Covenant of Peace

“Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:” (Nu 25:11-12 AV)

It is very telling the covenant is one of peace.  Especially when one considers exactly it was that Eleazar did.  It didn’t seem peaceful at the time.  Israel was going through the coasts of Moab.  Balak tried to hire a gentile prophet named Balaam to curse Israel.  Rather than curse Israel, Balaam obeyed the voice of the LORD and blessed them three times.  What we find out later, however, is Balaam counseled Balak to encourage their women to intermarry with the Jewish men, thus making one nation out of two.  Balak, king of Moab, had the intention of intermarrying, resulting in him ruling both nations.  This event is often referred to the transgression of Bethpeor.  God had judged 25,000 men by death for their lack of self-control.  There was one left.  While he was in the midst of intimacy with a woman of Midian, Eleazar went into the tent and trust both of them through with a spear.  Thus, the wrath of God was pacified.  Not exactly a peaceful thing.  At least on the face of it.  But by dealing with sin, Eleazar brought the peace of God upon Israel once again.  His willingness to harshly and immediately judge sin while in the act was the act that brought peace between God and Israel.

I find it interesting how much modern Christianity fusses against the idea of a holy God.  We don’t like to retain in our minds that God loves righteousness and hates sin.  We see Him as more neutral.  Sin is bad only because it has bad consequences.  Sin is not an offense to a holy God as much as it is an inconvenience.  We see sin as something that hinders our walk with God.  What we don’t see that our sin is an abomination to a holy God.  He has feelings of repulsion as the things we do or think.  He recoils at the very acts which man pursues with abandon.  The word abomination has the meaning of making someone violently ill.  It is like a stench that works up the nostrils, resulting in an explosion from deep within.  God is not passively considering our sin.  He detests it.  He is revolted.  He takes it personally.  The sin of which Israel was guilty was lust of the flesh.  They desired the women of the world who would steal their hearts away from their God.  God is a jealous God and will not share His love with another.  When they fell away after strange women, that was a value judgement on Him.  They were more desirable than God.  This is why there was no peace.  This is why executing the sin of Bethpeor was so important.  This is why the covenant is one of peace.

We need to get back to the days of preaching hard on sin.  We need to get back to the days when what is evil is called evil.  We need to get back to the days when wickedness is called out and dealt with.  We need to be specific.  We need revival and it is not coming at the end of sermons of affirmation.  We need some hellfire and brimstone preaching once again.  We need the awful truth of our wicked heart exposed.  We need to hear once again that God has definite feelings about our sin.  We need to get right.  We need to walk in humility.  We need the Holy Spirit to once again descend in our pulpits and pews and stop the storytelling, the jokes, and the entertainment-based preaching.  Oh, that God would raise up a generation that takes God seriously.  May God raise up men who are not afraid to call filthiness exactly what it is.  May God once again bring preachers of righteousness and holiness.