Previously we discussed the amazing facts surrounding the olive oil used for the daily lighting of the wilderness tabernacle.  We also discussed the significance of the Showbread used for the weekly nourishment of the community of priests serving the wilderness tabernacle.

The facts and symbolism surrounding these two elements found in Leviticus Chapter 24 are profound, enlightening and these are pleasant things to consider and know.  They help us with forming the whole picture of what God was doing with the people in the wilderness.

Right in the middle of the same chapter of Leviticus (Chapter 24) however; comes a very odd and disturbing passage dealing with a blasphemer who was taken outside the camp and stoned to death by the people.

What gives here?

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the every-Thursday bible study we have called COME AS A CHILD.  We are slowly walking through the bible together, page-by- page and word-by-word.  Today we have come to study the last part of Leviticus; Chapter 24.  (If you missed the lessons mentioned earlier; you may review them here: https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/bread-of-heaven/ and https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/olive-oil-for-light/ .)

I truly hope that you read each of the passages referenced early on in each lesson before digging into each new study.  The actual reading of the words from your Bible that will make the passages come more alive for you.  This is a mysterious process which we are blessed to have in The Christian lifestyle.  The Word of God is alive!  Once the passage is read straight from the scriptures; the doors of the heart open up wider for discussion and further learning.

THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING  BY EXPLORING STORY

At first glimpse; this passage struck me as a very odd passage indeed.  I didn’t really know what to say about it.

I prayed as I kept reading and studying for a clear understanding of this complex and complicated set of paragraphs placed right after something that had already become so very crystal clear in our study.

Now we are approaching a much harder puzzle.  It is one we will have to piece together slowly.

What will God show us?

Let’s start by considering the important elements of the story.

AN ANGRY SON WHO RESORTED TO VIOLENCE

One son resulting from the marriage of a Hebrew woman to an Egyptian man gets angry with another person in the camp.

He starts a fight.

After the fight is over he curses God.

A MATTER TO BE JUDGED BY THE AUTHORITIES

This matter comes up before Jethro for a judgement.

Jethro was Moses’s Father-In-Law and his position of authority was a lot like the lower courts of today.

Jethro and several others were appointed by Moses to serve and solve the minor and less-important issues regarding keeping the Law for the people of the camp.

When something was considered really BIG and IMPORTANT and the lower court leaders were unsure and confused about the answer; they passed the final decision on up the ladder of authority to Moses.

This process and arrangement was very helpful to Moses because it lessened the heavy leadership role that Moses had to carry out concerning the welfare of such a large nation living in the wilderness.

Jethro is unsure in this situation; and he passes the case on to Moses.

A FIRST IN THE HISTORY OF THE LAW

In the case of our story today; these actions seem to be a “first-time” offense to be considered by the courts of the law in the wilderness.

It was something that had never come up before a panel of leaders for a decision and/or a judgement.

This must have been the very first case of a man who blasphemed the Name of God after the giving of the Law was made official to all of the people.

UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUE

The main problem was NOT that the man was angry or that he had physically harmed someone (apparently he had punched someone in his anger;) but the problem was that he had cursed The Name of God in his anger.  (Does this part of the story remind you of the story of Cain and Abel?)

One also has to consider the fact that the person being accused was half-Egyptian.  In Egypt at that time it was common for one who did not receive the desires of his heart after praying to the many pagan gods, to curse those particular gods who did not grant their requests.  At first one might think that the accused was simply following the procedures allowed by his former culture out of ignorance.  However; there was more to the story.

In this case it was like the person being accused was cursing, not only his own gods; but the God of Israel too and he was doing so simply because he was aware and knew that this would be a greater insult to the Hebrew person which he was angry with.

It was bad enough for him to curse the gods of Egypt because things had not exactly gone his way; but it was a double insult for him to curse The One True God of The Universe.  This law had been stated officially to ALL of the people in the wilderness; regardless of their previous culture or background.  He would not have been ignorant of this law.

He was actually even going against his own culture’s laws too in that they did not believe one should insult other people’s gods.  You could worship any gods that you pleased; but in return you must respect other people’s rights to do the same.

Obviously; this man was trying every way he knew to insult the feelings and beliefs of the one he was most angry with.  He had left no bases uncovered.

THE ULTIMATE INSULT TO ISRAEL

This was the ultimate insult to the Hebrew culture and their God.

It was actually even worse than he probably realized at the time because though this guilty man might not have understood it; just hearing the curse spoken aloud would have made the Israelite he was insulting guilty of an unintentional sin by default.

So the case was handed up to Moses and from him the verdict was given.

