PHINEHAS

“’Pinchas the son of El’azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra’el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn’t destroy them in my own zeal.’”
Numbers 25:11

My children enjoy watching the Disney cartoons of Phinehas and Ferb these days. When I mentioned to them the title of this week’s Parashah, the first question my son asked was if Phinehas in the Bible had a triangle head like the boy on the cartoon. After I shared a laugh with him about this, I explained to him the account of Phinehas from Numbers 25. If you remember from my last entry, it was soon after the details of Balak and Bil’am that Isra’el began whoring with the women of Mo’av. They joined in with the worship of Ba’al, and Adonai’s anger festered. Moshe commanded the death of those who had joined themselves to Ba’al-P’or, and the curse was ended at 24,000 people dead when the spear of Pinchas struck the stomach of an Isra’elite and Midian couple.
If we continue from this account we read in Numbers 25:10-19 the blessing of Adonai on Phinehas for this action. In fact, in verse 11 we read Adonai commending him for being as zealous as He was and how this action saved the nation from Adonai’s own wrath. The reward to Phinehas was a covenant of shalom within the office of the cohen, covering him as well as his descendants.
But here is the point I want us to consider in this entry – ZEAL. Phinehas was rewarded for his zeal concerning the sin taking place. What does this mean exactly? The word in Hebrew is QANA’. Qana means to excite to a jealous anger. Think back with me to the listing of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. The second commandment states, “You are to have no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3). The command is broken down stating that no carved image is to be made or bowed down to and then Adonai states why. “…for I, Adonai your God, am a jealous God…” (Ex 20:5). The word used in Exodus 20:5 is QANNA’, from the root QANA’. God is a jealous God. In the moment when Phinehas took the spear and struck the stomachs of the couple, he was acting in the same jealousy that Adonai would have acted in.
I remember back in the late 1990’s singing a song in church with the words, “I want to love what you love / I want to hate what you hate / teach me the fear of the Lord.” These words cannot just be words. These words must be our prayer and decree as they were for Phinehas. It is time that we rise up also, take the stand that Adonai commands, and no longer let sin in the camp.

Numbers 25:10-19