GIVE ME OIL IN MY LAMP
Opening Prayer
Thank you, Gracious God, that I can always enter into your presence freely, knowing that I am welcome.
Read LEVITICUS 24
Olive Oil and Bread Set Before the Lord
24 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. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the Lord from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord must be tended continually.
5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah[a] for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the Lord. 7 By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial[b] portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the Lord. 8 This bread is to be set out before the Lord regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the Lord.”
A Blasphemer Put to Death
10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.
13 Then the Lord said to Moses: 14 “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. 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the Lord is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.
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 eye, tooth for 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.’”
23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Footnotes
- Leviticus 24:5 That is, probably about 7 pounds or about 3.2 kilograms
- Leviticus 24:7 Or representative
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What are the ways you find most meaningful to express praise to God?After details of the annual festivals came instructions for the ongoing maintenance of the Holy Place. It was a reminder that the maintenance of regular worship was as important as the great celebrations. While the Most Holy Place—containing the ark of the covenant was visited by the High Priest only once a year, priests entered the Holy Place to burn incense each morning and evening (v. 7).
The Holy Place also contained a gold-covered table and a golden lampstand on which there were seven lamps (see Exodus 25:23–40). Olive oil was used to fuel the lamps (which provided the only light in the Holy Place), and the lamps burned continually (v. 2). On the table were 12 loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel; these were replaced weekly (vv. 5, 8). The life of faith could not be sustained only by occasional celebrations, but by regular refreshment.
Guidance was sought from the Lord about a particular case of blasphemy; the commandment (Exodus 20:7) did not prescribe a punishment. Today, we live in different times. Is there a danger of us becoming inured to the casual misuse of the Lord’s name? If ‘an eye for an eye’ seems harsh, we must remember that it gave a limit to punishment. And notice that crimes against property were not punished as harshly as crimes against other people (v. 21). Jesus goes further: turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39).
Apply
In what ways can you maintain a spirit of worship, even in the ordinary days of life?
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, I lift up those serving you in places where your name is not honored, where it is dangerous to speak of your name. I ask for protection, for courage, and for victories won for eternity.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.