Moses pronounced the man “guilty.”

His punishment was to be stoned to death by the whole congregation; which meant that every single person in the nation of Israel was commanded to cast a stone at him in defense of their God. The total number of people has been estimated to be approximately 2.4 million. This would have come to millions of large stones being thrown at the guilty man; even if each man of Israel cast only one stone.

DOES THE PUNISHMENT SEEM UNREASONABLY HARSH?

No one would ever survive such a stoning as this.

This act by each individual emphasized the fact that every person in all the tribes of Israel agreed and identified with God and His law.

Sounds pretty harsh; doesn’t it?

You have to think of the whole realm and purpose of God giving the law and consider the consequences of the crime being committed here.

The crime, again, was not the man’s anger or his acts of physical violence; but the blasphemy of the Name of God.

THE LAW WAS PLAIN

In his verdict Moses merely stated the law as it had been written by the very finger of God and given to the people: “Thou shalt not take the name of The Lord Your God in vain. (Exodus 20:7.)

This crime was NEVER to be tolerated.

The law is plain.

THE ACCUSERS MUST PARTICIPATE IN THE PUNISHMENT OF THE GUILTY

The accusers of the guilty party were to be the first to cast the stones.  (Does this remind you just a little of the New Testament story of the woman caught in adultery?)

Before the first stone was thrown; they were told to lay hands on top of the guilty man’s head.  This seemed to transfer the guilt of their hearing God’s Name profaned back to the person who caused it to happen.  (Does anything about this remind you of the scapegoat which is used at the time of The Day of Atonement?)

It took a lot of reading this passage for the significance to sink in with me.

At first I actually had thoughts of Shirley Jackson’s popular short story called “The Lottery.”

The playing out of this scene seemed to be the same except for one BIG element; the person who had committed the crime WAS guilty of cursing His Creator and The God of the Universe.

This was the God of the people that he was living and thriving among; even if he had been born to them from foreign blood; he had been welcomed, loved and accepted as he was.

He was cursing the very God who had sustained him and his fellow-sojourners while they were living in the wilderness.

He was NOT innocent, though the punishment seems harsh and very severe to today’s modern-standards of justice.

THE WONDERING QUESTIONS WE PONDERED

Of course one has to wonder if this guilty man had repented of this crime BEFORE judgment; would he have received the death penalty?

In the story called The Lottery the person IS innocent; they are someone just picked out of the crowd by the random drawing of lots and stoned as a sacrifice for the whole community.  They would be like the other goat on The Day of Atonement – not the scapegoat.

This man in the case we are discussing today was guilty of a crime punishable by death. Apparently; he had no remorse.

THE SERIOUS EMPHASIS PUT INTO HONORING THE NAME OF GOD

The Israelis took this commandment of not taking God’s Name in vain so seriously that ages and ages passed before anyone would write out any word resembling the sacred Name of God or speak of it publicly. This was strictly forbidden for fear of making a mistake and mispronouncing or misspelling.

The Holy Name of God was too sacred; too high, too awesome to put into human language and use commonly.

TWO EXTREMES

What a contrast we see here in comparison to today’s world where you can hardly get through a day without overhearing someone curse God or take His Name in vain. We even have billboards now that say “If you want to complain just please use someone else’s name! Signed; God.” This is not even a funny joke; there is absolutely no respect for the holy and the sacred; much less the MOST Holy and Most Sacred in today’s society and culture in general.

We have gone from one extreme to the other.

In those days though; unclean lips and unclean hands could not say or touch this Holy Name of God without severe consequences. They would substitute other words that had the same meaning; but were not THE sacred word.

This commandment was obviously VERY important and the fact that the judgment of this case was passed on to Moses made it stand out as a permanent example and the people paid careful attention to whatever happened next.

A precedent was set.

So in thinking through this whole, long, complicated scenario – I see some other patterns in the story that at first seem so foreign to every other passage of the bible. There is a total absence of  mercy, forgiveness and grace.  It all seems so cold, calculating and heartless, even though the person was obviously very guilty.

Yes, the final decision of Moses brought justice to something that should not have been happening; but it was just the fact that each person in the congregation was commanded to participate in the judgment and execution of the criminal. It felt like overkill. That seemed odd and uncalled for at first glance.

This would be comparable to the courts of today asking random citizens of our country to volunteer to flip the switch to the electric chair every time someone was given a death sentence from our courts.   Thinking a right judgement has been made and that the person is truly guilty is a whole lot easier than actually being the one to have to carry out the final act of justice after the final verdict has been proclaimed.

Who wants that job?

