by Dr. Jeffrey Feinberg

Zeal is one of those subjects that is "too hot to handle." But is it best avoided since it only escalates a counter-response from the other side?

 

When radical Islamic fundamentalism raises up suicide bombers to die for the creation of a Palestinian state--is this religious zeal? Certainly it can be argued that God tested Avraham, commanding him to journey to the (Temple) Mount to offer up Yitzchak as an olah (burnt or ascent offering). And Avraham was good for it--except that the angel of the Lord stopped him, saying, "Because you did not withhold your son, your only son, Isaac, I swear that he will inherit the gates of his enemies--as a result that you listened to My voice!" Didn't God's angel stop Avraham, both because Avraham demonstrated zeal for God and God wished to distinguish Himself from Molech, that Canaanite God who demanded that firstborns be fed to the fire?

 

How can one know whether one's zeal for God demonstrates a passionate love or a murderous insanity? When Pinchas entered that secret inner chamber of the tent and speared a Simeonite prince and a Moabite princess, Pinchas took the law into his own hands and killed two people without a trial. Yet Torah tells us, Pinchas, b'kan'o et kinati (in his zeal for My zeal) averts God's wrath, "so that I didn't destroy them in My own zeal," says the Lord (Num.  25:11). Can execution without a trial be justified in a society under law?

How can one know whether one's zeal for God demonstrates a passionate love or a murderous insanity?

Let's not forget that Pinchas was standing guard as a gatekeeper of holiness. His God-given duty was to prevent Israel from encroaching upon the Sanctuary and defiling God's holy grounds. The plague that started as a result of the Korach rebellion had resulted in certain legislation that elevated the gatekeepers as lightning rods for God's wrath (Num. 18:1-7).  This law of Mot Yumat protects Israel from the fear of drawing near to God; it also assigns Pinchas' action as an act of self defense. The penalty for encroachment rests on the priestly guard, not on the man who encroaches. Is this enough to justify Pinchas before God?

In fact, God raises up Pinchas as Kohen Gadol for showing such zeal. This too seems remarkable--that 99 generations of High Priests would come from the loins of Pinchas. After all, how can one who has been inside a tent with the dead ever become eligible for High Priesthood? And what High Priest can become eligible when his genealogy ("Son of Puti") descends from a foreign-born mother? Only in Pinchas' case, I believe, were these restrictions on High Priesthood ever set aside. Such zeal! The rules of justice are suspended by God's Hesed (covenant kindness) to Pinchas and his ancestors!

Yeshua showed the same zeal for His Father's House. When he overturned the tables in the Temple, Yeshua radiated a passion born of the love of God.

"Zeal for your house will devour Me," recalled the disciples when they meditated on Yeshua's words: "How dare you turn my Father's House into a market?" (Jn. 2:17-18).

Now you must ask yourself: are you so PURE for God that you could literally lose your mind and trust your unthinking gut to do the right thing? As a New Covenant Priest, you are called to this kind of purity. When the time comes, if your heart is not pure, then how will you do the godly thing? You must draw near now and abide in God's Presence constantly, to be ready for the time when zeal is tested. Then, as with Pinchas and Yeshua, the Lord will establish the fruits of your faith!