Seduction

    For the people that think that the Bible does not cover every subject, I would like to show you that you are wrong.  When it comes to readying the Bible we all need to pray for discernment, wisdom, and a personal message.  God uses His word to talk to each of us on a personal level while keeping an universal truth in the forefront.  

    The men in the Israel tribe began to get bored.  They saw the Moabite women had a certain  beauty.  The men allowed the boredom to seduce them to distraction.  The women did not believe in God.  They did not have the moral standards that God designed for all people. 

    Once the men gave into the sensual nature, they began to drift away from God.  They followed the Medianites to new sensual places.  They just wanted to be happy and care free.  Following God does not always keep a person happy and never is a carefree life. It requires work and we all get tired sometimes.  That is when we are vulnerable to seductions.

    God was not going to just let His people live a disastrous life.  He knew it would be better to have them dead than to lead others astray and live dangerous lifestyles.  He sent a deadly plague.  He told Moses to kill and expose the leaders behavior to stop the plague.  Phinehas,Eleazar's son, heard this and took immediate action.  He speared a couple while they were in the act.  This stopped the plague immediately.  The plague killed 24,000 people.  

    God was pleased with Phinehas' zeal.  Because Phinehas did not hesitate or make excuses, God made a covenant of peace with him and the priesthood.  The number of men that fell for the seduction were not many, but many were punished for their sin.  All the Medianites were the cause of deception to God's people.  Their punishment was annihilation.  It must have been hard on Moses since his own wife had been a Medianite, but I think she and all the ones he loved were dead by this point.

    After the plague passed Moses and Eleazer took another census.  They used this census to divide the promised land according to the size of the tribes.  The nation had 601,730 people left after everything that had happened since leaving Egypt.  It was time to allow the next generation to take the lead.  They needed to be prepared to be able to lead well.  This takes time.

Numbers 25 & 26