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2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Wednesday in the Word

Second Baptist Church

May 29, 2019

Leviticus 24:1-23

  1. Verses 1-4. The lamps in the tabernacle, standing on the solid gold lampstand, were the only source of light for the tabernacle. They had to be tended to continually, supplied with pure olive oil and trimmed wicks, so they would continually give light. The lamps are a picture of Christ who light forever shines. Jesus never stopped being the light of the world (John 8:12); He never took a break from it. As well, we are never to take a break from being the light of the world (Matthew 5:14), but we can only do this as we are continually supplied with oil (the Holy Spirit) and have our wicks trimmed (undergo training through trials).

  2. Verses 5-9. This bread of the tabernacle speaks of fellowship and communion with God - a symbolic "breaking bread" with God, and speaks of the continual fellowship God wanted with Israel. This bread is called showbread in Exodus 25:30, which literally means bread of the face in the sense of it being eaten in the presence or before the face of God. Significantly, God wanted the fellowship fresh. He didn‘t want a stale communion with His people, but a fresh, new relationship.

  3. Verses 10-12. The crime of the Egyptian blasphemer. The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: This man, half Egyptian and half Hebrew, was part of the mixed multitude (Exodus 12:38) that went with Israel out of Egypt. He committed the crime of blasphemy, which is to attack someone - especially God - with your words. It is somewhat like the modern idea of "verbal abuse," but usually directed at God. It seems that it was common for Egyptians to curse their many gods. The root of this man's sin is he considers the LORD God of Israel on the same level as the petty Egyptian gods.

  4. Verses 13-16. The penalty for the Egyptian blasphemer. In accord with the principle of Deuteronomy 17:6-7. Two or three of the witnesses publicly laid hands on the accused, as a sure testimony to his guilt - and so the accused would know his accuser. And let all the congregation stone him: God commanded execution by stoning for several reasons. First, stones were and are plentiful in Israel, so it was a ready means of execution. As well, it was so that the community could participate in the execution, for both a deterrent and a means of proclaiming, "This man has not only sinned against God, he has sinned against the community." Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death: To keep themselves from blaspheming the name of the LORD, the Jews, in their traditions, went to extreme lengths to avoid saying or writing the name of God - because, in their thinking, you could not blaspheme God's name if you never said it. So, only the High Priest was allowed to pronounce the holy name of God (Yahweh), and only once a year - on the Day of Atonement. The proper pronunciation of the name would be passed on from the high priest to his successor, with the former’s last breath. This is why there was confusion for many years about the exact pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), some mistakenly pronouncing the name "Jehovah" instead of "Yahweh" or "Yah-veh." The Jews also did not write the name of God, because if that paper were destroyed, it might be considered blasphemy or taking the name of the LORD in vain. So, they would write Adonai ("Lord") instead of Yahweh, and instead of "God" write “G-d" and refer to God with names like “the Name" instead of saying "God."

  5. Verses 17-22. Provisions for law and order. Whoever kills any man shall surely be put to death: In the context of giving the penalty for the Egyptian blasphemer, God stated a fundamental principle of His justice - crimes must be punished, but in proportion appropriate to the crime. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: Many people have taken eye for eye, tooth for tooth as a command; instead, God intended it as a limit - so no man or judge would be able to make up his own punishment. Human nature wants to hurt our attacker worse than they hurt us; God here puts a limit on the vengeful tendency of man. Jesus rightly condemned the taking of this command regarding law and order in the community and applying it to personal relationships, where love, forgiveness, and going the extra mile - not equal retribution - is to be the rule (Matthew 5:38-42).

  6. Verse 23. The execution of the Egyptian blasphemer. They took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones: This verse is important. It demonstrates to us that the law of God was not given to Israel for interesting facts or mere guidelines; God expected them to obey it. Here, they obey even when it is difficult.

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