When Israel lived in
Shittim, the people began to commit sexual immorality with the daughters of
Moab. (Bemidbar / Numbers 25:1; NET)
Israel faced
many challenges in the wilderness in the years prior to their entering the
Promised Land. Some went well; others not so much. This week's Torah portion
includes both kinds. One in which God protected the people from harm and the
second where disaster ensued. Both incidences had to do with the same
opponents, the people of the region of Moab.
In the first
instance Balak, the King of Moab was concerned that the people of Israel would
cause him and his people much trouble, so he hired a prophet, more accurately a
soothsayer, named Bilaam (or Balaam), to curse them. It's one of the more drawn
out stories in the Torah. Every time Bilaam tried to curse Israel, God would
not let him as blessings came from his mouth instead. The story ends or seems
to end with Bilaam proclaiming nothing but good things over Israel. If this was
a movie, the screen would fade to black as the narrator says, "Then Balaam
rose and went back to his place. And Balak also went his way." (Bemidbar /
Numbers 24:25; ESV)
The next
segment begins with no reference to the previous story. Yet the people with
whom Israel interacts with are still the Moabites. It begins with the verse I
quoted at the start. It just seems to happen. The story of Balak and Bilaam is
full of tension and anticipation, intrigue and frustration. God is at work to
thwart the evil plan. Israel can't be cursed; don't even try. But now Israel
does evil. Just like that. The consequence of this sin was the death of 24,000
Israelites.
While Israel
was responsible for their irresponsible behavior, it didn't happen in a vacuum.
Later on in this same book of the Torah we read concerning the Moabite women
with whom the Israelite men sinned, "Behold, these, on Bilaam's advice,
caused the people of Israel to act treacherously against the Lord in the
incident of Peor, and so the plague came among the congregation of the
Lord" (Bemidbar / Numbers 31:16; ESV). Bilaam had instigated this affair.
What he couldn't accomplish through spiritual power, the nation of Israel
brought upon itself through sexual sin. Bilaam conceived a plot whereby he
leveraged the sexuality of women to bring destruction to Israel, which in the
end also brought death to himself and the women he used.
Women are
still being used by the forces of evil to bring destruction through the illicit
use of their sexuality. I am not saying that women's sexuality is any more evil
that men's. In fact sexuality itself isn't sinful at all. It's created by God
for good purposes. Yet, sexual desire is a powerful and complex thing, and when
not handled within God's defined parameters, it causes great trouble.
Yet today we
are taught to pursue our desires, whatever they may be. Evil is defined as
those things that restrict us from fulfilling our wants. We refuse to accept
how the removal of God-given restrictions to our sexual wants only serves to
ruin us individually and communally.
It is
extremely important for both men and women to understand the dynamics of sexual
desire. Any attempt to reduce a woman's allure is viewed as sexist and
oppressive, but a woman's purity is a precious gift that should be protected.
Men need not be expected to be sexual animals, living to fulfill their drives.
Self-control is a gift of God's Spirit and is the mark of a true man.
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