DEVELOPING A ZEAL FOR GOD
Key Scriptures: Psalm106:28-31, Rom 12:11 (NKJV)
They joined themselves also to Baal of Peor and ate sacrifices made to the dead
Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds and the plague broke out among them
Then Phinehas stood up and intervened and the plague was stopped
And that was accounted to him for righteousness to all generations forevermore
Not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord
We all have a zeal for something and a desire to be passionate about. This is not a romantic passion, but a passion for living and desiring to have a passion in life. We are passionate about work, striving to make a success. We are passionate about possessions, striving to want more and better stuff. We are passionate about our sports teams and we spend all our time, energy and money on things that we are most passionate about, but the question is have we got a passion for God? The Bible has a lot to say about our zeal for God.
1. Those with a passion for God
1.1 David (Psalm 42:1-5)
1.2 Caleb (Josh 14:6-14)
1.3 The apostles
1.4 Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10)
1.5 Paul (1 Cor 2:2)
1.6 Jesus
1.7 Martin Luther
1.8 Martin Luther King
2. The zealous spirit (Num 25:1-13)
2.1 God command the people not to interact or to have relations with the heathens.
2.2 Despite this command Israel committed idolatry with the women of Baal Peor (Num 25:1-3)
2.3 This was done in rebelling against God’s will and violating His commands
2.4 God commanded Moses to kill all those who committed this sin and to hang their bodies in the sun so everybody could see.
2.5 While they are killing them, Zimri brings a Midianite into the camp so that he can commit adultery with her. This creates a righteous zeal within Phinehas
2.6 Phinehas heard that Zimri had taken Cozbi into his bedroom to commit adultery with her. He grabbed a javelin and drove it through their bodies, killing both of them.
2.7 God withdrew His wrath because of this act of righteous zeal.
2.8 Because Phinehas had courage and zeal, God made a covenant of peace as well as an everlasting covenant of the everlasting priesthood with him. (Num 25:11-13)
3. Lessons from the life of Phinehas
3.1 Godly zeal has its source from the Holy Spirit dwelling in the believer
3.2 The seat of Godly zeal is in the heart
3.3 The object of having a Godly zeal is good works
3.4 What we are interested in and what we value creates a passion
3.5 Go against the norms of this world and proclaim God’s holiness
3.6 We need people to be raised up to walk like Phinehas walked in the fear of God.
Jesus’s passion was for us to be drawn closer to God and our thoughts need to be aligned with the Word of God so that when we talk about God to non-believers, the Holy Spirit can do His work of convicting them of wrong thoughts. What are you passionate about because everything else will fade but the Word of God will stand forever.
