I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 25-26.

    Shortly after the incident with Balak and Balaam the Israelites camped near Shittim (or The Acacia Grove). While they were camped there some of the Israelite men began having sexual relations with Moabite women. These men began attending sacrifices and feasts honoring the Moabite gods. I am going to guess from the context that to some degree they invited their friends along. It got to the point where men were not even hiding their behavior. It got to the point where one man brazenly took such a woman into his tent in front of the leadership of the entire people who were gathered to decide what to do about it.
    The man referenced in this story who was killed by Phinehas attitude was, “It’s my life. I will live it the way I want. There is nothing you can do to stop me.” Phinehas proved him wrong. I am not advocating that we imitate Phinehas, but as God’s people we need to take a stand against sexual immorality, especially when such immorality leads to idolatry. As I am writing this, I know the point I am trying to make, but I keep wanting to rewrite what I have written because there is so much which needs to be clarified. We need to take a strong stand against sexual immorality (and other sins) among believers and yet we need to deal lovingly with those struggling to overcome sin. A clear point here is that the man Phinehas killed was not only not struggling to overcome sin, he was flaunting his sin in the face of the elders (I want to repeat that I do not think that we are called to kill sinners, not even those who flaunt their sin).