Numbers 25:1

Israel’s Harlotry in Moab

1 Now Israel remained in ^aAcacia Grove, and the ^bpeople began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab.

2 ^aThey invited the people to ^bthe sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and ^cbowed down to their gods.

3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and ^athe anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, ^a“Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, ^bthat the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

5 So Moses said to ^athe judges of Israel, ^b“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, ^awho were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

7 Now ^awhen Phinehas ^bthe 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 ^athe plague was ^bstopped among the children of Israel.

9 And ^athose who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

11 ^a“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 ^bMy zeal.

12 Therefore say, ^a‘Behold, I give to him ^bMy covenant of peace;

13 and it shall be to him and ^ahis descendants after him a covenant of ^ban everlasting priesthood, because he was ^czealous for his God, and ^dmade 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 ^aZur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian.

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17 ^a“Harass the Midianites, and attack them;

18 for they harassed you with their ^aschemes by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Numbers 25:1 Mean?

Israel's physical fornication produced spiritual fornication, which is idolatry. This same problem haunts the church in Revelation. It appears in Revelation 2:6 concerning the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which God hates, and surfaces more clearly in verse 14 to Pergamos, where some hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before Israel—eating things sacrificed to idols and committing sexual immorality. It reappears in verse 20 to Thyatira, where Jezebel seduces God's servants into the same sins. Today, sex bombards everyone incessantly as an inducement. In Numbers 25, the inducement is to idolatry; today, it induces buying, debt, and slavery to lenders. Sex is shoved in our faces even selling pipe wrenches or automobiles, demanding great caution.

Numbers 25:1-5

Israel fell into idolatry through fornication. The physical fornication produced spiritual fornication, which is idolatry.

In Revelation 2:14, within the comments to the seven churches, we find this problem still haunting the church. It actually surfaces in Revelation 2:6, where it speaks of the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which God hates, but it is more clearly stated in verse 14 to the church in Pergamos.

But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.

It is a problem in two of the first three churches, and it surfaces again in verse 20, this time in Thyatira.

Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

Today, we are bombarded on every side with sex. It is something that, even if one is blind, cannot be escaped because we hear about it. It is presented to us as an inducement to do something.

In Numbers 25, the inducement is to idolatry. Today, the inducement is to get us to buy, to get us in debt, to get us to be slaves of the lender. So sex is thrown at us in things in which it should not even appear—selling pipe wrenches or automobiles. It is used as an inducement, and we have to be very careful because it is so incessantly shoved in our faces.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Passover and I Corinthians 10

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Israel’s Harlotry in Moab

What Does Numbers 25:1 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

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