Phinehas: Who Will Stand Up Against Evil?

Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Psalm 94:16

By in large, most Bible believers (no matter the label: Christian, Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Messianic, Hebrew Christian, Hebrew Roots or whatever) are nice, and well meaning people who want to do right, but, at the same time, are sit-on-your-thumbs do nothing pacifists. They refuse to actively confront evil.

These folks suffer from a spiritual disease called ‘none-rock-the-boat-itis.”

Make no mistake. Yeshua wasn’t a go-along-to-get-along kind of person! Nor were the prophets, apostles, disciples and preachers of righteousness whose lives and actions the Bible record.

Those who suffer from this spiritual malady of super-spiritualism are lukewarm believers. Period! They need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves a serious question: “What am I doing to be salt and light in the world? To help fulfill the great  commission? To help advance the kingdom of Elohim? To spread the gospel?

Everyone can do something no matter how little or large.

Too many people are like the unprofitable servant in Yeshua’s parable who lazily buried his talent in the ground and chose, instead, to live a selfish, me-centered life. Remember what Yeshua’s response to this person was on judgment day in Matthew 25?

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matt 25:26–30)

Numbers 25:7, Phinehas…took a javelin. Phinehas, the priest, rose up against evil and took a stand for righteousness and YHVH commended him for it. In this case, the grandson of Aaron the high priest was not acting as a self-appointed vigilante as it may appear. Rather, YHVH had given the priests the authority to act as judges in Israel and to pronounce sentence in criminal matters (Deut 17:9–11). Additionally, Phinehas was doubly justified in his action against the fornicators, since he was an eyewitness of these sexual crimes, and the Torah teaches that the hand of the eyewitness was to be the first to rise up in executing judgment against the criminals (Deut 17:6; Ezek 44:24). So as an eyewitness and as a priest, he was legally justified in his actions. The priests and Levites were to act as Israel’s legal experts (Lev 10:10–11; Deut 24:8; 33:10; 2 Chron 17:9; 30:22; Neh 8:2, 8; Hag 2:11; Ezek 44:23; Mal 2:7) and to make determinations between the holy and the profane (Ezek 22:26; 44:23).

Who are YHVH’s priest on the earth today? According to Peter, and John the saints are those priests (1 Pet 2:7; Rev 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). As such, the saints presently possess the divinely mandated legal authority to fulfill the responsibilities of the priesthood of old when it comes to teaching the laws of Elohim to the nations in which they live (Lev 10:10–11). Moreover, Yeshua, our Great High Priest, has tasked his disciples with the responsibility and authority to judge righteously (i.e. to make judgments according to YHVH’s standards of righteousness, John 7:24), and to be spiritual fruit inspectors (Matt 7:15–20). Today, this responsibility is primarily exercised within the congregation of the righteous (1 Cor 5:12; 6:1–6). However, besides this, the righteous saints are to act as spiritual salt in this world and to be like a spiritual light on a hill for the world to see (Matt 5:13–16). This means that they are to preach the gospel to the world, to make disciples and to teach those around them all that Yeshua has commanded them (Matt 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–16). This means that the saints have heaven’s authority and commission to act as the spiritual and moral compass and conscience for the nations in which they live. This means that they will be standing against evil wherever and however they can as directed by the Spirit of Elohim, even as Phinehas did.

It is time that the righteous servants of YHVH Elohim begin to stand up in a more vocal and demonstrative way against the evil that is being foisted upon our society by those who are bent upon destroying the family, morality, and any vestiges of biblical standards of righteousness that may still exist around us. In Psalm 94:16, YHVH asks the question of his servants, “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” With this in mind, the question we need to ask ourselves is this: If not me, who; if not now, when? If you have something worth living for, then do you have something worth giving your life for? If those who are caught up in demonically inspired religious systems are willing to die for their faith calling it “a holy war” and “martyrdom for their [demon] god,” can the saints of YHVH at least not take a verbal stand against the tide of evil that is sweeping our society?

The Bible is full of examples of YHVH’s servants standing against unrighteousness in their day and their receiving YHVH’s blessing for it. Several examples include the Hebrew midwives disobeying the edict of Pharaoh to commit infanticide (Exod 1:15–22), Phinehas executing judgment against the fornicators (Num 25:7–8), the three Hebrew children refusing to worship the golden image (Dan 3:8–18), Daniel violating the king’s edicts by praying to YHVH (Dan 6:10–12), John the Baptist criticizing Herod for his adultery (Mark 6:18), Yeshua turning over the money changers’ tables in the temple (Matt 21:12), and Peter and John for disobeying the Jewish leaders’ command to not preach the gospel (Acts 4:18–20). Many more examples could be given. Remember all the biblical prophets? 

Numbers 25:11, Has turned back my wrath…because he was zealous. Read Psalm 94:16. What are some other examples of righteous men and women in the Bible who stood up against evil in their day whom YHVH praised for doing so? Did Phinehas rise up against evil in his own carnally-minded, emotionally-based zeal? If not, then whose zeal was he full of? (Read verse 11 again.) When we take a stand against evil as led by the Word and Spirit of the YHVH Elohim, can it ever be wrong to do so, even though the world may not agree with us and may even criticize or persecute us for doing so? Not only that, Phinehas placed his life on the line between the righteous judgment of Elohim and those who were sinning. Many times, the servants of YHVH actually have to leave their comfort zones and place themselves in harm’s way on the ragged edge between good and evil to take a stand for YHVH Elohim. (Note Aaron’s actions in Num 16:46–50.) The examples of such actions from the pages of the Scriptures are too numerous to list. Some notable examples include: 

  • Noah preaching righteousness against the utterly corrupt generation of his day.
  • David versus Goliath (1 Sam 17)
  • Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal (1 Kgs 18:20ff)
  • John the Baptist confronting King Herod (Matt 14)
  • Yeshua confronting the religious leaders of his day on numerous occasions (e.g. Matt 23)
  • Peter and John versus the Jewish leaders (Acts 4)
  • Stephen confronting the Jewish leaders (Acts 7)
  • Paul and Silas preaching against false religion in Philippi (Acts 16) and preaching the gospel on the streets in Thessolonica (Acts 17), in Corinth (Acts 18) and again in Ephesus (Acts 19)

At times, YHVH tried to find such a person who would stand for his truth, but was unable to do so (see Jer 5:1; Ezek 22:30).

