Pinchas
Numbers 25:10 thru 29:40
Pinchas – Is the son of Eleazar,
Who was the son of Aaron the Priest
The 41ST Portion Reading
Mountaintop to Valley
• Balaam and Balak
incident has ended
• A new rebellion begins
• Hebrews begin cavorting
with the Moabites and
Midianites
• This is the NEW
generation of Hebrews
who is rebelling
• The 1st generation of the
Exodus is now dead
Pinchas
A wise man learns from
his mistakes,
but a WISER man learns from
the mistakes of others
Israel at Shittim
• Shittim = Acacia tree
• Israel was unaware of the Balaam and Balak
effort against them
• Tradition is that Balaam suggested that Balak get
Israel to worship Moab’s gods
• Chemosh, chief Ba’al of the Moabites
• Religious prostitution part of the ritual in
worshipping a fertility god
High-Handed Sins
• The “whoring” Israel
committed were high-handed
sins
• National rebellion
• Yehoveh orders the “chiefs”
to be executed
• Hanging likely means
“impaled” on a pole
• The leadership was to blame
for this national apostasy
• Death of the chiefs was for
atonement for the nation
His Blood is on His Own Head
• Punishment and discipline have NOT ended for
the Believer
• But eternal condemnation HAS ended for the
faithful!
• The Lord will NOT accept the blood of an animal
in atonement for a high-handed sin
• Moses did NOT order the Tribal Chiefs to die,
instead he ordered lesser leaders to be executed
• Moses made a political move
• Tribal Chiefs would not have submitted to death,
and their people would have risen up against Moses
His Blood is on His Own Head
Why would Moses have done this? Why was he
so reluctant to execute those leaders? Well, in
order not to go into great detail, I only ask you
to think about the scenes we regularly see play
out on our TV’s, from Iraq. Tribal members and
Muslim sect members will do anything to protect
their leaders. And the leaders will sacrifice any
amount of their people to maintain their power;
this is all the essence of the tribal system.
Pinchas
• Plague was raging among
Israel for their sin
• Hebrew man brings a
Midianite woman into the
camp of Israel
• Parades her by the
Tabernacle
• Phinehas, a priest, follows
the couple to the man’s
tent, and there kills them
with a spear
• Belly = reproductive organs
Pinchas’ Act Stopped Plague
• 24,000 Israelites died
• Ancient Rabbis were troubled
by this act
• Phinehas acted in righteous
anger as protector of the Lord’s
holiness
• Yehoveh even granted Phinehas
His SHALOM
• The Lord declares that Phinehas
would follow his father Eleazar
as High Priest, and be the priestly
clam
Tone of Chapter Shifts After Execution
• The Lord’s justice is met
• The plague ends
• The newest Exodus generation has
learned a terrible lesson
• Yehoveh demonstrated His kindness and
His severity
• The Lord declares war on the Midianites
(allies of Moab) for their part in seducing
Israel to worship false gods
• A census would be needed before the
battle
Numbers 26: Conquest
• Final 11 chapters begin process
of possessing Canaan
• First census (Num.1,2) was
of the 1st Exodus generation
• This census (Num. 26) is of
the next generation
• Two purposes:
1) Military
2) Land allotment
Israel on east bank of Jordan
River, across from Jericho
Tribes
Census Census Increase
(year 2) (year 40)
1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Gad
4. Judah
5. Issachar
6. Zebulun
7. Ephraim
8. Manassceh
9. Benjamin
10. Dan
11. Asher
12. Naphtali
46,500
59,300
45,650
74,600
54,400
57,400
40,500
32,200
35,400
62,700
41,500
53,400
43,730
22,200
40,500
76,500
64,300
60,500
32,500
52,700
45,600
64,400
53,600
45,400
Total
603,500
601,703
Decrease
2,770
37,100
5,150
1,900
9,900
3,100
8,000
20,500
10,200
1,700
11,900
8,000
59,200
61,020
Land Allotment
• TWO criteria:
1) Territory proportionate
to size of tribe
2) By lot (chance)
