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the righteous killer

Psalm 106:28-31 (JDV)

Psalm 106:28 They aligned themselves with Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods.
Psalm 106:29 They angered Yahveh with their deeds, and a plague broke out against them.
Psalm 106:30 But Phinehas stood up and intervened, and the plague was stopped.
Psalm 106:31 It was credited to him as righteousness from one generation to the next – permanently.

During a time when the Israelites were being seduced into idolatry by the neighboring Moabites and Midianites, a priest named Phinehas had to do something. He entered the tent of the Israelite Zimri, found him with the Moabite woman Cozbi, and ran them both through with his spear (Numbers 25).

God had sent a plague to Israel because of their intermingling with these foreign idolaters. Phinehas’ bloody intervention made the Israelites rethink their situation.

Jesus does not command us to kill others for our faith, but he does want us to intervene in our society when it leads its people to disobey God.