Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
journey of israel through the Desert » Marked by constant murmurings and rebellions
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know My ways.”
in the wilderness
and grieved Him in the desert.
Our fathers in Egypt did not grasp [the significance of] Your wonderful works or remember Your many acts of faithful love; instead, they rebelled by the sea-the Red Sea. Yet He saved them because of His name, to make His power known. He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up; He led them through the depths as through a desert. read more.
He saved them from the hand of the adversary; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. Water covered their foes; not one of them remained. Then they believed His promises and sang His praise. They soon forgot His works and would not wait for His counsel. They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them. In the camp they were envious of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy one. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram. Fire blazed throughout their assembly; flames consumed the wicked. At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image. They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating ox. They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, awe-inspiring deeds at the Red Sea. So He said He would have destroyed them- if Moses His chosen one had not stood before Him in the breach to turn His wrath away from destroying [them]. They despised the pleasant land and did not believe His promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the Lord's voice. So He raised His hand against them [with an oath] that He would make them fall in the desert and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them throughout the lands. They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods. They provoked the Lord with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them. But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped. It was credited to him as righteousness throughout all generations to come. They angered [the Lord] at the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them; for they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood- the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land became polluted with blood. They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
He saved them from the hand of the adversary; He redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. Water covered their foes; not one of them remained. Then they believed His promises and sang His praise. They soon forgot His works and would not wait for His counsel. They were seized with craving in the wilderness and tested God in the desert. He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease among them. In the camp they were envious of Moses and of Aaron, the Lord's holy one. The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan; it covered the assembly of Abiram. Fire blazed throughout their assembly; flames consumed the wicked. At Horeb they made a calf and worshiped the cast metal image. They exchanged their glory for the image of a grass-eating ox. They forgot God their Savior, who did great things in Egypt, wonderful works in the land of Ham, awe-inspiring deeds at the Red Sea. So He said He would have destroyed them- if Moses His chosen one had not stood before Him in the breach to turn His wrath away from destroying [them]. They despised the pleasant land and did not believe His promise. They grumbled in their tents and did not listen to the Lord's voice. So He raised His hand against them [with an oath] that He would make them fall in the desert and would disperse their descendants among the nations, scattering them throughout the lands. They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods. They provoked the Lord with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them. But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped. It was credited to him as righteousness throughout all generations to come. They angered [the Lord] at the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them; for they embittered his spirit, and he spoke rashly with his lips. They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them, but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways. They served their idols, which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. They shed innocent blood- the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land became polluted with blood. They defiled themselves by their actions and prostituted themselves by their deeds.
Religious zeal » In punishing evil people » Phinehas
"Phinehas son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back My wrath from the Israelites because he was zealous among them with My zeal, so that I did not destroy the Israelites in My zeal. Therefore declare: I grant him My covenant of peace. It will be a covenant of perpetual priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites."
But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped. It was credited to him as righteousness throughout all generations to come.