The plagues
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 introduction When I was a little boy, there was a TV cartoon character named Phineas J. Whoopie (voiced by actor Larry Storch), who could dispense good advice and interesting information. Like many names of biblical origin, I didn’t know about the Bible character Phinehas until years later. The wonderfully intelligent cartoon character would have known all about him!
The plague story in Numbers 25, involving Moses and his grandnephew Phinehas and a crisis situation, is an interesting, rather gruesome narrative that raises more questions than answers. The story alludes to a theme of holiness, which carries across both testaments. This is certainly affirming for our faith. Also affirming for our faith is the fact that plague lead to an affirmation of the Israelite priesthood, which is not only important in Old Testament heritage but in New Testament heritage as well. Themes that push our faith and invite our reflection is the topic of God’s jealousy, a distressing quality in humans which, nevertheless, is biblically affirmed to be an attribute of God.
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Numbers 20 begins the narrative of the Israelites’ final months in the Wilderness. Between the end of Numbers 17 and the start of Numbers 20, we jump over thirty-eight years without comment or story. In Numbers 20, Miriam dies, Moses is forbidden to enter the Land, and then Aaron dies. In Numbers 22-24, we learn of Balaam, the non-Israelite prophet whom the king of Moab (Balak) authorized to place a curse upon the Israelites. But an angel of the Lord gives language to Balaam’s donkey, and then convinces Balaam to bless rather than curse the Israelites.
The story of the Phinehas and the plague is found next, in Numbers 25. The story has two parts, verses 1-5, which mostly has to do with the Israelites’ idolatry with a local deity, and the related 6-18, which has to do with immorality among the Israelites. As Numbers 25 begins, the people are staying at Shittim. Shittim is the forty-second and final place of encampment of the Israelites in the Wilderness, and it became Joshua’s headquarters from which he sent spies into the Land (Joshua 2:1). It is in the biblical Moab, east of the Jordan River and nearly straight east of Jericho. At Shittim, the Israelites begin to have sexual relations with Moabites, even sacrificing to Moabite gods and yoking themselves to the Baal of Peor. The word “Baal” means “lord” and was applied to various gods of the ancient Levant, and Peor, mentioned a bit earlier in Numbers 23:25, was a mountain peak. So this Baal was a local deity. The Lord becomes angry with the people, and orders Moses, “Take all the chiefs of the people and impale them in the sun before the Lord, in order that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you shall kill any of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.” If we look ahead to verses 9 and 18, we learn that during this discussion, a plague is spreading through the Israelites. What was the epidemic? We don’t know, but the Israelites caught it through contact with the Midianites or Moabites or both, and soon the illness spread among them. At that point, an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman into his family, and took her into the tent of meeting, in view of Moses and all the weeping people outside. Again, it helps to look ahead, this time to verses 14 and 18. The man’s name was Zimri, son of Salu of the Simeonite tribe of Israelites, and the woman was Cozbi, daughter of Zur, of a Midianite clan. Verse 18 indicates that the Midianites had instigated both the idolatry of Baal-Peor and the relationship of Cozbi and Zimri. What was the meaning of Zimri’s blatant action—having relations with Cozbi in the tent of meeting? Through prostitution rites of the local religion, the plague might be averted. So his actions violated Israel’s covenant with the Lord. Phinehas, the son of high priest Eleazar and grandson of Aaron (who had died by this time), left the congregation. He took his spear, followed the man and the Midianite into the tent, and ran both of them through with one spear thrust. With Phinehas’ action, the plague stopped. God declares to Moses that Phinehas “has turned back my wrath from the Israelites by manifesting such zeal among the on my behalf that in my jealousy I did not consume the Israelites.” Thus, God makes a perpetual priesthood for Phinehas and his descendants. This has been called the Aaronic priesthood. God commanded Moses to harass and defeat the Midianites, since they had harassed and tricked the Israelites in the affair of Peor and of Cozi. That subsequent story is found in Numbers 31. Question 1.As you read this chapter of Numbers, what is your “gut reaction” to the story? What surprises you about it? Plague in the Book of Numbers:
What is the reason for this plague story? This story accomplishes certain purposes:
Without knowing about the nature of infection and disease transmission, the writer recognizes that the disease has resulted from the Israelites intermingling with Moabites and Midianites. Of course, in the writer’s understanding, the disease came as a result of God’s anger with his people, who are violating the covenant with God (see also Numbers 31:16). The story also explains the specialness of the priesthood, which God has validated through Phinehas’ impulsive but decisive action. As Psalm 106:28-31 reads: Then they attached themselves to the Baal of Peor, and ate sacrifices offered to the dead; they provoked the Lord to anger with their deeds, and a plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interceded, and the plague was stopped. And that has been reckoned to him as righteousness from generation to generation for ever. Jewish tradition has linked Phinehas with Elijah. In Jewish worship, the “haftarah” is the passage from the prophets that complements the Torah story. The haftarah for Numbers 25 is 1 Kings 18:46-19:21, wherein Elijah defeats and slays the priests of Baal. (1) By the end of the plague, the remainder of the generation that left Egypt are gone. Unfortunately, the new generation has difficulties of faith as well. Earlier, they had complained to Moses about the unavailability of water (Numbers 20, echoing a much earlier story of grumbling in Exodus 17), and easily slipping into idolatry here, in Numbers 25. Questions 1.Off the top of your head, what do you know about Elijah? 2.In several Bible stories, disease is attributed directly to God. Today, we know about the nature of diseases and their spread. Does it bother you to say, “We can no longer believe that God causes illness, but this is how the Bible authors understood illness.” One purpose of this story is to demonstrate God’s demand for holiness among his people. The word “holy” and its variants appear over 800 times in the OT, referring to God or the holiness of his people. If we read the commandments of the Torah, we can see how the holiness of God is reflected in Israel’s life in distinctions like unclean and clean, holy and common, and sacred and profane. Chrisitans may be tempted to disregard these ancient ideas of cleanness and uncleanness because of texts like Acts 10:9-16, but in Israel, these were God-given commandments for how to live and worship God, not only according to God’s expressed will but according to God’s revealed nature, the Holy God who dwells in Israel. (cf. Zech. 2:13-8:23; 14:20-21).
The holiness to which Israel is called has the component of justice—which, again, reflects the nature of God who is holy, just and righteous. Holiness is never understood (properly at least) as only a concern for right ritual, cleanness, and restoration from uncleanness. Israel also witnesses to God through acts of justice, provision, and care for the needy (Lev. 19; Ps. 68:5). The word hagioi, “saints” or “holy ones,” is a term used over 60 times in the NT. As one writer puts it, “They [the believer/saints] are to be separated unto God as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1) evidencing purity (1 Cor. 6:9-20; 2 Cor. 7:1), righteousness (Eph. 4:24, and love (1 Thess. 4:7; 1 John 2:5-6, 20; 4:13-21).” The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit—opened up for believers through the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus—provides “gifts of the Spirit” that guides believers in holiness, as the Apostle Paul teaches. (2) Questions 1.In your opinion, what are the qualities of a holy person? 2.Before you read the next session: can you name any of the “gifts of the Spirit”? What comes to your mind when you hear the word “holiness”? I’m afraid that I often think of the phrase “holier than thou.” It’s quite common to be outwardly religious in an off-putting that makes others uncomfortable and feeling condemned.
I prefer to think of holiness as related to the gifts of the Spirit that Paul lists in Galatians 5:22-23. These are gifts of transformation, not things we achieve through our own will power.
