25:1 以色列人住在什亭,百姓與摩押女子行起淫亂。
25:2 因為這女子叫百姓來,一同給她們的神獻祭,百姓就吃她們的祭物,跪拜她們的神。
25:3 以色列人與巴力‧毘珥連合,耶和華的怒氣就向以色列人發作。
25:4 耶和華吩咐摩西說:「將百姓中所有的族長在我面前對著日頭懸掛,使我向以色列人所發的怒氣可以消了。」
25:5 於是摩西吩咐以色列的審判官說:「凡屬你們的人,有與巴力‧毘珥連合的,你們各人要把他們殺了。」
25:6 摩西和以色列全會眾正在會幕門前哭泣的時候,誰知,有以色列中的一個人,當他們眼前,帶著一個米甸女人到他弟兄那裡去。
25:7 祭司亞倫的孫子,以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈看見了,就從會中起來,手裡拿著槍,
25:8 跟隨那以色列人進亭子裡去,便將以色列人和那女人由腹中刺透。這樣,在以色列人中瘟疫就止息了。
25:9 那時遭瘟疫死的,有二萬四千人。
25:10 耶和華曉諭摩西說:
25:11 「祭司亞倫的孫子,以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈,使我向以色列人所發的怒消了;因他在他們中間,以我的忌邪為心,使我不在忌邪中把他們除滅。
25:12 因此,你要說:『我將我平安的約賜給他。
25:13 這約要給他和他的後裔,作為永遠當祭司職任的約;因他為上帝有忌邪的心,為以色列人贖罪。』」
25:14 那與米甸女人一同被殺的以色列人,名叫心利,是撒路的兒子,是西緬一個宗族的首領。
25:15 那被殺的米甸女人,名叫哥斯比,是蘇珥的女兒;這蘇珥是米甸一個宗族的首領。
25:16 耶和華曉諭摩西說:
25:17 「你要擾害米甸人,擊殺他們;
25:18 因為他們用詭計擾害你們,在毘珥的事上和他們的姊妹、米甸首領的女兒哥斯比的事上,用這詭計誘惑了你們;這哥斯比,當瘟疫流行的日子,因毘珥的事被殺了。」
While
Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality
with Moabite women, 2 who invited them to the sacrifices to
their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these
gods. 3 So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the
Lord’s anger burned against them.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the
leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the
Lord, so that the Lord’s fierce anger may turn away from
Israel.”
5 So
Moses said to Israel’s judges, “Each of you must put to death those of your
people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor.”
6 Then
an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes
of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the
entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas son of
Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a
spear in his hand 8 and followed the Israelite into the tent.
He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into
the woman’s stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; 9 but
those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas
son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the
Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not
put an end to them in my zeal. 12 Therefore tell him I am
making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants
will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the
honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”
14 The
name of the Israelite who was killed with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of
Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family. 15 And the name of the
Midianite woman who was put to death was Kozbi daughter of Zur, a tribal chief
of a Midianite family.
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Treat
the Midianites as enemies and kill them. 18 They treated you as
enemies when they deceived you in the Peor incident involving their sister
Kozbi, the daughter of a Midianite leader, the woman who was killed when the
plague came as a result of that incident.”
***********
認識上帝是忌邪的上帝是非常重要的,尤其是我們這些蒙上帝揀選的人,不可以不知道的,就是在新約的書中的《希伯來書》12章28-29節也說:「所以我們既得了不能震動的國,就當感恩,照上帝所喜悅的,用虔誠、敬畏的心事奉上帝。因為我們的上帝乃是烈火。」
雖然巴蘭無法用咒詛攻擊以色列人,摩押人卻用「性」來引誘以色列人,使得以色列人不但與她們發生性關係,更受誘惑去敬拜她們的神,以至於得罪上帝造成了大瘟疫,而這瘟疫死亡的有二萬四千人。瘟疫停止於「祭司亞倫的孫子,以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈殺死了帶米甸女子的以色列人和那個外邦女子」之後!
在這件事後,上帝宣告:「祭司亞倫的孫子,以利亞撒的兒子非尼哈,使我向以色列人所發的怒消了;因他在他們中間,以我的忌邪為心,使我不在忌邪中把他們除滅。因此,你要說:『我將我平安的約賜給他。這約要給他和他的後裔,作為永遠當祭司職任的約;因他為上帝有忌邪的心,為以色列人贖罪。』」
而在教會中,我們也要有注重「忌邪的心」,不可容許罪惡在我們當中滋長惹上帝的怒氣,要執行教會的懲戒,而在《韋斯敏斯德信條》中有詳細的論述到:「教會為了矯正或獲得犯罪的弟兄,阻止其他弟兄犯同樣的罪,除去那足以感染全團的酵;擁護基督的尊榮和福音神聖的承認;避免上帝的震怒(如他們容忍惡譽昭彰和剛愎的犯罪者來褻瀆上帝的聖約,和此約的印證,此忿怒正可臨到教會),必須實行懲戒。」(30:3)
若人不處理罪惡的事,讓上帝來處理,可不是人可以承受的!因此,教會的治理者要忠心於上帝的委託,絕對不可以輕忽實行教會懲戒!要是上帝的怒氣臨到,是超乎我們想像的災難呢!