Pinchas 2022

Pinchas/Phinehas, Numbers 25:10-30:1, deals with the blessing bestowed upon Pinchas for dealing with the rebellion of Israel, orchestrated by Balaam and Balak.  Pinchas ends the debauchery by driving a spear through Zimri (a prince of Simeon) and his consort, Cozbi (a Midianite), but not before 24,000 die, the last of the generation to fall in the wilderness!  The lackadaisical attitude toward the opening of spiritual gateways, or the guarding of those gateways, has disastrous consequences for Israel, and behooves us to pay attention to the lesson presented!   Now we find Pinchas rewarded with the covenant of peace, and a perpetual priesthood, yet he remains a controversial figure!  Who carries on this mantle of Pinchas today?