SPEAKER_00: The reading will be taken from Numbers twenty five.
SPEAKER_00: And Israel abode in Shitam, and the priest began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
SPEAKER_00: And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods.
SPEAKER_00: And the people did eat and bowed down to their gods.
SPEAKER_00: And Israel joined himself unto Barfior, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, slay ye every one of his men that were joined unto Barfior.
SPEAKER_00: And behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto the brethren a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses, and the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
SPEAKER_00: And when Phineas, the son of Eliza, and the son of Aaron, and the priest saw her, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: He went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly, and the plague was laid from the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Phineas, the son of Eliza, the son of Aram and the priest have tamed my wrath away from the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: When he was zealous for my sake among them, I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
SPEAKER_00: Wherefore, behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even with the covenant of the everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel.
SPEAKER_00: Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain with the Mizenish woman, was Zemri, the son of Saleh, a prince of the chief house among the Simeonites.
SPEAKER_00: And the name of the Mizenish woman was slain, and was Kosby, the daughter of Zor.
SPEAKER_00: He was head over the people, and the chief house in Midian.
SPEAKER_00: And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Vex the Midianites and smite them, for they vex you with their vials, wherewith they have regarded you in the matter of Law, and the matter of Cosby, the daughter of a prince of Midian, and their sister which was slain in the day of the plague of Horsey.
SPEAKER_01: Shows how tough the rules were in those days.
SPEAKER_01: Zeal.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas had zeal for the law.
SPEAKER_01: Holiness The Israelites brought in a Midi knightish woman.
SPEAKER_01: Not allowed.
SPEAKER_01: And the God who provides a mediator.
SPEAKER_01: My dear brethren and sisters in Christ, and I pray this night you are in Christ.
SPEAKER_01: We have travelled far already in this series.
SPEAKER_01: We have stood in Eden.
SPEAKER_01: We've been in the flood, under the stars with Abraham, even at the foot of Sinai.
SPEAKER_01: And we have seen God's faithfulness and humanity's frailty.
SPEAKER_01: And today we come to another covenant.
SPEAKER_01: That is one which is often forgotten, or in my particular case, one I didn't even know about.
SPEAKER_01: A covenant tucked away in the book of Numbers, and made not with a nation, but with a man and his descendants.
SPEAKER_01: It is commonly called the priestly covenant, sometimes called the covenant of peace, and I thought they were different things.
SPEAKER_01: Made with Phineas, the grandson of Aaron.
SPEAKER_01: It is a covenant that revealeth God's heart for holiness, God's seriousness about sin, and we tend to make light of that, especially in today's time.
SPEAKER_01: And God's commitment to provide faithful mediators to his people.
SPEAKER_01: And this covenant may feel distant at a glance, certainly at first glance.
SPEAKER_01: And yet, in a way it speaks directly into our world.
SPEAKER_01: A world that still wrestles with compromised leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, do we know about compromised leadership?
SPEAKER_01: Moral confusion.
SPEAKER_01: I think we can all agree the world is morally confused, to put it mildly, and the longing for somebody who will stand in the gap.
SPEAKER_02: Somebody who will be a mediator.
SPEAKER_01: And the setting is the people on the edge.
SPEAKER_01: The story takes place in Numbers 25.
SPEAKER_01: Israel is camped at Shithem on the very edge of the promised land.
SPEAKER_01: On the edge.
SPEAKER_01: But proximity to blessing does not guarantee faithfulness.
SPEAKER_01: See, the people, the Israelites, start to do something they're not meant to do.
SPEAKER_01: They start to mix with Moabites.
SPEAKER_01: And we all know where the Moabites come from, I assume.
SPEAKER_01: You know, the daughters of the from the daughters of Lot and the incests that happened there.
SPEAKER_01: Um, Sodom and Gomorrah, um, the city of the play.
SPEAKER_01: And it's actually quite bad, and we see this in today's world.
SPEAKER_01: The Israelites join the Moabite feasts.
SPEAKER_01: Gets worse.
SPEAKER_01: That's bad.
SPEAKER_01: It gets worse.
SPEAKER_01: They bow to their gods.
SPEAKER_01: Now remember, this is after Samai.
SPEAKER_01: So this is after the commandments have come down.
SPEAKER_01: So Israel is automatically chasing after false gods.