In the end of time as we know it; that will actually be the job of the innocent angels that will have to finish the final actions of the judgement day verdicts for those who have never confessed their sins or believed in the Name of God.  The bible tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is King.  At that point the hopelessly wicked will be just like this man who was stoned to death.  There will be no escape.

MAKING SENSE OF THIS STORY BEING INCLUDED WITH THE TWO PREVIOUS PASSAGES

I also had trouble deciding how this scene and the essence of this story could possibly tie in with the first two sections of the chapter that spoke of The Light of the Menorah and The Bread of The Presence.

What could these possibly have in common?

The first similar element I could see was the fact that in all three cases; the people brought and provided whatever was used in the rituals of worship.

The people of the congregation provided the crushed olive oil for the lamp.

They provided the crushed and sifted grain for the bread.

They provided the stones for the crushing out of the life of the one who had blasphemed the Holy Name of God.

I could see that each of these things did share the element of “crushing.”

WHAT WAS SYMBOLIC OF CHRIST?

Then I looked to see how each of these things might be symbolic of Jesus.

I could see Jesus in the light  and the bread, but what about the blasphemy?

Jesus would never have been guilty of blasphemy towards God; He represents the complete opposite of this.

He is the One who stands holy and perfect in the place of the one who is guilty and sinful.

Christ is the factor in the equation that allows mercy and love to achieve and even go beyond justice.

He was accused; but he was innocent.

Jesus was NOT guilty; which is just the opposite of this one in the story.

WHO IS THE BLASPHEMER?

So who is this blasphemer symbolic of?

It is us; you and me.

We all are this blasphemer; the foreign son who has come into a Hebraic inheritance and taken it for granted and slandered the hand of his help and salvation.

Each one of us humans that roam the earth are all as guilty as this one who blasphemed God; but Christ came and showed us another way.

Through Christ all of the love and mercy and forgiveness that was missing from the original picture in this story can be healed and made whole.

Transformation is now allowed to take place.

With the coming of Christ came our restoration.

This is the story that God was making clear here.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

With Christ will come the total restoration of the whole earth and the whole universe.

Why?

Because He is the One who would NEVER blaspheme the Name of God.

It is a total miracle.

We are the guilty blasphemers who have lived to see the other side of the story.

WE MUST CONTINUE TO PROTECT THE SACRED

The emphasis on the ritual observances of the wilderness tabernacle here was for the protection of the things that are sacred.

God’s people must not lose this sense of the sacred.

If we lose those sacred things; we lose our tools for communicating with our God.

One most sacred name, higher than any other name is God’s Name.  It is sacred.  It is The Name Above All Names.  We MUST keep it holy.

HOLY RITUALS MATTER

We tend to think of rituals as repetitive and meaningless duties.

However; the scriptures clearly give us numerous accounts of how ritual was used in a very beautiful and sacred and holy way to bring focus and meaning to people seeking God in holy worship.

Look at the patterns here.

See the role of the people in holy worship.

See how ritual brings this worship about.

DAILY, WEEKLY, ANNUALLY, CONTINUOUSLY FOR ALL GENERATIONS

The Lamp (Menorah) was to be tended daily, day-after-day, continuously. The people were to be continuously bringing the fuel of the olive oil to make the light from which to live and worship.

The Showbread was to be set out fresh every Sabbath; week-after-week, continuously. The people were to continuously bring the grain for making the bread that was consumed both for physical and spiritual nourishment week-after-week, Sabbath to Sabbath, like the bread from the tent of Sarah in the days of Abraham.

Sarah’s bread never grew old from Sabbath to Sabbath and the light from her Sabbath candles never grew dim from Sabbath to Sabbath.  God was telling this same story even back in the days of Abraham.  Now He is telling it through Moses; and eventually He will continue to tell it through you and me.

Acts of justice have continued to prevail among God’s people, year-after-year. The justice of God’s Kingdom is to continue to prevail from generation-to-generation; continuously. God’s Holy Name is inseparable from His character. God will judge anyone who takes His Name in vain. The continuous justice of God’s Kingdom expresses His total holiness.  This holiness cannot be defiled by blasphemy.

Any sin can be forgiven.  The key is you must ask for and accept the merciful sacrifice of the blood of Jesus in exchange for your death penalty.

The unforgivable sin is the sin of not asking.

The blasphemer in this story did not repent.  He did not show remorse.  His hard heart was unwilling to change and follow the ways of the law that God has set before the people.

This is the worst, most unforgivable sin brought about by blasphemy.  It is a sin we often bring upon ourselves.  Now is the time to repent.  Today is the day of salvation.  The Judgement is coming.  The answer is found in the love and mercy shown by Jesus Christ; the Light of the World, and God’s Holy Spirit which He sends (the olive oil) to help our lamps to glow and put forth new light.

