Numbers 25.

Baal Worship at Peor

• Here we shift back to Israel in Shittim – with Moabites and Midianites around them.

While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab. 

• Numbers 31:16 reveals that Balaam was behind this strategy as he advised the Midianite women to lead Israel into unfaithfulness at Peor.

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.”

• “Baal” (בַּעַל) in Hebrew simply means “lord” or “master” and most Canaanite gods were called “Baal” of something like “Baal of Peor” or “Baal-Zebub.”
  • This Baal was a fertility god, which might have required sexual immorality and ritual prostitution with women.
• God has Moses execute the idolaters publicly (unsure if the “them” in verse 4 refers to the chiefs or if the chiefs are hanging those who have sinned)

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.

• Zimri and Cozbi: this man and woman were most likely engaging in some kind of sexual act, while people who stood by wept. They are named in verse 14.
  • They might have been near the Tabernacle
• Aaron’s grandson, Phinehas threw a spear at them and impaled them both (again implying something sinful)
  • Because he did this, the plague stopped (the text doesn’t say when the plague started – probably after God’s anger was kindled)
• 24,000 died, but it is a bit confusing because Paul says that 23,000 died in 1 Corinthians 10:8

The Zeal of Phinehas

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.’”

• God is pleased with the zeal and faithfulness of Phinehas. His line will be blessed.

¹⁴ The name of the slain man of Israel, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, chief of a father’s house belonging to the Simeonites. ¹⁵ And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of a father’s house in Midian.

¹⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Harass the Midianites and strike them down, ¹⁸ for they have harassed you with their wiles, with which they beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of the chief of Midian, their sister, who was killed on the day of the plague on account of Peor.”

• God said to attack the Midianites. We will see this in Numbers 31.
  • Moses is married to a Midianite (Zipporah) so it is not the ethnicity that is a problem, but the idolatry.
• This is the final rebellion of the first generation of Israelites. The next chapter will start the census of the new generation and moving towards the Promised Land.