Mark Call

Parsha Pinchas (Numbers 25:10 – 30:1) is in fact “the rest of the story,” and more, from last week, and the end of ‘Balak,’ where the daughters of Midian began to seduce the men of the mixed multitude into pagan practices.

And, again, no question, it is one of the most “problematic,” and no doubt confusing to some, in all of Scripture. How can a man who appears to commit a violent act, some might even say murder, be given a ‘Covenant of Peace,’ and Eternal Priesthood, by Yahuah? And, yet, the parallels in the cycle today should — at the very least — outright shock us.

First, the story itself, in the Erev Shabbat overview and reading:

We pick up the story of Pinchas with a reminder of how people who were so specifically blessed by Yahuah were able to be seduced into cursing THEMSELVES..and continue a look at what made Pinchas’ actions so…praiseworthy…to the point where he was singled out for being “zealous” (Hebrew root ‘qanah’) for YHVH and given His Covenant of Peace for violence…that stopped a plague.

But how are we to understand Pinchas’ drastic actions, and his singular reward? It’s undeniable that such a story wouldn’t be IN Scripture if there wasn’t a lesson for us to understand.

We’re reminded how the “watchman on the wall” of Ezekiel is charged with blowing the shofar, and how “do not keep silent” has been commanded. But Pinchas goes beyond that.

And yet, when we look at the idolatry and depravity of the acts that brought on a “plague” that had already killed 24,000 people even before Pinchas took up his spear, and compare it to the “world today,” it seems we’ve gone beyond that as well.

There seems to be ‘peril’ in even talking about some things. Maybe it’s no wonder that the level of perversion, abuse, idolatry, depravity, and outright hatred of the Yahuah has reached “Biblical proportions” today.

Where was a Pinchas when we needed him? But one thing is for sure about the man in the story…

Pinchas: He did NOT fail to ‘Object in a Timely Fashion!