OUR PART IN THE STORY

The whole nation of The Kingdom of God which Christ proclaims later is a holy nation started by the patterns given to ancient Israel which now calls all of God’s people to be set apart to honor and glorify His Holy Name forever.

We each have a part to play in the whole picture of God’s Kingdom.

Peter described The Kingdom of God as a Kingdom being made up of living stones in 1 Peter 2:5. He said: “You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

As Children of God we each have a part to play in the making of God’s Holy Nation and The Kingdom of Heaven.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STONES

It is interesting that the punishment of this sinner was in the form of throwing “rocks” or “stones.”

In the end we all will receive a white stone from heaven that contains our new name. This scripture is found in Revelation 2:17 and it says:  He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.  To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.”

 Our new names are to be used to defend The Holy Name of God. That name from God is who we are and that name  is what we are all about. Our new names must all come together like living stones to glorify His Holy Name.

When the nation of Israel issued punishment to this man who blasphemed the Name of God the pebble thrown by the first man did not phase him.  The next one did not either; but by the time 2.5 million people threw stones at him there would be no chance that he would ever commit blasphemy again.  Sometimes a nation has to stand together as a whole in order to accomplish their destiny in bringing about The Kingdom of God.  One day The Kingdom of God will wipe out all blasphemy against God and only the truth will stand forever.

We must not use these new names we receive in a shameful way.  They are our weapons against anyone or anything that blasphemes the righteousness and the Holy Name of Our Great God.  The enemy of God can’t steal this weapon away from us; because the enemy doesn’t even know of what is written on the stones; only God and the person receiving the stone will know what is written upon the white stones.  The passage speaks of the one receiving the stone as one who has been victorious; or one who has overcome.

It can be noted here that in the times of ancient Greece the jury members of the court would vote by casting a white stone or a black stone.  The white stone meant “acquittal” and a black stone signified a vote for “guilty.”

KEEPING ANCIENT RITUALS UNDER OUR NEW NAMES

We remember how to stay honorable and obedient and just by our routine rituals that honor God’s Name and give Him glory.  When we read of the acts of God it is clear to us that God appreciates appropriate rituals.  For example; the passage that speaks of God rewarding his servants with the white stones.  Ritual is not removed from the ways of God.  Through certain appropriate acts that are known as holy rituals we can honor God in a way that He has chosen and set as patterns for us to see and know from the times of the ancient Israelis in the wilderness tabernacle worship.

This should be happening in the present age of the church every day, every week, every year and continually throughout each generation of Christians making up The Kingdom of God until the return of Christ and then forever throughout eternity.

We must remember to pray and study the Word daily. This is represented by the Lamp that gives us The Light of Life. It is a daily ritual practice that should be going on with each of God’s children on this earth – continuously.

We must keep Sabbath and receive more of The Bread of Heaven (Christ) into our bodies and spirits weekly. The Bread reminds us of the sanctity of life and the sacredness of Our Holy God who gives us eternal life. It should always be a very special part of our Sabbath ritual.  From this ritual comes our nourishment and strength.

Every year we must defend the Holy Name of God by ridding the earth of the blasphemy of pagan practices and disrespect for The Name of God from our culture and society.  The practice of God’s Holy Days serves to remind us of this and keeps us focused on the right things of God’s Kingdom.

Intercessory prayers for forgiveness and mercy must be continuous among God’s people.

We must be constantly teaching and preaching all through each season of life with love, mercy and grace until the truth is made known to all people.  (2 Timothy 4:2)  We don’t always have to use words to do this.  Our actions speak for the desires of our hearts.

THE ROCK OF THE JUSTICE OF GOD

In the end (like a Rock) the justice of God will prevail and it is important that we make the saving love of Christ known to a dying world.  He is the ROCK; the chief cornerstone that the builder’s rejected.

Our praises and our worship must grow to the point of drowning out the disrespectful blasphemy and increasing the praise and worship and honor and glory of The Name of God.

As Christ-followers we must conform to the rhythm of the sacred and trust in the justice, mercy, love and goodness of our God to repair and restore the earth.

In this one tiny little chapter of Leviticus 24 God has AGAIN painted a picture of His eternal holiness, love, mercy and justice for all of us to see.

Like our Master; we must always be about our Father’s work!

If you enjoyed reading this article you might want to add your name to the mailing list for The IN SEASON Lifestyle Community. We can keep you posted by e-mail with all the latest happenings and events. Just fill out the form below: