Память праведного Финееса

The holy righteous Phinehas, the son of the Jewish high priest Eleazar and the grandson of the high priest Aaron, was originally a priest of the Jewish people. Saint Phinehas was a worthy servant of the God of Israel. Throughout his entire life he was a zealous defender and guardian of true worship of God. His activity, as a servant of God, was aimed, on the one hand, at glorifying the glorious name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, and on the other, at eradicating all the vices and deviations from the law of God that were sometimes noticed among the Jewish people. One day it happened that the Moabites 1916, who lived in the neighborhood of the Israelites and were distinguished by their wickedness, drew the Israelites into the wicked and vile service of their god Baal-Pegor 1917. Angry at such great lawlessness, the Lord severely punished the wicked apostates: they were immediately struck by a pestilence, from which many thousands of Israelites died. In addition, God commanded Moses to kill (by hanging) those of the leaders of the people who indulged in wickedness. Many Israelis, seeing the wrath of God, abandoned lawlessness, repented and gathered at the doors of the tabernacle to bring nationwide repentance to the Lord. At this time, a certain Zimri, the leader of the tribe of Simeon, in front of Moses and the whole community, brought the Midianite woman into the Jewish camp and led her to his tent. Then Phinehas, filled with anger and indignation at the leader - the seducer of the people, entered the tent of Zimri and struck him and the Midianite woman with a spear. This act of courageous Phinehas, in which his ardent zeal for God was so clearly revealed, turned away the wrath of God from the people of Israel. Immediately the pestilence that affected the people in 1918 stopped. After this, God said to Moses: “Phinhas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, turned away my wrath from the children of Israel, being zealous for my name. Therefore say to him, Behold, I give him My covenant of peace. I give to him and his descendants the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. After some time, at the command of God, the Israelites began to gather an army to punish the Moabites for their wickedness. In total, twelve thousand Israelites were gathered (one thousand from each tribe). Phinehas was chosen as the leader of the army, who again showed himself to be an exact executor of God’s command. In addition, Saint Phinehas declared himself a wise leader of his people in those cases when any disorder arose among them. He reconciled those who were at war with each other, skillfully stopping and eliminating mutual quarrels and strife. For all these merits, Saint Phineas, after the death of his father, was unanimously chosen as high priest. The high priesthood of Phinehas, according to the promise of God (Num. 25:13), continued in his descendants and only temporarily passed into the family of Ithamar. Saint Phinehas died at a ripe old age in 1919 and was buried on a mountain in the tribe of Ephraim (Joshua 24:33). The Moabites are a pagan tribe related to the Israelites who lived along the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Their ancestor was Moab, the son of Lot's eldest daughter (Gen. 19:37). The Moabites, like many other peoples living near the Dead Sea, were characterized by moral laxity from the very beginning of their history. Baal-Peor is a god highly revered by the Moabites and other pagan peoples, whose service was distinguished by particular wickedness and debauchery. Actually, the name of this god was Baal (from Hebrew - “lord”), and the word “Pegor” is the name of a mountain located on the northeastern coast of the Dead Sea. The idol of Baal probably stood on this mountain. A pestilence destroyed 24,000 Israelites (Num. 25:9). Saint Phineas died around 1500 BC. You might be interested in: