“Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest has turned my anger away from the Israelites by being as zealous among them as I was. So I stopped destroying all Israel as I had intended to do in my zealous anger. Now tell him that I am making my special covenant of peace with him. In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with me.”
(Numbers 25:11-13, NLT)
I'm a rather big fan of Phinehas. He's a real man's man. He spears this dude and then God gives him this covenant! I personally use Phinehas as a bit of a litmus test, to see how comprehensive some frameworks and interpretations of scripture are. He seriously confuses Hebrews for example. Very few people know of or have studied Phinehas, and even fewer seem to have been able to fit him nicely into their frameworks for the whole Bible.
But I think I've decided that it's actually a lot bigger than Phinehas alone. I've found many hints throughout the Bible that seem to indicate some kind of special relationship with Levi or Aaron's descendants, and possibly even a covenant relationship before Phinehas. I do not think this is just part of the Sinai covenant, as its permanency contrasts strongly with Sinai's conditionality. I really don't know what to make of all this, and it seems no one else does either, as I've never seen all of these passages linked together.
Do you have any ideas, or know of other passages that would seem to be part of this?
Dress Aaron with the sacred garments and anoint him, consecrating him to serve me as a priest. Then present his sons and dress them in their tunics. Anoint them as you did their father, so they may also serve me as priests. With their anointing, Aaron’s descendants are set apart for the priesthood forever, from generation to generation.
(Exodus 40:13-15, NLT)
Only the priests, Aaron’s descendants, are allowed to blow the trumpets. This is a permanent law for you, to be observed from generation to generation.
(Numbers 10:8, NLT)
Yahweh gave these further instructions to Aaron: “I myself have put you in charge of all the holy offerings that are brought to me by the people of Israel. I have given all these consecrated offerings to you and your sons as your permanent share.
...
Yes, I am giving you all these holy offerings that the people of Israel bring to Yahweh. They are for you and your sons and daughters, to be eaten as your permanent share. This is an eternal and unbreakable covenant [Lit. a covenant of salt] between Yahweh and you, and it also applies to your descendants.”
(Numbers 18:8,19, NLT)
For this is what Yahweh says: David will have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel forever. And there will always be Levitical priests to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings and sacrifices to me.
(Jeremiah 33:17-18, NLT)
“Then at last you will know it was I who sent you this warning so that my covenant with the Levites can continue,” says Yahweh of Heaven’s Armies.
“The purpose of my covenant with the Levites was to bring life and peace, and that is what I gave them. This required reverence from them, and they greatly revered me and stood in awe of my name.”
(Malachi 2:4-5, NLT)
