Seder 121: Numbers 25---Was Phinehas a Vigilante?

 At the end of their 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites camped just east of the Jordan River "from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-Shittim in the plains of Moab" (Num 33:49).  During their stay there, the nearby Moabites and Midianites, at the instigation of Balaam (Num 31:15-16), induced some Israelite men to commit adultery and idolatry with "the daughters of Moab" (Num 25:2).  A deadly plague ensued in which many Israelites died before Phinehas took decisive action, executing two of the offenders with a spear (verses 7-8).  

Phineas is strongly praised in the Bible for his actions (Num 25:10-13; Ps 106:28-31).  Still, some readers have accused him of being a vigilante, taking the law into his own hands.  A closer look at the biblical text refutes any such claim.  

First, we should remember that Phinehas was the son of Eleazar (Num 25:7), the current high priest after the death of Aaron (Num 20:22-29).  When Aaron was high priest, Eleazar had been a sort of chief of security.  According to Numbers 3:32, Eleazar "was to be chief over the chiefs of the Levites, and to have oversight of those who kept guard over the sanctuary."  Verse 38 adds that "any outsider who came near was to be put to death."  One reason that Eleazar had this job, rather than Aaron himself, was that the high priest was shielded from contact with death and corpse impurity as much as possible (Lev 21:11-12).  It was presumably for similar reasons that Eleazar supervised the preparation of the ashes of the red heifer while Aaron was high priest (Num 19:3-4).  

When Eleazar became high priest, his previous responsibilities, including the position of security chief would have been passed on to Phinehas.  Phinehas was the one in charge of keeping inappropriate visitors away from the tabernacle area, so dealing with Zimri and Cozbi was part of his job.  

Second, Phinehas acted in accordance with God's instructions for dealing with the idolaters.  God had directed Moses to organize some "chiefs" or "judges" to execute the idolaters (Num 25:4-5).  They were to be hung or impaled. As chief of security, Phinehas would have been one of those chiefs, and he dealt with the offenders in the manner in which God had specified.  

Phinehas, then, provides no precedent for the actions of would-be vigilantes.  He is, however, an example of carrying out one's responsibilities faithfully.  

Seder 117: On the Placement and Timing of Numbers 19

 In the religion of ancient Israel, one of the most serious kinds of ritual impurity resulted from contact with a human corpse.  While contact with a dead animal resulted in a minor impurity (Lev 11:31, 39) that only lasted "until the evening," contact with a human corpse was more serious.  During Israel's time in the wilderness, those who had had such contact were temporarily excluded from the camp (Num 5:2).  The high priest was to avoid it, even for the sake of close relatives (Lev 21:10-11).  It prevented a person from participating in Passover at the usual time (Num 9:6).  One who encountered a corpse during a Nazirite vow had to start the vow over again after a cleansing period of a week (Num 6:9-12).  

The ritual procedure for dealing with corpse impurity is laid out in Numbers 19.  It involves the application of a special mixture of living water and ashes of a red heifer on days 3 and 7 of a 7-day period.   

There seem to be allusions to this procedure in the Torah prior to Numbers 19.  The fact that a Nazirite's cleansing from corpse impurity requires a week (Num 6:9) is one.  When the Levites were set apart for service, the "water of purification" was sprinkled on them.  Presumably this is the mixture described in Numbers 19.  These allusions imply that the procedure in Numbers 19 was revealed to Moses at Mount Sinai and presumably used throughout Israel's time in the wilderness.   

The placement of the description of this procedure in Numbers 19, rather than in Leviticus 11-15 or earlier in Numbers, seems to be designed to communicate a message.  In the book of Numbers, chapter 19 is located between the story of the first generation of the Exodus (up through year 39 in the wilderness) and the story of the new generation that completes the journey to the Promised Land.  Many people died during those years in the wilderness, but the nation was cleansed and renewed in preparation for the completion of the journey.

Seder 52: Exodus 12:15---What do you mean, "Shall be cut off"?

 In Exodus 12:1-28 the biblical narrative is temporarily interrupted with instructions on the first month of the calendar that God designed for Israel.  Included are directions for the first Passover, which would be observed on Israel's last night in Egypt.  

But much more is covered.  In future years the celebration of the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread would commemorate Israel's liberation from Egypt.  

Everyone would participate in these festivals, with no one allowed to "opt out."  In verse 15 God says, "Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread.  On the first day you shall remove the leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel."  

Refusal to observe the Days of Unleavened Bread is one of several offenses for which one could be "cut off from Israel" (Ge 17:14; Ex 30:33, 38; 31:14; Lev 7:20, 21, 25, 27; 17:4,9,14; 19:8; 20:17-18; 22:3; 23:29; Num 9:13; 15:30; 19:13, 20).  In these cases, God is not telling the Israelites to punish the offender.  Instead, he is saying that he will take care of the situation.  

Douglas Stuart in his NAC commentary on Exodus explains that such a person would be "cut off from God's benefits to Israel in the near future and cut off from eternal life with them in the ultimate future," since that person "had by his actions shown clearly that he did not desire to keep covenant with the true God" (p. 285).  

