LEVITICUS 24

I.   Verse 1-9 - A repeat of the laws concerning the oil for the lamps  and the shewbread.

A.     Verse 1-4 - The oil for the lamp.

1.       Pure - Because it represents the pure Holy Spirit that  always shines before Israel.

2.       Beaten - Shows the suffering of the Holy Spirit as He  deals with sinful mankind.

3.       NOTE: - The people bring the oil that causes the lamps  to burn continually.  Some people expect the Holy  Spirit to lead them, but they never try to find out  where He wants them to go.  We must learn to walk by  faith, letting the Holy Spirit lead us wherever God  wants us to go.

4.       Verse 3 - Gives the location of the lamps as to outside  the Most Holy Place and inside the Holy Place.

5.       Aaron shall order it.  It is the duty of the pastor to  lead the churches to true worship.  But all they can do  is order it, the people must accomplish it.

6.       Morning and Evening - It must be a continual daily  task.  Serving the Lord must be done at least morning  and evening.  It is impossible to serve the Lord  acceptably only once each Sunday morning.  The entire  congregation must give themselves to the Lord's work  every day if we are to see the blessings of the Lord.

B.     Verse 5-9 - The bread for the Table of Shewbread.

1.       Fine flour - Use the best, for god gave His best.

2.       Bake twelve cakes - one for every tribe of Israel.

3.       Unleavened - there shall no leaven be taken into the  tabernacle.  Leaven is always a type of sin.

4.       Placement - There are two rows of cakes.  These rows  are stacks or piles of cakes.  Each row has six cakes,  one upon the top of the other.

5.       Frankincense - A sweet smell, typifying the life of  Christ.  This ought to typify our life as Christ lives  in us.  The sweetness of the life of Christ should be  upon each Israelite tribe.

6.       Replaced every sabbath - Every seven days - If  unleavened bread does not spoil, why should it be  replaced?  Because we need our dedication to the Lord  renewed about every seven days. (In our case, it's on  Sundays.)

7.       Eaten by Aaron and his sons - It is such a blessing to  Spiritual leaders to know that their people come  together to worship each week.

II.   Verse 10-23 - The story of God's judgment upon sinners.  Divided  into three parts: (1)  Verse 10-12 - The situation that brought on the judgment. (2)  Verse 13-22 - The mind of God concerning the sin, and (3)  Verse 23 - The carrying out of God's sentence.

A.     Verse 10-12 - The situation that brought on the judgment.

1.       An interfaith marriage between an Israelite and an  Egyptian.  Some people don't think these marriages  hurt, but they are the reason for the flood in Noah's  day and the cause of many heartaches to the people  involved.  The children are the ones who are caught in  the middle.  They are the ones who eventually pay the  highest price.

2.       The half-breed fought with a full-blood Israelite.      There is no record of what caused the quarrel, but  evidently the quarrel became very heated.

3.       The half-breed (1) blasphemed and (2) cursed.

a.      Blasphemed - the name of the Lord.  "of the Lord"  is added by the King James translators.  So he  actually blasphemed the name -- the authority,  power, or right.  It appears the dispute is over  the right or authority of the Lord to govern  Israel, or in particular to exercise any authority  over him as an individual. To blaspheme is to attribute the works of God  to the Devil.  Matt. 12:22-32, the Pharisees  saying Christ cast out devils by the prince of the  devils, Beelzebub.  Christ rebuked them, warning  them they were in danger of blaspheming the Holy  Ghost, from which there is no forgiveness. He is speaking against the "way" God does  things. We call this the "unpardonable sin", but the  Bible calls it "Blasphemy against the Holy  Spirit". The "Unpardonable sin" is not rejecting  Christ as personal saviour.  A person does not go  to hell because they reject Jesus as their Saviour.            They go to hell because they are sinners.  Is it  not true that people that never hear the gospel  will die and go to hell?  Isn't this why we preach  the gospel?  So they will hear about Christ and be  saved and not have to go to hell? The question, "What sin causes a person to go  to hell?" is a bad question.  They go to hell  because they are sinners.

b.      Cursed - No doubt took the name of our Lord in  vain.

4.       They brought him to Moses and Moses put him in ward  (jail) because he wanted to find out exactly what God  would have him do.  It's always wise to find out what  God wants us to do before we do something and later  regret it.  This is especially true when we deal with  other people.

5.       His mother's name is Shelomith, but it doesn't give his  fathers name or the name of the son.  This is probably  because the father and the son are lost, but the mother  is saved.  This kind of marriage will always bring  grief.

B.     Verse 13-22 - The mind of God concerning the sin.

1.       Bring him out of the camp.  His sin has separated him  from the people of Israel.  He shall have no part with  them.  Christ was crucified outside the camp of Israel  because sin causes a separation from the people of God.

2.       All that heard him blaspheme and curse shall lay their  hands on him -- This is to remove the blame from the  onlookers and place it on the head of the guilty party.      His blood shall be on his own head, Israel shall not  bear the iniquity of his sin.

3.       All the congregation shall stone him.  As a nation,  they have the civil responsibility to carry out God's  commands.  The church of the Lord Jesus Christ does not  have this authority, it is given to the government of  our nation. This would certainly put a remembrance upon the  minds of all the people engaged in stoning the man.      They would see with their own eyes what happens to  those guilty of such things and take the more warning  of their future if they do the same.

4.       There are some other laws God desires to re-enforce at  this time:

a.      Verse 15,16 - If a stranger or Israelite  blasphemeth or curses God, he shall bear his own  sin and all the congregation shall stone him.

b.      Verse 17 - A murderer shall die.

c.      Verse 18 - A person who kills an animal shall  restore it.

d.      Verse 19,20 - An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a  tooth.  Not in a spirit of vengeance or self- righteousness, but with a spirit of protecting the  nation of Israel.

e.      Verse 22 - One law for the stranger and a citizen.

C.     Verse 23 - The carrying out of God's judgment.  This was  done exactly as God commanded in verses 13,14.