SPEAKER_01: Points to the Ten Commandments to my right, which says, Thou shalt have no other God before me.
SPEAKER_01: They participate in practices that are both spiritually corrupt and morally destructive.
SPEAKER_01: Does that ring any bells with you?
SPEAKER_01: Scripture describes it as whoring after foreign gods.
SPEAKER_01: A stark phrase, but is it the phrase that captures the depth of betrayal?
SPEAKER_01: And even in our nation at this time you can feel, palpable feel that depth of betrayal, as we have people in the churches that whore after foreign gods.
SPEAKER_01: It's not just a lapse in judgment, it's not trying to be ecumenical, it is a covenant infidelity.
SPEAKER_01: And although we're talking about a covenant for Phineas and the Jews at that time, this is the same covenant that we belong to.
SPEAKER_01: This covenant reaches out to us today.
SPEAKER_01: It's covenant infidelity.
SPEAKER_01: If we go chasing after foreign gods, if we bow down to bits of stone and wood and plaster and concrete, or even worse, we bow down to people who are not God.
SPEAKER_01: We are not gods, and yet so many people bow down to people just because they wear a dog collar, just because they have a crown on their head, just because they're a lord or a lady, just because they have an office, they automatically expect to be granted this respect for the for what they do, as though they can't do wrong.
SPEAKER_01: That's whoring after false gods.
SPEAKER_01: It's a stark phrase, and it's a betrayal of everything Protestants hold free.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a lapse of judgment, it's spiritual and covenantal adultery.
SPEAKER_01: It's Israel turning away from the God who rescued them.
SPEAKER_01: And the consequences, and there are consequences to everything we do, the consequences are devastating.
SPEAKER_01: In this particular story, a plague breaks out among the people.
SPEAKER_01: A plague breaks out among the people.
SPEAKER_01: Not as random punishment, but as the natural outworking of their rebellion.
SPEAKER_01: The community is unraveling.
SPEAKER_01: And we could apply that plague today as well.
SPEAKER_01: Because of the way the leadership and those that leaders are behaving, there is a plague on the nation, and our communities are unraveling.
SPEAKER_01: Most of us here are old enough to remember our communities were solid things.
SPEAKER_01: As kids, we ran out of everybody else's houses.
SPEAKER_01: You didn't knock on doors, you just went in and out.
SPEAKER_01: Everybody looked after everybody else.
SPEAKER_01: Gone, unraveled.
SPEAKER_01: Because communities don't matter anymore.
SPEAKER_01: So says the government.
SPEAKER_01: This is the first truth then of the priestly covenant.
SPEAKER_01: You see, sin is not a private matter.
SPEAKER_02: It damages communities, relationships and the very fabric of life.
SPEAKER_01: Sin, to put it shortly, is the great destroyer.
SPEAKER_01: Because it destroys our relationship with God.
SPEAKER_01: And we may say, that's fine, we've got the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Well, no, everybody doesn't have the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: There are sins that we may do as individuals and we have Christ to go back to.
SPEAKER_01: But if we do that and go, we can sin because we've got Christ, and there is a letter from Paul on this, that just means we're testing Christ.
SPEAKER_01: How far?
SPEAKER_01: You know, how much can we sin because God's going to forgive us?
SPEAKER_01: It's actually a heresy from the early church.
SPEAKER_01: I can't remember which one it is now.
SPEAKER_02: It's a crisis of unraveling.
SPEAKER_02: And it hits the very fabric of our lives.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a crisis in leadership because leadership becomes paralyzed.
SPEAKER_01: As this plague spreads, as the community of Israel is unpicked, something shocking happens.
SPEAKER_01: This is a terrible thing.
SPEAKER_01: This is something that they're not told to do, and they've been told not to do it.
SPEAKER_01: A man of Israel brings a Midianite woman into his tent, i.e., he takes it to be his wife stroke, concubine stroke, bit of the other.
SPEAKER_01: Use whatever word you want.
SPEAKER_01: And he doesn't do it secretly.
SPEAKER_01: He does it quite openly.
SPEAKER_01: In fact, he's defiant about it.
SPEAKER_01: He's bragging about his sin.
SPEAKER_01: The very thing he should be ashamed of.
SPEAKER_01: He actually brags about to everybody.
SPEAKER_01: Does that ring any bells for today?
SPEAKER_01: And he does it in the full view of Moses and the whole of the assembly.
SPEAKER_01: That means that this guy, whoever he is, is somebody quite high up.
SPEAKER_01: He's not just an ordinary chap.
SPEAKER_01: He's a leader of some sort.
SPEAKER_01: Because if he's in view of Moses and the assembly, that means he's mixing in those circles.
SPEAKER_01: But what does this mean?
SPEAKER_01: What does this mean?
SPEAKER_01: It is a public rejection of God's holiness.
SPEAKER_01: It is a public rejection of the covenant.
SPEAKER_01: And it is a public rejection of the community's identity.
SPEAKER_01: And I think we can all agree that in today's world, especially for our weak congregation, all three of those apply in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: And the leaders, Moses and his elders, freeze.
SPEAKER_01: Moses, the elders, the priests, they are paralyzed by the enormity of what is happening.
SPEAKER_01: Wouldn't it be pretty wonderful if our church leaders today were paralyzed by what is happening in our country?
SPEAKER_01: Instead of trying to talk their way out of it, instead of trying to say, oh, it's fine, we have to accept everybody as is.
SPEAKER_01: There's nothing wrong.
SPEAKER_01: But the word of God says something else.
SPEAKER_01: It says, the leaders, Moses, the elders, and the priests, they are paralyzed by the enormity of what is happening.
SPEAKER_01: What's worse?
SPEAKER_01: They weep and they mourn as though Israel is dead.
SPEAKER_01: And that sounds great, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01: The mourning over the death of the covenant.
SPEAKER_01: You would think that they were ripping the clothes off, you know, the way they tear their clothes and sack class.
SPEAKER_01: You know, and they do this, and you think they'd be on their knees begging God for forgiveness, but no.
SPEAKER_01: They do exactly what our religious leaders of today and other leaders of today are doing in our nation.
SPEAKER_01: They do absolutely nothing.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the second truth of the priestly covenant.
SPEAKER_01: When leadership loses its moral clarity, the people suffer.
SPEAKER_01: We suffer.
SPEAKER_01: And we know this in our own world.
SPEAKER_01: When leaders compromise and communities fracture, when leaders fear conflict, injustice grows, when leaders lose sight of holiness, the people lose their way.
SPEAKER_01: I could just say Britain 2026.
SPEAKER_01: Israel needed somebody who would act.
SPEAKER_01: Not out of rage, but out of zeal for God's holiness and love for God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And into this paralysis steps such a man.
SPEAKER_01: Now I'm not advocating some of the things he actually does here because I think stabbing people might get you all into trouble, but you know, we'll go there.
SPEAKER_01: Into this gap steps Phineas.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas is the grandson of Aaron.
SPEAKER_01: Aaron, remember, is the brother of Moses and he's the high priest.
SPEAKER_01: He sees what is happening and he understands the gravity, and he acts.
SPEAKER_01: I'm asking you, please, don't take this as a literal for you to do.
SPEAKER_01: He takes a spear and he enters into this tent with this Israel man and this Moabitish woman, and he confronts the sin directly.
SPEAKER_01: And when he does that, what happens?
SPEAKER_01: The plague stops.
SPEAKER_01: Now it's a difficult passage, it's a violent passage, it's a very uncomfortable passage.
SPEAKER_01: And as I said before, it's not a model I want you to actually imitate, not in the way it's done, that's a literal statement.
SPEAKER_01: But it is a moment that reveals something essential about covenant relationships and covenant leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas is not acting out of personal anger, he is acting out of a covenant loyalty.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas is not acting out of personal anger, he is acting to protect his people.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas is not acting out of a personal anger, he is acting to restore holiness.
SPEAKER_01: And Phineas is not acting out of a personal anger, he is acting to stop the destruction that the sin has unleashed.
SPEAKER_01: And do you know what?
SPEAKER_01: The best line I think I put here, and God honors his action.
SPEAKER_01: Not because of the violence, but because of the zeal of the Lord, because of his zeal of Phineas.
SPEAKER_01: And it's a word that means to have a passionate commitment to God's holiness and to God's people.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, for men and women who would have a passionate, uh passionate zeal for God's holiness and God's people.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the third truth of the priestly covenant.
SPEAKER_01: True spiritual leadership requires courage.
SPEAKER_01: The courage to confront what destroys the community.
