Christ has saved us, despite ourselves. However, I fear we may also take that for granted. Perhaps there is complacency in the knowledge that our sins are forgiven through the act of Christ, so we don’t think too much about repeating them. If this is so, we have trampled on God’s grace. Every sin is so heart-breaking to God because it separates us from Him, who very much wants communion with us. He takes each sin with such seriousness that He had to send His only son to correct it. Is this how we repay that gracious act, with our indifference?

For some of us, we may genuinely think we don’t sin that much. I sometimes hear from the kindest, most holy people I know, commenting that they sin so much, every day. If I go thinking I’m a decent person who doesn’t sin much, where is the disconnect then? Why do these people see themselves this way? It’s not like they commented this to sound humble. They genuinely mean it and are torn by it. Such people often display the Phinehas-like zeal, not so much in chastising others, but chastising themselves. What about our response to sin? Do we weep before God like the congregation when confronted with our sins, or are we brazen, like the Israelite with the Midianite woman? The beautiful thing is that God accepts and blesses those poor in spirit, who mourn over their sins, who have a broken and contrite heart. Let’s wage war with our sins, not excuse or justify them, and show that we have a jealousy for the holiness of God, like Phinehas had.   

REST

Lord, I pray for my heart to never become brazen towards sin. Help me pursue holiness, with a zeal for righteousness like Phinehas. Make me broken by my wretchedness, yet filled with hope and peace knowing I am accepted and loved by you, and saved by your grace. Amen.

Chris Chong