"Zeal that brings peace to the world"-Numb 25

The zeal that restores the beauty of peace

10 And the Lord said to Moses,11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.12 Therefore say,‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, 13 and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant ofa perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’” (Numb 25:11-13)…Read all of Numb 25 to understand the whole story

My Boss has this quote on his email signature that says, "Don't ask what the world needs but discover what makes you come alive. For what the world needs is people who have come alive". In our story today we see how Phinehas comes alive for the things that matter to God, which is really what the world needs. He shows great zeal to accomplish God's will and purpose and in so doing, the Lord declares many powerful things for him and for the rest of his generation.

What God declares concerning Phinehas

God called Him by name and:

1.Gave to him and his generations after him "a covenant of peace"...declaring an inheritance of God's peace, His Shalom…(vs 12)

2.Maked him and his generations after him to be a priesthood forever (vs 13)

3.Phinehas made atonement (paying the price for forgiveness) for Israel so God did not destroy them all (vs 14)

…This declaration sounds familiar

This sounds a lot like someone I know so well...Yes Jesus Christ

1. Christ burned with zeal to do the will of His father ....all the Gospels tell us this (Jhn 2:17)

2. God gave Him to be the everlasting priest . (Heb 3:1)

3. God made Him to be an atonement for all the sins of the world so that those who believe will not die for their sin . (Jhn 3:16, Rom 5:11)

…But how does this affect my life today?

It affects you who is a believer in Christ:
Be encouraged, you who know the Lord and have a zeal for the things that concern Him, you who have a Godly jealousy for the heart of God moved by the power of His Spirit, be encouraged.  The Lord is using you and your zeal as an instrument of peace  to break the bondage and curse of sin in the lives of all who encounter you.  

He is using your zeal as you Re-Present Christ to your family and your world, offering them the service of reconciliation so that they may be at peace with God once again and receive the full inheritance of Him. (2 Cor 5:19-21).  

Be encouraged, knowing that your zeal might be confusing to you (Jer 33:3), your zeal might be disruptive in your family (Mat 10:34), your zeal might cause many of your friends to leave you (Jhn 6:60-66), but the Lord knows you by name. Your zeal for the heart of God may cause wars and rumors of wars (Mat 24:14), your zeal may cause you to be locked up or even burnt....however you are still the one the Lord calls by name and makes a peace covenant with you and you are the one He will use to an object of deliverance for your community.

So do not wax cold, do not shrink back, continue with the passion you received the first day you believed, the Lord is faithful till the end (Heb 10:23-24) and He is coming back again to reward the saints.... Maranatha...Come Lord Jesus (1 Thes 4:13-18).

There is still peace to be found within the bushes

It affects you who does not believe in Christ:
For you who still has doubts about Christianity,  here is your comfort. Just like the Lord declared to Phinehas that a whole nation was spared because of his zeal to do the Lord's will, another One has already done God's perfect will (Heb 10:7-9) so that you will be saved when you put your faith in Him (Rom 10:9-10). You might say, why do I need saving? The answer is, we all need saving (Rom 3:9-18) because we have all lived lives outside of God's perfect will or standard. With this disobedient lifestyle comes death (Rom 6:23a), just like in our story all of Israel was going to die if Phinehas did not intervene. 

The good news is, if we put our faith in the complete work of Jesus Christ who died in our place, we will not face eternal death or the judgement that will come to all the world when God judges the sins of the world (Acts 17:30-32, Rom 5:8-9) .  The good news continues, Christ did not only die for us but He resurrected, as our assurance that we too, although we die in this world will live again forever (Rom 6:5). Now this is truly comfort for the soul. 

…But how does this affect the future?
There is another event slotted in the book of the Bible, destined for the time of History, when Jesus will come back to earth, not as a lamb but as a lion…a king...the Lord's zeal will fulfill this (Isa 9:7, Jer 33:14-26). It is His zeal that will set up His Millennium kingdom on earth, in Israel, Jerusalem to be exact (Ps 2:6). Where Jesus will rule the whole world for a 1,000 years as a monarchy (Isa 32:1, Zech 14:9). 

Israel our Future home

Not like those monarchies you know in this world, but one with righteousness and justice and peace (Isa 11:4-5, 33:17-24) that this world has never known. He will punish the rebellious hearts (Ps 2:7-9, 12) and serve with gentleness the weak (Isa 40:11). Because of his reign and His zeal as Prophet, Priest and King the deceiver will be locked up for that period until the end of his reign when satan will be let out to start deceiving the nations again for a time (Rev 20:1-3). The Millennium period will be a marvelous time. Where do I get all this….in the Bible…reading it literally and taking God to mean what he says and to say what He means…reading prophecy not as allegory but literally, because Jesus literally came as a man, born of a virgin, and walked our earth…which was foretold in many places in the Old Testament.

So rejoice, you who know this future King of Israel, that comes from the seed of Eve (Gen 3:15), of David (2 Sam 7:16), who is Jesus Christ. Rejoice because we have a hope that will surely come to pass, which says that we will reign with Jesus Christ in this kingdom (1 Cor 6:2), and Israel will have all the land they were promised and will have peace at last (Isa 41:8-16, Rev 20:6). This is our hope, this is the hope of the Church, a kingdom in Jerusalem for 1,000 years and for eternity, a new Heaven and Earth which will come down from the sky where no evil will reign, because Christ will defeat Satan once and for all at the battle of Armageddon. All those who follow Satan (Rev 20:7-10) and those who reject Christ would be cast out into the lake of fire, tormented forever and evil will be banished forever (Rev 21:10-27). God Himself accomplishes this through his own zeal which allows for peace to finally comes on earth forever.

Comfort for your soul

…Now this is true comfort for the soul for all those who believe…and for those who do not believe this is your chance to believe because God did not create us to be destroyed by His wrath (1 Thes 5:9)….but do not take my word for it..read the Book for yourself and hope in this too, by His grace (1 Cor 15:19-20, 1 Thes 4:13-18).

Until next time, I pray for you who know Him, that you would burn with zeal for Him and not grow weary in doing good (Gal 6:9) and gain a renewed hope for the future. And I pray for you  who is not in the family of faith, that your heart would be open to His Truth which sets you free and brings you peace (Jhn 12:47), Amen. 

Recommendation: The End Times, by Herman A. Hoyt (Kingdom of God: pages 167-192)