Oil, Bread or blasphemy (Lev 24 note)

Oil, Bread or blasphemy

Lev 24:1-23

Key verse 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually.

8 This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant.
15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible

Introduction: Ch 23 is about the appointed festivals to the LORD. That is how Israel had to honor the LORD for a year. It focused on two things, time to present before the LORD and sacrifices that Israel must present to the LORD. We may simplify it to say that how His people must honor the LORD for each year. Ch 25 is about Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee. This focuses on time. If Ch 23 is the time now, the current year, Ch 25 is about a future time, the seventh and fiftieth year. It is about how his people think and look forward to the time coming, the future. So, it pertains to what we have in our hearts toward the future. That is faith in regard to the future.  Strangely in between these two chapters is something about what should happen in the holy place on Sabbath and this is appended with an issue of blasphemy, which looks totally related neither to what should happen in the sanctuary (the holy place) nor Ch 23 or Ch. 25.  

The holy place (sanctuary) is the place where the key activities for the honor that Israel gives to the LORD is taking place. First, it is about what happens or what should happen on Sabbath, the foundational time of men’s appointment with the LORD (Ch 23 and CH 25).  Second, it talks about two things, oil, and bread. These are the key activities that Israelite along with a high priest must do to honor the LORD. Third, if what Israel and the high priest do jointly in full honor to the LORD, then their hearts were accepted by the LORD. On the other hand, blasphemy, whether it happens any place or any occasion, stands squarely against that honor to the LORD.   In other words, this chapter focuses on how Israel can honor the LORD day by day, which shall be the foundational activity for the appointed time of a year (CH 23) and for the hope for the future appointed time with the LORD (CH 25)

1.       [1-4] How was the tending the lamp to begin (1-2)? When, where, and who was to tend the lamp? With what and how (1-4)? In what aspect, does this command share a common theme with the commands on the appointed festivals?

The LORD commanded Israel to bring clear oil of the pressed olives. This was how to begin the light up the lamp in the holy place. Also, they had to bring the oil day after day and year after year because the lamp must be lighted up continually. The oil must be clear, and free of any other particles or debris of the flesh of olive itself.   

When Aaron received the oil, he was to tend the lamp. It is outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting. Though they all knew where the lamp was, the location was specified to put an emphasis on where he was to serve the LORD with this oil. It was the Holy place, outside the curtain that blocked entry to the Most Holy Place. This points to the fact that the first place to enter with what the people of Israel offered, the oil, was the holy place and it was to light the lamp (Exo 27:21).  This must be preceded before getting the access to the Most Holy place, inside of the curtain where the ark of the LORD was and where the high priest would meet the LORD with the blood of the lamb once a year. The light must be up from evening till morning. That is to say that Aaron must tend the light in the evening and the next morning, twice a day. The priests were to make sure that the lamps were constantly trimmed and kept burning (cf. 1 Sa 3:3).

2.       [5-9] How and when was the bread of presence to be made and presented before the LORD (5-6)? What was to be added on and why (7)? When should this be done (8)? What did they do with the old one (9a)? Why (9b)    

The second item that Israel had to bring to the LORD was the finest flour to make bread. One estimated that two-tenths of an ephah is about 3.5 lb and this makes quite a large bread of twelve loaves. These twelve loaves were placed on the table of the Presence in two stacks of six loaves, representing the twelve tribes of Israel.

On the top of each pile of bread loaves, frankincense placed and this portion was taken as the memorial portion to be burned like grain (מִנְחָה minhah) offering (Lev 2:2).  The original meaning of the word ‘מִנְחָה minhah’ is ‘presents, gift, or veneration’; an expression of one’s total allegiance or loyalty to the LORD.

This bread was replaced with new loaves on every Sabbath day.  This old bread was the holiest part of the priests’ share of the food offerings and must be eaten by the high priest (Lev. 10:12).  

First, the pure oil and the finest flour are both from the agricultural product, the basic sustenance for life. Out of this basic substance for life, the bests, the oil, and finest flour-bread must be given to the LORD as their full-hearted commitment to the LORD. One for the light and one for living.  The oil is for the light and symbolizes the spirit, while the bread was to support the life of the body. By offering and presenting these two, Israel must show their full commitment/loyalty to the Lord, daily by the oil, and weekly by bread.

Second, the high priest must consume the old bread that was taken from the Table of Presence right there within the holy place (10:12) for this was the most holy part of the priest’s share of the food offerings. The top portion was sacrificed as a burnt offering while the rest was eaten by the high priest. All these tell us that the high priest had fellowship with the LORD, weekly through sharing the rest of the loaves while the top portion was given to the LORD as the burnt offering.

In these activities (cultic rituals) lives the hope for the light of life while maintaining/sharing the relationship with the LORD. In this regard, these are the foundational life in the LORD that must be carried on throughout the year, to keep up with the LORD’s appointed festivals (Ch 23) and then to the Sabbath year, and then to the year of Jubilee (Ch 25).   

