HE WHO OVERCOMES SHALL INHERIT ALL THINGS,

ETERNAL PRIESTHOOD

Part 2

~ Continuing from Part 1, on our Study on the promise made to Phinehas and his seed, from the events that Paul references in 1Cor 10:8 ~

Back to the key figure in our opening passages…
 

Interesting as well, is the meaning of the name of this priest: Phinehas.

פִּינְחָס  (Pîynᵉchâç) Phinehas, Strongs’ H6372 -        
Word Origin: Apparently from H6310 (mouth) and a variation of H5175 (serpent, or in Chaldee ‘brass’; from root word H5172 which can mean ‘divine.’)
Definition: “mouth of a serpent” or "mouth of brass"
1. son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron; his zealousness for the Lord averted a plague on Israel and gained him the promise of the Lord of an everlasting priesthood

The meaning of his name really got me stirred up and brought immediately to mind the “serpent of brass” or “bronze serpent” of the incident in Numbers chapter 21.

“And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom, and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
⁵ And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.”
⁶ And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died.
⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.” And Moses prayed for the people.
⁸ And the Lord said unto Moses, “Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole. And it shall come to pass that every one who is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.”
⁹ And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass he lived.”
– Num 21:4-9 KJ21
 

In the Mount Hor episode, the “brass serpent” represented “atonement” for the people who looked upon it, just as Phinehas, the Scripture says “made atonement for the children of Israel” (Num 25:13) by his action.

And Jesus says that incident in Numbers 21 was a precursor of His atonement on the Cross -

“as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in Him may have Eternal Life.” – John 3:14-15

This in itself is a fascinating analogy, and perhaps a study for another time. But what I see that ties our study here together is the Truth that Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1John 3:8), that “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2), the “god of this age” (2Cor 4:4), who is the “father of lies.” (John 8:44)

Looking further into the incident at Peor -

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹¹ “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned away My wrath from the sons of Israel in that he was jealous with My jealousy among them, so that I did not destroy the sons of Israel in My jealousy. ¹² Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give him My covenant of peace; ¹³ and it shall be for him and his descendants after him, a covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

¹⁴ Now the name of the slain man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father’s household among the Simeonites. ¹⁵ The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the people of a father’s household in Midian.

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “Be hostile to the Midianites and strike them; ¹⁸ for they have been hostile to you with their tricks, with which they have deceived you in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi, the daughter of the leader (prince) of Midian, their sister who was slain on the day of the plague because of Peor.” – Num 25:10-18 NKJV

When we look at who Phinehas killed, I believe we see how that is a harbinger, if you will, of what the Christ came to do. And knowing that names are usually significant in the Scripture, I found it intriguing that the individuals were specifically named here in this event. The Lord God made sure these names ended up in the Bible for a reason. We don’t have names of some others we might expect to have - such as Job’s wife, or Lot’s wife, or the adulterous woman Jesus set free in John 8 – but the names of this loose pagan woman and her father will be eternally known.

The name of the Midianite woman killed (along with the man who was of God’s chosen people) was “Cozbi.”

כֹּזְבִי (Kôzᵉbîy), Cozbi,  Strong’s H3579; meaning ‘false’;
from the root word כָּזַב (kâzab) Strong's H3576; a primitive root; to lie (i.e. deceive), literally or figuratively: —fail, (be found a, make a) liar, lie, lying, be in vain.

And the account even gives the name of the father of the woman killed, which I believe gives even deeper insight. For the name of the father of this “liar”, this woman whose name means to “deceive”, itself mean “rock”; as in a heathen god or ‘deity’ who is strong.

צוּר (tsûwr), or צֻר (tsur); from Strongs H6696; properly, a cliff (or sharp rock, as compressed); generally, a rock or boulder; figuratively, a refuge; also an edge (as precipitous):—edge, × (mighty) God (one), rock, × sharp, stone, × strength, × strong.
The same word “rock” is used of God, and of heathen gods
“Zur” is a masculine noun, proper noun with reference to deity

I can see how this individual can represent, again, that one whom Jesus came to destroy. As stated earlier… Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1John 3:8), that “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2), the “god of this age” (2Cor 4:4), who is the “father of lies.” (John 8:44)
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And Zimri, the Israelite who had engaged in sexual immorality and brought his sin right to the door of the tabernacle in defiance, has a name that traces back to the primitive root זָמַר (zâmar), Strong’s H2168; meaning to “trim; “prune”

So we have a picture of one (Phinehas) who made atonement for the people by slaying the “lies”, the offspring of one who represents a fallen deity, a father of lies and deceit; and removing from among God’s people a branch that bore “bad fruit.” Standing for righteousness even in the midst many around him who were tolerating activities that were displeasing to God, Phinehas acted righteously by pruning from among God’s chosen the evil being flaunted in His house. And his deed God “credited to him as a righteous act, from generation to generation—to eternity.” (Psalm 106:31 ISV); and he and his “seed” received “a covenant of perpetual priesthood.”

And I believe that promise is in effect still, and that “priesthood” will be fully manifest in the Eternal Kingdom of God, when the spiritual and physical realms converge.

Surely, I see a strong type in what we’ve been studying here in the wilderness adventures of Israel being a foreshadow the mission of Christ Jesus and what He accomplished and will one Day, along with His counterpart, completely fulfill in God’s Eternal Kingdom.

Amen.

And all this from the exhortation of the Apostle Paul, by the Spirit, warning us in the churches to remain faithful to the One who has called us, by “putting to death the deeds of our flesh”, “fleeing sexual immorality” and “practicing righteousness.”

“We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.” – 1Cor 10:8 RSV

Oh, Lord, let us know how our behavior, even the seemingly insignificant things, will affect our Resurrection and Eternal lot.

For truly, in that Day, when the Eternal Kingdom is established, and the counterpart for Christ - that “royal priesthood” who are clothed with their “righteous deeds” - is now “seated with the Lamb upon His throne” to minister Life and healing to the nations, the Lord will have removed “out of His Kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those who do iniquity.” (Matt 13:41)

And notice it’s out of His “Kingdom”, not out of creation. But now we’d be getting into “Inheritance”, which I just touched on in a video on my YouTube site, and that would open up another whole can of worms!! ;)


Peace & Blessings to all who made it through this study (which I never intended to become so lengthy!). I pray it stirred your heart for the things of God, and perhaps confirmed what the Lord has laid upon your heart concerning His call and purpose for your life.


Please feel free to comment, question or rebuke as the Lord leads.

God’s Wisdom and Understanding to us all,
Michael