RESPECT THE NAME OF THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

"Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.

Then the Lord said to Moses: "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death.

" 'If anyone takes the life of a human being, he must be put to death. Anyone who takes the life of someone's animal must make restitution—life for life. If anyone injures his neighbor, whatever he has done must be done to him: fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. As he has injured the other, so he is to be injured. Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a man must be put to death. You are to have the same law for the alien and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.' "

Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the LORD commanded Moses." Leviticus 24:10-23

Up to this point, the Lord has given the people of Israel a lot of instruction and as far as what is documented, the people seem to be living in obedience since the sinful golden calf at Mount Sinai for we don’t read of any incidents where someone has violated God’s expectations with the exception of Aaron’s two sons, Nadab and Abihu who failed to properly perform worship rituals in the tabernacle (Leviticus 10). You’ll recall that the Lord burned them to death as the penalty for their actions.

Well in Leviticus, Chapter 24, we see the first incident that involved someone in the Israelite camp and, of interest, the person wasn’t considered an Israelite because His father was Egyptian. Nonetheless, the man was residing in the Israelite community and scripture tells us a "fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite." During the altercation, the man of mixed lineage "blasphemed the Name with a curse" and was brought to Moses.

It’s unknown whether the man actually cursed as in saying a profanity that included God’s name or swore a curse on the Israelite in the name of God. It really isn’t important how the curse was communicated, it’s clear the man did curse using the name of the Lord in vain and as we see in this passage, the action carried with it the ultimate consequence: death.

For after the man had been in "custody until the will of the Lord" was delivered, the Lord gave Moses the judgment that was to fall on the offender. He was to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death. So Moses carried out God’s command and the man speaking "to the Israelites" before they "took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him" obeying what "the Lord commanded Moses."

Question: Do you watch how you use the name of the Lord? When you speak His name is it in ways that will glorify Him and show Him the honor He so deserves?

I hear people use His name all the time in ways I wouldn’t count as respectful. And I’m not just talking about the worst use…when one curses using God’s name.

Instead of someone saying Oh my goodness, I hear them substitute God’s name for goodness. Usually, it is an expression of disbelief in regard to either something that has happened or something that someone has done.

I hear people say the name of Jesus and it is in less than flattering terms. Usually, it is when something has gone wrong for them and they utter His name as if Jesus was accountable for what they or someone else did.

There are other expressions I could highlight but I think you get the point. We have gotten way too cavalier in our approach to using the Lord’s name. Let’s seek to think first about what we say before we say it. Let us always take a moment to pause and think if we are getting ready to use the Lord’s name and ensure we always treat it with the utmost respect and honor it deserves. For as we saw in this chapter, the Lord will not tolerate His name used inappropriately.

In Christ,

Mark

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