” And the Lord said to Moses, “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. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’ ”” (Numbers 25:10-13, ESV)
The record shows that Phinehas was jealous for God. The word jealous, is the Hebrew word, quana, which can be translated as to be jealous of, or to be zealous for. Phinehas’ zeal turned back the wrath of God from the people of Israel who had turned to worship Baal-Peor. An Israelite man had brought a Midianite woman into the camp for sexual pleasure. Seeing this, Phinehas went to the man’s tent and ran a spear through both the Midianite woman and the Israelite man (v6-8). Here, Phinehas’ actions were in accordance with the command of God to put the transgressors to death to stop the plague (v4-5). Because of his zeal for God the plague stopped and God rewarded him with a covenant of peace and a perpetual priesthood.
The Lord is looking for champions today, men and women who will have a zeal for God, men and women who will have the same zeal that God has regarding holiness, men and women who will make the difficult choices in life and stand firm. No, the Lord is not telling us today that we should put people to death that are involved in sexual sin and idolatry. However, the person who is zealous for God will love the things that God loves and hate the things that God hates. In this sense, the person zealous for God will put to death the deeds of the flesh and live by the Spirit (Romans 8:13). The person with a zeal for God will speak out for holiness and renounce sin.
God has called and equipped every believer in Christ to be a champion. Every believer has the Spirit of God. Every believer has the Word of God. Every believer has a place in the Body of Christ, the church. Every true believer should have a zeal for God and His righteousness. Thus, every believer should take some time to reflect upon his or her calling and the things for which God is zealous. We should ask ourselves, “Do I have the same zeal?” Godly zeal is the mark of a true champion.
Renewing the Heart 