Week 54, Day 5: Invitation to sin

Today’s Reading:  Numbers 25:1-18

Some thoughts from today’s reading…

The daughters of Midian invite the people of Israel to come to the sacrifices to Baal.  There they ate and bowed down to their gods.  Thus Israel was enticed to enter into sin through the daughters of Midian.  The anger of God is aroused by this and he strikes the people with a plague which kills 22,000.  I want to point out how many this is when you compare it to the census in chapter 26.  The tribe of Simeon was one of the smaller tribes and had 22,200 men in it.  The total number of men in Israel was 601,730.  Almost 4 percent of the people fell at this one time.  Much more than they would have lost in any battle with Moab or Midian and more than the tribe of Simeon had in it.  As mentioned yesterday, this “strategy” was employed by Moab because of the advice given them by Balaam (31:16).  Balaam had told Moab how to get Israel to stumble and be punished by God.  And thus Midian was able to trick Israel (18).

Question:  Why do you think the jealousy of Eleazar for His God pleased God?  How do you think this example might apply for us today?