Numbers 25:1-5

Numbers 25:1-5

[1] And Israel  abode  in Shittim,  and the people  began  to commit whoredom  with the daughters  of Moab.  [2] And they called  the people  unto the sacrifices  of their gods:  and the people  did eat,  and bowed down  to their gods.  [3] And Israel  joined  himself unto Baalpeor:  and the anger  of the LORD  was kindled  against Israel.  [4] And the LORD  said  unto Moses,  Take  all the heads  of the people,  and hang them up  before  the LORD  against the sun,  that the fierce  anger  of the LORD  may be turned away  from Israel.  [5] And Moses  said  unto the judges  of Israel,  Slay  his men  that were joined  unto Baalpeor. 

What does Numbers 25:1-5 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The Moabites and Midianites were partners in the spiritual and sexual seduction of the Israelites. Ironically the Midianites, among whom Moses had found refuge from Pharaoh and from whom he had taken his wife, became one of the instigators of Israel"s major religious apostasy since she left Sinai. The plan to curse Israel had failed, so now these enemies undertook a second approach that proved successful. Compare Pharaoh"s three plans to suppress the Israelites in Egypt ( Exodus 1). In chapters22-24the Moabites took the lead in overthrowing Israel and Midian played a minor role, but in this chapter the Midianites take the lead with the Moabites supporting them. The Moabites seduced the Israelites to idolatry. Balaam had counseled them to intermarry with the Israelites ( Numbers 31:16). The princes of these people led this plot. Cozbi ( Numbers 25:15) was the daughter of a Midianite prince. The worship of Moab"s gods involved sacred prostitution and eating sacrifices offered to the dead ( Psalm 106:28).
"It was the assumption of the [1] cult that the fertility of people, cattle, and crops depended on the sexual linkage of a god and goddess. By imitating this union of the gods, men and women would seek to induce the gods to grant a greater measure of fertility. Such cultic practices were common in all of the nations surrounding the Israelites." [2]
This violation of the heart of the Mosaic Covenant, which demanded total and exclusive allegiance to Yahweh, resulted in a plague that killed24 ,000 people ( Numbers 25:9; cf. Exodus 32:35). To stop the plague God ordered the making of atonement by sacrificing the leaders within Israel. Since the whole nation had sinned, God executed punishment on its leaders who stood for the people and should have restrained their apostasy. Israel"s judges carried out this order ( Numbers 25:5).
"As the animals and birds had been cut in half in the covenant ceremony at the beginnings of Israel"s history ( Genesis 15:10), so the bodies of these rebels were to be dismembered and displayed in an awful symbol of divine judgment.
"Chapter25 is the nadir of the Book of Numbers. It is worse even than the sins of chapters12-14. Here is the great sin at the end of the road." [3]