Leviticus 24
McGeeCHAPTER 24THEME: Olive oil for the golden lampstand; fine flour for the table of showbread; death penalty for the sin of blasphemyThis chapter seems to be out of place with what has gone before. The items in this chapter seem to be disconnected. The oil for the lampstand and the bread for the table do not seem to belong between the Feast of Tabernacles and the Sabbatic year. Nevertheless, this is the method the Holy Spirit uses on another occasion. In Num_8:1-4 there are the instructions for lighting the lights, and a brief description is inserted between the gifts of the princes and the cleansing of the Levites. I think it teaches that all is to be done in the light and leading of the Holy Spirit.
The same lesson is to be drawn here. The celebration of the feasts and the observances of the Sabbatic and Jubilee years must be performed in the light of the Holy Spirit and in the strength and power of Christ. That is very important. There are some practical implications which must not be overlooked. The people were to furnish the oil for the lampstand and the fine flour for the bread on the table. God made them participants in the provision and worship of the tabernacle. God, by some miracle, could have furnished the oil and the flour and the workmanship for the table and the lampstand. However, He wanted the people to participate. That is the way I feel about getting out the Word of God. In every local congregation there are ways for you to get involved in the work of the Lord. Just keep your eyes open and you will notice something to do. I remember when I was teaching a little Bible study to a Boy Scout troop. I doubt whether any one of those boys ever did a good deedthey almost put me in the hospital! I really had to be stern with them. A couple of men from the church came in one night and saw what a problem I had with those boys. So they volunteered their help. It was wonderful to have them sit with the boys while I taught the Bible study. All those who love the Word of God should get involved in getting the message to people. God says, “You bring the oil; you bring the flour.” The importance of the lampstand cannot be overlooked. It was probably the most accurate and beautiful picture of Christ in all the tabernacle. It was solid gold and beautifully wrought into seven branches of almond boughs from one main stem. Aaron had sole charge of the lights of the lampstand to keep them burning (Exo_30:7-8). It is important to see that today the lamps are in the hands of our Great High Priest. Jesus Christ has said that He is the Light of the world. Before He left, He told His own that they were to be the light of the world. Paul uses this same idea when he says, “…among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (Php_2:15). In Revelation 1 and 2, the Lord Jesus Christ as our Great High Priest walks in the midst of the lampstands today to keep us shining. He pours in the oil which is the filling with the Holy Spirit. He trims the wicks so that the light will burn brighter. He removes the light when it refuses to burnthis is the sin unto death which John mentions in his epistle. Therefore the insertion of the lampstand and the showbread in this section is not out of place. The second incident in the Book of Leviticus is found in this chapter: the son of an Israelitish mother and an Egyptian father blasphemed. This is another example of the problem and difficulty presented by the mixed multitude that came out of Egypt with Israel. They were problem children and troublemakers. They correspond to those in the church today who are torn between the world on one hand and serving God on the other.
Leviticus 24:1
OLIVE OIL FOR THE GOLDEN LAMPSTANDThe people of Israel were to furnish the olive oil, and since the seven lamps burned continually, both day and night, this was no small item. This gave each Israelite, as well as the tribe of Levi, an interest in the service of the tabernacle. The olive oil was to be pure, free from leaves and all impurities. It was not to be pressed out, but beaten out, to produce the very finest grade. The best was to be used, for the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit.
Leviticus 24:3
The lamps were to be kept lit continually while the tabernacle was set up. (Obviously, when they marched in the wilderness, they did not hold up lighted candlesticks.) And we note that Aaron alone controlled the use and the service of the lampstand. “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations” (Exo_30:7-8). The Lord Jesus Christ is walking in the midst of the lampstands today. He is our Great High Priest. He trims them every now and then as He moves into our hearts and lives. Sometimes He must snuff out a light that is giving off smoke instead of light.
Leviticus 24:5
FINE FLOUR FOR THE TABLE OF SHOWBREADThe fine flour was to be furnished by the people, as was the olive oil. As the oil speaks of the Holy Spirit, so the bread speaks of Christ. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (Joh_6:35). Fine flour means it was of wheat. The frankincense was a natural gum to be a gift from the people. The bread speaks of Christ, and the frankincense speaks of the wonderful fragrance of His humanity.
