Numbers 25:1 says, And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. In Shittim, the people of Israel stayed for awhile and began to be sexually involved with the women there, which was against God's command. If we became too closely involved with the people who are not Christians it may lead us away from following God's commandments. Matthew Henry says that since Balak could not defeat the people of Israel in a war, he chose to defeat them by subtlety. Verse two adds, And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. These women called on the men of Israel to engage in the sacrifices to their gods, and the men of Israel bowed down to these false gods. After all that God had done for them, they were easily led away from Him. As followers of Christ, we cannot let feelings for someone lead us away from Him, no matter how strong those feelings may be. Verse three continues, And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. The people of Israel began to worship Baalpeor, and Godcwas not pleased with them. If we as Christians begin to allow other gods into our lives and begin to worship them more than God, we can be certain that God will not be pleased with us. Verse four states, And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. Though it is not specified, evidently a plague came upon Israel, and Moses was also commanded to kill the leaders of those who rebelled against God and hang their bodies up for all to see. We cannot allow any idolatry into our lives as followers of Christ and nor expect God to be angry with us. Verse five adds And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor. Moses instructed the judges of Israel to slay all the men who had committed idolatry with Baalpeor. These men were on the edge of the Promised Land, and they turned away from God to worship a false god. We as followers of Christ are on the edge of the Promised Land, Heaven, every day and we cannot allow ourselves to be pulled away from God to chase after false gods, which do not have to be actual idols. These false gods can be anything that becomes more important to us than God. Verse six says, And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. One of the men didn't just go out of the camp to become involved with one of the Midianite women, but even as the people of Israel were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation over the death of those who had committed idolatry, he boldly brought her into the camp of Israel. Some people today boldly stand in defiance to God, even some that call themselves a part ot His people. Verse seven adds, And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; Phinehas, Eleazar's son, who was a part of the priesthood, saw what the man was doing and took a javelin in his hand. We must, as a part of the priesthood of believers, be ready to root out all idolatry from our midst. Verse eight continues, 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 belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. Phinehas went onto the tent of this man and ran his javelin through both the man of Israel andthewoman, killing them, and the plague was stopped. If we have allowed idolatry into the church or even our life individually, we must kill it off in order to be faithful to God. Verse nine concludes, And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. This had been a widespread idolatry, since twenty-four thousand had died from the plague. Idolatry is widespread today, though hopefully not in the church, God's people, and the penalty is not physical death, but everlasting separation from God spiritually.
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