Commentary - Numbers 25:6-9

Bird's-eye view

The scene in Numbers 25 is one of catastrophic covenant failure. Israel, having been protected from the curses of Balaam, now rushes headlong into the very thing that gives curses their landing strip: idolatry and sexual immorality. The people of God join themselves to the Baal of Peor, and the righteous anger of the Lord is kindled against them. A plague breaks out, a sign of God's swift and holy judgment. It is in this context of corporate apostasy and divine wrath that we find the shocking events of our text. This is not a story for the faint of heart, but it is a necessary one. It reveals the depth of human depravity, the holiness of God's jealousy, and the kind of righteous zeal that is required to turn away His wrath. The actions of Zimri and Phinehas stand in stark contrast, one epitomizing insolent rebellion and the other a holy violence that makes atonement and secures a covenant of peace.

This passage forces us to confront uncomfortable truths about sin and judgment. We see that sin is not a private affair; it is public, flagrant, and has corporate consequences. We also see that true leadership, in the face of such high-handed rebellion, must be decisive. Phinehas acts as a priest, an intercessor, but his intercession is not with words alone. It is with a spear. This is a raw and bloody picture of what it takes to deal with sin, a foreshadowing of that ultimate spear that would pierce the side of the Son of God, the final and perfect atonement for the sins of His people.

Outline

Context In Numbers

This passage is the dramatic climax of the Baal-Peor incident. In the preceding verses, the men of Israel began to whore with the women of Moab, who invited them to the sacrifices of their gods. This was not simply a matter of individual lust; it was a corporate act of spiritual adultery. Israel "joined himself unto Baalpeor" (Num. 25:3). God's response was immediate and severe. He commanded Moses to execute all the leaders involved, and a plague began to ravage the camp. Our text picks up in the middle of this crisis. The weeping at the door of the tabernacle shows that at least some of the people recognized the gravity of their sin and the terror of God's judgment. It is against this backdrop of repentance and judgment that Zimri's act of defiant sin is so heinous, and Phinehas's response is so necessary and righteous.

Verse by Verse Commentary

v. 6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought near to his brothers a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting.

The word "behold" tells us to stop and look. This is not a subtle sin, committed in a dark corner. This is sin on parade. A man of Israel, later identified as Zimri, a prince of Simeon, brings a foreign woman, a Midianitess, into the camp. He doesn't just bring her in; he brings her "near to his brothers." This is a public act, a statement. It is done "in the sight of Moses," the covenant mediator, and "in the sight of all the congregation." He is thumbing his nose at all authority, both divine and human. The timing makes it all the more grotesque. The congregation is weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. They are in the midst of a national crisis, a plague is raging, and they are gathered at the place of worship and atonement, mourning their sin. And it is into this scene of solemn repentance that Zimri struts with his pagan consort. This is the epitome of a high-handed sin. It is a calculated act of contempt for God's law, God's judgment, and God's people.

v. 7 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, so he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand,

While everyone else is watching, paralyzed by either grief or shock, Phinehas acts. The text is careful to identify him. He is the grandson of Aaron, the first high priest. He is in the direct line of the priesthood. He has a responsibility to guard the holiness of God and His people. And when he "saw it," he understood what he was seeing. He saw not just an act of immorality, but an act of war against the covenant Lord. So he "arose." This is the proper response to such brazen evil. We are not to sit and weep indefinitely when action is required. There is a time to mourn and a time to fight. Phinehas rises from the midst of the congregation, separating himself for this task. And what does he take in his hand? Not a censer with incense, but a spear. This tells us that the situation had moved beyond the need for liturgical gestures alone. This was a moment that required the execution of justice. The sin was a spear aimed at the heart of Israel, and Phinehas meets it with a spear of his own.

v. 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. Then the plague on the sons of Israel was checked.

Phinehas's zeal does not hesitate. He follows the man into his tent, the very place of his sin. The Hebrew word used here for "tent" can also refer to a vaulted chamber or a brothel, emphasizing the sordid nature of the act. Phinehas is the agent of God's judgment, and he executes it swiftly. He "pierced both of them through." One thrust of the spear, and the two bodies, joined in their sin, are now joined in their death. The text is graphic for a reason. It wants us to see the violent reality of sin and the violent nature of the remedy. This was not an act of personal vengeance; it was an act of public justice that made atonement for the people. And the result is immediate: "Then the plague... was checked." The wrath of God was stayed. Phinehas's act of zeal turned away God's anger. This is a profound theological principle. Holy zeal, expressed in righteous action against sin, can avert divine judgment. It shows that God's people are taking His side against evil, and God honors that.

v. 9 So those who died by the plague were 24,000.

The plague is stopped, but not before it has taken a terrible toll. Twenty-four thousand people died. This number is a stark reminder of the lethality of sin. We are often tempted to trifle with sin, to see it as a small thing. But here, the consequences are laid bare. Flirting with idolatry, engaging in sexual sin, and defying God's clear commands leads to death on a massive scale. This is not the God of a sentimental greeting card. This is the living God, a consuming fire, who is jealous for His own glory and the purity of His people. The 24,000 dead are a monument to the fact that covenant breaking has lethal consequences. And it should drive us to the foot of the cross, where the only Son of God absorbed the full plague of God's wrath for our sin, so that all who are in Him might be spared from that final, eternal death.

Application

This is a hard passage, but it is in the Bible for our instruction. First, we must see the utter bankruptcy of thinking that our sin is a private matter. Zimri's sin was public, and it brought judgment upon the entire community. In the new covenant, we are members of one another in the body of Christ. An unrepentant, high-handed sin in the midst of the church is a poison that affects the whole. Church discipline, as unpopular as it is, is the New Testament equivalent of Phinehas's spear. It is a necessary, albeit painful, act of cutting out the cancer before it spreads.

Second, we must recover a holy zeal for the glory of God. Phinehas was zealous for God's honor, and God commended him for it. Our modern sensibilities are often offended by such zeal, mistaking it for intolerance or fanaticism. But a lack of zeal is not a sign of moderation; it is a sign of lukewarmness, which our Lord detests. We are to be zealous for good works, zealous for the truth, and zealous for the purity of the church. This zeal must be governed by wisdom and love, of course, but it must not be extinguished by a cowardly desire for peace at any price.

Finally, we must see Christ in this passage. Phinehas, in his zeal, made an atonement that stopped the plague. But his was a temporary, bloody atonement. It points us forward to the Lord Jesus Christ, whose zeal for His Father's house consumed Him. He took the spear of God's wrath in His own side on the cross. He is the true Phinehas, the great High Priest who, through His own sacrifice, has permanently turned away the wrath of God and secured for His people an everlasting covenant of peace.