Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
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And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
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Explain this verse (17 sources)
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Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain Care is here taken, and orders are given, for…
Care is here taken, and orders are given, for the decent furnishing of the candlestick and table in God's house.
I. The lamps must always be kept burning. The law for this we had before, Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21. It is here repeated, probably because it now began to be put in execution, when other things were settled. 1. The people were to provide oil (Lev 24:2), and this, as every thing else that was to be used in God's service, must be of the best, pure olive-oil, beaten, probably it was double-strained. This was to cause the lamps to burn; all our English copies read it lamps, but in the original it is singular in Lev 24:2 - to cause the lamp to burn; but plural in Lev 24:4 - he shall order the lamps. The seven lamps made all one lamp, in allusion to which the blessed Spirit of grace is represented by seven lamps of fire before the throne (Rev 4:5), for there are diversities of gifts, but one Spirit, Co1 12:4. Ministers are as burning and shining lights in Christ's church, but it is the duty of people to provide comfortably for them, as Israel for the lamps. Scandalous maintenance makes a scandalous ministry. 2. The priests were to tend the lamps; they must snuff them, clean the candlestick, and supply them with oil, morning and evening, Lev 24:3, Lev 24:4. Thus it is the work of the ministers of the gospel to hold forth that word of life, not to set up new lights, but, by expounding and preaching the word, to make the light of it more clear and extensive. This was the ordinary way of keeping the lamps burning; but, when the church was poor and in distress, we find its lamps fed constantly with oil from the good olives immediately, without the ministry of priest or people (Zac 4:2, Zac 4:3); for, though God has tied us to means, he has not tied himself to them, but will take effectual care that his lamp never go out in the world for want of oil.
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II. The table must always be kept spread. This was appointed before, Exo 25:30. And here also, 1. The table was furnished with bread; not dainties nor varieties to gratify a luxurious palate, but twelve loaves or cakes of bread, Lev 24:5, Lev 24:6. Where there is plenty of bread there is no famine; and where bread is not there is no feast. There was a loaf for every tribe, for in our Father's house there is bread enough. They were all provided for by the divine bounty, and were all welcome to the divine grace. Even after the revolt of the ten tribes this number of loaves was continued (Ch2 13:11), for the sake of those few of each tribe that retained their affection to the temple and continued their attendance on it. 2. A handful of frankincense was put in a golden saucer, upon or by each row, Lev 24:7. When the bread was removed, and given to the priests, this frankincense was burnt upon the golden altar (I suppose) over and above the daily incense: and this was for a memorial instead of the bread, an offering made by fire, as the handful of the meat-offering which was burnt upon the altar is called the memorial thereof, Lev 2:2. Thus a little was accepted as a humble acknowledgment, and all the loaves were consigned to the priests. All God's spiritual Israel, typified by the twelve loaves, are made through Christ a sweet savour to him, and their prayers are said to come up before God for a memorial, Act 10:4. The word is borrowed from the ceremonial law. 3. Every sabbath it was renewed. When the loaves had stood there a week, the priests had them to eat with other holy things that were to be eaten in the holy place (Lev 24:9), and new ones were provided at the public charge, and put in the room of them, Lev 24:8. The Jews say, "The hands of those priests that put on were mixed with theirs that took off, that the table might be never empty, but the bread might be before the Lord continually." God is never unprovided for the entertainment of those that visit him, as men often are, Luk 11:5. Every one of those cakes contained two tenth-deals, that is, two omers of fine flour; just so much manna every Israelite gathered on the sixth day for the sabbath, Exo 16:22. Hence some infer that this show-bread, which was set on the table on the sabbath, was intended as a memorial of the manna wherewith they were fed in the wilderness. Christ's ministers should provide new bread for his house every sabbath day, the production of their fresh studies in the scripture, that their proficiency may appear to all, Ti1 4:1, Ti1 4:5.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had…
And the Lord spake unto Moses,.... After he had delivered to him the laws concerning the purity of the priests, and the perfection of the sacrifices they were to offer, and concerning the feasts the people were to keep, he spoke to Moses of some other things which concerned both people and priests:
saying; as follows.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Laws concerning the lamps, ver. 1-4. The shew-bread, ver.…
Laws concerning the lamps, ver. 1-4. The shew-bread, ver. 5-9. Blasphemy occasioned by that of Shelomith's son, ver. 10-16. The law of retaliation, ver. 17-22. The blasphemer stoned, ver. 23.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Pure olive oil must be provided for the lamps,…
CHAPTER XXIV
Pure olive oil must be provided for the lamps, 1, 2.
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Aaron is to take care that the lamps be lighted from evening
to morning continually, 3, 4.
How the shew-bread is to be made and ordered, 5-8.
Aaron and his sons shall eat this bread in the holy place, 9.
Of the son of Shelomith, an Israelitish woman, who blasphemed
the name, 10, 11.
He is imprisoned till the mind of the Lord should be known, 12.
He is commanded to be stoned to death, 13,14.
The ordinance concerning cursing and blaspheming the Lord,
15,16.
The law against murder, 17.
The lex talionis, or law of like for like, repeated, 18-21.
This law to be equally binding both on themselves and on
strangers, 22.
The blasphemer is stoned, 23.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIV
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Lev 24:1. After the foregoing particulars relating to the…
Lev 24:1. After the foregoing particulars relating to the annual festivals and assemblies, and all things prepared for the tabernacle service, he proceeds to remind the Israelites of executing the orders before given, about providing at the public charge all materials for the daily service; and in particular a sufficient quantity of oil for the lamps of the golden candlestick, which were to burn continually in the holy place without the veil, the priests in waiting being obliged to keep this candlestick clean and pure, and to trim and supply the lamps morning and evening.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain The oil for the lamps of the tabernacle and…
The oil for the lamps of the tabernacle and the meal for the showbread were to be offerings from the Congregation, like the meal for the Pentecostal loaves, Lev 23:17. It appears that the responsibility of keeping up the lights rested on the high priest, but the actual service might be performed, on ordinary occasions, by the common priests. Compare margin reference.
Lev 24:5
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Each cake or loaf of unleavened bread Lev 2:11 was to contain about six pounds and a quarter (see Exo 29:40 note) of fine flour. The material was the same, both in quality and in quantity, with that of each one of the wave-loaves of Pentecost Lev 23:17. In the service of the temple the preparation and arrangement of the cakes was committed to the Levites 1Ch 9:32; 1Ch 23:29; 2Ch 13:11.
Lev 24:6
Two rows, six on a row - Rather, two piles, six in a pile. On the table, see Exo 25:23-30.
Lev 24:7
The frankincense as a memorial (like the handful of the meat-offering, Lev 2:2), was most likely cast upon the altar-fire as “an offering made by fire unto the Lord,” when the bread was removed from the table on the Sabbath-day Lev 24:8; 1Sa 21:6. The frankincense was put into small gold cups, one of which was placed upon each pile of bread. (See Exo 25:23-30 note.)
Lev 24:8
Being taken from the children of Israel - Each cake represented the offering of a tribe.
Lev 24:9
See Lev 2:3 note. It could have been only by a stretch of the law that Ahimelech gave a portion of the showbread to David and his men, on the ground that they were free from ceremonial defilement. 1Sa 21:4-6; Mat 12:4.
The showbread was a true meat-offering (see Exo 25:29). The special form in which it was offered, especially in its being brought into the tabernacle and in its consisting of twelve loaves, distinguish it as an offering made on behalf of the nation.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain Of the Holy Lamps, and the Shew Bread
SECOND SECTION
Of the Holy Lamps, and the Shew Bread
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Lev_24:1-9
1And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. 3Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the [omit the] congregation, shall Aaron1 order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. 4He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.
5And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 6And thou shalt set them in two rows [piles2], six on a row 7[pile], upon the pure table before the Lord. And thou shalt put pure frankincense3 upon each row [pile2], that it may be on4 the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. 8Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it5 in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Lev_24:3. The Sam. and LXX. here insert and his sons from Exo_27:21.
Lev_24:6-7. The Heb. מַעֲרֶכֶת, referring etymologically to an orderly arrangement, means either a row or pile, and is used in both senses. The size of the loaves, however, containing each about six pounds and a quarter of flour, as compared with the size, of the table, two cubits long by one broad, makes it more probable that pile was intended here. Josephus (Ant. III. 6, 6; 10, 7) expressly says, that this was the arrangement.
Lev_24:7. The LXX. adds and salt, which is probably to be understood in accordance with Lev_2:13, or the salt may have been used in making up the loaves.
Lev_24:7. לַלֶּחֶם. The force of the preposition is questioned. Both the senses on and for are true in themselves. The incense was placed upon the piles, according to Josephus (ubi sup.) in golden cups, and it was also burned for the bread as a memorial. The latter sense, however, is sufficiently expressed by the words for a memorial.
Lev_24:9. The pronoun, wanting in the Heb., is supplied in the Sam. and in 8 MSS.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
The commands for the holy lights and the shewbread here follow in a special communication, to complete the provisions for the typical holiness of the Hebrew cultus. The former has already been given, almost verbatim in Exo_27:20-21, prospectively in connection with the provisions for the whole service of the sanctuary. Now the command is actually given, and in Num_8:3 its fulfillment is recorded. The phraseology of Lev_24:2, Command the children of Israel that they bring, with that in Lev_24:8, taken from the children of Israel, shows that both the oil and the flour for the shewbread were of the nature of oblations, gifts to the Lord from the people continually. Lev_24:2-4 relate to the oil and the lamps; Lev_24:5-9 to the shewbread.
Lev_24:2. Pure oil olive beaten—pure in being freed before the berries were crushed from all leaves, twigs, dust, etc.; and beaten in contradistinction to pressed in the oil-presses. By this beating the oil of the best quality flowed out nearly colorless. Continually, Lev_24:3, refers to the perpetuity of the ordinance, not to the uninterrupted burning of the lamps; for according to the previous part of the verse, Aaron was to order it from the evening unto the morning, and according to Exo_30:7-8, he was to dress the lamps in the morning and to light them at even. The pure candlestick of Lev_24:4, like the pure table of Lev_24:6, refers to the pure gold with which they were made, and which was of course kept free from all stain.
