The psalmist sang the praises of a man named Phineas who brought an end to a plague in Psalm 106:30. We can appreciate this in aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. A lot of hard work went into developing and administering the vaccines, as well as taking other measures so it could recede. It was a great joy for us to reassemble on Palm Sunday of 2021 after having not gathered for worship for over a year.
But the details in Phineas’ case are more troubling. The psalmist sang about an event recorded in narrative form in Numbers 25:1-18, which looks back on something that seemingly originated in Moabite and Midianite trickery (25:18). If you’ve ever been the victim of a scam, you can relate to this feeling. Where someone takes advantage of your good intentions it feels like a form of betrayal. The Israelites were not entirely innocent in this case though. It began with their sexual relations with Moabite women (25:1-2), and escalated from there into forbidden religious practices. Think of how compromises have come into your life. Often it’s something that develops incrementally. One small decision doesn’t seem all that big at the time, but then it leads to another and yet another – and before long you’ve made some major compromises in your life. Some kinds of compromise are necessary. Our system governance is based on it, where there are different representatives from different people groups. They need to come together around a common philosophy of governance in order for any kind of social order to ensue. It’s the same thing when you have different people living in a single household; we all have to agree on some things in order to have a good life together. But there’s another kind of compromise that’s bad – and that’s when it makes you less that what you should be, and/or less than what God would have you to be. This is what happened with Israelites before Phineas’ intervention, and it’s something we need to be careful of as well. Phineas was credited with making the difference. Numbers 25:11-13 says he turned back God’s wrath from the people, and that God therefore gave him a “covenant of peace” – and that he and his lineage would then have a perpetual priesthood. Psalm 106:31 says that it would be a righteous legacy forever. The troubling thing is that his intervention was very violent. Numbers 25:7-8 describes him violently killing a newlywed couple. There’s too much violence done in the name of religion today; I don’t want to be one who commends it. But anytime I’m troubled by a selection of scripture, it’s in my discipline to force myself to learn from it. Why did God include this? Why was this resonant for the people at the time? And here the situation is clear: A line needed to be drawn, and it took a strong-willed person to do it. Sometimes this is necessary when people are taking advantage of you. Think of your experiences in being around people who brought unhealthy compromises into your life. What did it take for it to stop? Ultimately, the good news of gospel is that God is uncompromisingly gracious. He was not content to leave us rotting in the brokenness of this world. Out of His goodness, He sent His son Jesus to be our ultimate high priest. He intervened aggressively on our behalf, not by taking anybody else’s life, but by giving His own. Jesus’ resurrection from the grave demonstrates His power over death and all the other compromising powers of this world. Psalm 106 begins and ends with an emphasis on this kind of grace. It is the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever (106:1). God bless you, Pastor Andrew McHenry First Congregational Church – Trinity Presbyterian Church
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Andrew McHenryI am a husband, a Congregational pastor, and a native Kansan currently living in Thermalito, California. In the past I have also been a prison chaplain and a youth pastor. Interests include reading, railroads, prog rock, KU, and the KC Royals. Archives
March 2024
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