SPEAKER_01: In response to Phineas' action, God makes a covenant with him.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, he says, Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace.
SPEAKER_01: It shall be for him and for his descendants after him a covenant of a perpetual priesthood.
SPEAKER_01: Now this is really quite extraordinary.
SPEAKER_01: It really is.
SPEAKER_01: It's a game changer here.
SPEAKER_01: God gives Phineas three things.
SPEAKER_01: First, he gives him peace, not the absence of conflict, but the restoration of wholeness.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, he gives him a priesthood, the role of standing between God and the people.
SPEAKER_01: And thirdly, he gives him permanent, a lasting covenant with his descendants.
SPEAKER_01: This is a personal covenant between Phineas and God.
SPEAKER_01: And why?
SPEAKER_01: Because Phineas was jealous with God's jealousy, with my jealousy, I've written, but it's Phineas was jealous with my jealousy, meaning he shared God's passion for holiness, justice, and the well-being of the community.
SPEAKER_01: This covenant is not in any way, shape, or form about rewarding violence.
SPEAKER_01: It's about affirming faithful, courageous, sacrificial leadership.
SPEAKER_01: This is the fourth truth of the priestly covenant.
SPEAKER_01: God provides mediators, people who stand in the gap, who intercede, who protect, who guide.
SPEAKER_01: And I am not saying in any way, shape, or form that I stand as a mediator.
SPEAKER_01: I am not worthy even to go anywhere near that role.
SPEAKER_02: There is one mediator between God and man.
SPEAKER_02: There is one mediator.
SPEAKER_02: That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_02: No man can claim that role.
SPEAKER_02: Israel, however, needed such mediators then.
SPEAKER_01: The church and I am no church leader.
SPEAKER_01: When I say church leaders, I'm talking way out of my paper.
SPEAKER_01: The church needs such leaders now.
SPEAKER_01: We need them.
SPEAKER_01: I need them.
SPEAKER_01: Where are they?
SPEAKER_01: Where are these great men, these theologians, these doctors of the church that stand up and are zealous.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I can do my little bit.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, you may listen to me.
SPEAKER_01: Some others may listen to me, but most ignore what I say.
SPEAKER_02: That's fine.
SPEAKER_01: That's away the world.
SPEAKER_01: But I have a zealous.
SPEAKER_01: I am zealous for the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I want to see him extolled, I want to see his laws governed, I want to see uh uh uh a country that respects who God is.
SPEAKER_01: And I hope that when I talk to you and when the way you see me, not just in here but anywhere else, I affirm that I am faithful and I am courageous and I do a sacrificial type of leadership for the church, not just you guys, but for the church.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's a microcosm of what we need from the larger leadership.
SPEAKER_01: But the story does not end with Phineas.
SPEAKER_01: The priesthood that descends from him is far from perfect.
SPEAKER_01: Always is, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01: It starts well, you know.
SPEAKER_01: We start well, don't we?
SPEAKER_01: And then as it goes down the generations, it starts to fail.
SPEAKER_01: Eli's sons are corrupt.
SPEAKER_01: The priest in Jeremiah's day leads the people astray.
SPEAKER_01: Malachi rebukes the priest for dishonoring God.
SPEAKER_01: By Jesus' time, some priests are more concerned with power than with holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Does that ring any bells today?
SPEAKER_01: The priesthood becomes a mixture of faithfulness and failure.
SPEAKER_01: And those who claim to be priests, ministers, vicars, whatever you want to call them, how they act and how they behave is a mirror of their heart.
SPEAKER_01: How much do are they really for God?
SPEAKER_01: There's a saying somewhere in the Old Testament, I can never remember where, you know, I'm like with Close.
SPEAKER_01: When it goes, art thou for us or for our adversaries, for as truly as I live, saith the Lord, surely will I do for you, I think it goes.
SPEAKER_01: And I would prefer to be pilloried for standing for God, than to face God for not standing for him.
SPEAKER_01: That makes sense.
SPEAKER_01: I fear my God, not that I'm scared of him.
SPEAKER_01: Why should I be scared of somebody who saved me?
SPEAKER_01: But because I am not good enough for him.
SPEAKER_01: But none of us are.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the fifth truth of a priestly covenant.
SPEAKER_01: Even God-appointed leaders are flawed.
