(Number 25:10-13)
God makes and keeps covenants. He is righteous and faithful to keep them all until they are completely fulfilled. He is committed to their fulfilment, no matter how long it takes, even until the end of history. One of the most interesting covenants, and perhaps the most forgotten, is the Covenant of Everlasting Priesthood, which God made with a priest named Phinehas, the son of Eleazer and grandson of Aaron (Ex. 6:23, 25). This covenant was made while Israel was still in the desert before they entered the promised land of Canaan, around 1400 BC. This covenant preceded the Davidic covenant by several hundred years but is just as significant regarding the Levitical priesthood as the Davidic covenant pertains to the throne (Jer. 33:19–22). What led to the making of the covenant of everlasting priesthood? (Num. 25:1-9). God had earlier established a covenant of priesthood with the entire tribe of Levi (Mal. 2:4-6). This event took place at Sinai when the Israelites made the molten calf and bowed down to worship it. Moses called all who were on the Lord’s side, who were ready to avenge the dishonour done to God, to come to him. The tribe of Levi did so, and at his bidding, they took their swords and slew three thousand of the idolatrous people (Exodus 32:26–29). When Moses blessed the tribes before his death, the absolute devotion of the tribe of Levi to God, without considering relatives or friends, is mentioned as proof of their fitness for God’s service (Deut. 33:8–11). But now, a covenant of everlasting priesthood is being made with an individual from the tribe of Levi named Phinehas. Numbers 25:1–9 give us the setting of the covenant. When Israel got to the plains of Moab, Balak, king of Moab, heard of this great conquering horde and became afraid of them. He, therefore, sent for Balaam, a seer, to bring a curse on them (Num 22–24). God warned Balaam against cursing Israel, so Balaam blessed Israel three different times instead of cursing them. At the instigation of Balaam, Balak got the women of Moab to commit sexual immorality with the men of Israel and invited them to participate in the worship of the Baal of Peor, whom the Canaanites believed was the god of fertility (Num. 25:1-3a; 31:16). This action on the part of the men of Israel was a violation of the first commandment, God ordered Moses to execute those who joined themselves to Baal of Peor (Numbers 25:4-5). So blatant was the sensual idolatry that an Israelite man brought a Midianite woman to his family in plain view of Moses and engaged in immorality (Numbers 24:6). In order to stem the idolatrous outbreak and the plague that God sent to punish it, Phinehas executed the Israelite man and the Midianite woman (Numbers 24:7-9). The killing of the offenders by Phinehas allowed the Lord to pardon His people and halt the spread of the plague. In response to Phinehas’s actions, God made a covenant with him and his descendants (Numbers 25:10–13— “10 The LORD said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest, has turned my anger away from the Israelites; for he was as zealous as I am for my honour among them so that in my zeal I did not put an end to them. 12 Therefore tell him I am making my covenant of peace with him. 13 He and his descendants
will have a covenant of a lasting priesthood because he was zealous for the honour of his God and made atonement for the Israelites”). The essence of the covenant is the guarantee of a perpetual priesthood for the descendants of Phinehas. In accordance with the terms of the covenant, Phinehas succeeded his father Eleazer as High Priest (Joshua 24:33), but after his death, Eli, a descendant of Ithamar, the fourth and youngest son of Aaron the High Priest, became the High Priest. We are not told why Eli succeeded to the High Priesthood instead of Phinehas’s son. The last descendant of Ithamar’s line to be High Priest was Abiathar, who was a grandson of Eli’s grandson Ahitub (Ahitub was son of Phinehas, who was killed along with his brother Hophni because of the contempt with which they treated the sacrifices offered to God). Abiathar was High Priest during the reign of King David. However, he was banished by King Solomon for his siding with Adonijah, Solomon’s older half-brother, who tried to capture the succession to the throne. The High Priesthood then reverted again to the line of Eleazer, in the person of Zadok the High Priest and his descendants (1 Kings 2:26–27, 35). The priesthood that was promised to Phinehas continued among the Israelites until the Jewish state was finally dissolved in New Testament times. Therefore, all future, legitimate High-Priests would come from his descendants. What is the future fulfilment of the covenant of everlasting priesthood? What is significant about this covenant is that God promised Phinehas a priesthood with an enduring nature. That this is a permanent covenant is evident from the fact that it is placed alongside the Davidic Covenant in Jeremiah 33 (Jeremiah 33:20-22— 20 “This is what the LORD says: ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night no longer come at their appointed time, 21 then my covenant with David my servant–and my covenant with the Levites who are priests ministering before me–can be broken and David will no longer have a descendant to reign on his throne. 22 I will make the descendants of David my servant and the Levites who minister before me as countless as the stars of the sky and as measureless as the sand on the seashore.'” This passage assures that just as the Davidic covenant (2 Sam 7) is guaranteed by God’s promise, so is the Levitical priesthood. This means that the genealogical line of Phinehas must continue into the millennial kingdom. Because of Zadok’s faithfulness to David and Solomon (1 Kings 1:32–40), Zadok’s sons will serve as priests in the millennial temple (Ezekiel 40:46 – 46 and the room facing north is for the priests who have charge of the altar. These are the sons of Zadok, who are the only Levites who may draw near to the LORD to minister before him;” Ezekiel 44:9-16— 9 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: No foreigner uncircumcised in heart and flesh is to enter my sanctuary, not even the foreigners who live among the Israelites. 10 “‘The Levites who went far from me when Israel went astray and who wandered from me after their idols must bear the consequences of their sin. 11 They may serve in my sanctuary, having charge of the gates of the temple and serving in it; they may slaughter the burnt offerings and sacrifices for the people and stand before the people and serve them. 12 But because they served them in the presence of their idols and made the house of Israel fall into sin, therefore I have sworn with uplifted hand that they must bear the consequences of their sin, declares the Sovereign LORD. 13 They are not to come near to serve me as priests or come near any of my holy things or my most holy offerings; they must bear the shame of their detestable practices. 