There’s A Difference Between Talking And Loin

It isn’t those who talk the most who always do the best Nor is it those who boast the most who always pass the test.
It isn’t those who say they’re good who show to us the way,Nor is it those who think they’re best who always win the day. Not often the man with the braggart’s tongue is the one who succeeds in the job

Nor is it the man who commends himself who will be approved of God.

Paul II Con 10:18, courtesy of the late Bro. Len Richardson in hope of finding an excuse for war. Instead, he rejoiced that the tribes had affirmed their loyalty to God, and the land enjoyed peace (Joshua 22 — 23: 1).

Trouble with Benjamin

Time passed, Phinehas’ father died (Josh. 24:33) and he became high priest, but it was not a happy time as the people began to turn from God (Jud. 2: 8 —13). Great evil arose in Gibeah in the land allotted to Benjamin. The children of Israel gathered together at Beer-sheba to decide what to do. They sent a delegation to the children of Benjamin and asked them to hand over the wicked men of Gibeah. But the children of Benjamin refused and prepared for war.

When the children of Israel attacked Gibeah, they were routed by Benjamin with 22,000 lost. Again the battle was engaged and Benjamin slaughtered 18,000 men of the other tribes.

Now an old man, Phinehas sought the LORD for Israel in his capacity as high priest as he wept with the people at the end of the second day of fighting. “Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease?” they asked (Jud. 20: 28).

The answer was, “Go up; for I will deliver them into thine hand” (Jud. 20: 28). So in one of the hardest things he must have ever done, Phinehas gave his blessing to the people. They were sent back to war with the children of Benjamin.

The victory over Benjamin was a bitter one as the children of Benjamin were nearly exterminated. However, wickedness in Israel had been put down for a time. Unfortunately, Phinehas had grown old and would die soon, and the children of Israel were entering a period of great decline.

An exhortation to ourselves

During his lifetime, Phinehas’ service was of great value to the children of Israel. We also benefit from his life for it teaches us about courage.

People of courage are willing to “go against the grain.” When the children of Israel were in Shittim, the people, especially the prominent people, had forsaken Yahweh and were given over to the lusts of the flesh. Phinehas knew what they were doing was wrong. He took a public stand against the wickedness of the people, a stand that could have made him very unpopular. It turned out to be a stand that saved his nation.

Phinehas went against the grain decades later at Shiloh. This time the children of Israel were prepared to kill hundreds of thousands of their own people in their zeal, but Phinehas was a man of peace. He sought an explanation of the tribes and was prepared to give them land to bring them back to Yahweh. As a result of his adherence to divine principles, a horrible war was averted.

We are followers of a man whose “kingdom is not of this world” (John 18: 36). He taught us that the world hated him, and so it would hate us also. Choosing to make the hard decisions and to do unpopular things can be difficult. Yet when we look at the example of Phinehas, we see a clear lesson. We are to follow God, and if we do so, we will live.