SPEAKER_01: I'm flawed.
SPEAKER_01: I'm definitely flawed.
SPEAKER_01: And no human priest can fully bridge the gap between God and humanity.
SPEAKER_01: When again, I'm going to stress this time and time again: when I say priest, pastor, minister, vicar, bishop, archbishop, pope, none of them can bridge the gap between God and humanity.
SPEAKER_01: Only Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: And why is Jesus Christ the only one that can?
SPEAKER_01: Because he is the Son of the Living God, who died for our sins, rose again for our justification, and opened the gates of the kingdom of heaven for all of us.
SPEAKER_01: It is God who is the mediator, God in Christ who is the mediator for God the Father, between God the Father and his creation.
SPEAKER_01: The covenant with Phineas is good, but it's not enough.
SPEAKER_01: It's good because it points beyond itself.
SPEAKER_01: It's good because it creates longing for a better priesthood.
SPEAKER_01: It's good because it points to a perfect priesthood.
SPEAKER_01: And it points to a priest who will never fail.
SPEAKER_01: And that priest is Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: This covenant matters now in our day and age.
SPEAKER_01: The priestly covenant speaks directly to our world and to our lives.
SPEAKER_01: It shows us first that God cares deeply about holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Now holiness is not about being holier than thou.
SPEAKER_01: It's not about being perfect and standoffish and going round with big hats and wearing capes and all sorts of fancy stuff.
SPEAKER_01: Being holy, and I say this to you now.
SPEAKER_01: Being holy is about being aligned with God's character.
SPEAKER_01: We try to live as God would have us live.
SPEAKER_01: That means justice, mercy, truth, and purity.
SPEAKER_01: Those must be the four elements that we as believers in the living God should aim to show the world.
SPEAKER_01: We won't get it right, we won't get it perfectly right every time.
SPEAKER_01: But that should be our aim.
SPEAKER_01: That's what should be our attempt, that should be our thrust in our lives.
SPEAKER_01: Secondly, it shows us God takes sin seriously.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, sin is sin.
SPEAKER_01: Sin, if you take the original Hebrew, if you think about shooting a bow and arrow, you've got the bullseye, then you've got the gold.
SPEAKER_01: When you shoot it, sin is when you miss the bullseye.
SPEAKER_01: Anything outside the gold, the red, the white, the blues, and the bull ring, doesn't matter if it's it.
SPEAKER_01: You miss a perfect target because we are incapable of hitting it.
SPEAKER_01: And I've lost my place.
SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, sorry.
SPEAKER_01: So yes, so uh it shows us God takes sin seriously, sorry about that.
SPEAKER_01: Not because he's harsh, but because sin destroys what he loves.
SPEAKER_01: Can you imagine that?
SPEAKER_01: You see, sin destroys us.
SPEAKER_01: Destroys the church, it destroys everything.
SPEAKER_01: Sin is invasive.
SPEAKER_01: You can't stop it.
SPEAKER_01: It creeps like a weed over the earth.
SPEAKER_01: It's like I've got a vine in my front garden and it's everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: I don't want it.
SPEAKER_01: I never planted it, and it grows, I think, white lilies, which I believe are poisonous.
SPEAKER_01: I spend days pulling this stuff out, and I think having I've got the roots and I've got the and I have to wear gloves to handle it, and I throw it in the green bin, which is the the garden bin, and next year things back again, and that's it.
SPEAKER_01: You can never truly get rid of it 100%.
SPEAKER_01: The best we can do is stand against it.
SPEAKER_01: And why do we do it?
SPEAKER_01: Well, my garden's a bit of a mess at the moment, but I love my garden with all its roses.
SPEAKER_01: And this horrible plant just appears everywhere.
SPEAKER_01: It's horrible.
SPEAKER_01: It looks and it wraps itself around the roses.
SPEAKER_01: Imagine this is what sin does.
SPEAKER_01: It wraps itself like a vine around the rose and it strangles them and it takes the sap out of them until they wither and die.
SPEAKER_01: That's what sin does.
SPEAKER_01: Thirdly, it shows us God provides leaders to protect his people.
SPEAKER_01: So who are these leaders that protect God's people?
SPEAKER_01: I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I can name a couple.
SPEAKER_01: But let me give you some evidence of what you're looking for in a leader.
SPEAKER_01: Leaders who intercede.
