A Peace Beyond Zeal

In Parashat Pinchas, God rewards covenant faithfulness not with glory, but with a covenant of peace, revealing that His ultimate desire is restoration rather than judgment. Exploring the rich symbolism of the broken vav in shalom and its fulfillment in Yeshua the Messiah, this episode shows how the Prince of Peace brings the everlasting reconciliation that human zeal could never accomplish. Give a listen. 

*In this podcast, in reference to the promises of the New Testament, I said Jeremiah 33 rather than Jeremiah 31, my apologies. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to Messiah in Life, the podcast where we seek to discover how the timeless truth of God's Word shapes our lives today. Hosted by Bishop Justin D. Lwell, we are blessed to have you join us. For the past several weeks, we have been making our way through Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, exploring its rich theology and practical instruction for those who have been called into Messiah. That study will continue very soon. However, due to some scheduling adjustments over the next two weeks, we'll be taking a brief pause from Ephesians. Rather than leaving you without a study, we're going to turn our attention to the weekly Torah portion. For nearly 2,000 years, Jewish communities around the world have followed the annual cycle of Torah readings, immersing themselves in the foundational scriptures week by week. As followers of Yeshua the Messiah, we believe these portions continue to reveal the character of God, deepen our understanding of his covenant faithfulness, and point us to the fullness found in Messiah. Each week we'll explore the historical and biblical context of the Torah portion, consider its messianic significance, and most importantly, ask how these ancient words speak into our lives today. God's word is living and active, and the lessons given to Israel continue to instruct, encourage, challenge, and strengthen all who walk by faith. So, wherever you're listening from, I invite you to open your Bible, quiet your heart, and join me as we discover together how the Torah continues to illuminate life in Messiah. Now to Bishop Justin.

SPEAKER_01 2:11

Pinchas means the mouth of the serpent, probably a commentary on his appearance at birth rather than being some type of indication of future character for sure. So I'll be reading from Numbers twenty five, verses ten through fifteen. And the Torah says, And the Lord said to Moses, Picas, the son of Eliezer, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, and that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore, behold, I give to him my covenant of peace. And it shall be to him and to his descendants after him a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel. The name of the slain man of Israel who was killed with a Midianite woman was Zimri, the son of Shalu, chief of his father's house belonging to the Shimonites. And the name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kosbi, the daughter of Zur, who was the tribal head of his father's house in Midian. This is God's word. Pinkhus, of course, as a grandson of Aaron, who was alive at the time of the establishment of the priesthood, was ineligible. He was not a priest of Israel. He was not eligible to serve, therefore, as a priest of Israel. But as the result of this, the jealousy that he displayed, the zealotry that he displayed, the Lord gives him a covenant of a perpetual priesthood. And that would belong to his descendants. So his line would then be part of the line of priests descending from Aaron as well. So a little technicality there. There's a change in the law, as the author of Hebrews indicates. There's a change in the law. The change of the law is that the one who was not eligible to be a priest, who was not in the natural man to be a priest, even though he was directly descended from the original or the first high priest of Israel, he would now be eligible. Why? Because of the command of the Lord. So a very important technicality that we find in the law that will help inform later exegesis of the text that we find in the epistle to the Hebrews. So of course, this episode follows, it's described in Numbers chapter 25, 6 through 9, where uh Cosby, um, and Zimri fornicate before the tent of a meeting, at the tent of meeting, and there is a great, of course, mourning that happens. Moses and the other uh leaders do not specifically know what can be done about this. What are we what are we going to do about this? And of course, Pincus takes matters into his own hands. He had no authority, he had no standing, we would say, except for being a covenant member of the house of Israel. So one of the most surprising features of this portion is really it's not the act of Pincus itself. It's not that he put the uh spear through uh Zimri and Cosby, but it's the Lord's response to it. And that's that's what I find fascinating as I'm looking at this portion, and there is a lot more to this portion than just this um episode here. So after the plague is stopped, the Lord says umor, and he said, Therefore, behold, uh, no ten lo I will give to him et briti shalom, I will give to him a covenant of peace. I will give to him my covenant of peace. Numbers 25, verse 12. And at first glance it appears almost paradoxical. We might expect if we look at this through our own eyes, this uh action that that uh that Pinkus takes is much more consistent