• The lot determined the
region, while the size of
the tribe determined how
MUCH land in that region
a tribe would receive
Census of the Levites
• A fully separate census for the Levites
• 1) Levites no longer seen by God as part of Israel
• 2) Levites NOT entitled to land (territory)
• Instead were given 48 cities scattered throughout the
12 tribes’ territories
• Number of Levite males were 23,000
• These were ONE MONTH and up
• The Israelite tribes counted males 20 YEARS and up
to about age 50
Separate Census for Levites
• Israelites and Levites
counted separately
• Israelite males, 20 to 50
years
• Levite males, 1 month and up
• Census to determine size
of tribal territory in Canaan
• Over the 40 years, the old
generation died off
• Some tribes increased and
others declined in size
Succession of Inheritence
• This is dealing with some
specific cases that aren’t
covered by the Laws
• Daughters of Zelophehad
want to inherit their
father’s wealth
• He had no sons, and was
not a rebel
• A new way of setting up
laws was established:
PRECEDENT
Daughters May Inherit
• The Lord says that when there
are no sons, the daughters are to
inherit
• If a man has NO children,
wealth goes to his own brothers.
• If a man has no brothers it goes
to his uncles
• If a man has no uncles then the
nearest relative inherits the
property
• Some caveats to this later in
Deuteronomy
Possessed Not Owned
• Canaan belongs to HIM,
not to the Israelites
• Israel possesses the land,
but the Lord OWNS the
land
• Hebrews had exclusive
USE of the land
• Laws of Jubilee returns
land to original possessor
• Land for peace, the
“Roadmap to Peace”
completely violates this
commandment!!
Land to Remain in the Family
• When land passed on to son, name
and family possession of land
remained intact
• When land passed on to daughter,
land becomes under control of
daughter’s HUSBAND and his family
• Sons received inheritance, daughters
received wedding dowry
• Dowry ended all responsibility of
father to his daughters
• Laws of inheritance by daughters
applied ONLY when she married
within her own tribe
Land to Remain in the Family
Moses Appoints Joshua
• Moses old and would not be allowed
by God to enter Canaan
• Ascends mountain range of Abarim,
on Mt. Nebo
• Moses will NOT die immediately
• Land must first be allotted by Moses
• Aaron was replaced by an
established and automatic line
of succession
• Moses was replaced by at the
appointment of Yehoveh
• Joshua was NOT a replacement
Mediator
Only Two Mediators
• Moses was the 1st, Yeshua was
the 2nd and better
• Neither had a successor
• When Yeshua returns it will not
be as Mediator, it will be as
Kinsman Redeemer
• Joshua commissioned by High
Priest
• Moses commissioned the entire
priesthood
• Samaka= laying on of hands
• Symbolized substitution or
transference
Sacrifice
• Sacrifice is the HEART
of worship
• Torah sacrifices were
pictures and patterns
• Modern Christians have
no knowledge of biblical
sacrifice
• The ancients saw these
sacrifices as self-evident
• The DOING of sacrifice
brought the understanding
Types of Offerings
‘Olah
Burnt Offering
Hata’at
Purification Offering
‘Asham
Reparation Offering
Shelamim
Peace Offering
Hata’at
Asham
Purification Officering
Reparation Offering
Peace Offering
Entire animal is Some of the animal
burned up
could be used for food
by priests
Some of the animal
could be used for
food by priests
Most of animal
used for food
with largest
portion to the
worshipper
Every day by
Often usually after
Priests
being unclean
We owe God all
for our sin.
Special to atone for
serious sin
Very frequent To
complete a vow.
A “Free will”
offering
We deserve
complete
destruction
We owe God a dept
as payment for our
offenses against Him
A “thank you”
gift. We
Acknowledge
that Shalom is
from Him.
