41 SPIRITUAL WARFARE

The sin of Israel, to which they were enticed by the daughters of Moab and Midians was effective when Balaam was not. Israel was guilty both of corporal and spiritual adultery. Idolatry is spiritual adultery, being unfaithful to our divine Husband, God. Israel joined himself to Baal-Peor, as verse 3 says. “3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the Lord’s anger burned against them.” Not all, nor the most, but very many, were taken in this snare. Balak, evidently following the advice of Balaam, cast this stumbling-block before the children of Israel as recorded in Revelation 2:14. “There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that they ate food sacrificed to idols and committed sexual immorality.” Those are our worst enemies that draw us to sin, for that is the greatest mischief any man can do to us. If Balak had drawn out his armed men against them to fight them, Israel would have resisted, and likely would have been more than conquerors; but now he sends his beautiful women among them, and invites them to his idolatrous feasts. The Israelites yield to this sensuous temptation and are shamefully overcome. Those are conquered with Moab’s harlots who could not be killed with Moab’s sword. We are more endangered by the charms and enticements of a smiling world than by the terrors of a frowning world. The daughters of Moab were their temptresses and conquerors. Ever since Eve was first in the transgression the fairer sex, though weaker, has been a trap to many. Yes, strong men have been wounded and slain by the lips of the strange woman as Proverbs 7:26 says, "Many are the victims she has brought down; her slain are a mighty throng.” And what of Solomon, whose wives were traps to him even after he wrote Ecclesiastes 7:26 and should have known better. “I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a trap and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner she will ensnare” Whoredom and idolatry went together at Peor. They first defiled their consciences, by having sex with the women, and then were easily drawn, in complaisance with their worship of strange gods. In contempt of the God of Israel, they bowed down to Moab’s idols. The sex act is a part of the worship and service performed in the worship of Baal-Peor. God lets them go and they are justly given up to yet further vile affections. It was the highest degree of treachery and ingratitude to be false to their God, whom they had found so faithful to them, and to eat of idol-sacrifices when they had be feasted so richly on God’s favors.

God is certainly displeased with them for this sin. Israel’s adultery and idolatry did what all Balaam’s enchantments could not do. A plague immediately broke out. We read of it being stopped at the end of verse 8 “Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;” Verse 9 tells how many died in the plague “. . . .   but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.” Numbers does not say anything about the beginning of the plague, but Psalm 106:29 fills in that detail. “. . . they aroused the Lord’s anger by their wicked deeds, and a plague broke out among them.” An epidemic of sickness can be the fruit of God’s anger and the just punishment for an epidemic of sin. The plague probably fastened on those that were most guilty who were soon made to pay dearly for their forbidden pleasures. The ringleaders are ordered to be put to death by the hand of public justice, which will evidently be the only way to stop the plague as verse 4 says, “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from Israel.’”  According to verse 5, the judges must order them to be slain with the sword, “So Moses said to Israel’s judges, ‘Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.’” Their dead bodies must be hanged up, that the spiritually dull Israelites, seeing their leaders and princes so severely punished for their whoredom and idolatry without any regard to their position, might become aware of the evil of the sin and the terror of God’s wrath against them. Ringleaders in sin ought to be made examples of justice.

This is a remarkable contest between wickedness and righteousness. Imagine this next scene in which Zimri, a prince of a chief house in the tribe of Simeon being so bold and foolish as to lead a Midianite harlot, a daughter of a chief house in Midian, into the tent in the sight of Moses, and the good people of Israel. He did not think it enough to go out with his harlot to worship the gods of Moab, but, when he had done that, he brought her with him to dishonor the God of Israel. He not only acknowledged her publicly as his friend, and higher in his favor than any of the daughters of Israel, but openly went with her into the tent. Verses 6-8 tell of the wrong done by Zimri and the right done by Phinehas, “Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped;” All the circumstances  seem to have worked together to make Zimri exceedingly sinful and shameful. It was a public affront to the justice of the nation. The judges were ordered to put the criminals to death, but Zimri thought himself too great for them to meddle with, and, in effect, dared them to touch him. He had certainly cast off all fear of God. Zimri’s behavior was an insult to the God and religion of Israel. Moses, and the main body of the congregation, who kept their integrity, were weeping at the door of the tabernacle, lamenting the sin committed. They were grieving over sin, then comes Zimri among them, with his harlot, Kozbi, by his side, who tells them by his flagrant misbehavior that he was resolved to fill the measure of sin as fast as they through their confessions, tears and intercessions emptied it.

Ah! But then appears the virtuous, brave and daring Phinehas who observes Zimi and Kozbi and rises up from his prayers of confession and intercession, takes his spear and follows those two idol worshippers into the tent, and stabs them both with one stroke of his spear. Sex was a part of the worship ritual of the Moabites, but that is not the way Israel worshipped the true God. It was an affront. It was horrible. Phinehas is easily and totally justified and to be commended for doing what he did to kill them both with one thrust of his spear. He was heir-apparent to the high-priesthood, and possibly one of those judges of Israel whom Moses had ordered, by divine appointment, to slay all those whom they knew to have joined themselves to Baal-Peor. He was not acting as a private person. He was commissioned. God shows His approval in two ways. (1.) The plague stopped immediately. That was clear enough approval, but there was more.  (2.) God gave a good promise to Phinehas. Verses 10 -13 say, “10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 ‘Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.’”

The weeping and praying did not prevail until this piece of necessary justice was done. Though Phinehas did no more than was his duty as a judge, yet because he did it with extraordinary zeal against sin, and for the honor of God and Israel, and did it when the other judges, out of respect for Zimri’s position as a prince, were afraid and declined doing it, therefore God showed himself particularly well pleased with him, and it was counted to him for righteousness, as Psalm 106:30 and 31 say, “But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was checked. 31 This was credited to him as righteousness for endless generations to come.” Phinehas, though a young man, is pronounced his country’s patriot and best friend, He has “turned my anger away from the Israelites.” So much does God delight in showing mercy that He is well pleased with those that are instrumental in turning away His wrath.

Spiritual warfare is mostly invisible, done in secret and with prayer, not spears. But if necessary we should be as zealous as Phinehas to do what needs to be done to stop whatever is stopping God’s blessings. Here is one way we can use the words of Scripture and enter into spiritual warfare.

(Moses), Let God arise. May your enemies be scattered;  may your foes flee before you.

(Paul,) May the God of peace crush satan’s head under our feet shortly.

(Jesus), May the strong man be bound and his spoils taken.

(Paul,) May every evil imagination that exalts itself against God be cast down.

(Jesus), Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.

(Jesus) May love, joy and peace be released in the heavenliness and the earthly realms.

(Jesus) May lying, stealing and cheating be bound in the heavenlies and the earthly realms.

(Isaiah,) When the enemy comes in, like a flood raise up a standard against him.

(Jesus), May the gates of hell not prevail against the advances of the church, but the church prevail against the gates of hell.

(Paul), May rulers, authorities, powers in this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm be (Jeremiah), uprooted, overthrown, destroyed and cast down.

Lord, teach us Christian Leaders to be effective spiritual soldiers—prayer warriors.