Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
journey of israel through the Desert » Marked by constant murmurings and rebellions
“For forty years I was grieved and disgusted with that generation,
And I said, ‘They are a people who err in their heart,
And they do not acknowledge or regard My ways.’
How often they rebelled against Him in the wilderness
And grieved Him in the desert!
Our fathers in Egypt understood not nor appreciated Your miracles; they did not [earnestly] remember the multitude of Your mercies nor imprint Your loving-kindness [on their hearts], but they were rebellious and provoked the Lord at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for His name's sake [to prove the righteousness of the divine character], that He might make His mighty power known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it dried up; so He led them through the depths as through a pastureland. read more.
And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise. But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord. Therefore the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and closed over the company of Abiram. And a fire broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged Him Who was their Glory for the image of an ox that eats grass [they traded their Honor for the image of a calf]! They forgot God their Savior, Who had done such great things in Egypt, Wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea. Therefore He said He would destroy them. [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath. Then they spurned and despised the pleasant and desirable land [Canaan]; they believed not His word [neither trusting in, relying on, nor holding to it]; But they murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. Therefore He lifted up His hand [as if taking an oath] against them, that He would cause them to fall in the wilderness, Cast out their descendants among the nations, and scatter them in the lands [of the earth]. They joined themselves also to the [idol] Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices [offered] to the lifeless [gods]. Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their practices, and a plague broke out among them. Then stood up Phinehas [the priest] and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed. And that was credited to him for righteousness (right doing and right standing with God) to all generations forever. They angered the Lord also at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes; For they provoked [Moses'] spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the [heathen] nations as the Lord commanded them, But mingled themselves with the [idolatrous] nations and learned their ways and works And served their idols, which were a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with their blood. Thus were they defiled by their own works, and they played the harlot and practiced idolatry with their own deeds [of idolatrous rites].
And He saved them from the hand of him that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the [Egyptian] enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then [Israel] believed His words [trusting in, relying on them]; they sang His praise. But they hastily forgot His works; they did not [earnestly] wait for His plans [to develop] regarding them, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted and tried to restrain God [with their insistent desires] in the desert. And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls and [thinned their numbers by] disease and death. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord. Therefore the earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and closed over the company of Abiram. And a fire broke out in their company; the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a molten image. Thus they exchanged Him Who was their Glory for the image of an ox that eats grass [they traded their Honor for the image of a calf]! They forgot God their Savior, Who had done such great things in Egypt, Wonders and miracles in the land of Ham, dreadful and awesome things at the Red Sea. Therefore He said He would destroy them. [And He would have done so] had not Moses, His chosen one, stepped into the breach before Him to turn away His threatening wrath. Then they spurned and despised the pleasant and desirable land [Canaan]; they believed not His word [neither trusting in, relying on, nor holding to it]; But they murmured in their tents and hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. Therefore He lifted up His hand [as if taking an oath] against them, that He would cause them to fall in the wilderness, Cast out their descendants among the nations, and scatter them in the lands [of the earth]. They joined themselves also to the [idol] Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices [offered] to the lifeless [gods]. Thus they provoked the Lord to anger with their practices, and a plague broke out among them. Then stood up Phinehas [the priest] and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed. And that was credited to him for righteousness (right doing and right standing with God) to all generations forever. They angered the Lord also at the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes; For they provoked [Moses'] spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the [heathen] nations as the Lord commanded them, But mingled themselves with the [idolatrous] nations and learned their ways and works And served their idols, which were a snare to them. Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons And shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with their blood. Thus were they defiled by their own works, and they played the harlot and practiced idolatry with their own deeds [of idolatrous rites].
Phinehas » Religious zeal of, in killing the israelitish woman who had committed abomination
And when Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand And went after the man of Israel into the inner room and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her body. Then the [smiting] plague was stayed from the Israelites. Nevertheless those who died in the [smiting] plague were 24,000. read more.
And the Lord said to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites. Now the man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a head of a father's house among the Simeonites. And the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was head of a father's house in Midian.
And the Lord said to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites. Now the man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, a head of a father's house among the Simeonites. And the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi daughter of Zur; he was head of a father's house in Midian.
Religious zeal » In punishing evil people » Phinehas
Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.
Then stood up Phinehas [the priest] and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed. And that was credited to him for righteousness (right doing and right standing with God) to all generations forever.
Religious zeal » Instances of » Phinehas
And when Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand And went after the man of Israel into the inner room and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her body. Then the [smiting] plague was stayed from the Israelites. Nevertheless those who died in the [smiting] plague were 24,000. read more.
And the Lord said to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.
And the Lord said to Moses, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned my wrath away from the Israelites, in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My jealousy. Therefore say, Behold, I give to Phinehas the priest My covenant of peace. And he shall have it, and his descendants after him, the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.