You may have noticed in reading
the book of Leviticus that this book all about the Levitical
priesthood contains only three historical events, just three
things of matters of historic events that are recorded in the
book. The first, of course, is the consecration of Aaron's sons
as priests in chapters eight and nine. And the second comes
right on the heels of it. No sooner had the Lord God given
explicit instruction as to what the priesthood was to be, what
its function was to be, how men must approach Him in that capacity,
than Nadab and Abihu in chapter 10 offered strange fire unto
the Lord, refusing to sanctify His name. And God killed them. in the holy place as they offered
their fire. The third and last historic event
is found in Leviticus 24. Moses has been, by divine inspiration
in this chapter, giving us instructions about the worship of God. He
spoke about the golden candlestick in the holy place. Of course,
picturing Christ Jesus, our Lord, who is the light of the world,
the only light by whom we see light, the only light by which
we are made to know ourselves, the only light in which God Almighty
is revealed, and the only light that will bring us to him. And
there he tells us about the golden table of showbread. And those
12 loaves of bread sitting upon it, which, of course, speak of
our Lord Jesus Christ and, in a sense, speak of us as well.
Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Eating him, we have life. But we are one with him and can't
be separated from him. We are one loaf in Christ Jesus
the Lord. In him is bread enough and to
spare for all his children, so that all the hungry may come
and eat of him. And our Lord Jesus Christ bids
you do just that. And if you're hungry, come and
eat. Indeed, if you're hungry, you
will come and eat. The bread was ordered and maintained
by God's priest. You see, it is Christ and Christ
alone who provides all that we need and constantly supplies
our souls with all that we need. All light, all bread, all life
is in his hands and is dispensed by him to his people. It is altogether
up to him to give us life. Altogether up to Him to give
us bread. Altogether up to Him to give
us life. And then this bread, Herod, handfuls
of frankincense. The frankincense, of course,
speaking of our acceptance with God by Jesus Christ the Lord. Here set these twelve loaves
of bread. in the holy place with Christ
the high priest accepted of God by Jesus' merit, his blood, and
his righteousness. You and I are accepted of God
only by the sweet incense of his sacrifice. He accepts our
gifts of praise and thanksgiving, our services to him only through
the sweet incense of Christ's intercession. And then we're
told that all the oil in the lamps and all the bread sitting
on the table was to be brought to the priest out of the hands
of the children of Israel, symbolizing many things for certain. But
one thing Lindsay brought out in his lesson this morning, it
symbolizes our consecration to God. Faith in Christ involves
consecration, devotion, I recall listening to Maurice Montgomery's
oldest son, Gary, describing things learned early in the Marine
Corps. He said, what they want to instill
in you is the noble fact that there's something more important
than you. so that you're willing to sacrifice
everything for that cause greater than you. Will you hear me, my
brothers, my sisters? There's something more important
than you and me. And that which is more important
is Christ our Redeemer, our God, his honor, his will, his people. And the Lord Jesus, when he saves
the sinner, causes that sinner willingly to bow to his dominion,
to lose his life to him, giving all to him. And that which we
bring, just as you have just brought your offerings, the praise
we now bring, the service we render to him, is but a token
of our consecration of ourselves to our God. Faith is neither
more nor less than believing on Christ. Believing Him with
such confidence that you commit everything to Him. Commit everything to Him. Now
all this was done in the tabernacle. All access to God. was arranged
and appointed by his priest. The whole tabernacle service
was a constant display then of man's separation from God by
nature. By reason of our sin, we cannot
come to Him because He is infinitely, immaculately holy. Man cannot
in and of himself, by his own merit, by his own doing, by his
own work, bring himself back to God. There's nothing Any man
can do to reconcile himself with God. You hear people these days
say, well, I've made my peace with God. You can't do it. You don't have the wherewithal
to make peace with God. If peace is to be made, it must
be made by God himself. These things display God's absolute
right of sovereignty, dominion, and authority as God. God gave
all the laws. Isn't that interesting? God gave
them all. Nobody asked for an opinion,
or nobody was asked their opinion. Nobody had a vote, didn't have
any committee sit down and decide what ought to be done. God gave
his word and gave no reason for his word except he said it. So he displays his right as God
to exercise absolute dominion, to determine that which is right,
and to prescribe law. Now listen to me. Listen to me.
No one has the right to decide what's right except God. Oh my, how good it'd be for us
to learn that lesson. No one has the right to decide
what's right except God. He alone. I hear folks say all
the time, and I don't recall having said it, I may have, and
it's a tendency and it's all because we pick up on the culture
in which we live. Well, I think that's a sin. Since
when did you get the right to determine what's sin? Well, I think that's a crime.