Seder 117: Numbers 19---Dealing with Corpse Impurity

The subject matter of Numbers 19 is related to Lev 11-15, since the topic is the ritual impurity contracted through contact with dead bodies.  What role does this material play in the narrative of Numbers?   

Between Numbers 14 and Numbers 20, 38 years pass.  The text gives few specifics about what happened during that period.  One thing it does tell us is that the older generation of Israelites died during that period.  And each death resulted in ritual impurity for those who had contact with the body.

Numbers 19 gives instructions for dealing with corpse impurity.  A red cow would be sacrificed and its carcass burned up.  Some additional ingredients were added to the ashes---cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet yarn---perhaps to enhance the redness of the mixture, symbolizing blood.  

The ashes were a kind of purification offering in concentrated form.  Water containing the ashes was sprinkled on a person who had had contact with a corpse, along with any objects that had been rendered unclean through contact with the corpse.  

The instructions in Numbers 19 contain lots of fascinating details.  In Jewish tradition, these instructions are treated as a quintessential mystery, and their sometimes paradoxical nature is highlighted.  Still, the Tanakh says that there is value in meditating on these things (Ps 119:23). 

For example, those who handled the ashes and sprinkled the water contracted a minor ritual impurity. So how did the ashes that cleansed the impure cause a minor impurity for others who produced and handled them?

Commentator Roy Gane has suggested a rationale for this rule.  He is one of the modern scholars who have built conceptual models for how the rituals of Israel worked.  The ashes were going to absorb a lot of ritual impurity, and because of that potential, they were treated, even before they were used, as if that absorption of impurity had already occurred.  

This reminds us of the fact that sins throughout history have been forgiven through the death of Jesus, including sins committed before the Incarnation, because Jesus' death had as good as happened even before it occurred.  He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8).  

One batch of ashes from a cow sacrificed at a particular time could be used to remove impurity over some long period of time after that.  This reminds us of the fact that through Jesus' death, sins committed long after the crucifixion have been forgiven.  

Despite the great potential of the ashes to remove impurity, water had to be added and the ashes sprinkled in order for purification to occur.  Similarly, for our sins to be forgiven, we have to accept the sacrifice that Jesus has made for us.  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on September 17, 2022, Rob Wilson gave further discussion of the mysteries of Numbers 19.

Seder 83: Understanding Ritual Impurity

 The middle chapters of Leviticus, with their discussion of ritual purity and impurity, constitute one of the most obscure parts of the Bible for modern readers.  But they lie behind a number of incidents recorded in the Gospels, and understanding them can teach us more about who Jesus was and what he came to do.

In the time of Moses and in the time of Jesus, to be ritually pure meant to be allowed to participate in worship at the tabernacle or temple.  To be ritually impure meant that one was not allowed to be in contact with holy places or things, much as antimatter is not allowed to contact matter in a science fiction story.

Some things to understand about ritual impurity:

• Becoming ritual impure happened to everybody and was just a part of life.  Ritual impurity was not usually something to avoid and only became a problem if it came in contact with the holy.
• Ritual impurity usually was not a matter of sin, hygiene, or public health.
• Ritual impurity was not just a "Jewish thing."  Other cultures in the ancient Near East of Moses' time and the Mediterranean world of Jesus' time had similar restrictions on access to temples.

All of the sources of ritual impurity have some connection to death or human mortality.  So ritual impurity was a reminder of the limitations of being human and the great gulf between mortal humans and an immortal, holy God.  Appearing before God was a privilege not to be taken lightly.  (Today we approach the throne of grace boldly, but not nonchalantly.)

Dealing with a temporary ritual impurity involved two simple ingredients---water and time.  For example, if one came in contact with the carcass of a dead animal, one picked up a minor ritual impurity, which could be dealt with by washing.  After one washed, the period of ritual impurity ended that evening (Lev 11;24-28).  

One who was in the same room with a dead human body contracted a major ritual impurity.  One dealt with it in a 7-day procedure, with washings and application of the ashes of a red heifer on days 3 and 7 (Num 19).  

This is a challenging topic, as evidenced by some misconceptions and misunderstandings surrounding it.  For example, there is a widespread "urban legend" that Jewish shepherds in the time of Jesus were treated as outcasts because they were often ritually impure.  However, the minor ritual impurities that shepherds encountered were easily dealt with, and there was no need for anyone to avoid contact with them.  

A major book on ritual impurity in the Gospels has been published recently:  Jesus and the Forces of Death by Matthew Thiessen of McMaster University (Baker Academic, 2020).  Thiessen explains the concepts of ritual purity and impurity in the Bible and the ancient world and discusses how they were applied in the time of Jesus.  Thiessen shows that Jesus was a Torah observant Jew who did not ignore or oppose Jewish law on this subject.  What he did do repeatedly was to remove the sources of major ritual impurity when he encountered them.  

For example, when Jesus came in contact with corpse impurity, he brought corpses back to life (Mark 5:21-24; 35-43; Luke 7:11-17; John 11:38-44).  As the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24), he exerted a powerful force of holiness that erased corpse impurity.  

When Jesus died, a number of dead saints came back to life (Matt 27:51-53).  Usually when someone died, the person's body was a source of ritual impurity that spread to people nearby.  But when Jesus died, others came back to life.  A key message of the Gospels is that Jesus came to defeat death and the forces of death.