Joe: Alright, so we’re talking about Numbers 25 now. What’s this one about?

Bible Expert: Well, this chapter talks about the Israelites intermingling with the Moabites, which God forbids. The Israelites started to worship the Moabite gods and the Israelites’ leader, Phinehas, killed a man and woman who were involved in this. As a result, the plague that had been on Israel was stopped.

Joe: Wow, so Phinehas was a real hero!

Bible Expert: Yes, absolutely. God rewarded Phinehas and his descendants with an everlasting priesthood.

Joe: That’s awesome. So then what?

Bible Expert: The chapter also talks about God giving Moses and the Israelites a special commandment about how to deal with Midianites. God commanded that the Israelites were to completely destroy them, as they were a wicked people.

Joe: Whoa, that’s intense.

Jamie: Hold on Joe, I’m Googling the Midianites…oh, yeah, it looks like they were a group of people from the Middle East who were known for their wickedness and idolatry.

Joe: Wow, so God was really serious about this.

Bible Expert: Yes, absolutely. God was very serious about punishing the wickedness of the Midianites and wanted to make sure that the Israelites followed his commandment.