HIGH PRIEST PHINEHAS
(Message by Tanny Keng)
0. Introduction
a) Numbers 35:25-38 mentions the death of a high priest.
i) 25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. (Numbers 35:25-28 NKJV)
b) Each new high priest had to come from the lineage of Aaron.
c) List here are the ones whose stories are told elsewhere in the Bible.
1. High Priest Phinehas
i) Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.” 6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” 14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian. (Numbers 25:1-15 NKJV)
2. Importance
i) Executed a young Israelite idol worshiper and his Midianite mistress to end a plague. He was then promised that his priestly line would never end.
3. What is the text all about?
a) Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was a grandson of Aaron. He was zealous priest. During the desert wandering, Phinehas killed Zimri, an Israelite, and Cozri, a Midianite woman, whom Zimri had brought into the camp (Numbers 25:6).
0. Introductiona) Numbers 35:25-38 mentions the death of a high priest.
i) 25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. (Numbers 35:25-28 NKJV)
b) Each new high priest had to come from the lineage of Aaron.
c) List here are the ones whose stories are told elsewhere in the Bible.
1. High Priest Phinehas
i) Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.” 6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand; 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand. 10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’” 14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian. (Numbers 25:1-15 NKJV)
2. Importance
i) Executed a young Israelite idol worshiper and his Midianite mistress to end a plague. He was then promised that his priestly line would never end.
3. What is the text all about?
a) Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, was a grandson of Aaron. He was zealous priest. During the desert wandering, Phinehas killed Zimri, an Israelite, and Cozri, a Midianite woman, whom Zimri had brought into the camp (Numbers 25:6).
b) This act ended a plague by which God had judged Israel for
allowing Midianite women to corrupt Israel with idolatry and harlotry. For such
zeal Phinehas and his descendants were promised a permanent priesthood.
c) Phinehas became the third high priest of Israel, serving for 19
years. In other events in Phinehas' life, he accompanied an army of 12,000 in a
war against Midian, in which the Israelites won decisively. He averted a war
between the 10 tribes west of the Jordan, with the tribes east of the Jordan,
when he learned that the altar built by the east tribes was only a reminder
"that the Lord is God", and that it was not an act of idolatry.
d) He also conveyed the Lord's order to the Israelites to attack
the tribe of Benjamin in retaliation for the rape and murder of a woman
traveling through the land. In the battle, 25,100 Benjamite warriors died.
End ...
e) For Phinehas' strong defense of the Lord's law, he became a
model to zealots of later generations. His descendants were named among those
returning from exile in Babylon.
End ...
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