Lev_24:5-9. Fine flour always means of wheat. The frankincense, as a gift from the people, must necessarily be the natural gum, and is to be distinguished from the compound incense which was burnt daily upon the altar of incense. Lange (see below) is inclined to admit the opinion of Knobel that the loaves of shewbread were leavened; Josephus, however (Ant. III. 6. 6; 10, 7), distinctly asserts the contrary and nearly all Jewish and other authorities agree with him. “Since the bread was brought into the Holy place (which was not the case with the Pentecostal bread) it almost certainly came under the general law of the meat offerings, which excluded the use of leaven (Lev_2:11).” Clark. It may be added that the shewbread was changed only once a week, and leavened bread, exposed to the air, could hardly have been kept in condition for eating so long. The loaves were twelve in accordance with the number of the tribes of Israel. They were most holy, so that when removed from the table they might be eaten only by the priests in a holy place. The action of Abimelech therefore in giving them to David (1Sa_21:4-6) was a clear violation of the law, and is justified by our Lord (Mat_12:4) on the principle that there are cases of urgency which override the technical provisions of the statute.
Lange: “The holy candlestick, with the shewbread, here makes the tabernacle the inner centre of all consecrations, the holy place κατ’ ἐξοχήν, which moves forth and spreads far into the holy land; and the innermost principle of this centre is the name of Jehovah which comes to be spoken farther on.
“On the holy candlestick see the particular directions, Exo_25:30; Exo_37:17, and Num_8:2; comp. Zec_4:2. But it is mentioned here the second time, not because according to the first command only Aaron was fitted for the function; but because it here forms the soul of the cultus, as farther on, in Num., it becomes the very climax of the theocratic political life, the light of the nation. Even less here than before can one speak of the lamp of good works. There is a strange propensity to place human attributes in place of Divine in the very house of God, even as far as to the Cherubim in the holy of holies.6 The candlestick is the sevenfold figure of the revelation of Jehovah, the type of the Seven Spirits, Revelation 1. But it must be noticed that the congregation had to furnish the anointing oil” [Salböl, i. e., the oil for this sacred use, not the oil for anointing the priests,—F. G.], “for the congregation was to be the substratum of all illuminations, not the priesthood alone. In like manner is the command significant that the lamps were to be lit forever and ever.
“The shewbread is called ‘bread of the presence,’ ‘of my presence’ (Exo_25:30) in that they lay before the presence of Jehovah, who, in a symbolical sense, here holds a meal with His priests (see Rev_3:20) as they in the first place represent the twelve tribes of the holy people. On this account, then, the loaves were twelve, and since they were arranged in two ordered rows of six opposite six loaves (differing from the twelve precious stones of the breast-plate) they were called also the loaves of the ranging together, the table of the succession and similarly. Keil, p. 158.” [Trans, p. 452. Keil thinks that the loaves were placed in rows, but does not mention these names. On the arrangement, see Textual Note 2 on Lev_24:6.—F. G.]. “And since it is known that leaven in itself contains nothing evil, although like honey it might not be placed upon the altar, the supposition of Knobel (Keil to the contrary) has nothing hazardous, that the shewbread was leavened. Undoubtedly it is to be considered that among the later Jews they were unleavened; but against this must be weighed the fact that they formed an important constituent of the food of the officiating priests who ate them as a most holy thing, after they were carried out, and that these loaves were never actually offered, but only hallowed to Jehovah, while their offering was signified by the incense which went with them as a memorial (Lev_24:7, Azkara). The view that the incense was not strewed upon the bread, but placed beside it in golden shells, is certainly strengthened by the purpose of incense, which was burned as an offering made by fire unto Jehovah. It is the sacrifice of prayer which is especially associated with the priestly communion, a “Grace” said before the Lord in the highest sense.
“The supposition of Knobel and others that the table, with shewbread and kindred things, represented the house of God as an imitation of a human house, is a flat travesty of the holy house into that which is common; it rests upon a misunderstanding of the religious symbolism of the house of God, and in it the sleeping chamber, e.g., the bed, and similar things must be missed.” [To define the exact boundaries between anthropomorphic language and representations on the one hand, and pure statements of truth and pure symbolism on the other, is extremely difficult, and will probably always remain impossible, while man is still compelled to use so much of anthropomorphic terms even in the most abstract and philosophical discussion of Divine things. Undoubtedly the Hebrew mind was gradually led up to the conception of Divine realities by the exaltation of human expressions, and hence occur such forms as “the food,” “the table,” “the house of the Lord;” in grosser minds these would have been associated with grosser ideas, while for those of higher spiritual elevation, there was just enough of symbolism in these terms to enable them, by their means, to rise above them to more spiritual and exalted conceptions. To this it was essential that the human imagery should be imperfect and wanting in many particulars.—F. G.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
I. The symbolism of the seven-branched candlestick is applied in the Apocalypse to the Holy Spirit. Meantime in its perpetual burning during the night there is also the subordinate teaching that from the worship of God all darkness and obscurity are to be banished by the influence of that Spirit. To this the people are themselves to contribute by bringing the purest oil for the feeding of the lamps. The Holy Spirit ever works upon man through that which is in man, and man may receive the Divine Guest in his heart, or may grieve Him and quench His holy influence.
II. In the shewbread, as the culmination of all oblations, is expressed on the one hand the consecration to God of all that belongs to man by placing bread, the staff of human life, continually before His presence; and on the other, the condescension of God to communion with man in making these loaves the food of His priests. The incense, burned as a memorial, represented the Divine acceptance of the gift, and, as Lange has suggested, symbolized the prayer with which the priests must draw near to this communion. It is further to be noted that this was not the sacred incense of the sanctuary, but the frankincense of the people’s offering. As the loaves represented the twelve tribes, so this frankincense represented the people’s prayers; and in this symbolic act of communion, the priests on God’s behalf pratook of the food, as in the case of the sin offering.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Lange: “The proper maintenance for the candlestick in the house of God. The table of the Lord in the Old Testament and in the New Testament forms. The Lord at His table: 1) as the Bread of heaven; 2) as the Host; 3) as the Guest.”
In the worship of God light and clearness are ever to take the place of darkness and obscurity. The clear shining of the Holy Spirit’s direction is always to be sought in all approach to God, and to this end the pure oil is to be furnished by the people for the lamps; an honest and good heart is to be prepared for the Spirit’s dwelling.
Through the grace of God man becomes a partaker of the table of the Lord. This must be accompanied with the incense of prayer. It was to be a statute for ever, a perpetually recurring act of communion with God.
Origen: The light of the Jews grew dim as the oil of their piety failed; the foolish virgins were excluded from the marriage when their lamps were gone out for the want of oil; so Christians must furnish the oil of earnest effort after holiness, that the flame of the Spirit may burn in their hearts, so that men may see their good works, and that their lamps may be burning when the Master comes.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 1–3. These vv. agree almost verbatim with Exo_27:20 f.…
1–3. These vv. agree almost verbatim with Exo_27:20 f. The care of the lamps is also enjoined in Exo_25:31 ff.; cp. Exo_37:17 ff.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (1) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—The regulations about…
XXIV.
(1) And the Lord spake unto Moses.—The regulations about the annual festivals and the ritual connected with them are now followed by directions with regard to the daily service and its ritual.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. H. Mackintosh 1880 · Public Domain Leviticus 24
Leviticus 24
There is very much to interest the spiritual mind in this brief section. We have seen in chapter 23. the history of the dealings of God with Israel, from the offering up of the Pascal Lamb, until the rest and glory of the millennial Kingdom. In the chapter now before us, we have two grand ideas - namely, first, the unfailing record and memorial of the twelve tribes, maintained before God, by the power of the Spirit, and the efficacy of Christ’s priesthood; and, secondly, the apostasy of Israel after the flesh, and divine judgement executed thereon. It is the clear apprehension of the former that will enable us to contemplate the latter.
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"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually." (Ver. 1-4) The "pure oil" represents the grace of the Holy Spirit, founded upon the work of Christ, as exhibited by the candlestick of "beaten gold." The "olive" was pressed to yield the "oil," and the gold was "beaten" to form the candlestick. In other words, the grace and light of the Spirit are founded upon the death of Christ, and maintained, in clearness and power, by the priesthood of Christ. The golden lamp diffused its light throughout the precincts of the sanctuary, during the dreary hours of night, when darkness brooded over the nation and all were wrapped in slumber. In all this we have a vivid presentation of God’s faithfulness to His people whatever might be their outward condition. Darkness and slumber might settle down upon them, but the lamp was to burn "continually." The high priest was responsible to keep the steady light of testimony burning during the tedious hours of the night. "Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning, before the Lord continually." The maintenance of this light was not left dependent upon Israel. God had provided one whose office it was to look after it and order it continually.
But, further, we read, "And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two-tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six in a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord. Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute." (Ver. 5-9) There is no mention of leaven in these loaves. They represent, I doubt not, Christ in immediate connection with "the twelve tribes of Israel." They were laid up in the sanctuary before the Lord, on the pure table, for seven days, after which they became the food of Aaron and his sons, furnishing another striking figure of Israel’s condition in the view of Jehovah, whatever might be their outward aspect. The twelve tribes are ever before Him. Their memorial can never perish. They are ranged in divine order in the sanctuary, covered with the fragrant incense of Christ, and reflected from the pure table whereon they rest beneath the bright beams of that golden lamp which shines, with undimmed lustre, through the darkest hour of the nation’s moral night.
Now, it is well to see that we are not sacrificing sound judgement or divine truth on the altar of fancy, when we venture to interpret, after such a fashion, the mystic furniture of the sanctuary. We are taught, in Hebrews 9, that all these things were "the patterns of things in the heavens;" and again, in Hebrews 10: 1, that they were" a shadow of good things to come." We are, therefore, warranted in believing that there are "things in the heavens" answering to the" patterns" - that there is a substance answering to the "shadow". In a word, we are warranted in believing that there is that "in the heavens" which answers to "the seven lamps," "the pure table," and the "twelve loaves." This is not human imagination, but divine truth on which faith has fed, in all ages. What was the meaning of Elijah’s altar of "twelve stones," on the top of Carmel? It was nothing else than the expression of his faith in that truth of which the "twelve loaves" were "the pattern" or "the shadow." He believed in the unbroken unity of the nation, maintained before God in the eternal stability of the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whatever might be the external condition of the nation. Man might look in vain for the manifested unity of the twelve tribes; but faith could always look within the hallowed enclosure of the sanctuary, and there see the twelve loaves, covered with pure frankincense, ranged in divine order on the pure table; and even though all without were wrapped in midnight’s gloomy shades, yet could faith discern, by the light of the seven golden lamps, the same grand truth foreshadowed - namely, the indissoluble unity of Israel’s twelve tribes.
