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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
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
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Up to this point in the Book of Leviticus, the Lord has given the people of Israel a lot of instruction and as far as what is documented, the people seem to have been living in obedience since the sinful golden calf at Mount Sinai for we don’t read of any incidents where someone had 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 sinful 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 really an Israelite because His father was Egyptian. Nonetheless, the man was residing within the Israelite community and the scriptures tells us that a "fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite." During the altercation, the man of mixed lineage "blasphemed the Name (God) with a curse" and was brought to Moses.
Now, 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. Either way, it really isn’t as important how the curse was communicated, but that it was, no matter the form. Because the Lord sees everything, it’s clear the man did do what he was accused of and, as we see in this passage, the action carried with it the ultimate consequence: death.
For after the man was held in "custody until the will of the Lord" was delivered, we find God rendering His verdict. The offender was to be taken outside the camp and stoned to death.
And so Moses carried out the Lord’s judgment, speaking "to the Israelites" before they "took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him" in obedience to what "the Lord commanded Moses."
All this got me thinking about the way people talk today, too often without a filter. Think about it and ask yourself this:
How often do we hear people using the name of the Lord in vain each and every day?
If we’re honest, the answer should be an utter embarrassment regarding how often our God Almighty is so readily dishonored and disrespected on a regular basis. Perhaps if people would know Him and His Word, including the passage we are studying today, they would think long and hard before ever cursing or wishing a curse in the name of the Lord.
It’s time to be more intentional about the way we talk and even think, making sure we are always using words that give God the honor and respect that He deserves. Otherwise, we, like the man in Leviticus 24, may end up being the object of the Lord’s judgment, a place no one should ever want to be.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