with that of a warrior or that of a um that of an officer of some sort. So you'd expect some type of honor, military distinction, some type of public recognition for his zeal that would befitting someone that is uh an officer of the law, we might say, in a manner of speaking, but instead he gives him peace. He gives to him peace. So this reveals something profound about the heart of the Father, about the heart of the Lord. He's not celebrating violence, he's not rewarding Pincus because of his violence. He's turned back this plague, as the Lord said, he's turned back the wrath essentially of the Lord against those who are in support of this, who are partaking of this. And this will be um explained more later in the book of Numbers. He's affirming the faithfulness of Pincus. So Pincus doesn't arrive at this conclusion simply because he hates Zimri, he has some grudge against Zimri. No, he sees that this is an affront to the holiness of the living God who is there in the midst of the camp. So his zeal was not driven by personal vengeance, he didn't have some vendetta, he wasn't carrying a grudge, but a desire to preserve Israel's relationship with the Holy One. So once that once the covenant has been defended, the Lord's desire was not continued judgment, but rather what he does is he restores peace. And judgment was never the destination, peace was. Peace was the destination of all this, to end that which was an affront to the Lord and to reestablish peace. So some rabbis, when they look at this, they also understand that the covenant of peace, the British Shalom, as the Lord's promise of protection for Pincus himself. So having slain Zimri, who's a prince of the tribe, I mean, he is a leader among the children of Israel, uh, Pincus is not. So Zimri has standing, he has position. Pincus could have become the target of vengeance from Zimri's family, from political allies, we might even uh speculate. So, according to this interpretation, the Lord's covenant of peace was not just an inward blessing, and it wasn't even just a blessing regarding uh ministry at the altar, but a divine assurance that Pincus would not live under the shadow of retaliation, that the Lord Himself would be his covering against this enemy that might rise up, that the Lord Himself, by His presence, would protect uh Pincus. And all of this, of course, we can look forward into the renewed or the new covenant and see how there's immediate and practical application today. So the Lord Himself would vindicate, in other words, um He's He does not find Pincus guilty of murder. He vindicates Pincus, he justifies Pincus. We can get the doctrine of justification from that, and he preserves the one who had acted in faithful obedience. So this reminds us that those who stand courageous for the Lord often who are entrusting, they entrust their reputation, their safety, even their future into his hands. Because to stand for the Lord quite often means we're standing against sin, against waywardness and so on. But true peace, of course, comes from knowing that he is our defender. Not that we are able to defend or justify ourselves, but that he is our defender. And there's also an interesting textual thing that is happening here. You wouldn't see it unless you looked in a Torah scroll or found a picture of a Torah scroll from um what is it, uh Hebrews 25 and verse 12. The word shalom. And of course, the word shalom is much has it's much more meaning than the English word peace conveys. It's a it's a sense of wholeness, of completeness, of uh reconciliation, of well-being and life as the Lord intended it to be. So uh shalom is the restoration of everything sin has fractured. So the Lord's covenant with Pincus, therefore, was not just a promise of personal tranquility, but a promise that the covenant relationship between himself, between the Lord Himself and His people, had been restored. So it is a beautiful picture. There's a restoration picture, and of course, what we're seeing is a pointing to a greater Pincus, one who would come that would do far more, and we'll get into this in just a moment, far more than even Pinkas had done. So again, to this word shalom in uh in in Numbers chapter 10 and verse 12, or 25, and verse 12, uh, there is this intriguing uh observation that we find that the rabbis make regarding the word shalom that is written in many Torah scrolls. The Torah scroll Messiah Congregation actually has this as well, that the Hebrew letter vav in the word shalom is written with a deliberate break. And if you look at the cover art for this particular um podcast, you will see that there is a broken vav in that covenant, that um graphic art. So while the scripture itself doesn't explain this, and it's um we know that it's a later edition, it's a it's a uh a scribal, um, a scribal mark that helps to uh accent a point. There's a purpose here that that the scribes want us to pause on. They want us to look closely at this, the meaning of this, the implications of this. And there are many, many instances that are similar to this throughout the. We would often say that they're defective letters. They're not written correctly, but they're not defective unintentionally, they're defective intentionally, that the scribes want us to take a closer look at what is written and what is being directed pointed to. So a scripture itself doesn't explain it the this unusual feature. The rabbis, of course, have reflected on its significance um