Thus it was then; and thus it is now. The night is dark and gloomy. There is not, in all this lower world, so much as a single ray by which the human eye can trace the unity of Israel’s tribes. They are scattered among the nations, and lost to man’s vision. But their memorial is before the Lord. Faith owns this, because it knows that "all the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus." It sees in the upper sanctuary, by the Spirit’s perfect light, the twelve tribes faithfully memorialised. Hearken to the following noble accents of faith:" And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God night and day, (nukta kai emeran) hope to come.’’ (Acts 26: 6, 7) Now, if King Agrippa had asked Paul, "Where are the twelve tribes?" could he have shown them to him? No. But why not? Was it because they were not to be seen? No; but because Agrippa had not eyes to see them. The twelve tribes lay far beyond the range of Agrippa’s vision. It needed the eye of faith and the gracious light of the Spirit of God to be able to discern the twelve loaves, ordered upon the pure table in the sanctuary of God. There they were, and Paul saw them there; though the moment in which he gave utterance to his sublime conviction was as dark as it well could be, Faith is not governed by appearances. It takes its stand upon the lofty rock of God’s eternal word, and, in all the calmness and certainty of that holy elevation, feeds upon the immutable word of Him who cannot lie. Unbelief may stupidly stare about and ask, Where are the twelve tribes? or, How can they be found and restored? It is impossible to give an answer. Not because there is no answer to be given; But because unbelief is utterly incapable of rising to the elevated point from which the answer can be seen. Faith is as sure that the memorial of the twelve tribes of Israel is before the eye of Israel’s God, as it is that the twelve loaves were laid on the golden table every Sabbath day. But who can convince the sceptic or the infidel of this? Who can secure credence for such a truth from those who are governed, in all things, by reason or sense, and know nothing of what it is to hope against hope? Faith finds divine certainties and eternal realities in the midst of a scene where reason and sense can find nothing. Oh! for a more profound faith! May we grasp, with more intense earnestness, every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, and feed upon it in all the artless simplicity of a little child.
We shall now turn to the second point in our chapter - namely, the apostasy of Israel, after the flesh, and the divine judgement thereon.
"And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel and this son of an Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. And the Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses . . . . . . And they put him in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be showed them. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him . . . . . . . And Moses spake to the children of Israel, that they should bring forth him that had cursed out of the comp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses." (Ver. 10-23)
The peculiar place assigned by the inspired penman to this narrative is striking and interesting. I have no doubt whatever but that it is designed to give us the opposite side of the picture presented in the opening verses of the chapter. Israel after the flesh has grievously failed and sinned against Jehovah. The name of the Lord has been blasphemed amongst the Gentiles. Wrath has come upon the nation. The judgements of an offended God have fallen upon them. But the day is coming when the dark and heavy cloud of judgement shall roll away; and then shall the twelve tribes, in their unbroken unity, stand forth before all the nations as the amazing monument of Jehovah’s faithfulness and loving-kindness, "And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song, he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall ye say, Praise the Lord, call Upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." (Isa. 12) "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet hare now obtained mercy through their unbelief: even so have these also now not believed in your mercy, that they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed to him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen." (Rom. 11. 25-36)
Passages might be multiplied to prove that though Israel is suffering the divine judgement because of sin, yet "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" - that though the blasphemer is being stoned without the camp, the twelve loaves are undisturbed within the sanctuary. "The voices of the prophets" declare, and the voices of apostles re-echo the glorious truth that "all Israel shall be saved;" not because they have not sinned, but because "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." Let Christians beware how they tamper with "the promises made unto the fathers." If these promises be explained away or misapplied, it must, necessarily, weaken our moral sense of the divine integrity and accuracy of Scripture, as a whole. If one part may be explained away, so may another.
If one passage may be vaguely interpreted, so may another; and thus it would come to pass that we should be deprived of all that blessed certainty which constitutes the foundation of our repose in reference to all that the Lord hath spoken. But more of this as we dwell upon the remaining chapters of our book.
C. H. Mackintosh, Notes on the Pentateuch — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain A connection between chapter 23, and Lev_24:1-9 is found…
A connection between chapter 23, and Lev_24:1-9 is found by Keil in the fact that the oil for the holy lamps and the shewbread were offerings of the people, a sacrificial gift with which Israel was to serve the Lord continually. "The offering of oil, therefore, for the preparation of the candlestick, and that of fine flour for making the loaves to be placed before Jehovah, formed part of the service in which Israel sanctified its life and labour to the Lord its God, not only at the appointed festal periods, but every day; and the law is very appropriately appended to the sanctification of the sabbaths and feast days prescribed in chapter 23." But it is better to consider the whole chapter parenthetical between chapters 23, and 25, the first part having been suggested by the list of days on which holy convocations were to be held, because it is connected with the temple or tabernacle service; the second part (the blasphemer"s death) being inserted because it chronologically happened shortly after the law as to holy convocations and festivals had been pronounced.
Vers. 1-4. The ordinance on the lamps contained in the first three verses is repeated from Exo_27:20. The oil to be used for the lamps was to be pure oil olive, that is, oil made of picked berries, without any intermixture of dust or twigs; and it was to be beaten instead of "pressed," because when the berries were crushed in the olive-press, small portions of them became mixed with and discoloured the oil, which was, therefore, less pure than when the fruit was simply beaten and then left to drain. The lamps were to burn continually; that is, from evening to morning every night. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation; that is, in the holy place, as distinct from the holy of holies. Aaron, either personally or by his sons, (see Exo_27:21) was to dress the lamps every morning, and light them every evening. (Exo_30:7) The lamps were upon the seven-branched candlestick, which is called the pure candlestick, because made of gold. The light of the seven-branched candlestick symbolized the enlightening power of the Holy Spirit, which should illumine God"s Church. (Zec_4:2-6 Rev_1:12, Rev_1:20)
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Vers. 1-9. The lamps of the seven-branched candlestick burnt throughout the whole night in the tabernacle; and the shewbread was constantly set forth upon the golden table. They may be taken to symbolize:
1. The constant illumination vouchsafed by God to his Church through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
I ILLUMINATION BY THE SPIRIT WAS PROMISED BY CHRIST. "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you". (Joh_14:26) "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you... When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth". (Joh_16:7-13)
II THE FULFILMENT OF THE PROMISE COMMENCED ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST. "Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, add having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear". (Act_2:33)
III THE ILLUMINATION IS PERMANENT THROUGH THE INSTRUMENTALITY OF A PERMANENT MINISTRY. "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.... And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ". (Eph_4:8-12)
IV CHRIST ABIDES BY HIS SPIRIT IN THE MIDST OF THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. "I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man". (Rev_1:12, Rev_1:13) "These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks". (Rev_2:1)
V ANY BRANCH OF THE CANDLESTICK WHOSE LIGHT IS EXTINGUISHED WILL BE REMOVED. "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent". (Rev_2:5)
2. The spiritual food constantly supplied by him in his Church to those who come in faith to have their wants supplied.
I CHRIST IS THE SPIRITUAL FOOD OF HIS CHURCH. "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true Bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 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.... The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the Bread which came down from heaven Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves 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_6:32-51)
II CHRIST"S SACRIFICE UPON THE CROSS SUPPLIES THE FOOD ON WHICH BY FAITH WE ARE TO FEED. " We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle". (Heb_13:10)
III ONE MEANS OF OUR THUS FEEDING UPON HIM IS THE SACRAMENT OF THE LORD"S SUPPER. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins". (Mat_26:26-28)
IV HE SUPPLIES THE NEEDS OF THOSE THAT THIRST AS WELL AS OF THOSE THAT HUNGER. "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely". (Rev_21:6) "Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely". (Rev_22:17)
V HE FEEDS HIS PEOPLE NOT ONLY BY SACRAMENTS BUT BY THE WORD OF GOD PREACHED BY HIS MINISTERS. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God". (Mat_4:4) "Take heed therefore unto yourselves" (the Ephesian elders), "and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God". (Act_20:28) "He gave some, pastors and teachers". (Eph_4:11) "He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.... He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.... Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep". (Joh_21:15-17) "The elders which areamong you.... I exhort Feed the flock of God which is among you". (1Pe_5:1, 1Pe_5:2)
HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 1-4Everlasting light.
Cf. Rev_1:12-20; also Psa_43:3. The holy place, like the most holy, had no windows, and consequently required illumination. This was secured by the golden candlestick, with its seven lamps. These were to be always emitting some light. If all the seven lamps were not lit during the daytime, one or two of them were. The idea carried out was that there should be in God"s sanctuary everlasting light.
That the candlestick was taken as the symbol of God"s truth is evident Psa_43:3, "Oh send out thy light, even thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles." In fact, God"s essential nature as light was exhibited by the Shechinah in the holy of holies; then in the golden candlestick, we have the light mediated in the holy place in such a way as would suffice for the illumination of the ordinary priests at their sacred ministries. God"s arrangement, therefore, for the dissemination of truth in this dark world of ours is what the golden candlestick is intended to convey. Rev_1:12-20 throws clear light on the symbol. The Churches established in the world by God are the lamps (lucniai ) which he intends to shine till the dawn of the eternal day.
I NOTICE THE UNITY OF ALL TRUE CHURCHES. For the seven lamps were united in the one candlestick, just as all true Churches are one in Christ. There is no incorporation necessarily implied, but this is also to be encouraged by every legitimate means. If unity in Christ be a real thing, it will show itself in some way or another before men.
II THE OIL FOR THE LIGHT WAS TO BE BEATEN. The olives were to be placed in a mortar and beaten, and then the oil which flowed off without further pressure, the purest possible, was to be used for the light. God"s truth is communicated to men in such a form that they must diligently cooperate with God before the benefit is obtained. No careless handling of truth will suffice. We must beat the olives well before we get the needful oil. Ministers must be diligent in their preparations, Christians of all classes must "search the Scriptures," if the requisite oil for the light is to be obtained. God might rain down oil from heaven, and save us a heap of trouble, but he would rather put it into the olive berries, and ask us to pound it out from these. Similarly, he has put in his Word "things hard to be understood," as well as things that are simple, to the end that we should diligently study it and get the sacred oil.
III THE WICK HAD TO BE CAREFULLY TRIMMED, AND WHEN NEEDFUL SNUFFED. It was the high priest"s special duty, in which, however, the other priests assisted. And is this not to indicate the work undertaken by Jesus Christ, who as High Priest walked among the golden lamps? (Rev_1:12) A beautiful parallel passage is presented in Mat_12:20, where it is said, "smoking flax i.e., "a wick linon shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory." There may be pain in the process often by which our High Priest gets his wicks trimmed and luminous, but there is also mercy and tenderness ineffable. How often does he hold his hands around the expiring wick, and blow it gently into a flame again! Blessed are his dealings, when as the result his people, and especially his ministers, are made to shine as "lights in the world." Regarding the snuffers in this connection, we may quote an old and quaint writer. "The Lord," says Weemse, "commanded to make snuffers of pure gold for the snuffing of the lamps, and snuff-dishes to receive the snuff; he would have the snuff taken from the light, to signify that he would have the Word kept in sincerity and purity; and he would have the snuffers of gold, to teach them to be blameless and holy, who are censurers and correctors of others; and he would have the snuff-dishes of gold, to teach them that the covering of the offenses of their brethren was a most excellent thing.
IV THE LAMPS WERE LIT FROM THE ALTAR. That is to say, it was Divine fire which made the oil luminous. God is light, from him cometh all real illumination. So it is only when the Saviour baptizes men with fire, it is only when the Holy Ghost lights up the sacred page, it is only when the Spirit cooperates with the Word, that the truth appears in its brightness unto men. An earnest ministry is that which gives itself to prayer and to the ministry of the Word, prayer calling down the Divine fire which makes the entrance of the Word give light. Then may the lamps be expected to burn brightly and to light up the night of the world till the day dawns. R.M.E.
HOMILIES BY J.A. MACDONALD Vers. 1-4. The lighting of the sanctuary.
The face of Moses is glorious in the light of the gospel.
I THE CANDLESTICK WAS AN EMBLEM OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. (See Rev_1:20)
1. The candlestick in the holy place was one.
(1) So is the Church of God a unity. Christ has not two mystical bodies. (Col_1:18) He has not two brides. (Eph_5:23) It comprehends the whole body of the faithful.
(2) It is unscriptural as well as invidious for any denomination to style itself "The Church." Denominations are not even "Churches," though often so misnamed; they are, at best, but divisions of the grand army of the saints.
2. It carried seven lamps.
(1) These are called "candlesticks". (Rev_1:20) The reason is that visible Christian corporations, which are called "Churches "in the plural, (see Act_9:31 Act_15:41 Act_16:5) are types of the more perfect unity.
(2) "Seven" is a definite, put for an indefinite, number. It is the numeral for perfection, and likewise stands for many. (see 1Sa_2:5) So the seven Churches of Asia, to which the candlestick is compared, are to be taken as representing the multitude of the Churches of Christendom. These are, indeed, countless, if, as Chrysostom says, "where two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus there is a Church.
3. The candlestick was of pure gold. This was to express the preciousness of the saints.
(1) They are precious to God. He has redeemed them with the blood of Christ. He has prepared for them a heaven of inconceivable magnificence.
(2) They are precious to the world. They are its light. They are its salt. The light in them, like salt, is purifying and preserving, as well as illuminating (Mat_5:13-16)
II THE LIGHT IN THE CHURCHES IS THE WORD OF GOD. This may be taken in kindred senses.
1. God"s Word written.
(1) This is no uncertain light, as that of mere reason is.
(2) It is no false light, as that of tradition often is. For, however pure it may have been at its source, it soon becomes corrupted in transmission.
2. The personal Word of God.
(1) The presence of a personal Teacher in the living Spirit of Christ is a priceless blessing.
(2) Such an Interpreter is infinitely better than popes or Councils.
(3) Christians are still the disciples of the personal Jesus. They should cultivate in prayerfulness the simplicity and docility becoming such. (see Joh_7:17)
III THE OIL THAT SUSTAINS THE LIGHT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT"S GRACE. No wonder it must be "pure oil olive beaten for the light.
1. Jesus had the Spirit without measure.
(1) The fullness of the Godhead bodily was in him. So was he anointed with the oil of gladness immeasurably above his fellows.
(2) Thus was he constituted the Christ, or Anointed One.
2. Of his fullness we receive grace.
(1) Christians, therefore, with propriety have their name from Christ. Those who first gave that name in derision little knew its propriety. (see 2Co_1:21 1Jn_2:20, 1Jn_2:27)
(2) This anointing is illuminating. So we learn in these references from John. It enlightens the Christian himself. It enables him to illumine others.
IV THE OIL WAS FURNISHED BY THE WORSHIPPERS.
1. There is a sense in which believers bring the Holy Ghost.
(1) They do this by their faith. When the faith of the people is constant, the lamps of the Churches "burn continually." What an honour to the faithful!
(2) Through unfaithfulness the candlestick (or lamp) may be removed. (see Rev_2:5; also Mat_21:43) How great is the responsibility of professors!
2. The Holy Ghost is nevertheless the Gift of God.
(1) This is true of his type. Who but God could put oil into the olive?
(2) So of the Antitype. Accordingly, in Zec_4:2, Zec_4:3, the oil is represented as feeding the candlestick immediately from the olive. The figure is explained thus, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. (Zec_4:6)
V AARON AMONG THE LIGHTS REPRESENTED CHRIST AMONG HIS CHURCHES,
1. This we have from the nature of the case. The high priest was, generally, a type of Christ. So in this particular.
2. We have it also by special revelation. (see Rev_1:13)
VI THE CANDLESTICK WAS WITHOUT THE VAIL.
1. The Churches shine in this world.
(1) The sanctuary was the type of the kingdom of the heavens upon the earth. Here the candlestick was placed.
(2) Every Church member should realize that he has his light from God that he may diffuse it. (Mat_5:14-16)
2. The Shechinah was within the vail.
(1) There is no need of a candle in that bright Presence. (see Isa_60:19, 20 Rev_21:10, 23 22:5)
(2) The seven Churches are there lost in the one Church, which flames with the glory of God. If there are before the throne "seven lamps of fire," they are explained to be the "seven Spirits of God," or Holy Spirit, whose light is "sevenfold" or perfect. J.A.M. (Rev_4:5 Isa_30:26)
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON Vers. 1-4. Ourselves as lights.
There can be no doubt that the seven-branched candlestick in the holy place was typical of the Hebrew Church as the source of heavenly light. We therefore reach the subject of
I LIGHT DIVINELY KINDLED. All light must be of God, who himself is light. (1Jn_1:5) He has sought to illumine the human world in more ways than one.
1. He has given us the light of our spiritual nature our reason, our conscience; "the spirit of man is the candle (lamp) of the Lord". (Pro_20:27)
2. This should have sufficed to us, but it did not; and God gave the revelation of himself in his Law. Amid the surrounding darkness there was light in Israel. The brightly burning lamp in the holy place represented the holy nation, the instructed people, with whom were the oracles of God, into whose minds the truth of heaven was shining.
3. Yet this did not suffice, and God gave the Light of the world, his only begotten Son. "That was the true light which, coming into the world, enlighteneth every one.
4. And he came that he might leave in the world the light of the Christian Church; those to whom and of whom he could say, "We are the light of the world." "As he was, so are we in this world," sources of heavenly illumination, of inward purity, of Divine wisdom.
II ITS TRUE CHARACTERISTICS. These are:
1. Purity: they were to bring "pure oil olive beaten." The light which is to shine in our words and from our character is to be such that there shall be the least possible admixture of error and corruption.
2. Fullness: we read of "the lamps" (plural), and we know that there were seven of these (Exo_25:31, Exo_25:32) a complete, perfect number. The truth we are to make manifest is not only to be pure, but full. We must declare the "whole counsel of God;" the severe as well as the gracious, the less pleasant as well as the more acceptable, the deeper as well as the more superficial, the ethical as well as the doctrinal, aspects of the truth of God.
3. Constancy: they were "to cause the lamps to burn continually" (verse 2), "from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually" (verse 3). Whether all day and all night long, or only (as seems more probable) through the night, the lamps were to burn all the appointed time without ceasing to shine; there was to be no fitfulness or unsteadiness about the light which shone "before the Lord." So our words and our deeds are to be continually reflecting the light of heavenly truth. In our work and in our play, in things sacred and in things secular, at home and from home, consciously and unconsciously, we are to be "bearing witness unto the truth," we are to be "shining as lights in the world.
III ITS MAINTENANCE. "Aaron shall order it." "He shall order the lamps." The Jewish priest was to take every care that the lamps burnt brightly and continually.
1. The Christian minister has to see that he does his part in "ordering the lamps." He must preach such truth and give such counsel as shall feed the fires of the soul most effectively.
2. Each Christian man must do his part also. Every one of us must
(1) watch to see when the light is low;
(2) replenish the spirit with sacred truth, that truth which nourishes and sustains the soul in the life of God;
(3) seek from heaven those Divine influences which shall be as oil to the flame and make it "... to his glory burn With inextinguishable blaze.
HOMILIES BY R.A. REDFORD Vers. 1-4. The lights in the sanctuary.
Pure oil furnished by the people. The high priest responsible for the maintenance of the lamps. Pure oil, pure lamps, pure candlestick, before the Lord continually. The main lessons are these
I PROGRESSIVE, CONTINUAL SANCTIFICATION of God"s people provided for by his grace.
1. By the supply of the Spirit, the pure oil.
2. In and through the lamps that is, the individual and positive manifestation of the spiritual life.
3. In connection with the golden candlestick, and in dependence on the ministry of the high priest; that is, by means of the Church and its ordinances, in so far as the manifestation and public maintenance of the light of life are concerned. Yet, as the people themselves provided the pure oil, we are reminded that personal sanctification is not dependent solely on public ordinances; but the Spirit worketh as he will. (Joh_3:8)
II DIVINE FAITHFULNESS AND LONG-SUFFERING in the midst of the true Church. While the night is over them, the light still burns. While outside the temple there is gloom, within the sanctuary there is hope and promise.
