When No One Stands: Pinchas, Elijah, David, and the Courage to Act Outside the Box

The Kind of Kid Who Never Fits the System

In every group there is always some kid who is unusual, different, bright but not controllable. A precautious kid with a soft heart but a hard head. He is not politically correct. He is stubborn and disobedient to the ruling elite. He never gives up and always has questions that challenge the elders sitting at the gate to judge the crowds. Pinchas is the name of this kind of young man — a young man that everything about him is "out of the box."

The Law is there to help the masses maintain an orderly society. But an orderly society has to have an escape door for those people who are not politically correct and who have the courage and spirit to do what needs to be done outside the box. People who are willing to go to jail if necessary in order to do what is right. The born-to-be-rebels. The Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke. The little boy who was standing on the street with his father and mother to see the king's new clothes, and when everyone was speaking of the beautiful clothing and gold buttons and the cufflinks of the shirt of the king — the little boy said out loud: "But Mom, the king is naked!" There always has to be a little boy like this who is willing to see the true reality and not be afraid to speak it out.

Most times these little boys are not popular, because they stand alone against the majority of society. They are not popular because they see what others refuse to see, motivated by a namby-pamby society that chooses to live comfortably with the attitude of "le déluge après moi" — which literally means: "After me, the flood." Or: I don't care what happens after I am gone.

The Television Evangelists Who Froze

When Pinchas arrived at the scene at the entrance to the Tabernacle and saw Moses and all the leadership of Israel standing there paralyzed, he saw something familiar to us. They were acting like Christian pastors that are afraid of their own shadow in time of real serious crisis. I have seen it more than one time with some of the most famous television Evangelists — when something was not working right and it was necessary to have courage and work outside of the box, they froze. They stood still with an open mouth, waiting for a fly or a mosquito to enter in their mouth and give them some wisdom about what to say and how to instruct those who worked under them.

This is not situation ethics — it is zeal for righteousness. When one sees horrible and terrible things happening, the fire of God's justice and righteousness is kindled and takes action. The result in Pinchas's case: the plague stopped. Before the leadership of Israel could even process what had happened, the plague that was killing 24,000 of the children of Israel was over.

God's response was not punishment. God rewarded Pinchas and made him the chief of staff of Israel's army. The good thing is that God is not square and not bound by the politically correct rules of our world today. God will surprise you every time when you act outside the box with a pure heart and good honest motives. Every time that you see everyone standing by and waiting for someone to give the order — jump up and do it yourself. Help and volunteer and do good when others are watching from the sidelines waiting for a certificate and a license, authorization, commission, and negotiation of how much they will be paid.

Pinchas and Elijah have much in common. That is why the regular haftarah of Parashat Pinchas tells us of Elijah's story. Elijah too acts alone and follows the Lord without fear from Ahab and Jezebel his wife. He too comes back to Israel knowing that King Ahab is looking for him around the whole Middle East. Ahab was well known and well respected among all the neighbors of Israel — he is the only King of Israel mentioned more than once in documents of neighboring kings, including Assyrian records. And yet Elijah stood against the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal on top of Mount Carmel. Alone, like Pinchas. Rewarded, like Pinchas.

If There Is No Maccabee — You Be the Maccabee

The principle that every man of God must have in his calling is, first, commitment to honor God and His cause. Second, courage to stand up against the majority, against the politically correct culture, and stand up for what is of God and what is holy and pure — without calculating what he will personally gain or what he might miss out on. It is sometimes the right thing to do to stand up against corrupt laws and evil practices and injustice, and to speak out and protest the evil that is going on all around. Someone has to have the courage to stand up and take a clear stand to change the tide and protect God's interests and the truth.

Consider the King David Principle:

For his own sake, David didn't defend himself on several occasions. But when it comes to someone defiling the name of God, David, like Phinehas, stood up and put his faith into action. All of the army of Israel and King Saul were standing by not knowing what to do. Little David, with the power of the Lord behind him, took the action to stop the dishonoring of God.

The biggest outside-the-box act in all of history is when God sent His Son, Yeshua, to die on a Roman cross for our sins. What can be more irregular? What can be more politically wrong and deplorable than a father who sacrifices his own son for the sake of strangers and criminals? God's love for us, humans, is totally outside the box.

Where there is no man to stand up for what is right and just and righteous — you be that man. If there is no Maccabee to fight for God, you stand up and be the Maccabee yourself.