At the edge of the promised land, Israel “joined himself unto Baalpeor,” as Numbers 25:3 puts it, and the anger of the LORD was kindled. Baalpeor was a god of Moab, and the people ate his sacrifices and were drawn into his worship. Moses told the judges to deal with the men who had followed him. Later writers remember the day as a warning: Moses in Deuteronomy 4:3, the psalmist in Psalm 106:28, and Hosea 9:10, where Israel’s early promise is set against it. The story is told at length in Numbers 25, which is hard reading but short.
5 verses
And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel.
And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
Your eyes have seen what the LORD did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the LORD thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness; I saw your fathers as the firstripe in the fig tree at her first time: but they went to Baalpeor, and separated themselves unto that shame; and their abominations were according as they loved.
Matthew George Easton, 1897
Lord of the opening, a god of the Moabites (Num. 25:3; 31:16; Josh. 22:17), worshipped by obscene rites. So called from Mount Peor, where this worship was celebrated, the Baal of Peor. The Israelites fell into the worship of this idol (Num. 25:3, 5, 18; Deut. 4:3; Ps. 106:28; Hos. 9:10).