Since when did you get that right? Oh, no. The only one that has
a right to determine what's right is God. And the only law that
is just and right law is the law that comes down from God
revealed in His Word. There was a day long since passed
in our society. But there was a day when the
whole of the free world based law upon God's revelation, all
civil law rising from it. And in those days, we had some
measure of order in society rather than chaos and every man doing
what's right in his own eye. These things displayed salvation
by God's free and sovereign grace through the merits of a substitute,
one whom God has accepted. The light, the bread, the frankincense,
when the priest hands alone, he gave it to whom he would.
And they displayed our constant need of that grace and that substitute. Now, let's look at our text. after setting out all these things,
after hearing God's Word, after hearing God's prescribed way
of worship. This man spoken of in this text
has been with Israel all along. He's heard everything Moses has
said about the worship of God from Leviticus 1 right up here
to chapter 24. He heard all about the priesthood.
He watched the consecration of the priest. He saw the priesthood
garments. He heard about the sacrifices.
He saw God's judgment on Nadab and Abihu. And in verse 10 we
read, now notice, This sentence begins with this little word,
and. And there's a reason for that. It's because it was put
there by way of explanation and illustration of what was going
on. Most of the commentators I read
in the last couple of weeks say, well, this looks out of place.
It does if you read it by itself, but not if you read it in its
context. And the son of an Israelitist woman whose father was an Egyptian,
went out among the children of Israel. Now remember, Moses is
giving the law concerning God's worship. And this son of the
Israelitist woman and a man of Israel strove together in the
camp. And the Israelitist woman's son
blasphemed the name. Now, just in case I forget later,
notice those words of the Lord are in italics, put there by the translators
to make the text read more smoothly. And it does make it read more
smoothly. But this is how the text should read. The Israelitess
woman's son blasphemed the name. The name. And cursed. And they brought him unto Moses,
and his mother's name was Shelemeth, the daughter of Digri, of the
tribe of Dan. And they put him in ward, that
the mind of the Lord might be shewed 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 thou shalt speak
unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his
God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name
of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death. And all the
congregation shall certainly stone him, as well the stranger
as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name, shall be put to death. And he
that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. And he that
killeth beast shall make it good, beast for beast. And if a man
cause a blemish in his neighbor as he hath done, so shall it
be done to him. Breach for breach, eye for eye,
tooth for tooth. As he hath caused blemish in
a man, so shall it be done to him again. I read a preacher's
sermon one day this week on this very passage of scripture. He
said, now aren't you glad we don't have to go back to that?
Oh, I wish we would. I wish we would. He that killeth a beast, he shall
restore it. And he that killeth a man, he
shall be put to death. You have one manner of law, as
well for the stranger as for one of your own country. For
I am the Lord your God." And Moses spoke to the children of
Israel that they would bring forth him that had cursed out
the camp. out of the camp and stone him
with stones. And the children of Israel did
as the Lord commanded Moses." Now, here is a nameless mongrel
Israelite, part Jew, part Egyptian, who openly blasphemed the name
of God. What are we to learn from this? First, let me show you who this
offender is. The man described in this story is not named. We
don't know who he was. His father's name, we're not
told. The Jews commonly taught that
he was the son of that Egyptian who was slain by Moses back in
Exodus chapter 12. Some grounds for that. All we're
told is that his mother's name was Shelometh of the tribe of
Dan, a woman who had married an Egyptian
idolater. Oh, well, we might have expected
this. When the sons of God marry the
daughters of men, the result of the union, you can expect
to be evil. You see, disobedience is always
costly. The disobedience of parents and
others in authority is often manifest in the ruin of their
children and those under their authority. But men rant and rave as they
will. God Almighty justly visits the
iniquities of the fathers upon the children, generation after
generation after generation. Be wise, my brothers and sisters,
that not only by word, but by example, by deed, you lead those
under your influence. to God, not to hell. How often we tell our children,
set your heart on Christ, set your heart on heaven, and we
show them how to set their hearts on the world and the things of
the world. Put Christ first! Put Him first, everything will
be alright. And we show them how to put ourselves first and
fit Him in somewhere along the way. Being depraved by nature, children
are always more apt to follow the influences of evil than of
good. They're always more apt to follow the influence of an
Egyptian father who is an idolater in blasphemy than to follow the
influence of a believing Israelite mother who worships God and praises
Him. That's the nature of the beast.
But this man was a man, not a child. He alone stood responsible for
his crimes, and he alone must bear the result of his crimes.
Now look at the strife that's recorded here. This son of Shelomith,
whose father was an Egyptian, shall we say he got into a heated
argument. He got into a hot debate with
one of God's children. It appears the fight may have
broken out into violence. They may have got fist to fist.
We're not told specifically. But it was, to say the least,
a heated discussion. Now remember, the camp of Israel
was a mixed multitude. From the time they came out of
Egypt, it was always a mixed multitude. And that mixed multitude
was always a source of trouble for Israel. They often call strife
and division in the camp of Israel, and so it is today. The Church
of God in this world, listen now, the Church of God in this
world is a mixed multitude. We have enough difficulty because
of our own sin. But everywhere God plants wheat,
Satan sows tares. Wherever Christ gathers his sheep,
Satan gathers goats. There is always both believers
and unbelievers in the visible church of God, in all of them. No exceptions. No exceptions.
What do we do about that? Folks say, well, we ought to
set rules and regulations and fence the table, keep the church
pure. Well, if we kept it very pure, we'd all have to leave.
That's not going to happen. That's not going to happen. What
do you do? Our Lord said, leave him alone. Leave him alone. Sooner or later, you'll take
care of him. And if you do, just leave him alone, because you
don't know which is which. But a quarrel broke out here between
this Egyptian and this Israelite. And once a quarrel begins, who
knows what evil will be done before it's over. How great a
matter a little fire kindleth. See, when passions are hot, people tend to forget both their
reason and their religion. And the abundance of the heart
pops out. The fact is, when you forget
to think about what you say, and you speak rashly, you commonly
speak something that's hidden deep down inside you don't want
anybody else to know. And this man spoke heatedly and
spoke in such a way as to draw division between Moses and the
people, to draw division between brother and brother, to sow discord
in Israel. and a blasphemed God. Let us be careful, my brethren,
that we be gentle unto all men. Our God says the servant of the
Lord must not strive. Particularly, he's talking about
preachers. But you'd be wise to follow the
same counsel. Don't sit down and debate with
folks, especially about things that don't matter. But don't
allow yourself to be drawn into heated argument and debate with
people. It will always result in evil. It arises from evil
and it brings evil. No good comes of it. Debate is
the lust of the flesh. Now, what was this man's blasphemy? What was the cause of strife
to start with? Why were they fighting? Now, I must confess that I've
always read this passage, as you probably have. And as I read
the last couple of weeks, the commentaries and sermons, I've
read dozens on the passage. Almost everybody, almost everybody
interprets it like this. This son of the Egyptian got
to arguing with this Israelite man right in front of the tabernacle. right in the camp of Israel.
As Moses is giving instruction, he starts to argue, and he gets
violent. And when he gets done, most folks
say what he said was, God damn you, and blaspheme God. Now that's horrible. That's horrible,
obnoxious language. I can't describe how horrible,
how crude, how low, how despicable such language is. But that's
not what happened here. I'm convinced it's not because
of the context. Because of the context. Moses
is here giving instruction about worshiping God. And when this
man heard and understood Moses' doctrine, when he understood
that he doesn't have a say in the matter, when he understood
that God rules, that God's authoritative, that God's word's final, that
the only way you can approach God is by his sacrifice, by his
priest, and then only if he brings you in, when he demands absolute
surrender on your part, this man heard it and said, And the
Israelite looked at him and he said, what are you saying? This
is the only way of salvation. You can't come to God any other
way. You can't approach God any other
way. You can't be accepted of God any other way. And this man
looked at him and he said in the hearing of all, well, let
God be damned. That's the blasphemy. Oh, who would ever say that? That's the language of all unbelief. And that's the language of all
disobedience. All. All. You see, sin is first and foremost injury
done to God. Sin is first and foremost the
refusal to hallow, to sanctify, to honor God's name. Sin is first
and foremost an attack upon God's throne. Sin is the out-breaking
of the inward enmity of the carnal heart against God Almighty. Preparing a Sunday school lesson
a few weeks ago when Audra Grace and Will and Dunfaith were staying
with us, and she was going over things with Audra Grace about
man's depravity, his hatred of God. And that got Audra Grace's
attention. She doesn't miss much. She said,
we all hate God. That's our nature. And man, Audra
Grace, she latched on to that. And after a while, she got real
quiet, and she finally looked at him. She said, Nana, why do
you hate God so much? But the fact is, that's our nature. And all sin, all rebellion, all
disobedience, all unbelief is this same willful, obstinate
blasphemy. Now look at the name he blasphemed. Be sure you notice, as I pointed
out earlier, that the name of the Lord, the words of the Lord
in both verse 11 and verse 16 are in italics. And what this
man did is he blasphemed the name. The name. But preacher, why make such a
big deal about that? It was the Lord's name. Oh yeah.
But he said the name for a reason. Moses speaks here and tells us
that this man in his blasphemy blasphemed the name. You see,
the name of God, Bob, is what He is. It's what He is. You hear the name Don Fortner,
and it doesn't mean much about Don Fortner unless you know him.
That doesn't mean much. There are other Don Fortners.