Leviticus 24:8
The bread would stay on the table for a week. It was to be changed on the Sabbath, and the old bread was to be eaten by Aaron and his sonsand always in the Holy Place. When David and his men were in desperate need, Ahimelech gave him some of the showbread to eat (1Sa_21:4-6). Our Lord calls attention to this when they criticized His disciples for eating grain on the Sabbath Day (Mat_12:3-4). The bread and the light speak of Christ. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Joh_6:51). “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Joh_8:12). We must feed on Him if we are to serve Him. And anything we do for Him must be done in His light through the Holy Spirit.
Leviticus 24:10
DEATH PENALTY FOR THE SIN OF BLASPHEMYThere are only two incidents or episodes recorded in the Book of Leviticus. One is the incident of Nadab and Abihu back in Leviticus 10, and now we come to this incident. It seems entirely out of keeping with the instructions given here, but we need to recognize the fact that God is teaching a great lesson concerning blasphemy. This boy who did the blaspheming is of a mixed racehis mother was of the tribe of Dan and his father was an Egyptian. There was a mixed multitude that went out of Egypt along with the children of Israel (Exo_12:38). We are going to see that this group started trouble in the camp; they would murmur and cause strife. “And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a-lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?” (Num_11:4). We can see why these would be problem children, troublemakers. When the day came for the children of Israel to leave the land of Egypt and go out into the Promised Land, the Egyptian father would stay in Egypt and the Israelitish mother would go. There is a separation right there. This is one of the reasons that God told His people then (and He tells us now) that there should not be intermarriage between a believer and an unbeliever. This does not have anything to do with race. It is wrong for a believer to marry an unbeliever regardless of the color of the skin. Even though both are the same color, it is still wrong for a believer to marry an unbeliever. God says that. I would never have known it is wrong if God hadn’t said it. This boy has a problem. He must make a decision whether to go the way of the father or the way of the mother. The problem is that the decision is never really made. Sure, he made an initial decision, but then in his mind the question would always reappear, I wonder if I should have done the other thing and stayed with Dad. This mixed multitude has an eternal question mark before them. It was a hard decision to leave Egypt in the first place. Then their thoughts constantly go back to Egypt, and when the going gets rough, they are the first to complain. Now, friends, we have those same people in the church today. There is the unsaved person in the church who wants one foot in the church, but he has the other foot out in the world. They are the troublemakers. It has always made me wonder whether the troublemaker is really a saved person. I cannot understand a really born-again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ trying to block the giving out of the Word of God. The greatest opposition I have had to my radio broadcast that gives out the Word of God has not come from those outside the church; it has been the church members who have tried to wreck this radio program.
I was never so shocked in my life. One would expect them to say, “Brother, God bless you. I hope you can get the Word of God out to people.” No, my friend, they didn’t want to have any part in it. Now this boy got into a fight. We can easily understand how that could come about. He did not have a place in the tribe of Dan, but was a hanger-on who had access to the camp of Israel. After he got into the fight, he blasphemed the name of God. He cursed the name of the Lord, that name which was so sacred in Israel that it was not even voiced. It evidently was the Hebrew tetragrammaton YHWH. There is even a question today about how to pronounce the name of the Lord. Is it Jehovah or Jahweh? The name is so holy that the Israelites did not even pronounce it, but this blasphemer could pronounce it! I was invited to a private club by one of the members, and we had lunch there. A man at the table next to us used the name of God more than I have ever used it in any sermon. But He didn’t use it like I use it in a sermon! He was blaspheming. And God feels no differently about him than He did about this boy in Leviticus.
Leviticus 24:13
God handed down His verdict of guilty, and the penalty was death by stoning. The seriousness of the crime is measured by the penalty which God inflicted. All who heard the blasphemy must place their hands on his head, denoting a placing of guilt solely on the young man. The death penalty is required for blaspheming God, and it is established that the penalty shall be paid by both the Israelite and the stranger.
Leviticus 24:17
We have developed some soft notions. The penalty for murdering a man is stated right here. War protesters like to print “Thou shalt not kill” on their banners. I am still waiting to see a banner that says “He that killeth any man shall surely be put to death.” There was established here what is known as lex talionis, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was the penalty which was inflicted literally. One law applied to both the Israelite and the stranger.
Leviticus 24:23
There is a great moral lesson here. The name of our God is sacred and must be protected. Blasphemy is a crime of the deepest hue. Also, human life is sacred and must be protected. God provides also for the protection of personal property. God is righteous in all His dealings. We, too, are guilty before God"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." But Christ has borne our sentence of death. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa_53:4-6).