 

9 thoughts on “Phinehas: Who Will Stand Up Against Evil?

  1. Natan
    To do this may mean giving up all your Earthly goods and home. Not many can do this. I ask can you do this on the street in the trenches? I know you have in the past done this but what about these days given that there is a more volatile atmosphere out there now more than ever.
    Could you weather the onslaught of moral decay that is sweeping our land? Just last week they had a gay parade in my city. I stayed as far away as I could but in hindsight , I should have been there as a voice of opposition against my belief system and sadly I failed to speak out against this abomination. The city fathers don’t know it yet but this city is going to have to pay dearly for their callous decisions. In what form I do not know at this time, but Yahway will not let this go unanswered .
    I and my fellowship must pray for our city to denounce such future events from happening. I fear it might be too little too late for us . I am appalled that there are commercials on t.v. condoning such activity on a broad scale. Yahway help us… through your son Yeshua Ha Messiach Amein…

    • What???

      First, as owner and moderator of this blog, not all comments automatically post immediately. Many I have to await my approval before they post. I’m not camping at my computer 24/7 awaiting someone’s comment to come so I can immediately post it. I have a life outside this blog. Sometimes it takes a day or two for comments to post, or, if I’m on vacation, a week or two.

      Second, no one has the automatic right to post on my blog. If they don’t like that, they’re free to start their own blog.

      Third, thank you for your comment. It was a good one. I see no reason why it should have needed censoring, thus the comment “That’s not right,”was premature and unnecessary.

      Blessings.

  2. First of all )2Chron 7:14 If MY people…see His love is unconditional, His blessings are not…if MY people do this, then I will do that…if we are in no condition to receive the blessing, it will not come to fruition until and if we are in a condition to receive it.Secondly) in light of the prophecies that tell us what will happen on this earth, we sometimes think, well no matter what we do, its gonna happen and so we pull back-just like those who literally pull back/away from you as you attempt to even tell them the truth…these days are sickening as we see the death of the family, the ridiculous defending of evolution so that they can practice their “alternative lifestyles” (death style) and the sheer stupidity of our dumb-downed down society, that when you try to reach them out of love they won’t even listen. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” is here. So what are we to do? Give up? Did Messiah give up on us-NO! So if I can’t go out myself and reach these people (I am an in-val-id-but I am not in-valid) I can still do so through ministries that can reach people en masse…there is always something we can do, even if it’s just by the way we live our lives….may they see the reason for the hope that is in us and want it too! Thank you Natan for all that you do-it is much appreciated as you teach and inspire us..Blessings in Yeshua, Carol!

  3. On one hand we have an example of YHVH’s priest standing up righteousness and executing the sinner. All other examples are of “standing up” by means of not remaining silent, but without dishing out YHVH’s punishment for their sins.

    “It is time that the righteous servants of YHVH Elohim begin to stand up in a more vocal and demonstrative way against the evil that is being foisted upon our society by those who are bent upon destroying the family, morality, and any vestiges of biblical standards of righteousness that may still exist around us.”

    Could you please clarify why we can’t just go stick a javelin in two sinners we see fornicating on the street corner in public, or the child molester released from jail?

    • Phinihas as the grandson of the Aaron the high priest had the legal and spiritual authority to execute the sinners. He was a legal ruler of the nation of Israel and had the right to do execute the sinners. We do not have that legal right since we’re living under a secular government. The Scriptures command us to follow the civil laws as long as they don’t force us to violate YHVH’s laws. We don’t have the authority to take justice into our own hands and to execute people. That’s why YHVH said in Romans that vengeance was his and he will repay the sinners. The only authority we have at this time is to preach the truth, live the truth and to not associate with people who don’t live the truth. If we lived in a nation where Torah was the law of the land, then these sin issues would be dealt with accordingly, but we don’t, so we can’t take matters into our own hands and expect to get away with it. Ultimate justice is coming for all evil doers when Yeshua returns.

  4. “The only authority we have at this time is to preach the truth, live the truth and to not associate with people who don’t live the truth.”

    Agreed 100%. To those who want to know the truth, we preach the Word.

    We are not called to overturn the sinful .gov that is over us, we are required to obey even the evil .gov according to the Bible, unless it directly would make us sin.

    To the rest, it’s not our job to punish them for their sin or correct them, especially when the laws of the land protect them.

    Public nudity laws in Oregon are a good example of YHVH’s laws being over ridden by the .gov we are captive of. Get ready to put up with a lot more, it’s only getting started and we will find it harder to stay away from those who don’t live the truth, but want to flaunt their sin in front of us.

    • As an after thought, I guess we are even required to pay taxes when we know they are funding abortion, since the abortions are not forced.

      Sad state of affairs.

      • I agree with everything you’ve said on both posts. Although Scripture instructs us to come out of Babylon, we can only come out so far——at this time, mostly spiritual/religious. To leave economic and political Babylon, one would have to leave the earth. Babylon the Great will be destroyed once and for all only when Yeshua returns. Then and only then will the captives be totally set free.

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