SPEAKER_01: That is, people who pray to God on your behalf.
SPEAKER_01: Leaders who teach not only the word of God, but teach each and every one of you what it means to be a believer and that and encourages you to go out and do that.
SPEAKER_01: Leaders who grind who guide.
SPEAKER_01: Leaders who comfort what harms the community.
SPEAKER_01: Confront, sorry, not comfort, who confront what harms the community.
SPEAKER_01: But it shows us the danger of compromise leadership.
SPEAKER_01: We all know about compromise leadership.
SPEAKER_01: I can tell you all about compromise leadership.
SPEAKER_01: Believe you me, I know a lot of leaders of societies, and they are definitely compromised.
SPEAKER_01: You see, when these leaders lose their zeal for God's holiness, then we the people suffer.
SPEAKER_01: There's a piece of proverbs that go, when there is no vision, the people die.
SPEAKER_01: It's the same thing.
SPEAKER_01: When we lose a zeal for God's holiness, we have no vision of the word of God to give the people.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, the people's faith withers and dies.
SPEAKER_01: Because everything we do should be based on this: the Bible, the Word of God, God's revealed will.
SPEAKER_01: As one wise man once said to me, the best instructions before leaving earth, B-I-B-L-E.
SPEAKER_01: Fifthly, it prepares us for Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I like this bit.
SPEAKER_01: Every priest in Israel, faithful or flawed, points to the one who will be perfect, who will be the perfect mediator.
SPEAKER_01: Now I love that idea because I've always said I'm no more than a signpost.
SPEAKER_01: And I love the idea of pointing you to the one perfect mediator.
SPEAKER_01: I'll point anybody to the one perfect mediator any day of the week.
SPEAKER_01: So, for new believers, and if you're new to faith, this covenant helps you to understand why Christians talk about holiness and leadership and the need for a mediator.
SPEAKER_01: You see, if the job's done right, you don't need to carry your burdens alone.
SPEAKER_01: You don't need to fix everything yourself.
SPEAKER_01: Because God provides someone to stand in the gap.
SPEAKER_01: See, there's this gap.
SPEAKER_01: No, I'm not talking about the gap you get on the subway where to go mind the gap as you get off the train.
SPEAKER_01: But this gap between you and God, me and God.
SPEAKER_01: Not you and me and God, but me and God.
SPEAKER_01: And that somebody is Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: But for longtime believers, for those who have walked for Christ for many years, and there's a few of us here, this covenant is a reminder that leadership is a sacred act.
SPEAKER_01: Whether you lead in a church or in a family or a ministry or simply your own life, God calls you to integrity and courage and holiness.
SPEAKER_01: Remember what we said about holiness before?
SPEAKER_01: Of justice, mercy, truth, and purity.
SPEAKER_01: It's also a reminder that we must pray for our leaders, that they may have the zeal of Phineas, the compassion of Moses, and the humility of Christ.
SPEAKER_01: The priestly covenant finds its fulfillment not in Phineas, but in Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas stopped the plague, and Christ stops the plague of sin.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas acted once, but Christ intercedes forever.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas restored peace temporarily.
SPEAKER_01: Christ brings eternal peace.
SPEAKER_01: Phineas was a priest by lineage.
SPEAKER_01: Christ is a priest by divine appointment, and Phineas acted with a spear.
SPEAKER_01: Christ acts with a cross.
SPEAKER_01: The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is our great high priest, the perfect mediator who never fails, never compromises, never grows weary.
SPEAKER_01: He stands in the gap.
SPEAKER_01: He intercedes for us, he restores us, he brings us peace.
SPEAKER_01: That peace beyond all understanding.
SPEAKER_01: And the priestly covenant prepares the way for him.
SPEAKER_01: The priestly covenant is a covenant of peace, holiness, and leadership.
SPEAKER_01: It reminds us that God takes sin seriously, that God takes sin seriously, that God provides mediators and God desires a people who reflect his character.
SPEAKER_01: But it also reminds us that no human leader, however zealous, can fill that role.
SPEAKER_01: Only Christ can.
SPEAKER_01: And as we continue through the covenants, may we give thanks to the leaders of God provides, who God provides, may we pursue holiness with courage, and may we rest in the perfect priesthood of Jesus Christ, who stands for us, intercedes for us, and brings us peace.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.