with a great deal of care. So some have suggested that it reminds us that peace achieved uh through human action, even with the best intentions, if it's motivated by righteous zeal, it's never complete. Human beings can restrain evil, uh, we can halt a plague in a manner of speaking, uh, we can restore order for a season, but humanity cannot fully heal the brokenness of the healing of the human heart. So peace is never complete as far as we are able to achieve. We'll never, you know, people have this idealistic idea that if we only um if we only try harder, if we only just look past, if we do this, if we do that, then world peace will break out. Even today, as I'm recording this, there were two people on top of the um Empire State Building in New York City with a sign that says something like Um uh when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace. It was something to that effect. Uh you know, that is just sentimentality. There's no real teeth to that idea. But that's the human effort. We're constantly trying to make peace, to sustain peace, but the peace that humanity uh can attempt to achieve will never heal the brokenness of the human heart. So whether one embraces the rabbinic interpretation regarding this broken vav or simply appreciates its symbolism. Um in years past, when we've read through this portion, I always bring people up so they can see this for themselves because it is it's a beautiful, uh, very striking uh uh word to see in the scroll itself. So it provides a beautiful pit picture of the biblical story, of redemptive history, even. That broken vave reminds us that every earthly piece is partial, is broken. There's some way in which it is defective. So wars may cease, but hatred may remain. Justice may be established while hearts remain unchanged, right? Even the actions of a faithful a faithful servant like Pincus can only preserve Israel temporarily. It had his action had no lasting impact because it did not change the hearts of the people. So the deeper problem of sin still awaits its ultimate remedy. And of course, this is where the Torah quietly, we might say, points us forward to Meshiach, to Messiah. Yeshua came, and he came with the same zeal, the same zeal, the same love for the his father's house, but he established peace in an entirely different way. So here's where we look at this in a more full picture. Rather than taking the life of the guilty as uh Pincus slew Zimri and Closeby, he laid down his own life for the guilty. Quite often when I'm teaching the depth of the gospel and how deep and how beautiful it is, one of the pictures I like to say use is that the judge himself was judged. The judge received the judgment on our on our behalf. So he was judged. We've he's received the punishment and the judgment that we would uh and should receive. He's taken that on himself. So he laid down his own life for the guilty. And at the cross, of course, the Lord's judge uh justice was fully satisfied while his mercy was fully displayed. There we see mercy, there we see grace on that execution stake, on that Roman um uh apparatus for execution, meant to torture, meant to demean, meant to uh kill in the most heinous way, we see his mercy and his grace fully displayed. The covenant of peace promised then in the days of Pincus finds its fulfillment in the one whom Isaiah calls the Prince of Peace. So the Apostle Paul proclaims that Messiah himself is our peace. He is the Prince of Peace, he is our peace, just as we say hope is a person, peace is also a person. Notice that peace is not just something that Messiah gives, it's who he is. And through his death, through his rec his restor his resurrection, he reconciles sinners to the Father, and he tears down that dividing wall, as we've been talking about Ephesians and Ephesians. He tears down that dividing wall between Jew and Gentile, creating one new humanity in himself, bringing peace between those with whom there was hostility, not only between the Lord and the nations, but between the nations and the Jewish people. He brings peace where there had been hostility, but he does not judge those who were of those people, he judged his son. The son received the judgment in order that we might be reconciled. So the peace that is established through Messiah, it's not temporary and it's not incomplete. This is where because of the breach shalom, because of the renew of the covenant and that final covenant of peace that is not defective, the vav is not broken, the nail is not broken, because humanity has been redeemed and restored. And it's interesting that the number six has to do with uh with humanity with man. So rather than man remaining broken, which causes peace to be defective and broken and and not fully achieved, Messiah himself is the peace. Messiah himself has restored and redeemed, redeemed and restored and renewed humanity, bringing together the many into one in his body. It's a beautiful picture when we kind of uh sketch it out a little bit more, flesh it out a little bit more. And he is that peace, he is the prince of peace, he is our peace. He has torn down what would divide. The peace established again is not temporary in Messiah, it's not incomplete in Messiah, it is the everlasting covenant foretold by the prophets themselves, a peace that reaches beyond outward circumstances into the deepest needs of the human soul. Why? Because sin has damaged humanity, sin has covered over the image of God that