The Pulpit Commentary — Numbers — Section 360

faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, it is clear that zeal was imputed to Phinehas for righteousnese for evermore. This being so, it is necessary in the second place to point out that the act in ques- tion (like that of Abraham in sacrificing his son) was distinctly one of moral virtue according to the standard then Divinely allowed. An act which was in itself wrong, or of doubtful rectitode, could not form the ground for such praise and promise, even supposing that they really looked far beyond the act itself. Now it is clear (1) that under no circumstances would a similar act be justifiable now ; (2) that no precedent could be established by it then. The Jews indeed feigned a "zealot-right," examples of which they saw (amongst others) in the act of Samuel slaying Agag (1 Sam. xv. 33), of Mattathias slaying the idolatrous Jew and the king's commissioner (1 Mace. iL 24-26), of the Sanhedrim slaying St. Stephen. But tl1e last-mentioned case is evidence enough that in the absence of distinct Divine guidance zeal is sure to degenerate into fanaticism, or rather that it is impossible to distinguish zeal from fanaticism. Every such act most of necessity stand upon its own merits, for it can only be justified by the coexistence of two conditions which are alike beyond human certainty: (1) that the deed is itself in accordance with the will of God ; (2) that the doing of it is inspired by motives absolutely pure. That Christ came to save men's lh·es, and that God would have all men to repent, has made for us the primary condition impossible, and therefore the act of Phinehas would be immoral now. No one may take life unless he has the mandate of the State for doing so. But it was not so then ; God was the King of Israel, and the foes of Israel were the foes of God, with whom there coold be no peace or amity as long as they threatened the very existence of God's people and worship. The Israelite who indulged in sinful intercourse with a heathen was a rebel against his King and a traitor to his country ; he became ipso facto an "ootlaw," to slay whom was the bounden duty of every true patriot. If it be said that this view of things belongs to an inferior code of morality, which ignored the universal brotherhood of men and Fatherhood of God, that is admitted at once. The elder revelation founded itself plainly and avowedly upon the moral law as then universally held (and by no means supplanted yet by the higher law of Christ), that men were to love their brethren and hate their enemies. To complain that the act of Phinehas was moral in a Jewish and not in a Christian sense is only to find fault with Gild for suffering a confessedly imperfect and preparatory morality to do its work until the fulness of time was come. While, therefore, we recognise the act of Phinehas as one determined, in its outward form, by the imperfect morality of the dispensation under which he lived, it is neces- sary to look below the act to the spirit which animated it for its permanent value and significance. That spirit is clearly defined by the testimony of God-" while he was zealous with my zeal." The excellence of Phinehas was, that he was filled with a zeal which was itself Divine against sin, and that he acted fearlessly and promptly (whilst others apparently hesitated even when commanded) under the impulse of that zeal ; in other words, what pleased God so greatly was to see his own hatred of sin, and his own desire to make it to cease, reflected in the mind and expressed in the deed of one who acted upon right1-ous impulse, not under any co=and or constraint. It is impossible, in the third place, not to see that this record throws a flood of light upon the doctrine cf the atonement; for the act of Phinehas stands, in some respects, upon a higher level than all the types and shadows of the cross which had gone before; being neither an act of submission to a definite command, like the sacrifice of lsaa<', nor a piece of ordered ritual, like the sending forth of the goat for Azazel i OH. XXV, 1-18.] THE BOOK OF NUMBERS. 347