III TYPICALLY, THE PRESSED OIL AND BEATEN GOLD of the candlestick point to the connection of the work of the Spirit with the sacrificial work of Christ. The light of sanctification proceeds from the death of Christ, and is maintained by the priesthood of Christ. R.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain IT is not easy to determine with confidence the…
THE HOLY LIGHT AND THE SHEW BREAD: THE BLASPHEMERS END
Lev_24:1-23
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IT is not easy to determine with confidence the association of thought which occasioned the interposition of this chapter, with its somewhat disconnected contents, between chapter 23, on the set times of holy convocation, and chapter 25, on the sabbatic and jubilee years, which latter would seem most naturally to have followed the former immediately, as relating to the same subject of sacred times. Perhaps the best explanation of the connection with the previous chapter is that which finds it in the reference to the olive oil for the lamps and the meal for the shew bread. The feast of tabernacles, directions for which had just been given, celebrated the completed ingathering of the harvest of the year, both of grain and of fruit; and here Israel is told what is to be done with a certain portion of each.
THE ORDERING OF THE LIGHT IN THE HOLY PLACE
Lev_24:1-4
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. Without the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, shall Aaron order it from evening to morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually."
First (Lev_24:1-4) is given the direction for the ordering of the daily light, which was to burn from evening until morning in the holy place continually. The people themselves are to furnish the oil for the seven-branched candlestick out of the product of their olive yards. The oil is to be "pure," carefully cleansed from leaves and all impurities; and "beaten," that is, not extracted by heat and pressure, as are inferior grades, but simply by beating and macerating the olives with water, -a process which gives the very best. The point in these specifications is evidently this, that for this, as always, they are to give to Gods service the very best, -an eternal principle which rules in all acceptable service to God. The oil is to come from the people in general, so that the illuminating of the Holy Place, although specially tended by the high priest, is yet constituted a service in which all the children of Israel have some part. The oil was to be used to supply the seven lamps upon the golden candlestick which was placed on the south side of the Holy Place, without the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting. This Aaron was to "order from evening to morning before the Lord continually." According to Exo_25:31-40, this candlestick-or, more properly, lampstand-was made of a single shaft, with three branches on either side, each with a cup at the end like an almond blossom; so that, with that on the top of the central shaft, it was a stand of seven lamps, in a conventional imitation of an almond tree.
The significance of the symbol is brought clearly before us in Zec_4:1-14, where the seven-branched candlestick symbolises Israel as the congregation of God, the giver of the light of life to the world. And yet a lamp can burn only as it is supplied with oil and trimmed and cared for. And so in the symbol of Zechariah the prophet sees the golden candlestick supplied with oil conveyed through two golden pipes into which flowed the golden oil, mysteriously self-distilled from two olive trees on either side the candlestick. And the explanation given is this: "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," saith the Lord. Thus we learn that the golden seven-branched lampstand denotes Israel, more precious than gold in Gods sight, appointed of Him to be the giver of light to the world. And yet by this requisition of oil for the golden candlestick the nation was reminded that their power to give light was dependent upon the supply of the heavenly grace of Gods Spirit, and the continual ministrations of the priest in the Holy Place, And how this ordering of the light might be a symbolic act of worship, we can at once see, when we recall the word of Jesus: {Mat_5:14; Mat_5:16} "Ye are the light of the world. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
How pertinent for instruction still in "all its deepest teaching is this ordinance of the lamp continually burning in the presence of the Lord, is vividly brought before us in the Apocalypse," {Rev_1:12-13} where we read that seven candlesticks appeared in vision to the Apostle John; and Christ, in His glory, robed in high priestly vesture, was seen walking up and down, after the manner of Aaron, in the midst of the seven candlesticks, in care and watch of the manner of their burning. And as to the significance of this vision, the Apostle was expressly told (Rev_1:20) that the seven candlesticks were the seven Churches of Asia, -types of the collective Church in all the centuries. Thus, as in the language of this Levitical symbol, we are taught that in the highest sense it is the office of the Church to give light in darkness; but that she can only do this as the heavenly oil is supplied, and each lamp is cared for, by the high priestly ministrations of her risen Lord.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain Sanctuary Light; The Shewbread; Blasphemy Punished
Sanctuary Light; The Shewbread; Blasphemy Punished
SUGGESTIVE READINGS
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Lev_24:1-4.—Cause the lamps to burn continually. There is a Light whose radiance never dims, whose glow never pales—self-luminous and eternally lustrous; “that is the True Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh_1:9). But our illumined lives, made by grace to shine even amid the beauty of God’s sanctuary, these need constant fostering and care, or their glory would wane. Because the virgins slept, neglecting to trim their lamps, their lights faded; and their sudden cry on awakening was, “Our lamps are going out!” (Mat_25:8). There is a human responsibility in this matter of keeping our “lights burning” (Luk_12:35), and we must “bring the pure oil” by which the flame is fed. Self-watchfulness and prayer for grace are inevitable if Christian character is to shine “continually.”
Lev_24:5-9.—Bake twelve cakes and set them upon the pure table before the Lord. Every tribe was to be represented in this sacred food laid before the Lord, none exempted. Jehovah asks from the Church in its entirety, from all within His Church, that His table be spread with the sacrificial offerings of their love, that He may feast thereupon with satisfaction and delight. If He gives riches of salvation to man, we may return Him the offerings of our sanctified lives: “they gave their own selves unto the Lord” (2Co_8:5). Nor may these sacrifices of righteousness be fitful and intermittent; the loaves must be “set in order before the Lord continually” (Lev_24:8), even as the devotion of our affections and services must be unceasing, a life-long consecration. Such fulness and constancy in our piety renders it “most holy unto Him of all the offerings “
Lev_24:10-16.—The Israelitish woman’s son blasphemed the Name of the Lord, and cursed. An unwise marriage issued in an evil result. This youth of half blood, in a quarrel with “a man of Israel,” vented his malignity in uttering some vile blasphemy against the Holy Name which the Israelite so solemnly revered. A special revelation of “the mind of the Lord” was sought, in order that this new sin in Israel’s midst might be judged aright, and every one who heard the blasphemy was summoned to join in the administration of punishment (Lev_24:14). Surely, “if he that despised Moses’ law died without mercy,” terrible must be the doom of those who insult the grace of God in Jesus, and slight His redemption! (Heb_10:28-29). If words of impiety were sufficient to bring death upon an offender, what shall be the consequence of a life of disobedience and of persistent ungodliness! See Rom_2:8-9. Let us guard against anger; it impels to outbursts of wickedness. And let our souls guard jealously the majesty of the Divine Name.
Lev_24:17-22.—Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. This was the Mosaic rule of equity: a wrong was punished by demanding its equivalent. Our Lord gave a more gracious law to His followers, whose mission in the world was to expound and foster the spirit—not of revenge, nor even of exact justice, but of forgiveness and love. “But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil” (Mat_5:38-39). “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves.”
SECTIONAL HOMILIES
Topic: CONTINUOUS LUSTRE OF A GODLY LIFE (Lev_24:1-4)
Darkness might brood over the outer world, but light must continuously glow within the sanctuary. Outside of the Church of Christ there may spread the gloom of error, the night dreariness of delusion; but within the sanctuary “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God” must shine undimmed. Even so, though men in sin dwell in darkness and love darkness rather than light, within the Christian soul there must always shine the marvellous light of the Spirit’s illumination and of the Gospel truth.
I. A BEAUTIFUL LIGHT BEARER: what an ideal picture of the Christian!
“He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick” (Lev_24:4). A golden candlestick hung with burning lamps! [See Addenda to chapter, Light-bearers.] Here note—
1. A Christian’s intrinsic worth. The candlestick was of “pure” gold. God thus images the preciousness of a redeemed and sanctified life. Worth of character, individual nobleness, must be the basis of a beneficent ministry for others.
2. A lustrous mission. On every branch was hung a lamp. Christians live not for themselves, not even to exhibit their own graces. A candlestick, however precious its metal and exquisite its workmanship, is intended to—not hold attention to itself, but to hold up the light, to show light.
3. Ceaseless luminosity. There are lights, set up for mariners, which gleam and wane; their stream of lustre is not perennial. But the lamps in the sanctuary burned on with ceaseless glow, with unvarying radiance. Piety should maintain its steadiness, not flicker, not burst into splendour at favoured seasons and then wane. “Your light burning.”
4. Every grace aglow. In some Christians only one beautiful quality is conspicuous, while all other graces are obscure. But every branch of the candlestick should bear a lamp, and each lamp should be alight.
II. SANCTITY REQUISITE FOR A CLEAR LIGHT.
“They shall bring pure oil olive, beaten for the light.”
1. Christian grace is divinely “pure.” It is the work of the Holy Spirit. “Oil” is the Scripture symbol of the Spirit, and “pure oil” marks the essential sanctity of each endowment of the Spirit of God. No other source exists whence man can derive what is unalloyed. This is the only “pure” spring of good; all others are unclean. How “pure” is every bestowment which God’s Spirit imparts: knowledge, feeling, energy, enjoyment, aspiration, hope—all unalloyed, unmixed with ingredients of evil!
2. Christian life emits clear lustre. As we are, so we produce. A clean fountain yields clean waters. Pure oil produces clear burning lamps. If our minds are spiritually illumined there will be no emission of error: error indicates a human admixture with the Divine enlightenment. So with emotion; “the fruit of the Spirit is love.” If we shed forth an unlovely and unloving spirit it intimates the presence of deleterious intermixtures. We need to close the lamps, into which the Spirit’s “pure oil” is poured, against all impurities, or our light will not be clear.
III. THE STEADY LIGHT OF TESTIMONY.
“From the evening unto the morning, before the Lord continually.” The golden lamp diffused its light without intermission, clear and constant.
1. The High Priest’s responsibility. “Aaron shall order it, etc.” No secondary hands had charge of the light. It was not left to inferior priests. Ministers of the sanctuary may wish and endeavour to keep Christian life alive and Christian lustre radiant in the Church, in the souls of believers; but they fail. Man’s work is full of peradventures and frustrations. And there must be no risk in the maintenance of the Sanctuary light. If left to one of the minor priests, or assigned as a trust to many, neglect might ensue. Aaron himself, therefore, was charged with this office of keeping the light continually burning. He typified Christ; and our Lord “walketh amid the golden candlesticks” ever nourishing the life and lustre of His Church.
2. The continuous testimony of the Church. Every age has seen the “True Light” shining amid the darkness of error and the delusions of the world. Though virgins slumber who should watch, though indifference to Truth mark the guardians of the sacred light, yet on, age after age, the light has shone, increasingly clear; for Christ keeps the lamps nourished, and will not let the lustre expire. “He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.”