humanity was made in, and through Messiah, we are redeemed, we are renewed, we're given a new spirit, we're given a new heart. All of the promises that we read in Jeremiah 33, all of the promises of the um the the Brichadishah, the renewed covenant. We see snippets of it here with the Brit Shalom with Pincus. So perhaps that's the enduring lesson of this covenant of peace. This enduring lesson that we find in Numbers twenty-five with Pincus. The Lord not only restored Israel's covenant relationship, he not only brought uh was able to uh live among his people still, he also becomes a protector of the one who had faithfully served the uh served him. So let's think about that a little bit more. Uh in Messiah, the Father has reconciled us to himself and he keeps us secure in his grace, he keeps us safe in his grace, he protects us in the grace of his son. Every human effort again to establish peace, no matter how noble it might be, remains incomplete until it is fulfilled, and the one who is himself shall know the peace. Pincus can stop a plague, right? His actions stop the plague, his actions stop the judgment. But only Messiah could conquer sin. Pincus could restore Covenant order for a generation. Right? The Messiah establishes an everlasting covenant through his own blood. It's insured in him. It is in him and it will not fail because it is not dependent on you or me. The covenant of peace, and this will be my final thought, but the covenant of peace given to Pincus ultimately finds its perfect fulfillment in Yeshua and Jesus whose zeal for the Lord's glory brought not a temporary relief but an eternal reconciliation. And that is what is so beautiful. It's not dependent on that person or this person or I'm pointing now to me this person. It is dependent on him. It is fulfilled in him. It is secured in him. And because of that, we don't find we don't find that we need to uh take the place of a Pincus. But rather we rest in Him, we trust in Him, we allow Him to work in and among us by His grace, His mercy, by His love, as we are secure in Him. We are secure from the enemy, we're secure from the accusations that even might be um among the camp or in the camp and we trust in Him in all things. So as we kind of tie up you know the the the conclusion of this, Pincus, of course, is an incredibly important character. We see him moving uh as the priest of Israel into the Promised Land, and um we could uh go into a great deal of depth in the and the beauty of of what he does. But this is a peace that comes beyond zeal. It's a peace that comes beyond zeal, beyond jealousy, jealousy in the sense of zealotry. It is a peace that comes because the Prince of Peace now abides in us as we abide in him. And that's a peace that is unshaken when we rely on him. We will, of course, have times. Beloved friends, we're going to have times. And this is in my own life, as I'm seeing different situations and having to walk in many different ways, um, in many different situations that are difficult, very trying. If any of them were on their own, they would be very difficult to deal with. But altogether, they're even more difficult to deal with. But then I remember that the peace that I need, the peace that that will keep me through this, isn't dependent upon my experience or my feeling of peace, but upon the one who is the Prince of Peace, the one who has overcome death and the grave, the one who has redeemed me, the one in whom I now sit in heaven and seated in heavenly places with. So I hope that gives you assurance. I hope that gives you encouragement that the peace that you need is not dependent on your effort because it will always fall short, it's it will never be complete. But we rest in his peace that is complete, that never fails. So as you face the challenges that are before you, no matter what they are, how no matter how deep the valley may appear to be, we know that he is with us, we know that his peace has not left us, and we trust in that. So I pray and encourage that each and every one of you would take that idea, take what we've just learned from Pincus. The Lord has given him a covenant of peace, but it's incomplete until the Messiah comes. The Messiah now has come. We've received the peace that was promised here, the fullness thereof, and the greatest fulfillment, I should say. The greatest fulfillment. Every promise of the Lord coming together in Messiah. So I hope and pray that that is an encouragement to you during the season. There's many trials, many things going on, not just uh in our own lives, but globally. As the Lord is working out his redemptive plan in history. So until next time, dear friends, thank you again for listening. I hope pray that this was a blessing to your heart, and that as you make your way forward, as you continue to follow Messiah, that you recognize that he is your peace, that he is the fullness, and that he has not withheld any of it from you. Yes, we'll have difficulties, we'll have challenges before us, but even in the midst of that challenge, his peace is sure, his peace is secure, his cheap, his peace is complete. And it's complete in him. Amen. So until next episode, may the Lord bless and keep you all in the mighty name of Messiah, Yeshua Jesus. Amen. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Amen. Thank you for studying with us. And until our next episode, may the Lord bless and keep you all in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.