What happensPermalink
Israel mixes with Moabites, marrying their women and worshiping their god Baal. God sends a plague among them until Moses, the judges, and the priests kill the idolaters. God praises Phinehas the priest and promises his family a perpetual priestly dynasty.
Why it mattersPermalink
Just like when Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments at Sinai when Israel built the golden calves, here Balaam was pronouncing blessing over Israel when they began worshipping Baal.
Key versePermalink
“Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my [God’s] wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy.”