Bible Study With Jairus - Numbers 25

Phinehas’ in Today’s Church
Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 25
While preparing for tonight’s bible study, the Holy Spirit suddenly highlighted Numbers 25:4 (ESV) to me. I was drawn to the part where the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs, but Moses asked the judges to kill all the idolaters instead. 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.”
Phinehas Stops the Plague
Details about how Moses and the judges killed people were not recorded. Instead, the Bible records Moses and the people of Israel weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. We assume that the plague had already occurred by this time. Suddenly, Phinehas came and killed a Midianite woman and the leader of a Simeonite family. It’s only at this moment that the plague stopped. I mentioned that the current COVID-19 outbreak is also a plague. There have been many sins committed throughout American history. These include abortion, homosexuality, the African slave trade, the Indian massacre, people straying from God, and schools not allowing the Bible to be taught. These sins bring God's judgment. The "Phinehas’" of the Church must stand up against these and say no to injustices and all kinds of wickedness. We must not allow authority to be given to evil spirits. When we strongly stand in opposition, God's anger and the plague will stop and His blessing will come.
We know from previous verses that the anger of the Lord broke out against Israel when the Israelites indulged in sexual immorality with Moabite women and when they worshiped the idols of the Moabites. However, I never noticed that the Lord asked Moses to kill all the chiefs in daylight so that the anger of the Lord would be averted.
Since the Holy Spirit had highlighted this verse, I continued reading to find out more. I realized that Moses did not kill all the chiefs, or at least it was not recorded here. Rather, he asked the judges of Israel to kill all those who joined in on worshipping idols. Strangely, the verse also does not record that the judges of Israel publicly executed the people as the verse indicates. We only read that Moses and the whole congregation of the people of Israel wept at the entrance. My guess is that neither Moses nor the judges could kill their loved ones. Since the plague may have already broken out by this time, perhaps many Israelites had already died because of the plague.
READ MORE: JBWM.ORG