They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;   they aroused the  Lord 's anger by their wicked deeds,   and a plague broke out among them.   But Phinehas stood up and intervened,   and the plague was checked.   This was credited to him as righteousness   for endless generations to come.  - Psalm 106: 28-31 (NIV)

If there was ever any doubt about the rebellious nature of the nation of Israel, we simply need to read Psalm 106, which recounts the highlights of disobedience from the chosen people. One would think that which such a vast and very specific history provided for us under divine inspiration by God Himself, that the church would be watchful for making the same mistakes. Certainly it seemed more so in the past but as we have moved on in culture we have seen the church devolve into a biblically illiterate body that has been taught that Christianity is about them, instead of about Christ. It has set upon us like a plague. The Bible was not meant to be some collection of stories for us to consider:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  - 2Timothy 3: 16-17 (NIV)

I know we have all heard these verses but do we realize what it is saying to us as believers? About the all-sufficiency of the Bible? That God has breathed life directly into the Words we read in Scripture? That we should use the Bible to be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained to be righteous? That God has good works for us to do for His glory that we need the Bible to prepare us for? Does any of this register anymore within the purpose driven seeker friendly churches across this country? The Bible was not meant to be used by salesmen try to persuade you that this is your best life now. It was not meant to be used by hucksters who cherry pick verses out of context to try and rob you of your money. The God we serve isn't short of cash. 

I say this as a backdrop because the Bible is also provided for us to learn from. To see what Israel did right and what they did wrong. So that we can pursue the spirit of Joshua and Caleb who believed God over everything their natural senses told them instead of the spirit of the grumbling masses who do not like when their faith was tested. As such, there comes a point in Psalm 106 where the Psalmist recounts the story of a man named Phinehas and that account is found in the key verses today. Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron the High Priest. Although mentioned several times in the Bible, his main story comes from Numbers when he stood up for what was right. First we see the problem:

While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with Moabite women, who invited them to the sacrifices to their gods. The people ate the sacrificial meal and bowed down before these gods. So Israel yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor. And the  Lord 's anger burned against them.  - Numbers 25: 1-3 (NIV)

As Moab seduced Israel the world today is seducing the church. The world today is Moab. Filled with carnality and lust and false beliefs. I think sometimes we can make the mistake of thinking idol worship must involve a carved image of stone or wood. The devil is usually more subtle than that. You are not going to walk into a church and find a statue of Nebuchadnezzar to bow down to. You may however be asked to look the other way as the leaven of the world continues to infiltrate the church. You may be asked to accept questionable doctrine under the false argument of authority. You may be asked to keep your dissent quiet under the false argument of unity. You may ultimately be forced out of ministry or asked to leave the sheep pen by the wolf guarding it. Note the language here in Numbers. Israel yoked  themselves  to the Baal of Peor. They did it to themselves. Sure the enemy tempts but ultimately the choice to be yoked to the false god was their choice. 

What false gods has the modern church chosen to yoke itself to? We have clearly yoked ourselves to the false god of greed and mammon. Prosperity gospels draw hundreds of thousands of people to church every week. Chasing the dreams of striking it rich despite the clear biblical teaching of the dangers therein. Following charlatans selling the seed-harvest heresy goes beyond the obvious suspects like Kenneth Copeland or Mike Murdoch. That is just low hanging fruit. If we were to be truly honest, we see the same mentality play out weekly in nearly every church during the false tithing argument. Most well intended pastors will adamantly say that you cannot buy a blessing from God but then essentially say the opposite when it is time for the offering. In response to such criticism we usually hear the chorus of "are you saying God wants everyone to be poor?" My answer used to be a reflexive - no! The more I seek God for this matter however the more obvious it is that the answer is actually yes. If you are thinking about material wealth to this extent then yes - God would rather see you poor on earth and rich eternally in His kingdom. Remember, the rich young ruler was not wrong for being rich but for putting his wealth before His God. The church is money obsessed and it needs to remove that yoke. 

There are other false gods we have chosen to be yoked to. We choose the god of celebrity and fame over the real God. We turn our pastors into rock stars and heaven forbid anyone dare point out problems with their preaching! Similar to Baal-Peor, the church is also yoking their youth to the gods of sexual indiscretion. Most youth targeted "worship" music is not worship at all. It is an overly sexualized version of Christ and overly eroticized lyrics. Commonly referred to as the "Jesus is my boyfriend" songs, we see a generation of youth being brought up on worshiping eroticism disguised as God. With lyrics asking God to "take me by the hand and lead me to Your chambers" there is a clear correlation to Baal Peor for those who want to see. 