14 Yet I will put them in charge of the duties of the temple and all the work that is to be done in it. 15 “‘But the priests, who are Levites and descendants of Zadok and who faithfully carried out the duties of my sanctuary when the Israelites went astray from me, are to come near to minister before me; they are to stand before me to offer sacrifices of fat and blood, declares the Sovereign LORD. 16 They alone are to enter my sanctuary; they alone are to come near my table to minister before me and perform my service;” Ezekiel 48:11-12— 11 This will be for the consecrated priests, the Zadokites, who were faithful in serving me and did not go astray as the Levites did when the Israelites went astray. 12 It will be a special gift to them from the sacred portion of the land, a most holy portion, bordering the territory of the Levites). These verses distinguish the
descendants of Zadok (himself a descendant of Phinehas) as being able to minister directly to the Lord because of their past faithfulness. The Levites, in the line of those unfaithful in days before the judgement, can minister in temple services; they will still do work in the temple complex. Those Levites are prohibited from coming near to the Lord and touching the most holy things. They cannot make offerings or enter the Most Holy Place. Only Zadok’s line will be able to make the sacrificial offerings and enter the Most Holy Place. The future kingdom will include the descendants of Zadok ministering to the Lord in the temple in fulfilment of the perpetual covenant promised to Phinehas. Thus, the promise given to Phinehas continues into the Millennium. By the way, the animal sacrifices in the Millennial temple (Ezek. 43:19–20) are of a memorial nature. Just as the OT sacrifices pointed forward to Christ’s death, so the Millennial sacrifices point back to the value of Christ’s atoning, one-for-all sacrifice. What lessons can we learn from Phinehas’s experience of God’s unusual blessings? One, we must be zealous for God’s honour and demonstrate our respect for God and His righteousness by standing up for righteousness at all times, even when no one else would. We are called to rise up against sin wherever we find it being committed or indulged by people, particularly in the body of Christ. Sin always attracts God’s punishment and shuts the door of blessing against whoever commits it and those who fail to hold the sinner accountable for his sin. All the judges and leaders of Israel were most likely in the congregation when the outrageous sin was being committed, yet not one jumped to his feet to stand up for the holiness and righteousness of God, only Phinehas. The others were either too embarrassed or afraid to stand up for righteousness. But not this young priest; he had a zeal for God, a very special zeal, which was rewarded with the unusual blessing of a covenant of an everlasting priesthood. What is expected of us is a reckless disregard for everything that would interfere with God’s will and commands, to be zealous with God’s zeal against sin, and to witness and fight against it at any sacrifice. This is what the world needs nowadays: men of God in whom the fire of God burns, men who can stand and speak and act in power on behalf of a God who, among His own people, is dishonoured by the sinful behaviour and idolatrous worship that is prevalent among people. Jesus says He will be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father and the holy angels, of whoever is ashamed of Him and His words in this adulterous and sinful generation (Mk. 8:38). In Messiah, we have received even greater promises than Phinehas. Let us, like him, be zealous for the name of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who for the zeal of His Father’s house, died on the cross for God’s righteousness to make atonement for the sins of His people. God honours those who honour Him. (1 Sam. 2:30). Two, God is faithful and able to fulfil His promises. God has staked His holy name and the entire created order on His promise and ability to faithfully fulfil to the family of David (the kingship) and to the family of Levi (the priesthood) His covenantal promises (Jer. 33:14-26). God our Father knows each of us. The lists of genealogies in the Bible prove His power and love and His personal interest in His people and His kingdom. They help us to know the history and to have confidence in God’s promises. Even if we are unfaithful or unable, He is not. Our God knows how to fulfil His word to each of us, too, even when it seems all has collapsed or that others have somehow ‘gotten in the way’. Through our faith in Jesus, we have each and all together received exceedingly great and precious promises, including God’s peace, a peace that surpasses understanding (2 Peter 1:2–4). Three, the zeal of Phinehas, which made atonement or reconciliation for the people, is a type of the righteous zeal of Christ. The atonement made by him is a picture of the atonement and reconciliation made by the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ secured righteousness for man and bore the judgment of God for man. By this zeal, Christ secured atonement and reconciled man to God. Jesus Christ is our atonement, the way we are reconciled to God. Jesus Christ secured righteousness for us by dying for us. He took our sin and the punishment due for our sin upon Himself. He died for our sin, as our substitute, in our place. When we place our faith in Christ, God counts the death of Christ in our place. Therefore,
we do not have to suffer or bear the condemnation and judgement of God but are free from ever having to suffer the judgement of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Your eternal salvation and spiritual well-being are our concerns. If you wish to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you can pray the following prayer to God: “Dear God, I thank you for sending Jesus into the world to die for my sins. I repent of my sins right now and invite Him into my life to be my Lord and Saviour. Thank you, Jesus, for saving me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
If you offered this prayer to God, please write to let us know at the address below. You are also invited to join us in worshipping the Lord every Sunday in the Yoruba language at 7.20 a.m. and in the English language at 9.00 a.m.
- Good News Baptist Church,
47/49, Olufemi Road, Off Ogunlana Drive,
P. O. Box 3781, Surulere, Lagos.
