#312 It's My Life

And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.

2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.

3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.

5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.

9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.

12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:

13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.

14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites.

15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house in Midian.

16 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:

18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake. Numbers 25

Balaam did not have sway with God with the practice of magic and enchantments, and he could not help the king by the way of the sword. Moab would not advance against Israel with military force, for it was clear to them that they would meet certain doom. As a young boy, I detested drugs, and I would stay clear of them. When I was teenager, I craved acceptance, excitement and the attention of the opposite sex. In a fallen world, our priorities, logic and passions are not exempt from the overall state. Balaam would advise the breaking down from within, culture, seduction, the appeal to out sinful natures. The devil does not come in integrity, and I made my own bad choices, but they started with what seemed like such a little thing. My mom told me not to smoke, but my friends smoked. She told me not to steal, but I stole cigarettes, back in the day when I was too young to buy them, but they kept them out on the counter or in the aisle. I made fun of junkies and then I became one. It was a slow seduction, and I needed no one after a time to seduce me, I had become my own worst enemy. Zimri was emboldened in his sin, and maybe be a prince of ranking, he thought he could carry himself in such a way. He was flipping off God though, for no matter what we may think of those who warn us of our sin, and no matter how much we feel like we should be left to it or entitled, God is Holy and Just. Let me just be hidden from him, I use to say, or just forget about me, I would plead, but by what right? Was it my body? Did He need my permission on any matter? I have walked like Zimri, and I shutter now at the thought of it, but what an arrogant fool I have been at times. This belongs to you God, but not that, or you can judge here, but not these other areas. Zimri identified with his sin, worshiped other gods, and one being the creature he was with. You could say, "but he loved her," yet knowing what he knew of God, that would not be true. He knew of God's law, his judgment on sin, and he lived among the keepers of the law in a Theocracy. It is not Moses' law that he disregards, for Moses would not have known such things except they came from God. If we truly loved people, were the caretakers of this world, the philanthropist we think ourselves to be, then we would first by our own actions bring light, and then by the words already spoken by God, we would confront sin. We all deserve justice, but it is grace that reveals this to us, that makes us want to be free. How could you love someone and not want them to be right with god. It is something else. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1 Cor. 13: 4-7

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19