Adonai said to Moshe, “Take all the chiefs of the people, and hang them facing the sun before Adonai, so that the raging fury of Adonai will turn away from Israel.” 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.”-Numbers 25:4-5
Numbers 25:5 has turned out out be a head-scratcher for the ancient Jewish sages.
And here’s why…
…it’s because Moses disobeyed God’s direct command.
Remember God ordered that the ROSH or the heads of the people were to be executed for the sin of Israel cavorting with with the Moabite women.
However, look carefully at the text.
It says that Moses told the judges of Israel to “put to death those in his tribe who have joined themselves to Ba‘al-P‘or“.
Hmm, putting to death only “those who joined themselves to BA-AL P’OR” and putting to death “the heads of the people” are two different things folks.
The rabbis noticed this discrepancy and that’s why this portion of Scripture caused them to scratch their heads.
What Moses ordered the judges to do was NOT what HASHEM had ordered Moses to do.
Why did Moses veer away from God’s original command?
Well, the answer to that question is POLITICS, plain and simple.
If anybody reading this has ever spent any time in the upper echelons of corporate management, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.
It’s rare that the top leader of a major company will sacrifice himself for a major failure.
It’s usually some poor fellow on the lower rungs of the corporate ladder who gets the ax.
This principle is also alive and well in tribalist societies that exist today like in the Muslim world.
The tribal leaders and sect members of Islam will do anything to protect their top leaders in order to ensure they will continue to receive perks and protection from them.
And as we witness on the TV news about Iraq, these leaders have no qualms about subjecting the helpless members of the population they rule over to horrible atrocities in order to maintain their positions.
We can see here that Moses let the political pressures get the best of him, plain and simple.
He decided to take the path of least resistance.
So instead of executing the tribal princes, Moses opted out for executing some of the lesser leaders under the tribal princes as punishment for the sins of the people.
What was the result?
Well, you can read it for yourself!
We’re told…
“Thus was the plague among
the people of Israel stopped;
nevertheless, 24,000 died in the plague.”
-Numbers 25:8-9
We can see that in response to the people’s infidelity, the Lord had sent a plague among the people.
My point is if Moses had executed the HEADS or Tribal Princes as he was originally commanded to do, that would have satisfied God’s justice and the plague would have been stayed.
The takeaway here?
There’s alway a price to pay for disobeying the Lord, even if it’s just a little disobedience.
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