(a) Here is the guarantee of the Church fulfilling her Lord’s design. “Ye are the light of the world;” “holding forth the word of life.”
(b) In this lies the hope of the constancy of the Christian life. Christ nourishes the flame.
Topic: THE BREAD OF THE PRESENCE (Lev_24:5-9)
In the Tabernacle we have a type of the “more perfect Tabernacle,” in which Deity sojourned during the Incarnation—“God manifested in the flesh.” For the physical form of Christ was what the Mosaic Tabernacle was, a shrine of the Divine indwelling, in which He came in nearness and grace to men, holding communion with us.
The table on which the loaves of shewbread were laid was made of acacia wood overlaid with plates of pure gold, symbolic of those sacred and divine qualities of Christ’s person and character, which form the basis of all accepted offerings. Only as ourselves or our gifts are laid upon Christ can they be allowed a place “before the Lord.” Here, then, we have the key to the meaning and suggestiveness of the shewbread: a consecrated people resting on the perfections of Christ.
I. CONSECRATION MUST DEPEND FOR ITS ACCEPTANCE UPON THE PERFECTIONS OF CHRIST.
These loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel, all dedicated to the Lord; laid “before the Lord”; surrendered entirely to Him. Every one should be devoted to Him, fully and absolutely His.
Is consecration sufficient of itself to ensure Jehovah’s acceptance? Far from it. It is “the altar that sanctifieth the gift”; and it was the golden Table, Christ’s pure and glorious perfections, which—becoming the basis on which the consecrated offerings rested—rendered these loaves an accepted presentation.
No acceptance apart from Christ. Full acceptance for all who place themselves upon Christ.
II. CONSECRATED OFFERINGS MUST BE ALWAYS OUR CHOICEST AND BEST.
On the Golden Table no common bread might be placed. The profanity that presumes on Christ’s perfections, and presents before the Lord faulty things, will ensure rebuke. Christ’s grace adds all the element of acceptableness to what we bring; but God will not accept aught that we bring which is not the purest and noblest we can present. “Thou shalt take fine flour.” These loaves represented, therefore,
1. The dedication of what was choicest. Are any powers too noble, any attainments too exalted, any affections too pure to be yielded to Him?
2. A generous largeness in the act of consecration. The loaves were of double size: “Two-tenth deals shall be in one cake” (Lev_24:5). Annanias and Sapphira offered “part of the price,” and were rejected for their cupidity and grudging. Lay lavishly on God’s altar of your beat.
III. CONSECRATION REQUIRES TO BE PERPETUALLY RENEWED.
Every Sabbath fresh loaves were to be substituted.
1. There is no finality in our devotion. It must be repeated, continued; perennially fresh.
2. Sabbath obligations are as imperious as Sabbath privileges are precious. We may not greet the holy day for what bliss we can gain or enjoy, without greeting the day by attempting the re-consecration of ourselves and our services to the Lord. Leave “the things which are behind”; come with renewed zeal and love and devotion before the Lord.
3. Each renewal must be sanctified by our prayers, and the merits of Christ Jesus. That burning of incense symbolises prayer rising from the offerer—for prayer hallows our gifts: but it also betokens “the sweet savour of Christ,” without which nothing rises as a fragrant offering to the Lord.
Topic: THE LAMPS OF THE TABERNACLE (Lev_24:1-4)
Israel had to constantly appear in the Tabernacle to present sacrifices and observe ceremonies; it was essential, therefore, that light should be supplied by which divine service might be conducted. The golden candlestick was hung with its seven lamps.
I. THEY WERE SYMBOLICAL OF THE POSITION AND PRIVILEGES OF THE HEBREW NATION.
(a). The light shone in the midst of darkness. However dense the night might be around the Tabernacle, light was within shining upon the altar, lighting up the holy place. So, where the darkness of moral night enwrapped surrounding nations, Israel had the light of the knowledge of God.
(b). The light was derived from a divine source. The lamps were lighted from the sacred fire upon the altar. Israel did not obtain knowledge of divine things from surrounding nations, but direct from Jehovah. Their light was supernatural divine revelation, a lamp unto the feet, light unto the path in the probation and pilgrimage of life.
(c). The light of the best and purest kind. Candlestick was of pure gold. Oil was the finest, even good for food. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God incomparable, inestimable.
II. THEY WERE TYPICAL OF THE CHARACTER AND WORK OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
(a) In their Purity, (b) Preciousness, (c) Manifoldness, (d) Unity. The Priests had to keep their lamps supplied, for churches need constantly the unction of the Holy One supplied by the Great Head of the Church. Churches are to give light, and save life. Christians are to be lights in the world.
The lamps were outside the veil that enclosed the Holy of holies; so the Church is outside the veil of Heaven, but near and preparatory for it.
No nobler ambition of position than this to live and walk in the light of God. Those who refuse the light, and walk in darkness, secure for themselves despair and death. For the righteous there is reserved light for the eventide, in eternity they shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever.—F.W.B.
Topic: THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD (Lev_24:5-9)
Directions, for the construction of the table upon which the shewbread was to be placed, are recorded in the 25 of Exodus. In this chapter we have directions given for making the shewbread, which was to be placed before the Lord continually. The shewbread, being the “Bread of the presence of the Lord,” was a memorial—
I. OF THE NEARNESS OF ISRAEL, TO THE LORD.
The twelve loaves, made of fine flour, and placed In two rows upon the pure table, outside the veil of the testimony in the Tabernacle, corresponded with the twelve stones in the breastplate of the High Priest, which contained the names of the twelve tribes of Israel; and showed, when he went into the most holy place, not only how near the people were to his own heart, but also how near they were to the presence and power of Jehovah. The bread, brought by the people, represented the staff of their life, their strength, and stay; and the Lord, by admitting and adopting those representations, showed how near He allowed Israel to draw to Him. Bread, representing their life, was perpetually in the Divine presence, and the weekly renewal of the loaves denoted that God permitted the perpetual enjoyment of His presence.
II. OF THE UNITY OF ISRAEL BEFORE THE LORD.
The bread was of one kind and size, and placed on one table, though divided into twelve cakes. So, though Israel was divided into twelve tribes, they were one in the presence of the Lord; and not one of them would ever be despised, so long as they obeyed His commandments, and drew near to Him at His appointed meeting place. The Lord had set apart the nation for himself; they were, therefore, one great family, a special religious community, of which He was sole and supreme Head.
III. OF THE DEPENDENCE OF ISRAEL UPON THE LORD.
Some have suggested that the constantly replenished bread upon the table was a memorial of the manna, to remind Israel how mercifully and miraculously they were fed in the wilderness. Doubtless, the loaves would tend to remind them of that great fact; but they would also remind them how, in Canaan, they were constantly dependent upon the Lord, who crowned the year with His goodness, and gave them the finest of the wheat. The loaves were a slight return and acknowledgment of their constant obligation to the Divine bounty. The shewbread may be regarded as an emblem of the pure, sufficient, and satisfying bread of heaven, which, if a man eat, he shall live for ever.
IV. OF THE DEDICATION OF ISRAEL TO THE LORD.
Pure frankincense was put upon each row of loaves; two vessels of wine were also placed beside them, as an accessory to the service, to be poured out withal, when the incense was offered. Under the old dispensation, bread and wine are always spoken of as means and emblems of bodily strength and cheerful service; and those elements on the table before the Lord denoted the complete dedication of the tribes to His service, while the ascending incense would represent the prayers of the people, the rising of their grateful and gladsome hearts to Heaven. The perpetual presence of the bread symbolized perpetual consecration to the Theocratic King.
V. OF THE ACCESSIBILITY OF ISRAEL TO THE LORD.
The Tabernacle was the Divine dwelling-place, and the acceptance of twelve loaves from the people to lie before the Lord, and to be called “the Bread of His presence,” showed that He took the people into His friendship and favour. Sabbath after Sabbath, as the incense ascended, the people would rejoice, that through mediation and intercession their offerings were accepted. God is not only pleased with the faith and love, the praises and prayers of His people, but also with their almsdeeds. Let us present an offering to the Lord, pure, wholesome, valuable, and constant, perfumed with the merits of the sacrifice of our Great High Priest; thus shall we enjoy the presence of the Lord, and pass the days of our pilgrimage in His favour and fear.—F. W. B.
Topic: BLASPHEMY AGAINST GOD’S HOLY NAME (Lev_24:10-16)
This is the earliest Scripture record of blasphemy; and, as a newly-developed form of sin, it is treated with rigour for its complete suppression. Yet notwithstanding the swift judgment which overtook this first blasphemer, this is not the last Scripture instance of blasphemy.
The provocation or motive to this act of “the Israelitish woman’s son” seems to have been mere malignity of thought against God and His people, a wish to wound reverent minds by reviling the Name they revered.
“Swearing is a sin that hath more malignancy in it against God, by how much the less is the temptation to it,” says Burroughs; and adds, “I verily believe that if God had never made the Third Commandment, there could never have been so many oaths in the world; but it springs from a mere malignancy of spirit in man against God because He has forbidden, for no profit can arise from the practice.”
Yet, while “no profit” comes to the blasphemer, great ill and grief are thereby caused to others. Dr. Scudder was returning from India with his son, and the lad was shocked to hear from an English passenger on the steamboat God’s name used in dreadful blasphemy. Accosting him, the doctor said, “This boy has been born and reared in a heathen country and a land of idolatry; but, in all his life, he never heard a man blaspheme his Maker until now.” (See Addenda to Chapter, Profanity).
I. THE HISTORIO INTEREST OF THIS INCIDENT.
This act of blasphemy, and the judgment which it called forth on the sinner,
Brought out clearly that the Name of the Lord was Israel’s most solemn trust. The people evidently felt this, by the horror which the reviler’s conduct awakened throughout the whole camp; and by their anxiety to learn how Jehovah regarded the indignity. And this was emphasized by God’s sentence of doom upon the blasphemer. A crime must be great which evokes such condign punishment. That Holy Name was to be guarded with jealous awe. The event showed, therefore, how emphatically God will “not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.”