Questions 1.Which of these gifts of Spirit seem harder for you than others? Do you feel that you’ve been blessed with particular gifts? 2.How are these gifts demonstrated in your life? We can find much information about the priests in Exodus 28-29 and Leviticus 8-10, and about sacrifices in Leviticus 1-7. Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the priesthood, and the Aaronic priesthood performed sacrificial and other rites, while Levites were responsible for maintenance of the tabernacle (e.g. Num. 1:47-54). The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE put an end to sacrifices and priestly intervention. In keeping with the biblical theme and a care for others, Jews have, in important ways, replaced sacrifices with mitzvot of charity and service. The kohanim are men who are descended from Aaron and who have honors in the synagogue, including the first aliyah (being called to the Torah) when the Torah is read, and in some services, they give the priestly blessing (the well-known Numbers 6:24-26). Many Jewish men surnamed Cohen or Katz or Kahn are kohanim. Different Christian traditions have a priesthood, although the theology and duties of Christian ministers, as well as the theology of their ordination, varies widely among denominations. Likely writing before the destruction of the Temple, the author of Hebrews writes of the priesthood of Jesus, of the order of Melchizedek (based on Psalm 110:4) rather than the Aaronic priesthood (since Jesus was of the tribe of Judah rather than of Levi). This passage is comforting.
In Bible times, the Israelite priests entered the holiest place of the Temple on the Day of Atonement and sprinkled blood on the cover of the ark of the covenant, and thus the sins of the people were “covered.” In the New Testament, this image also becomes significant in the person and work of Jesus, understood to be both high priest and also the sacrifice whose blood covers our sins. Questions 1.How are ministers chosen and ordained in your denomination? 2.Some older hymns praise the power of Jesus’ blood. “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood” and “There is Power in the Blood” are two examples. Does the sacrificial death of Jesus play a significant role in your faith? Does “the power of the blood” have mostly to do with individual salvation, or also with society? The book of Deuteronomy promises God’s love but also “foreshadows” God’s judgment, thus anticipating the history of the people on the land for the subsequent 600 or so years.
Deuteronomy 7:7-13 has a similar warning. Scholars note that Deuteronomy is a long farewell address from Moses as he reminds not only the Israelites about God’s blessings and covenant, but also to the people’s descendants into the indefinite future.
Earlier in the Torah, in the second commandment, God is identified as a “jealous God.” Later, in Exodus 34:14, God’s name is Jealous! The Phinehas story is a classic one that illustrates the danger of God’s jealousy. The scholar Alan N. Winkler notes that when jealousy is named as one of God’s qualities, “it is obviously used in a positive sense” and, although an anthropomorphic term for God, it does reflect “the relationship of husband and wife and is frequently associated with Israel’s unfaithfulness to God.” The Hebrew word is qãnã’ and the Greek word is zêlos. Winkler concludes “[T]o arouse the jealousy of God is a very dangerous action on our part. On the other hand, God’s jealousy is based on his love and concern for us” (3) I agree, but that’s also what I’m struggling with! In human beings, jealousy is a cruel and obsessive fault. Abusive husbands do love their wives, in a sense, but those husbands are warped and destructive, no matter how much they profess love. The Torah has a long passage that deals with the consequences of human jealousy (Numbers 5:11-31). Just because jealousy is a biblical attribute of God, should we automatically assume it is thereby a good quality? Another writer, Thomas B. Dozeman, writes that “Jealousy is about divine passion. It stresses that Yahweh is not indifferent to Israel or to their relationships in this world. It conveys strong imagery of intolerance for any allegiance outside of the relationship to God. Commentators tend to water down the violent and suspicious characteristics that accompany a description of God as being jealous. But the content of the stories in Numbers 25 suggest just the opposite. God is fanatical in demanding exclusive allegiance—so fanatical, in fact, that punishment is enacted indiscriminately. The jealousy of God is an important message to preach. God is not casual about our commitments” (5). He goes on to say that the Phinehas story shows that God’s desire to limit “punishment to the guilty.” God had been wrathful and wanted to “destroy indiscriminately,” but the intercession of Phinehas (as well as Moses in the preceding section) cut short the divine wrath (5). Is God liable to become irrational, so to speak, and tremendously destructive until someone intervenes to calm him down? God also struggles with tenderness, as in Hosea 11, although here the