Moses: Balaam - Be not deceived (Part 4)
Charles E. Wigg
Phineas the
Warrior-Priest: Such blatant, shameless public sin filled the soul of Phineas with holy
indignation. He rose up from amongst the mourners, took a javelin in his hand,
and though unaccustomed to warfare, he delivered judgement to that evil erring
couple. Perhaps he reasoned, how could people of such standing amongst their
fellows, dare to disregard the feelings of the godly weeping brethren, and dare
to sin so brazenly and publicly? Little did that godly warrior priest realise
what his action would mean perhaps for many thousands of God’s people; or for
the generations of his descendants, because not only did he assuage the awful
wrath of God, but he brought down a blessing on himself, and his descendants for
many generations. He secured for himself and for his descendants the covenant of
peace, and he turned many from iniquity. (Those who teetered in the balance).
Now what a gory scene
it must have been. The heads of all those who had been unfaithful to their God,
were removed from their bodies, and hung up before Jehovah, and His people. They
had mingled with the Midianites, and they had bowed to their idol, and thus had
misled the people, and they had incurred the wrath of an angry God, a jealous
God, in so doing. To those gruesome trophies that had come from the swords of
faithful men, was added the head of Zimri, and so the plague was stayed. Those
who aspire to leadership amongst God’s people need to beware. Though God does
not call for people to be beheaded today, yet it would be very sad indeed if you
were to be remembered as one whom in a position of leadership had led the saints
into a position where they were exposed to the plague of God’s disciplinary
wrath. God forbid that your memory may be hung up and displayed as a warning to
others who would lead the saints into compromise, and to fraternise with the
world that has crucified our Saviour. Let us all give heed to the warning of
this passage!
God’s will
must be done: The
end result of this whole exercise was that the will of God, was done. As we
mentioned earlier, there were still living many who had been numbered by Moses
at the very beginning of the wilderness journey. For God’s word to be fulfilled
all those people, (with the exception of Caleb and Joshua), must die, they could
never cross the Jordan, or enter the Promised Land.
Besides this God was
angry with His people for their unfaithfulness, in so readily responding to the
professed love of their country cousins, and their willingness to break his laws
in bowing to the Midianite idol, and to allow the idol of Beth Peor to share His
throne, which was for Himself alone. Though the mighty soothsayer was not able
to curse the people, yet he was able to teach Balak the way to tempt them to
bring the curse of God upon themselves.
But we might add to
all this, God’s anger with the servant of Satan. God hated the greed and
selfishness of Balaam, and the fact that he loved the reward of unrighteousness.
The greedy soothsayer was prepared to sacrifice the lives of thousands, just so
that he could get his hands on Balak’s offered reward. But he never was
permitted to enjoy what his wicked heart so lusted after. Because his body was
found amongst those slain by the swords of the repentant, purified remnant of
the people that he came to curse. He never returned to his home in Mesopotamia,
he never did live to enjoy the rewards of his unrighteousness.
Then in addition to
all these things, God vented His wrath on the Midianites. Those people who it
seemed previously could sin with impunity. But God used the swords of His
purified people to execute His judgement on that idolatrous nation, from their
kings, their princes down to the poorest of them. Thus God’s will was done in
the execution of His wrath, even though it gave Him no pleasure, because
judgement is His strange work. [Concluded]
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[Reproduced by
permission of the
Author]