Leviticus 24:1-23
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.
3 Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations.
4 He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.
5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake.
6 And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD.
7 And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.
8 Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.
9 And it shall be Aaron's and his sons'; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute.
10 And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp;
11 And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:)
12 And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them.
13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.
17 And he that killetha any man shall surely be put to death.
18 And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast.
19 And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;
20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.
21 And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death.
22 Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God.
23 And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Leviticus 24:2. Cause the lamps to burn continually. The heathens also had lamps in their temples. In France it is amusing to see a dim light glimmering through the church windows; and truly it is hardly decent to leave such good company as Mary and Peter without a candle.
Leviticus 24:10. Whose father was an Egyptian. Exodus 12:38. We read that a mixed multitude emigrated from Egypt with the Israelites, and left the yoke of their oppressors behind. These mixed marriages produced an ill- educated race.
Leviticus 24:11. Blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. It is supposed, after the affair was decided by the magistrates, and according to the law of God, that the man cursed the Lord. Hence it was the foulest of blasphemy. Others suppose that he merely invoked the curse of God to alight on his opponent.
Leviticus 24:14. Lay their hands upon his head. This most solemn ceremony was in fact an appeal to God and man, that the evidence was true; and an invocation, if not true, that the guilt and punishment might recoil on their own heads. It was also a transfer of the guilt on the head of the guilty, and the witnesses cleared themselves and the country of blasphemy against the Lord. The paucity of these punishments teaches princes to mitigate the just severity of the laws. But instead of this, we let all blasphemy go unpunished.
Leviticus 24:20. Breach for breach. This is also a gentile law, called among the Romans, Lex talionis.
REFLECTIONS.
The God of light and love, in whom is no darkness, would not suffer his sacred pavilion to be a dark and gloomy habitation, but always illuminated and joyful with the light or fire which fell from heaven, burning on the candlestick. Hereby it was made a figure of heaven, where the Lord God and the Lamb are the light of the place: and of the light of the gospel, whereby he illuminates a dark and benighted world. Christian churches are peculiarly God's ever-burning lights, reflecting the glory of his righteousness and truth. The people being here anew commanded to supply the oil, and Aaron to keep the lamps burning, may teach us that the people should most willingly supply whatever is wanting to the cause of God; and that ministers so encouraged should constantly display the light of truth and a good example, to the glory of God and the joy of his people.
In civil society sins and calamities daily occur, and it is the object of discipline and of law to eradicate them whenever they appear. Having had frequent occasion to notice marriages with irreligious persons, here is another sad case, arising probably from a bad education. The Egyptian father of the blasphemer had habituated the ears of his unhappy son to licentious language, which led him to destruction in the day of provocation: and how can children be properly educated when the head of the house is an alien from God?
The contention of the above men seems to have occasioned a repetition of the law respecting murder and retaliation. How many in this age, who kill their neighbour with murderous usage, when they have an advantage in private battle, escape with a verdict of manslaughter! It would be wise in juries to consult the safety of their own conscience, as well as the preservation of a murderer: for God will revise the decision of human courts. Let young men learn to avoid the children of anger and strife; many being thereby hurried into a vortex of mischief and destruction, which they little suspected in the earlier stages of vice. Above all, let them abhor and detest the diabolical language of blasphemous men. To invoke the curse of God to descend on a brother, is all that a fiend could do: and how is a wretch of this description capable of sustaining the relation of friendship with his neighbour. His looks and language are a terror to the wise and good.