3.       [10-16] Who blasphemed the Name (10-12)? When? What did the Lord tell Israelites to do (13-14)?  On what principle (15-16; 21-22)?

The word, ‘now’ makes a connection with the previous paragraph. It could be translated ‘and’, but’, or ‘then’. Though v1-9 is stated as teaching in principle, this was taken as actual life happening; that is to say that this event (10-16) happened while the activities were going on in the holy place. V10-16 is a historical narrative and serves as the teaching tool for how to implement the Law. One of the best examples is Ch. 10 (Aaron’s two sons’ unauthorized fire caused them to death; this was followed by God’s teaching on what should be done in the holy place).

V1-9 is what happened in the holy place. V10-16 is what happened in the Israel community. Though one is totally unrelated to the other, they were connected by concurrence, in the matter of honoring the LORD.

A son born of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites. While fining, the son uttered a word of blasphemy of the name. Where and what setting this happened is in the phrase ‘among the disciples’, meaning that it happened in the Israel community.

As it was brought to Moses’ attention, he asked the LORD and He answered, v14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him.”  The son violated the third Commandments. While the two witnesses laying their hands on this boy, he must be stoned to death at outside of the camp. All Israel must join in condemning this son to death.

This son dishonored the name of the LORD, while the entire community was honoring the LORD by offering pure oil and fine flour to present by the high priest. Even by just word of blasphemy, we know that there was no honor to the LORD in the heart of this son. No one who dishonors the LORD shall be in His blessed community. He must be purged and this is to restore His honor and the other side of what the high priest was doing in the holy place.   

d a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite

4.       [17-23] What did the LORD begin to talk about (17)? What commanding principle did the LORD lay down concerning injuring others (18-21)? To whom shall it be applied (22)?  Discuss how this is related to the sentencing and execution of the blasphemer.

a.       17 “ ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution—life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.’ ”

Through this occasion, the LORD taught when the life of a human being can be taken away. There is only one occasion when a human being must be put to death. That is when one takes the life of another man. Behind this is the one principle; life for life.

If one kills an animal of another man, he cannot be killed. If one injured another man, he shall not pay his life for injuring others. The LORD laid a principle concerning the life of a man: one can do to others only as much as the others have done to him. This applies not just to Israelites but also for the foreigners. This means that this principle applies to the whole humanity. It seems that the rule serves as the foundation of the Ten Commandments.  

Then why suddenly did the LORD talk about killing the life of a man after blasphemy? How was this principle applicable to the death penalty delivered to the blasphemer?

It seems that this teaching was relevant in two ways. First, blasphemy of the LORD’s name, though it might be trivial as a joke, commensurate to killing because he defamed the name of the LORD, and by doing so, he took away the authority of the LORD for life. In other words, by blaspheming, he takes away the source of life, the LORD, from others. Second, if the witnesses do this in falsehood, and let the man’s life taken away, then their lives will be taken away for innocent killing.

What does this mean? Life must be protected and honored at all costs. The source of life, the LORD must be honored at all costs. The implication is that if we dishonor the LORD before the unbelievers, it is as good as taking the life away from them, measuring up to murder!   Honor the LORD of life and that is the way to support the lives of others (Mt. 5:38–42; cf. Rom. 12:17–21). 

5.       Discuss how can we honor the LORD in worship and in life.  

The oil and bread come from the ground. It is God-given because God sends the rain and provided the sun to supply the sustenance for our lives on the earth. We are to give the best of what God gives us, they are oil and flour/bread. As this is to be done every week, we are to serve the LORD daily and weekly, for life. In other words, we show our allegiance to the LORD by these two offerings for life.  As we serve the LORD with these two, we have a hope to see the light of life and the LORD opens and sustains His relationship with His chosen.

But the relationship that Israel had in the holy place somewhat less than that of the high priest when he entered into the Most Holy place with the blood of a lamb, which is within the sphere that is protected by Cherubim. When Jesus died, the curtain that separated the holy from the Most Holy place was torn.  In this way, the Most Holy place on earth became obsolete. But Jesus opened for us to the Most Holy place in heaven as he took his blood and entered onto that sanctuary. While we are living in our mortal body, by offering these two we keep our relationship with the LORD in which we have the light of life and God’s affirmation that He is our LORD and we are His children. It is meaningful that out of the 12 loaves of bread, the top part along with frankincense was given as a burnt offering to the LORD while the rest was eaten by the priest. Likewise, Jesus gave his body on the cross and the LORD took as a ransom on behalf of us. At the same time, we are told to eat his flesh. As far as our flesh is concerned, we are living in the Holy place, while having hope to enter the Most Holy place with the blood of the lamb. The tension between these two is pictured in this passage. We are very close to Him and yet not with Him. Until we meet Him, we honor the LORD with all our lives by offering what God gave us.