“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. 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; 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. And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.” Numbers 25:6-9 (KJV)

The world and those caught up in unholiness do not understand holiness, and this zeal which Phinehas had for the holiness of God. Many of those who profess to be Christians are okay with the world and its unholiness; thus, portraying to the world, an unholy god.

Verse 3 of chapter25 tells us that the LORD’S anger was kindled against Israel, because they had joined themselves with the very people who had been trying to have them cursed by Balaam. Balaam showed that he hated God, His holiness, and His people by leading the people of Moab to join with Israel in flagrant rebellion against God (Revelation 2:14).

I am not going to try and explain Phinehas’s actions, except God did approve of them, because of His zeal; and due to his zeal for the holiness of God the plague which had came on the people was stopped. God also blessed Phinehas, and his family (Numbers 25:12-13). The actions of Phinehas most likely saved the lives of thousands more of the people of Israel.

Sin was dealt with by God through the death of His Son. God Himself struck Him (Isaiah 53:4-9). That is how God views His holiness. How quickly will I deal with sin in my own life? How about you? Let us deal first with our own sin, then we can with mercy deal with the sins of others.