Courage to Intervene

Psalm 106:30 But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped.

I think this verse is pretty cut and dry. The psalmist was talking about the children of Israel wandering in the desert. They complained constantly. They longed for Egypt. They disobeyed. The list goes on and on. They did not believe the promise of God. God told them he would lead them into the promised land; however, their disbelief made them miss out on the promise.

The children of Israel actually began worshipping Baal while in the desert. They were the chosen people of the God of the universe. He had led them through the Red Sea on dry land, destroying all their pursuers. He had provided manna from heaven when there was no food available. He led them with a cloud by day and fire by night, yet they refused to believe him. They chose instead to worship an idol. At that point, they were afflicted with a plague. Plagues could literally destroy an entire nation. With the children of Israel living in tents in the middle of nowhere, their hygiene was not the greatest. They were living in close, cramped quarters. A plague would spread like wildfire. They were on their way to death for sure. However, Phinehas had the courage to intervene.

The story is in Exodus 25. The Israelites had abandoned their worship of God and were mingling with the pagans around them. They were indulging in sexual immorality and all kinds of darkness. The plague was already attacking, yet they continued in their sin. A man actually brought a Midianite woman, a prostitute basically, into his tent. He walked by Aaron and Moses and proceeded to have his way with her. The rebellion was pretty blatant. He was basically saying that consequences were insignificant and that pleasure was worth more than the 24000 people who had already died from the plague. Phinehas was Aaron’s grandson and a priest. He was angered at the audacity of this man and basically drove a spear through the man  and woman in the midst of their encounter.

That was Phinehas’ courage. He took a stand. He decided he was not going to allow someone to throw away the lives of his people for sex, for pleasure, for something that would not last. His courage stopped God’s wrath and the people lived.

How often do I have the courage to intervene? How often do I take a stand when no one else will? Am I fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves? Is my heart breaking for the brokenness around me? We have the power to stop the plague of sin and death and destruction and hopelessness. But do we have the courage?