Olah
Burnt Offering
Blood purifies.
Without the blood God
could not be among
man
Shelamim
Atonement and Sin Complex
• May seem simple to a gentle,
but a Jew knows better
• Yeshua’s death did NOT
reduce the complexity of sin
and atonement
• “….a sin is a sin..” ???
• NO. Torah says there are
levels and degrees.
• Sacrifice is MORE than
answering an altar call
• Our deeds and works are a
measure of commitment to
our Savior
Sacrifice and Ritual
• Sacrifice and ritual seems
irrelevant to the Western
mind
• Sacrifice and ritual are
common throughout the
world
• Sacrifice and ritual are the
FOCAL POINT of Biblical
worship
• Critical that we understand
Torah-based sacrifice and
ritual
What is so Primitive?
• W.G. Plaut: “….likely it is the
public nature of the ancient
slaughtering process….”
• “….a genuine form of worship
that cannot be quickly dismissed..”
• Animal sacrifices WILL begin
anew in the coming NEW Temple
in Jerusalem
• Sacrifice might be used as a
commemoration and NOT for
atonement
• It is the DOING of the sacrifice
that gave the ancient the fuller
understanding of it’s meaning
Occasion
Each day
(28:3-8)
Each Sabbath
(28:9-10)
Each New Moon (28:11-15)
Each day of Unleavened Bread (28:16)
Feast of Weeks
(28:26-31)
New Year
(29:1-6)
Yom Kippur
(29:7-11)
1st of Sukkot
(29:12-16)
2nd of Sukkot
(29:17-19)
3rd of Sukkot
(29:20-22)
4th of Sukkot
(29:23-25)
5th of Sukkot
(29:26-28)
6th of Sukkot
(29:29-31)
7th of Sukkot
(29:32-34)
8th of Sukkot
(29:35-38)
Lambs Rams Bulls Goats
2
2
7
7
7
7
7
7
14
14
14
14
14
14
7
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
1
1
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Types of Offerings
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
The offerings are cumulative
Descending order of frequency
All the sacrificial animals are MALE animals
Order is prescriptive, not descriptive
The number 7 and it’s multiples are prominent
Many other occurrences of the number 7 in
other rituals and feasts
Tamid
• Tamid = the daily sacrifice
• Animals provided by priests,
offered-up on the Bronze Altar
• Twice daily, in the morning and
in the evening
• Burnt-offering is a general term
• ALL sacrifices were burned up
on the Altar
• Tamid consists of the ‘Olah and
the Minchah offerings
• These were NOT food offerings
to God so He could eat!
• This was acknowledgement that
Yehoveh PROVIDED food
Libation Offerings
• Biblical “wine” is NOT grape juice
• It is wine just as we think of it
• Yayin = wine
• Shekhar = strong drink
• Could be ale or beer
• Old wine = strong drink made from
grapes
• The Tamid libation offering is Shekhar,
NOT Yayin
• This Shekhar of the Tamid is “old wine”
because the red color of grapes is needed
to represent blood
Ezekiel’s Renewed System
• Sabbath day offering ADDS two
Rams + an extra grain sacrifice
• New Moon marks the end of one
month and beginning of the next
• Ezekiel sacrificial protocol is likely
for the end-times AND the Millennial
Kingdom (of Yeshua) to take place in
the New Temple
• Ezekiel’s protocol is somewhat
different
• Reason: Torah system is Pre-Christ
• Ezekiel system is after His death and
Resurrection and in second coming.
Differences in the Two Systems
• In Torah system priests provide
the Tamid animals
• In Ezekiel system worshippers
provide animals
• In Torah system the Hata’at
goes with the New Moon
• In Ezekiel system, no Hata’at
• Perhaps in Ezekiel system
(Millennial Kingdom) priests
will have a role of lesser
significance
• Sacrifices NOT for atonement, but
for remembrance?
Types of Offerings
End of the Study Pinchas