The Baal of Peor: Balaam's Revenge and the Zeal of Phineas (Num. 25)

We’ve seen this several times in Numbers. When Israel has failed to walk in God’s ways, we often take a break from the historical narrative in order to hear what a faithful walk would look like. In other words, the book of Numbers provides both a warning: “Don’t be like your fathers in the wilderness!” and a prescription for what to do about it!

Indeed Paul will tell us the same thing in 1 Corinthians 10, when he uses this story as an example for us. “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.” (1 Cor 10:8)

Paul sees the wilderness rebellions as an example that we need to understand – because the same temptations are all around us....