2. Introduced the significant custom of avoiding the very use of the Name of the Lord. The Jews interpreted this command (Lev_24:16) as prohibiting the utterance of the divine Name under any circumstances, and consequently they never after pronounced the word JEHOVAH. When blasphemy was uttered, the person hearing it laid his hand on the head of the transgressor, to indicate his sole responsibility for the guilty act; and then tore his own robe as a symbol of his shame and alarm. Certainly this may admonish us against an undue freeness in the use of the august Name either in pious speech or effusive prayer.
II. THE HEINOUS QUALITY OF THE CRIME.
1. The crime defined. Blasphemy is calumny and insult against the holy God, uttered with the intention to defame Him. It not only expresses the hatred of Him in the speaker’s own heart, but aims at awakening in his hearer’s mind an equal loathing of Jehovah and all His claims. It is held up in Scripture as an assault upon the dignity and sanctity of God’s name: Psa_74:18; Isa_52:5; Rom_2:24.
Real blasphemy consists in intended and direct insult upon God’s honour and holiness. But relative blasphemy consists in the unconscious and indirect effect of a man’s words or acts, as, e.g. the uttering opinions or sentiments which dishonour God’s name and discredit His word. To allow one’s lips to utter with irreverence and familiarity the august Name is near akin to the sin of wilfully maligning Him.
2. The root of the sin. This must be traced to the vileness of the human heart, and its natural enmity to God (Comp. Mat_15:19). It should be noticed also as being the outgrowth of folly and pride (see 2Ki_19:22; Psa_74:18). Of all sins, blasphemy is an indication of a mind mad with impiety.
3. Its great offensiveness to God and man. How hateful to God is evident from the penalties inflicted—[see Lev_5:16 and comp. Isa_65:7; Eze_20:27-32; Eze_35:11-12; Mat_12:31-32]—how hurtful to man is manifest from Psa_44:15-16; Psa_74:10; Psa_74:18; Psa_74:22. They who revere “this glorious and fearful Name, THE LORD THY GOD” (Deu_28:58) are distressed at its profanation.
Louis IX. of France branded swearers’ lips with a hot iron for this offence, and when some complained that the punishment was too severe, he replied, “I could wish that by searing my own lips I could banish all profanity from my realm.”
III. FACTS EXPLANATORY OF SUCH BLASPHEMOUS SPEECH.
The sin of profanity points to:—
1. An ungoverned tongue. Speech should be held under control. The tongue may be “set on fire of hell.” Allow unbridled speech, and profanity easily grows. “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth.”
2. Passionate contention and strife. Little do men anticipate to what extremes passion will carry them when they enter upon controversy or strife (Pro_17:14).
3. An unsanctified heart. This man was not a true Israelite: not by birth, not by sentiment. He did not share in the nation’s solemn fear of God. Unless a “clean heart and right spirit” is in us, evil may easily get dominion over us.
a. How beautiful the assurance of Solomon—“He that loveth pureness of heart, for the grace of his lips, the king shall be his friend”! If such purity of heart and grace of speech win an earthly monarch’s favour, certainly the King divine will seal with favour now and eternally such qualities of character and conduct.
b. How winning is that Name which in our Christian dispensation we are called to cherish! It is the name of Jesus. And the Father gave it His Son to be “a Name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow” (Php_2:9-10); and it is “given under heaven among men” (Act_4:12) to be loved as the “sweetest sound on mortal tongue,” and the pledge of grace and bliss.
Topic: BLASPHEMY OF SHELOMITH’S SON (Lev_24:10-15)
This incident in the career of Israel is similar in character to that of the two sons of Aaron, who offered strange fire upon the altar, thereby insulting the name of the Lord, degrading His sanctuary, and meeting with sore retribution. When Israel left Egypt, a mixed multitude of camp followers proceeded with them into the wilderness. They encamped outside the tents of Israel, and only occasionally entered the sacred enclosure. A son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, had an altercation with a man of Israel, and when striving with him in the camp blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. Moses at once sought to learn the mind of the Lord concerning such an offence; and the offender was stoned. The sentence was strictly and solemnly carried out, for “the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.” From this incident we learn—
I. THAT THE NAME OF JEHOVAH COULD NOT BE BLASPHEMED WITH IMPUNITY.
In all the oldest MSS. “the Name” stands alone, without the words “of Jehovah.” The Hebrew name of God was peculiarly solemn; the Jews, afraid to pronounce it, employed the word “Lord” instead. “Jehovah” meant the underived, infinite, and eternal existence of deity, and was the incommunicable name by which He made His august might and majesty known. It was enthroned above all the names of heathen deities, and enshrined the Divine Glory. Around it was set a sacred fence. To blaspheme it was a sin of the deepest dye. The Jews have always been marked, even in their most degenerate days, by reverence for the great name of Jehovah. Alas! how the name of the Lord is profaned and blasphemed to-day. Because of swearing the land mourneth. Though blasphemers are not now stoned, yet over their heads hangs the sword of His righteous retribution, threatening them with everlasting shame and contempt.
II. THAT THE SANCTITY OF THE CAMP COULD NOT REMAIN DEGRADED BY THE PRESENCE OF A BLASPHEMER.
It is evident that blaspheming in the camp was a very rare thing, for no sooner had the son of Shelomith uttered his oaths than the people arrested him, and demanded that he might be appropriately punished. This shows their jealousy for the honour of the divine name, and for the moral safety and purity of society. Let us beware, lest the name of the Lord Jesus be profaned, lest He be crucified afresh and put to an open shame. The camp of Israel and the Church of the living God, cannot be profaned without incurring the divine displeasure.
III. THAT THE SIGNAL AND SEVERE PUNISHMENT COULD NOT BE INFLICTED UPON THE BLASPHEMER WITHOUT ACCOMPANYING APPROPRIATE SOLEMNITY.
The sentence was to be executed outside the camp, in the presence of witnesses who heard the words spoken; they were to lay their hands upon the head of the doomed man, to show that he bore his own guilt, and was devoted to expiate it. As we see him publicly and solemnly stoned, we learn how fearful a thing sin is, and how fearful it is to fall into the hands of the living God, except we do so in penitence and prayer. We also learn—(a) The danger of anger. (b) How one sin leads to another—F. W. B.
OUTLINES ON VERSES OF CHAPTER 24
Lev_24:2.—Theme: THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK.
That part of the temple exclusively claimed by Jehovah was lighted by a candlestick with seven lamps, which were kept continually burning. This candlestick might possibly be intended to represent Christ as “the light of the world,” but certainly shadowed forth His church in—
I. ITS PRIVILIGES.
I. Christ declared that the candlestick represented His church (Rev_1:20). Consider—
(1.) Of what it was composed. Pure gold (Exo_25:31-38). Symbol of the “divine nature” of which saints are made partakers (2Pe_1:4).
(2.) How it was supplied. With purest oil; symbol of the “unction of the Holy One which we have received” (1Jn_2:20; 1Jn_2:27), for the enlightenment of our minds and sanctifying of our souls.
(3.) For what purpose it was used. To shine in darkness, that all who were engaged in God’s service might fulfil their duties aright, and that God might be glorified in them (Rev_1:12-13).
2. The priestly attendant prefigured Christ.
This is affirmed on Christ’s own authority (Heb_4:14-15).
(1.) He is constantly employed in inspecting and trimming the lamps.
(2) Not a saint escapes His watchfulness; He sees all our declensions and needs.
(3.) He interposes to correct their dulness, and to restore them to their wonted splendour (Joh_15:2).
ITS DUTIES.
The duties of the saints are—
1. To shine; that God’s power and grace may be magnified among men, and that their fellow-creatures may be benefitted by their instructions, example, and influence (Mat_5:14-16).
2. To be receiving more grace from Christ, In order to their shining with yet brighter luster.
He has “the residue of the Spirit” (Mal_2:15); and “of that fulness we must all receive even grace for grace” (Joh_1:16). Comp. Zec_4:2-4; Zec_4:11-14.
(a) An important inquiry. Are you as lights shining in a dark place? Judge yourselves.
(b) A solemn admonition. If we would not have “our candlestick removed” we must repent every known defect and seek to be pure as He is pure.
(c) An encouraging reflection. He “will not quench the smoking flax” (Mat_12:20). “Thou wilt light my candle, etc.” (Psa_18:28.)—C. Simeon.
Lev_24:4.—Theme: THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. “He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.”
The high priest caring for the golden candlestick, a type of Christ in His care for the churches (Zec_4:2-6; Rev_1:12-20), God is Light. Light, the firstborn of creation. Light, the beginning of work of grace in soul of man. Christ the Light of the world, a light to lighten the Gentiles, glory of Israel. The lamps before the Lord continually, so churches ever under His eye and care. Consider—(a) how the light of the lamps was derived; (b) it was cheering; (c) it was revealing; (d) it was beautiful; (e) it was constant; (f) it was precious; (g) it was essential. Trace analogy in light vouchsafed to Christian church and Christly souls.—F.W.B.
Lev_24:5—Theme: THE SHEWBREAD.
The mystery of the shewbread is applied by some to Christ, who called Himself “the true bread.” But the circumstance of the flour “being taken from all the children of Israel,” and made into “twelve cakes,” denotes that those loaves represented the twelve tribes i.e., the Church of God.
I. THEIR SOLEMN DEDICATION TO GOD.
“For a memorial, as an offering made by fire unto the Lord.” As such, His eyes are upon them continually; and as the frankinscense was to God an odour of a sweet smell, so they are accepted by Him.
II. THEIR PERIODICAL RENEWAL.
While one generation is passing away another comes in to supply their place. Never shall God’s people be removed but others shall be ready to succeed them. There are always souls prepared to be “baptised from the dead.”
III. THEIR ULTIMATE DESTINATION.
The saints when their appointed period here is fulfilled, pass into the possession of Christ, the Great High Priest. “The Lord’s portion is his people” (Deu_33:9). Christ will claim His people as His “peculiar treasure.”
It is the duty of God’s people, therefore:—
1. To consecrate themselves entirely to God, as being made and “set apart” absolutely for Him (Isa_43:21).
2. To occupy themselves in prayer and intercession.
As the loaves represented “before the Lord” all Israel, so Christians should regard themselves as required to “make supplications, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving for all men.”
3. To wait patiently their removal hence.
“All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my charge come.”—C. Simeon.
Lev_24:8—Theme: SPECIAL TIME FOR SERVICE
“Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord.”
