This beautiful Word was sent to Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of the priest Aaron, when he performed the act of justice that prevented the Lord from consuming Israel's camp in the desert. On that occasion, the Moabite women had invited the Israelites to sacrifice to their gods, and they began to play the harlot with them (Numbers 25.1,2). It was a day of infamy and shame for God's people, who had been sanctified for 40 years in the desert. Most of them had been born in the deserts of sanctification!

         The unimaginable happened before the eyes of Moses and Israel: Balaam had seen a way to get something from Balak by convincing five Midianite princes to use their wives to corrupt the men of Israel. The prophet peddler had said: For there is no sorcery against Jacob, but they instructed the Moabite women to seduce with their immoral practices those who were being prepared for war (Numbers 23.23).

          They invited God's people to take part in the rituals of their land, and the Israelites went and ate, bowing down to their idols. Those people feasted on sexual filth of the worst kind. The Lord's wrath came in full strength, and 24,000 men from all the tribes of Israel who had joined Baal-Peor, the lord of the mountain, were hanged. We must take care of the young people who have been born into the church, because they are pure, so that they never fall into the traps of the peddler!

             When God's wrath was burning down on those who allowed themselves to be seduced, an Israelite, whose name was Zimri, from the tribe of Simeon, took a Midianite woman into his tent. Everyone wept and begged him not to do it, but he remained stubborn. Phinehas then took a spear and went into the tent, where the couple were having a forbidden conversation, and pierced them with the weapon, doing an act of justice. This exemplifies that God does not allow such an aberration (Numbers 25:1-9,14,15).

            Phinehas' act caused the Lord not to consume the entire congregation. This shows us that eternal judgment will come upon humanity. Today, we don't do exactly what Phinehas did, because the Most High doesn't command us to kill sinners, but to lead them to salvation. Things got to where the Most High wanted them to be when the sin of the world was suffered by Jesus on the cross (John 3:16). Whoever hears the Gospel and believes in Him is saved.

           Phinehas showed the same zeal as God, deflecting divine wrath and preventing the Lord from consuming the children of Israel. The reward of this servant of God is in store. Moses, commanded by the Almighty, said that the Lord's covenant of peace was being given to him. It's always like that with Heaven: a small deed brings a great reward. The heavenly Father knows what He is doing, so never fail to heed His call!

          Let's remember that the brothers of the past were ordered by the Most High to carry out tasks as they were told. These works symbolize what Christians have to do today. They were in the Covenant of death, and we are in the Covenant of freedom, of life. The apostle Paul spoke about our position: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). We are new creatures!

           In Christ, with love,

           R. R. Soares