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.
CONTINUAL LIGHT (vv. 1-4)
Here Moses is told to command the children of Israel that they bring pure olive oil for the seven lamps, never allowing the supply of oil to lapse, so that the lamps would burn continually (vv. 1-2). For the light from these was to light up the lampstand itself. In the holy place the light was always to shine upon Him who is the Sustainer of the light, the Lord Jesus. The light speaks of testimony, and Christ is always the Object of all testimony for God. The light is maintained by the constant supply of the oil (the Spirit of God), while the wicks are there, not to be displayed, but to burn, just as believers are to burn for the Lord, not to display themselves. In fact, the wicks must be often trimmed so that the light might burn brightly, a reminder of the self-judgment that we find constantly necessary. The more brightly the light shines, the less we shall see of the wick. If the wick has not been trimmed, this will draw one's attention more to the wick than to the light, and the smell of the wick will draw attention too!
The light does not speak of a publicly declared testimony, as the trumpets do, but rather of the constant testimony of our daily conduct, which we are not to allow to lapse. It was also priestly work to trim the lamps (vv. 3-4). just as the Lord Jesus deals with us to produce self-judgment, which will be spontaneous if we ourselves practice our proper priestly functions. That is, we shall fully cooperate with Him in this necessary work.
CONTINUAL COMMUNION (vv. 5-9)
The priests also were in charge of keeping the table furnished with bread. The table pictures Christ as the Sustainer of fellowship or communion, and the twelve loaves of bread, changed every week, while symbolizing the twelve tribes of Israel, are at the same time significant of all the saints of God today, all privileged to enjoy the fellowship of the Father and the Son in unity.
Is this fellowship only occasional? By no means. Fresh bread was to be arranged on the table every Sabbath day (v. 8). Thus, our fellowship with God and with His saints is to be continual, never allowed to become stale. Just as the priests were responsible for this, so, if we are functioning as priests, we shall always be in communion with the Lord.
The bread was placed in two rows, six in a row (v. 6), for fellowship is necessarily between two parties. Frankincense was also to be put on the loaves (v. 7). Frankincense means whiteness. It speaks of the Lord Jesus in the perfect purity of His humanity, which will impart proper, godly character to our communion.
When replaced, the bread that was removed each Sabbath day was then to be eaten by Aaron and his sons. It was not for all Israel, but for the priestly family. Today, all believers are priests (1 Peter 2:5), so that they are identified with Christ. our Great High Priest in communion together, enjoying that which reminds us of Himself and His great work of sacrifice and suffering for our sake. For one week the bread was to be displayed, but not eaten. This display was the testimony of what true fellowship is, though not the actual partaking. But at the end of the week the priests were to eat it, thus figuratively in a practical way entering into the blessedness of communion with God through His beloved Son. We today may learn in God's word what is the meaning of fellowship, but we need also to feast on Christ Himself, the bread of life.
CONTRADICTION OF SINNERS AGAINST GOD (vv. 10-23)
Following the verses that have spoken of the pure light and pure fellowship of the sanctuary, a shocking contrast meets us in this section. A fight takes place between two men, and one of them (whose mother was an Israelite, but his father Egyptian) blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed (vv. 10-11). Though Israel has not even realized it, this is just what the nation has done when they rejected the Lord Jesus. They blasphemed and insulted the Son of God. Though the priests in Israel had a favored place in the temple of God, as verses 1-9 have shown, yet they showed utter contempt for the Lord of that temple when He came among them. (Luke 22:63).
The offending man was put in custody, for there was to be calm deliberation as regards judgment of the case. Then the Lord told Moses to take him outside the camp, where the witnesses were to lay their hands on his head, as bearing witness to what had been done. Then all the congregation was called upon to stone him to death (v. 14). This was solemn, humiliating work, but the law was absolute. Being under law, there was no alternative. Though today, under grace, no such sentences are to be carried out, yet we must not think that the evil is any less serious than at that time. Of course, God hates the evil just as He did then, but He now patiently bears with it until the time of judgment will come.
The Lord however gives plain orders that anyone who blasphemed the name of the Lord must be put to death (vv. 15-16). At the same time He adds to this other serious judgments. A murderer was to be also put to death. Israel became guilty of this also in their murder of the Lord Jesus.
If one killed an animal belonging to another, he must make this good by giving him an animal of the same value. If one harmed another physically, he was to receive the same treatment himself, “fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth” (vv. 19-20). This is righteous law pure and simple, justice without mercy. For a second time it is insisted that an animal killed required restitution, but the killing of a human called for the death penalty (v. 21). Of course animals were killed in sacrifice, but these were the property of the offerer.
Any stranger who lived among the Israelites was subject to the same law as all others (v. 22). This would surely remind us that any stranger who comes to partake of the privileges of fellowship in any assembly is thereby subject to the same discipline as all others.
Verse 23 tells us that the sentence of death was carried out in the case of the man who had blasphemed the name of the Lord. The people stoned him to death as God had commanded.