Prayer: Father, there is much to learn and glean from scripture. Guide me, teach me I pray. Amen.
Reading: Numbers 25 key: vs. 10-13
10 Then Adonai spoke to Moses saying, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the kohen has turned away My anger from Bnei-Yisrael because he was very zealous for Me among them, so that I did not put an end to Bnei-Yisrael in My zeal. 12 So now say: See, I am making with him a covenant of shalom! 13 It will be for him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood—because he was zealous for his God and atoned for Bnei-Yisrael.”
Attention: Have you ever been zealous for anything or anyone? We might characterize someone who has great zeal as someone with passion, enthusiasm, enthusiastic, ardent, intense, diligent, or devoted. Would anyone characterize our zeal as devotion to Adonai?
In today’s scripture, Phinehas (grandson of Aaron’s), is characterized by Adonai to Moses as being the catalyst for turning His anger away from Bnei-Yisrael. He is said of by Adonai, ‘he was very zealous for Me.” Adonai (in His zeal), was angry with the idolatry and adultery of his nation against Him. They were being seduced by Moabite women, when they were invited to the sacrifices to their gods. They were complicit in uniting their bodies with Moabite women who worshiped Baal, a cultic god of the Canaanites. In the Old Testament Baal is a noun meaning “lord, owner, possessor, or husband,” and a proper noun “referring to the god of the Canaanites (Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary pg. 152).”
It was the very actions of the Hebrew nation, which Adonai warned Solomon about after he completed the Temple: if you “go and serve other gods and worship them, then will I cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and this House which I have consecrated for My Name, I will cast out of My sight’ (1 Kings 9:6b-7a).
Does history repeat itself? I have heard it said that we are bound to repeat history if we do not know it and learn from it. This is why Adonai has written to us the downfalls of those before us. So, that we may learn from their sin and mistakes (1 Corinthians 10: 11).
Do you know Adonai? Do you know His Word? You cannot know One without the other. I encourage you today to get zealous about knowing Adonai. You cannot become truly zealous for Adonai, without being zealous for His Word. Being zealous for Adonai brought peace to Phineas’ household. There are rewards for being zealous for Adonai.
Action: I choose to be zealous for Adonai and His word by cutting my spiritual teeth of the scriptures.
Yield: I choose to give my heart, mind, and soul to Adonai.
Engage: I choose to engage with the Holy Spirit in my spiritual life journey.
Relationship: I choose to be one with the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Father, I pray that you will elevate and ignite my zeal for You. That in the coming days, my zeal for You will be noticeable to everyone I encounter. Amen
Memory Verse: Romans 12:11
11 Do not be lagging in zeal; be fervent in spirit. Keep serving the Lord
Music Video: Kim Walker-Smith—Throne Room https://youtu.be/A1Ljl32SqRc
Remember, “Abide in Yeshua, today!”