The Soul of the American Church

Israel’s Harlotry in Moab

25 Now Israel remained in Acacia Grove, and the people began to commit harlotry with the women of Moab. 2 They invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel was joined to Baal of Peor, and the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel.

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and hang the offenders before the Lord, out in the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.”

5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, “Every one of you kill his men who were joined to Baal of Peor.”

6 And indeed, one of the children of Israel came and presented to his brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 7 Now when Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose 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 body. So the plague was stopped among the children of Israel. 9 And those who died in the plague were twenty-four thousand.

10 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the children of Israel, because he was zealous with My zeal among them, so that I did not consume the children of Israel in My zeal. 12 Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him My covenant of peace; 13 and it shall be to him and his descendants after him a covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made atonement for the children of Israel.’ ”

14 Now the name of the Israelite who was killed, who was killed with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s house among the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was head of the people of a father’s house in Midian.

16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Harass the Midianites, and attack them; 18 for they harassed you with their schemes by which they seduced you in the matter of Peor and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a leader of Midian, their sister, who was killed in the day of the plague because of Peor.”

The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Nu 25:1–18.

• Unable to make God curse Israel, Balaam counsels a strategy that draws Israel toward the Baal of Peor through idolatry and sexual immorality.
• Numbers 25 portrays sin as destructive rather than harmless, and Phinehas's zeal belongs to Israel's old-covenant judicial setting rather than authorizing private violence.
• Numbers 31 identifies Balaam's counsel behind Peor and warns that Israel can carry the same temptation back into camp after outward victory.
• Revelation 2 shows that Balaam's teaching remains a church danger when idolatry and sexual immorality are tolerated under a claim of spiritual freedom.
• The sermon applies this danger particularly to pornography in churches, using dated survey figures to insist that doctrinal conservatism does not make a congregation immune.
• James locates temptation in disordered desire, so repentance must begin with honest self-examination rather than blame directed only at the surrounding culture.
• Romans 6 grounds the mortification of sin in union with Christ: believers are no longer sin's slaves and fight by the Spirit, Scripture, prayer, watchfulness, and practical removal of occasions to sin.

• How does Balaam's strategy in Numbers 25 differ from his failed attempts to curse Israel?
• Why does Scripture join sexual immorality and idolatry in the incidents at Peor and Pergamum?
• What does Numbers 31 reveal about bringing a defeated temptation back into the community?
• Why must Phinehas's judicial act not be converted into permission for modern private violence?
• How does Revelation 2 make Balaam's teaching relevant to churches rather than only ancient pagan society?
• Why should the sermon's historical survey figures be treated as dated illustrations rather than current measurements?
• According to James 1, where must examination of temptation begin?
• How does union with Christ provide both hope and responsibility in the long fight against habitual sin?

Baal of Peor

The deity whose cult Israel joins in Numbers 25 through idolatrous sacrifice and sexual immorality.

Doctrine of Balaam

The pattern of placing idolatry and sexual immorality before God's people as a stumbling block.

Idolatry

Giving worship, trust, or controlling devotion to a created desire or power instead of God.

Mortification of sin

The Spirit-dependent work of putting sinful desires and practices to death rather than managing or entertaining them.

Union with Christ

The believer's participation by faith in Christ's death and risen life, breaking sin's mastery and enabling new obedience.

Watchfulness

Attentive use of Scripture, prayer, accountability, and practical boundaries against predictable temptation.