language changes from conjugal to parental. Still, God seems horrified at his own wrath and his own need to display wrath. Of course, we also have lovely passages in Isaiah 40 and following. The Bible scholar Walter Brueggemann comments that God is jealous because God is faithful. An idol, or image, is a way to domesticate and control God, which cannot be done. But how we try! Brueggemann notes that we do live in a “world of options” which can and does lead us astray. But God is jealous because of God’s “massive fidelity (hesed) to those who are willing to live in covenant” (5). Hesed translates as “fidelity,” or “steadfast love” or “lovingkindness”: the kind of love that is faithful and (ultimately) tender, that which reaches into human existence, becomes involved in our pain and struggles, and remains more committed to us than us to God. The theme of God’s jealousy is—to me, at least—distressing because the word (and some of the biblical testimony) depict God as having qualities that we deplore in people---and which can even be criminal. On the other hand, the word denotes God’s desire to keep his people as his own and includes the protectiveness and commitment that we show for our own families. We should never, ever take the actions of Phinehas as normative! It is understood as an action acceptable only in its original, ancient context. Since the Greek word for “jealousy” is zêlos, we can think about meanings of the word “zealous” as pertaining to God: an online dictionary lists several definitions and synonyms, like ardently active, devoted, diligent, eager, passionate, warm, intense, and fervent. Questions 1.Have you thought of God as possessive? How is that different in your mind from being protective and committed? 2.As a country, we are in an interesting time right now, when statues and monuments are being removed or questioned, and when certain traditions are being held up for scrutiny. Do you think that Bible passages and ideas should be scrutinized and rethought in light of new circumstances? (Spoiler alert, we do so all the time!) Have you ever felt blameful toward those in society who are in need or who otherwise are victims of injustice? But God is a God of lovingkindness, righteousness, and justice—and those have societal implications, The Bible is filled with references to those in need, and to the way that God takes the side of those in need. Worship has meaning only when it is linked with justice (Isa. 2:3-4, Mic. 4:1-8). The Torah has many commandments concerning collateral-free loans, debt-cancelations, care for resident aliens, and so on (e.g., Ex. 25:35-37; Deut. 15:1-18 and 24:10-22). Ancient rabbis believed that these commandments are equality to all the other commandments together.(6) Again, the motive of these commandments is that the Lord rescued the people from Egyptian slavery, and so they must always remember the needs of others.
In times of crisis, it is good for us to consider ways that we open our own hearts to the needs of others. God is “zealous” for justice. What are ways in which we can be faithful? Questions
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, we struggle with conflicting commitments. We don’t offer sacrifices to other gods, but we cling tenaciously to notions and traditions that are contrary to your desire for justice. We even mistake sometimes that our own ideas and prejudices are also yours! We ask for your healing power in our lives—for physical healing, for spiritual healing, for the healing of our personal values, and for social healing. Help us to grow in lovingkindness. Thank you for all your mercies. Amen. Notes 1. W. Gunther Plaut, ed. The Torah: A Modern Commentary (New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981), 1197. 2. Alan N. Winkler, “Jealousy,” Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible (Baker Academic, 2001), 388-389, 3. Winkler, “Jealousy,” 389. 4. In the commentary “The Book of Numbers,” The New Interpreter’s Bible (Volume 2, Abingdon Press, 1998), Thomas B. Dozeman writes that God’s jealousy is the theme of the speech Num. 25:10-13. God’s qãnã’, in this context, “conveys qualities of vigilance, intolerance, and absolute devotion” (p. 199). 5. Walter Brueggemann, Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997), pp. 384-385. Brueggemann writes, “In the end, a student of the Old Testament cannot answer for or justify the violence [of God], but must concede that it belongs to the very fabric of this faith” [p. 381].) See also “The Book of Exodus” in The New Interpreter’s Bible (Volume 1, Abingdon Press, 1994), where Brueggemann notes that God is jealous because God is faithful. An idol, or image, is a way to domesticate and control God, which cannot be done (p. 842). But how we try! Brueggemann notes that we do live in a “world of options” which can and does lead us astray: “In pursuit of joy, we may choose Bacchus; in pursuit of security, we may choose Mars; in pursuit of genuine love, we may choose Eros. It is clear that these choices are not Yahweh, that these are not Gods who have ever wrought an Exodus or offered a covenant” (p. 843). |
