The Torah parsha this week, “Pinchas,” (Numbers 25:10-30:1) might be thought of as “part two” of the story that began last week with Balak and Bilaam, and ended with at least a bit of a ‘cliffhanger’ in the story of the deaths and plague associated with how Bilaam evidently managed to get the people of Israel to curse themselves, when he was not able to.

And Pinchas, son of Eleazer the Kohen, and thus grandson of Aaron himself, did something dramatic, even shocking, to stop that plague. And perhaps the fact that he was rewarded by YHVH with the “Covenant of Peace [Shalom]” might even raise some eyebrows, especially today.

What follows is then another “head count,” and ultimately a reminder of the “Appointed Times of YHVH, as described by the Erev Shabbat reading:

Last week, in the first installment of the story, Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship touched on the end of the story as well, and of Bilaam, and how he got himself killed. Deservedly.

But the story this week is Pinchas, and how he merited the Covenant of Shalom (Peace) from YHVH Himself, and for being “zealous” (qanah, in Hebrew) for Him.

There is, of course, peril in thinking we can cavalierly “do likewise.”

But these are perilous times anyway. So it’s a mistake to fail when we should act, too.

The combined two-part teaching is here: