First Love

Sermon by Rabbi Ken Alpren Notes by Teresa Bennett, Pharm.D. July 14, 2012 Numbers 25:10-13, ‘ADONAI said to Moshe, 11 "Pinchas the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, has deflected my anger from the people of Isra'el by being as zealous as I am, so that I didn't destroy them in my own zeal. 12 Therefore say, 'I am giving him my covenant of shalom, 13 making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.'This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el."’ Pinchas was a champion! He acted on behalf of the L-rd and was an example not to be passive but to be active! We see in events and circumstances of Pinchas’ intervention, how the enemy was unable to defeat the Israelites from without, so the plan was to defeat them from within! The Israelites were intermarrying, committing apostasy and partaking in idolatry. This same seduction occurs with believers when we depart from G-d. We are rendered weak and harmless by Satan. We have no power in prayer and we don’t see miracles. What did Pinchas do? Numbers 25:5-9, ‘Moshe said to the judges of Isra'el, "Each of you is to put to death those in his tribe who have joined themselves to Ba'al-P'or." 6 Just then, in the sight of Moshe and the whole community of Isra'el, as they were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting, a man from Isra'el came by, bringing to his family a woman from Midyan. 7 When Pinchas the son of El'azar, the son of Aharon the cohen, saw it, he got up from the middle of the crowd, took a spear in his hand, 8 and pursued the man from Isra'el right into the inner part of the tent, where he thrust his spear through both of them -the man from Isra'el and the woman through her stomach. Thus was the plague among the people of Isra'el stopped; 9 nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague.’ Pinchas impaled the couple and the plague stopped! Pinchas made atonement for the children of Israel. Numbers 25:12-13, ‘Therefore say, 'I am giving him my covenant of shalom, 13 making a covenant with him and his descendants after him that the office of cohen will be theirs forever.'This is because he was zealous on behalf of his God and made atonement for the people of Isra'el."’ G-d made a b’rit shalom and an everlasting priesthood through Pinchas. G-d fulfilled His promise until the tyranny of Herod. The Hebrew word for zealous in this passage is ‘kana’ which means jealousy, zeal, envy, strong emotion, fervor, excited, and passion. G-d is zealous for us. Are we zealous for Him? 2 Corinthians 11:2, ‘For I am jealous for you with God's kind of jealousy; since I promised to present you as a pure virgin in marriage to your one husband, the Messiah.’ 1 Corinthians 6:17, ‘but the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.’ Song of Songs 7:10, ‘I belong to my darling, and his desire is for me.’ We are married to the L-rd and He is zealous for us! When we are unfaithful, we are ripping apart ourselves from the L-rd. Israel had joined herself to idols as recorded in Numbers. What am I intimate with? What is the fruit of my idolatry? Don’t allow the enemy to render us weak and harmless in the L-rd? How do I spend my time? Do I turn on the television or read the Bible? Do I gossip about others or reach out to them in G-d’s love? Do I talk or do I take action? Do I worry or do I pray and praise in my circumstances? Do I put G-d second or first? Do I give Him my first fruits? Where is the love for Him that I had at first? Revelation 2:4, ‘But I have this against you: you have lost the love you had at first.’ What do I want to be doing INSTEAD of being with the L-rd? 1 John 2:15-17, ‘Do not love the world or the things of the world. If someone loves the world, then love for the Father is not in him; 16 because all the things of the world - the desires of the old nature, the desires of the eyes, and the pretensions of life - are not from the Father but from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, along with its desires. But whoever does God's will remains forever.’ Am I cynical or sarcastic? Could be a sign of sickness and my need for restoration in the L-rd. Jeremiah 2:2-3, ‘"Go and shout in the ears of Yerushalayim that this is what ADONAI says: 'I remember your devotion when you were young; how, as a bride, you loved me; how you followed me through the desert, through a land not sown. 3 "'Isra'el is set aside for ADONAI, the first fruits of his harvest; all who devour him will incur guilt; evil will befall them," says ADONAI.’ Am I attached to an idol? Get rid of it and return to the L-rd! G-d wants intimacy with us and He loves us and wants us to be close to Him. Am I zealous for G-d? Yeshua was furious when He found animals being sold and money exchanged in the Temple. John 2:15-17, ‘He made a whip from cords and drove them all out of the Temple grounds, the sheep and cattle as well. He knocked over the money-changers' tables, scattering their coins; 16 and to the pigeon-sellers he said, "Get these things out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market?" 17 (His talmidim later recalled that the Tanakh says, "Zeal for your house will devour me." )’ Yeshua had zeal! He is our example. 1 Peter 2:21, ‘Indeed, this is what you were called to; because the Messiah too suffered, on your behalf, leaving an example so that you should follow in his steps.’ With zeal and obedience His pleased the Father. John 4:34, ‘Yeshua said to them, "My food is to do what the one who sent me wants and to bring his work to completion.’ Do we have zeal for the L-rd like Ruth? Ruth 1:16-17, ‘But Rut said, "Don't press me to leave you and stop following you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God. 17 Where you die, I will die; and there I will be buried. May ADONAI bring terrible curses on me, and worse ones as well, if anything but death separates you and me."’ What about the zeal David had? Psalm 27:4, ‘Just one thing have I asked of ADONAI; only this will I seek: to live in the house of ADONAI all the days of my life, to see the beauty of ADONAI and visit in his temple.’ Remember our First Love!!! That is where our zeal should be placed. 1 John 4:10, ‘Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins.’ Further Reading: Psalm 106:28-31, James 4:5, Song of Songs 8:6-7, 4:7, 2 Corinthians 5:9, Philippians 3:10, 2:5, John 1:14, Isaiah 9:6, 7:14, Acts 17:11, Psalm 73:25