Seder 122: Numbers 25---Phinehas as a Type of Messiah

 When some Israelites were guilty of sexual immorality and idolatry at Shittim, Phinehas the priest decisively intervened to stop the rebellion and the resulting plague.  

God declared that Phinehas "was jealous with my jealousy," embodying God's desire for an exclusive relationship with his people (Num 25:11).  He represented God well, in contrast to what Moses and Aaron had done at Meribah (Num 20:12).  

God reaffirmed with Phinehas the covenant he had made with the priesthood.  Not all of the high priests would be descendants of Phinehas, but priests from his line eventually would dominate the high priesthood.  Zadok, for example, was a high priest under Solomon (1 Chr 6:1-15; 49-53).  Ezra was a priest from this line (Ezra 7:1-5).  It is Zadokite priests who serve at the Temple in Ezekiel's vision (Ezek 44:15; 48:11).  

God calls his covenant with Phinehas a "covenant of peace" (Num 25:12).  Phinehas' zealous actions had brought peace between God and his people, making atonement for Israel's breach of the covenant (verse 13).  

Christians see Phinehas as a type of Jesus the Messiah.  The prophesied new covenant, under which Israel is ruled by the Messiah, is also called a covenant of peace (Ezek 34:23-25; 37:24-28), and Paul refers to Jesus as "our peace" (Eph 2:14).  While Phinehas the priest made atonement with a spear, Jesus was pierced to make atonement for us and serves now as the High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary (Heb 7:25). 

 In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on July 11, 2026, Kyle Kettering carried out a detailed comparison between Phinehas and Jesus, thinking in particular of Jesus' cleansing of the Temple in John 2:13-22.  

There are a number of parallels between the details of Numbers 25 and John 2.  In both cases 

• there is immorality in the sanctuary precincts.
• a public act of zeal is carried out.
• a weapon is used.
• the protagonist receives a priesthood.  
• the zealous action is criticized. 

The last point is not as obvious as the others.  We know that Jesus received criticism (Jn 2:18-22), but Phinehas is not criticized in the Bible.  However, a tradition recorded in Numbers Rabbah pictures Phinehas being attacked by Simeonites for his actions, with an angel intervening to protect Phinehas.  

There are also parallels in the outcomes of their zealous actions.  Both carried out atonement and acted self-sacrificially.  Their actions send the message that immorality associated with God's Name requires action.  The righteous must stand as lions before the wicked.  In this connection, Kyle quoted Proverbs 25:26:  "Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked."

Seder 81: Ezekiel's Temple Vision and the Torah

 The vision of Ezekiel recorded in Ezekiel 40-48 is one of the most mysterious sections of Scripture.  In this vision, Ezekiel is escorted by a heavenly guide around a restored temple compound, with lots of measurements given for gates, courtyards, a sanctuary, and quarters for priests.  God's presence comes to this temple, where he will be present with his people forever.  Worship at the temple is then described, and finally an apportionment of the Holy Land among the tribes of Israel.  

Ezekiel received this vision in about 573 BC, during the time of Judah's exile in Babylon.  The vision was a comforting one for the exiles, assuring them that there would be a future restoration of Israel in the land, with God dwelling among his people and true worship reestablished.  

But how literally are we to take the details of the vision?  Is this a literal description of a millennial temple, as dispensationalists tend to believe, or is it more a symbolic description of true worship in images meaningful to the original readers of the book of Ezekiel? 

In any case, there are a number of parallels between the book of Ezekiel and the things revealed in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, as commentator Daniel Block points out.  In both accounts,

• God commissions a human agent---Exodus 3-4; Ezekiel 33.
• God separates Israel from the nations and delivers her from bondage---Ex 5-13; Eze 34-37.
• Attacking enemies are defeated---Exodus 14-15; Ezekiel 38-39.
• God appears on a high mountain---Ex 19; Eze 40:1-4.
• God provides for residence among his people---Ex 25-40; Eze 40-43.
• God prescribes the appropriate response to his grace---Lev 1-Num 21; Eze 44-46;
• God provides for apportionment of land to the tribes---Num 34-35; Eze 47-48.

So Ezekiel, a new Moses figure, describes a new exodus with a renewed covenant and Torah.

Seder 15: Jeremiah 33---God's Faithfulness to His Covenants

 In the final days of the kingdom of Judah, with Jerusalem falling to the Babylonians, God sent a message through the prophet Jeremiah giving assurance that he had not abandoned his people.  Restoration would come, with spiritual cleansing and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Jer 33:6-11).  The Messiah would come to rule over Israel (vv 14-16).  

God affirms his commitment to his covenants, including the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7:16) and his covenant with Phinehas (Num 25:11-13).  These things, God says, are as sure as the rising and setting of the sun (Jer 33:20-21), which is guaranteed by God's covenant with Noah (Gen 8:22).

Christians believe that Jesus is now the eternal occupant of the Davidic throne.  Jesus' connection with David is emphasized in the Gospels, beginning in Matthew 1.  Luke's genealogy in Luke 3 traces Jesus' legal ancestry---the ancestry of Joseph---back to David (and ultimately to Adam) by a different route. 

How God's commitment to the Levitical priesthood might play out in the future is as yet unknown.  We know that a future role for Levites is also part of Ezekiel's visions (Ezek 40:46; 43:!9; 44:15; 48:11). On the other hand, we don't know for sure that there will ever be another earthly temple.  In their commentary on Jeremiah, Walter Kaiser and Tiberius Rata ask, "Is this language, then, using older liturgies to make the future understandable to those in Jeremiah’s time? This is one suggestion as to how we are to understand such contrasting ideas" (p. 470).

Seder 131: Ezekiel 45-48---Vision of a Future Restoration of Israel

 The mysterious vision recorded at the end of the book of Ezekiel has some links with Numbers 34.  For one thing, the boundaries given in Ezekiel 47:13-20 mention some of the same places listed in Numbers 34.

Ezekiel 48 describes a division of the land among the twelve tribes.  Included is a holy district within which a square block of land 25,000 cubits on a side is to be allotted for a sanctuary, a place for priests and Levites to live, and a special city to be set up.  To the east and west of this special square block will be land for the prince, a civil leader, to keep flocks for sacrifices (Eze 45:1-8; 48:8-22).  

The special city will also have  the dimensions of a square.  There will be 3 gates on each of the four sides, one for each of the tribes. The city will be known as "the Lord is there."  It sound like a kind of forerunner of the New Jerusalem pictured at the end of the book of Revelation.   

It's not clear whether Ezekiel's vision is describing things that will happen fairly literally on the ground at some future date.  It is safe to say, though, that the vision communicated some key spiritual messages to Ezekiel and his contemporaries in images that they could understand.  

One of those messages is that Israel would be restored to the Promised Land, and God would be present there among his people.  Civil government would no longer exploit people but would instead serve God and the people (45:8-17).  True worship would occur regularly, with holiness of the land, sanctuary, and city maintained.