To punish it as it deserved, Phinehas stood forth with holy zeal —
[He seized a javelin, and followed the abandoned criminals to the tent, and pierced them through in the midst of their guilty pleasures. This might appear to have been an usurpa- tion of legal authority : but it was not so : for the chief ma- gistrate himself had given the command to all the judges of Israel: moreover, being the son of the high-priest, it is rea- sonable to suppose that Phinehas was himself a magistrate : at all events, he acted by a divine impulse, and was " God's mi- nister, a revenger to execute wrath upon these evil-doers." Such an act in us would be unjustifiable ; because we have received no such commission either from God or man : but the spirit from which it proceeded, would be commendable in whomsoever it were found : we ought to be filled with a zeal for God's honour: we ought to feel indignation against sin: we ought to be penetrated with compassion towards those who are in danger of perishing through the impiety of others : and we ought to be ready to assist the civil magistrate in the sup- pression of iniquity.]
God's approbation of his conduct was strongly marked in,
II. The reward conferred upon him —
Instantly was God pacified towards his offending people —
[Already had twenty-three thousand persons fallen by the plague, and another thousand by the sword of justice1': but, on the execution of this signal vengeance, God stopped the plague, and commanded the sword of justice to be sheathed. He accepted this as " an atonement for the children of Israel." Not that there was any thing hi the blood of the victims, that could expiate sin; but their death was considered as a sacrifice to divine justice ; and God took occasion from it to return in mercy to his repenting people. What a glorious reward was this ! Not a family throughout all the tribes of Israel could help feeling its obligations to him, and acknowledging him as its benefactor.]
Immediately too did " God give him his covenant of an everlasting priesthood" —
[True it was, that Phinehas was next in succession to the priesthood; but it was not ensured to him, and his seed, till God now gave it to him by an express promise. The covenant of priesthood is called " a covenant of peace," both because it
b Compare ver. 9. with 1 Cor. x. 8.