The last thing we need to realize from the verses explaining the problem is that the Lord's anger may certainly be burning against us. I know this flies in the face of the warm fuzzy false doctrines being preached where God is just a rainbow provider in cuddly puppy land but God does expect certain things from those who claim to follow Him. I have heard followers of the hyper grace heresy of Joseph Prince for example swear that God is never upset with us! Never! Conflating the Day of Judgment with today the doctrinal errors abound in hyper grace where all God can see is the blood so therefore we can go out and murder someone while committing adultery and apparently God will say well done my good and faithful servant! I am being ridiculous on purpose to make the point because this nonsense is being followed by hundreds of thousands of people and they are following it right into hell. God rejoices in our obedience beloved. Not when we bow the knee to prosperity, self help, motivational, new age, purpose driven, seeker friendly, hyper grace or any other heresy which draws us further away from Him and further into disobedience. Back in the story of Phinehas we see the reaction for God and one man who was willing to stand up for what sayeth the Lord:

So Moses said to Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death those of your people who have yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor."   Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman right before the eyes of Moses and the whole assembly of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. When Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, saw this, he left the assembly, took a spear in his hand and followed the Israelite into the tent. He drove the spear into both of them, right through the Israelite man and into the woman's stomach. Then the plague against the Israelites was stopped; but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.  - Numbers 25: 5-9 (NIV)

Notice the brashness of the disobedience! One of the Israelites actually has the temerity to bring a Midianite woman into the camp right in front of Moses! Thumbing his nose at God and authority, this one Israelite represents where so many in the church are today. Claiming to serve God but with absolutely no fear of Him whatsoever. Think that is too harsh? The man who has the largest church in America is on record as having said there are multiple ways to heaven and that preaching doctrine is not one of his "gifts." There is no longer a sense of holiness about the altar of God. Another one of America's favorite false teachers recently shared his pulpit with a secular movie mogul who made his money cross dressing. Why? Because he had just promised to donate a million dollars. For that money the preacher even let the man lay hands on him! If you want to see true brashness just turn on what passes for Christian television and watch the parade of false prophets trying to cheat the widows and orphans our of their money! Fake healers, topical preachers ripping Bible verses out of context, disdain for the neediest in society are just some of the hallmarks of the modern day church yoked to Baal-Peor. 

Are there any Phinehas' amongst us today? Are there any amongst us who can see the weeping of the true remnant of God amidst the goats posing as sheep? Any amongst us willing to see the plague infecting the church and say "no more?" To metaphorically pick up the spear and drive it through that which corrupts us? To cast political correctness and the way of the crowd aside and call sin a sin? Where is the spirit of Phinehas in the church today? 

Woe to those who call evil good   and good evil,who put darkness for light   and light for darkness,   who put bitter for sweet   and sweet for bitter.  - Isaiah 5: 20 (NIV)

Turning a blind eye to leaven in the church is acceptance. It is calling evil good. Be on guard beloved. Those who like the compromised church will say the spear causes disunity. They will call it a spear of legalism. They will not want to remove the yoke to Baal-Peor because they like it. It is what they know or what they have been brought up believing. They fail to understand how the story ends:

The  Lord  said to Moses, "Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites. Since he was as zealous for my honor among them as I am, I did not put an end to them in my zeal. Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. He and his descendants will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood, because he was zealous for the honor of his God and made atonement for the Israelites."  - Numbers 25: 10-13 (NIV)

God is looking for people to have zeal for His honor. Zeal is defined as enthusiastic diligence. We can get so enthusiastic in the modern church for everything but diligence when it comes to God. To studying His Word. To upholding His principles and precepts. To a regimen of prayer and fasting. To authentic praise and worship in spirit and truth. Instead we get enthusiastic about the next secular based leadership conference we can attend. We get enthusiastic about the next Christmas Contata we can star in. God wants our enthusiastic diligence when it comes to His honor! God is always willing to forgive but not when we walk through the congregation with the Midianite woman He forbids. Not when we are brash about our disobedience instead of being zealous for His honor. We need the spirit of Phinehas in the church today. To pick up the spear of the truth and drive it through the apostasy that is leading the people of God away from Him. 

Reverend Anthony Wade - October 19, 2013