Forms may exist without formality. Continuous worship does not preclude special seasons for service. The Sabbath a peculiarly holy and consecrated day. The house of God a specially consecrated place. Special seasons for attention to divine things, (a) prevent forgetfulness, (b) arrest attention, (c) secure freshness, (d) awaken inquiry. The bread was never allowed to get mouldy or stale. The frankincense upon each row upon the golden table symbolic of prayer, purity, and praise. In Christian service and worship renewal of strength, refreshment in service, replenishment of sacrifice essential to acceptable worship and spiritual profit. At all times, especially on the Lord’s day, there must be renewed consecration to Him before whose presence we bow.—F. W. B.
Lev_24:13-15.—Theme: EVIL CONNEXIONS.
I. THE DANGER OF UNGODLY CONNEXIONS.
As a caution against intimacy with the ungodly we are told that “evil communications corrupt good manners,” and “the companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Whereas in the marriage union such connexion is peculiarly dangerous, because its influence is incessant.
1. Injurious to the person himself. It cannot be productive of happiness, or piety. Comp. 2Co_6:14-15.
2. Injurious to their offspring. It sorrowfully happens that when parents are divided in relation to religion the children yield most to the influence of the ungodly parent.
II. THE DANGER OF UNGODLY HABITS.
1. The habits of this young man were bad, a son of wrathful nature and reviling habits.
2. The consequences proved fatal to him. Little did he anticipate the issues of his evil habits. “Sin bringeth forth death.”
(a) Check strife and anger in ourselves,
(b) Arrest blasphemy in others.
—C. Simeon, M.A.
Lev_24:10-16.—Theme: SLAYING THE BLASPHEMER.
The narrative shows
I. THE EVIL RESULTING FROM CONNEXION WITH THE UNGODLY, “whose father was an Egyptian”—said by the Rabbins to be the man whom Moses killed.
II. The danger ARISING FROM INDULGENCE IN PASSIONATE ANGER: “Strove”; the blasphemy was uttered in a quarrelsome passion.
III. THE BLASPHEMY which, in this case, RESULTED FROM SUCH INDULGENCE.
“Cursed” the Holy Name of Jehovah; which, the Israelite claimed, belonged to none but Israelites.
IV. THE PUNISHMENT WHICH ALL LIKE SIN MERITS.—W. Wayland, B.A.
Lev_24:16.—Theme: BLASPHEMY.
“And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death.”
A flaming sword here guards the sacred name of Jehovah. Not only were holy services to be rendered to Him, but reverent thoughts entertained of Him, whether uttered or unexpressed. Why were contemptuous or irreverent words uttered impiously against God’s name considered as heinous?
I. Because God’s Name reveals and represents Him. As the Eternal, Infinite, Self-existent. Almighty, Only God.
II. Because to blaspheme God’s Name, indicates the lowest depths of human sinfulness. The blasphemer is capable of doing every other kind of evil without compunction.
III. Because such wickedness exerts a most baneful influence upon others. When contempt is thrown upon the divine name, obedience to divine laws is discouraged, the seeds of rebellion to divine authority are sown.
IV. Because the Divine Name is worthy of all honour and blessing.
V. Because God has justly branded the sin with intensest hatred; and attached to it hopeless doom.
No sin had denounced upon it a severer judgment by the Son of God. How needful that we constantly offer the prayer, “Hallowed be thy name.”—F.W.B.
Lev_24:22.—Theme: THE INEXORABLENESS OF THE LAW.
“He shall have one manner of Law.”
To maintain order in the wilderness among the tribes of Israel, it was essential that punishment should not be tardy in its movements, but summary in its infliction. The people needed to be held with a tight rein, chastised with a strong hand. The law of retaliation was,
I. Strictly just. Only fair that punishment should be of the kind and extent of the crime, for crime is an offence against man and society, the sin of the crime is taken cognizance of by God, He only can forgive it.
II. Highly salutary. It would check tendencies to opression, robbery and cruelty. Self-love and fear, where principle was absent, would deter from wrong doing for which severe retaliating punishment would ensue.
The law anticipated and foreshadowed the golden rule, “Whatsoever ye would that men should” etc., for the people would seek to do only such things as they would, should retaliation be done to them.
Under the Gospel, magnanimity supplants retaliation. The beau-ideal of Christian manhood is, lamblike innocence, and dovelike gentleness, patience, love.—F. W. B.
ILLUSTRATIVE ADDENDA TO CHAPTER 24
LIGHT BEARERS. The ancient Insignia of the Waldennian Church was a candlestick, with a light radiating its rays across the surrounding darkness, and encircled with seven stars; with the motto, “Lux lucet in tenebris.” Anything more appropriately descriptive of the position and history of the Church, it would be impossible to conceive.
PROFANITY. A good old man was once in company with a gentleman, who occasionally introduced into conversation the words, “devil, deuce,” etc., and who, at last, took the name of God in vain, “Stop, sir,” said the old man, “I said nothing while you only used freedoms with the name of your own master, but I insist upon it that you shall, use no freedoms with the Name of mine.”
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain Oil for the Lamps. The Shewbread. Laws on Blasphemy
Oil for the Lamps. The Shewbread. Laws on Blasphemy
1-4. Oil for the Lamps in the Tabernacle.
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On the construction of the Lampstand see Exo_25:31-40, and with the present passage cp. Exo_27:20-21 and notes there.
5-9. The Table of Shewbread is described in Exo_25:23-30 (see notes there). On this table, which stood in the Holy Place, twelve new unleavened loaves were laid each sabbath day, and after lying for seven days were removed and eaten by the priests, fresh loaves being again substituted. These loaves, the number of which corresponded to that of the tribes of Israel, are called the 'bread of the Presence,' as being laid before God, or 'bread of the pile' as being arranged in two rows (Lev_24:6), or 'the continual bread,' as lying continually before God (Num_4:7). The shewbread was a kind of meal offering (see intro. to Leviticus 2), and the rite probably had its origin in the crude notion that the deity required food like his worshippers (cp. on Lev_3:11). In the Levitical law, however, it attained a higher significance. It was an acknowledgment that man owes his 'daily bread' to God. It was a kind of perpetual grace over meat.
10-23. Punishment of a Blasphemer. A half-Israelite blasphemes the name of Jehovah. As there is some uncertainty whether such a person is subject to the same penalty as full-born Israelites the matter is referred to God, and the decision is given that there is one law for the stranger and for the home-born.
10. See on Exo_12:38.
11. Blasphemed the name of the Lord] RV 'blasphemed the Name,' i.e. blasphemed Jehovah. The peculiar expression is due to some copyist who shrank, out of a feeling of reverence, from inserting the name of Jehovah in this connexion: see pn Exo_3:13.
14. Lay their hands] devoting him to death and solemnly dissociating themselves from complicity in his guilt: cp. Deu_17:7.
16. As well the stranger] This is the important legal point which the above incident is inserted to illustrate: cp. Lev_24:22.
17-22. Cp. Exo_21:12; and notes there.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain 2. Priestly Duties: The Light and the Shewbread
2. Priestly Duties: The Light and the Shewbread
CHAPTER 24:1-9
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1. The light (Lev 24:1-4)
2. The shewbread (Lev 24:5-9)
This chapter is not disconnected from the preceding one as some claim; nor is it the work of a redactor as the critics teach. It is most beautifully linked with the dispensational foreshadowings we found in the feasts of Jehovah. Between Pentecost and the blowing of the trumpets there is, as stated before, a long period of time. When the church was formed, after the sheaf of the firstfruits had been waved, Israel was nationally set aside and night settled upon them. Maintained by the high priest, a light was to be kept shining continually from evening till morning; it was the light of the golden lampstand with its lamps. The lampstand typifies Christ and the high priest also is a type of Christ. Here is a hint of the testimony which shines forth in Christ and through the heavenly priesthood (the church) during the night, the present age. But Israel also will some day shine forth and be a light-bearer (Zec 4:1-14).
Then there was the shewbread. They were set in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. Shewbread means literally “bread of the face,” that is, the bread before God. Pure frankincense was also put upon them. No doubt, dispensationally, we have in the shewbread another picture of those who are now His people (the church), while the twelve loaves also typify Israel as a nation.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain Of the Oil and the Showbread
Of the Oil and the Showbread
v. 1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
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v. 2. Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Cf Exo 27:20-21. This oil was exceptionally pure, because all leaves, parts of branches and twigs, and all other foreign matter was removed; and the olives from which this oil was gained were not stamped or pressed in presses, but merely cut and beaten, a process which caused the oil to drain off without any other juices of the fruit.
v. 3. Without the veil of the testimony, the curtain which hid the Ark of the Covenant with the tables of the testimony from the eyes of all the children of Israel, in the Tabernacle of the Congregation, in the Holy Place, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually, that is, he was to place the lamps filled with the pure oil on the seven-armed candlestick and light them in the evening, and put them in order in the morning by cleaning them and trimming their wicks. It shall be a statute forever in your generations.
v. 4. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually. This was a function which was expressly delegated to the priests while the Levitical precepts were in force.
v. 5. And thou shalt take fine flour, wheaten flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof; two-tenth deals (a little more than five quarts) shall be in one cake.
v. 6. And thou shalt set them in two rows, or heaps,six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord, upon the table of showbread made of pure gold, on the north side of the altar of incense, in the Holy Place,
v. 7. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, the pure natural gum, as a gift from the people, the twelve tribes of Israel being represented by the twelve cakes of the showbread. The frankincense, according to Jewish tradition, was placed beside each heap of showbread in golden censers, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord, its sweet odor serving to bring the people into remembrance before the Lord.
v. 8. Every Sabbath he, the priest on duty, shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. In this unbloody sacrifice the congregation brought the fruit of its activity, of its life, and of its sanctification before the face of the Lord, and thus presented itself to Him as a people diligent in good works.
v. 9. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place, it belonged to the food which they consumed somewhere in the Sanctuary or in its court; for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute. It was a symbol and guarantee of the eternal covenant which existed between Jehovah and His people. We Christians have a more perfect table, at which our communion with God and the covenant of His mercy are renewed as often as we come in true faith, namely, the table of His Supper.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
God gives Moses instructions about the things in the tent of meeting.
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pure oil beaten from olives
"pure olive oil"
the lamp
This refers to the lamp or lamps in Yahweh's sacred tent. This can be stated clearly. AT: "the lamp in the tent of meeting" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
translationWords
Yahweh
Moses
command
people group
Israel
pure
oil
olive
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.