I met a few. It doesn't mean much. And the name, certainly
in its meaning, doesn't apply to me. It means, in Spanish,
a mighty ruler. That's not me. The word Fortner,
it's a keeper of the four. That's not me either. So Don
Fortner doesn't mean a thing unless you know this particular
man. But God's name is all that He is. It is that by which God
reveals himself in his essential character. It is that by which
God defines and shows his attributes unto men. What is the name of
the Lord? The name of the Lord is Jesus
Christ, the God-man, our Savior. Now let's look in the book. Turn
back to Exodus chapter 3. Exodus 3, I want you to look
at four or five passages. I want you to see this from the
book. God has called Moses to go deliver
Israel, commands him to go down to Pharaoh. And in verse 13,
Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children
of Israel, say to them, The God of your fathers hath sent me
unto you, and they shall say to me, What's his name? What's
his name? What shall I say unto them? And
God said to Moses, I am that I am. Now the Jews, and I've
often referred to this, The Jews had a superstitious, idolatrous reverence
for the word Jehovah. They said a man who spoke the
word blasphemed. They didn't use it. Instead of
using Jehovah, they used the name Adonai. They wouldn't even
speak it. It was an idolatrous reverence
for the word. The scribes, when they would
sit down and write out the name, they'd go wash their hands and
write it, and go wash their hands and write it. They had an idolatrous
reverence for the Word, for the letters, for the vowels, for
the consonants. Though they knew nothing about
God. That's not what's talked about here. When the Lord God
says, I am that I am. He's saying, I am. Now! I was yesterday and I shall be
forever. He declares himself to be the
ever-existent God. And thus shalt thou say to the
children, I am has sent me unto you. I am, our Savior said. I am the bread of life. I am
the light of the world. He spoke to those who came to
rest and I am. And they fell away as dead men.
Now turn to Acts chapter 4. The name this man blasphemed
is God revealed in Christ as he was set forth in these services
and ceremonies. Acts chapter 4. Peter and John,
I don't have any question at all, have a specific reference
to this event right here as they're addressing these Jewish Sanhedrin.
These fellows who knew this thing like the back of their hands.
I don't have any questions. Some of them would stand around
and debate about who this fellow's Egyptian father was. They traced
it out in every history book and every historic genealogy
they could find. They knew this thing well. And
when it got done, Peter said, be it known to you. that by Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, this man stands before
you whole. Now watch this, verse 12. Neither
is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Look
at Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Who is
God? What is God? What's He like? Well, some folks will paint you
pictures and make statues and say, there, that's what He's
like. And some folks have less reverence than the idolaters
and they'll say, God's like Pepsi-Cola, He's the real thing. God's like
this, God's like that. Who's God? What's He like? Behold
Jesus Christ. in all his person, and in all
his work, and you beheld God. That's who he is. Acts, Philippians
chapter 2, verse 5. Paul says, Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. Now watch it. Wherefore God also
hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name. Look at Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews
1. No wonder the psalmist said,
Praise ye the Lord. I'll praise the Lord my whole
heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.
The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have
pleasure therein. His work is honorable and glorious.
His righteousness endureth forever. He sent redemption unto His people. He hath commanded His covenant
forever. Holy and reverend is His name. Look here, Hebrews 1, God who
at sundry time and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
to us by his Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the world, through being the
brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person,
and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had
by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels,
watch it, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name
than they. The name. This man looked upon
Jesus Christ revealed in these sacrifices. He heard Moses' doctrine. He heard the way of life. What
he saw, I don't know. But what was portrayed in those
services and sacrifices was the person and work of Christ. And
this man, blasphemed! He said, I will not come to God
that way! I will not bow to God! I will not submit. But there's also here an incidental but wondrous manifestation
of God's providence. I try never to miss that. I need
to be reminded all the time that God is doing everything with
everybody exactly as it ought to be done for the good of his
people and the glory of his name. So let me remind you again. This
fact that this thing took place just as Moses was giving the
children of Israel God's law regarding his worship is not
insignificant. It shows God's providence working
with his revelation. Moses says, now this is what
God requires. This is the only way you can
come. You come this way, you can't come. You come this way,
you're going to be shut out. You hallow God's name or you'll
be cursed forever. And then this man blasphemes
God, blasphemes his name. And hereby, God visibly, experimentally,
confirmed before the eyes of all the people his authority
as God, the authority of his word, the gospel he revealed,
and his servant Moses by whom it was revealed. I have found much the same thing
in my own experience, haven't you? Somehow, Lindsay, in God's providence,
when he teaches us something real important, he brings things
to pass that coincide with what's in his word, by which the revelation
of the written word is stamped on our hearts in experience. Moses had been telling everybody. God had been telling everybody
by Moses. Now, this is the way. Walk in this way. Come to God
this way. Or you're going to hell. What does he mean by that? What
do you suppose the Lord meant by that? Hang on, and we'll show
you. By this man who blasphemed God. Look at the sentence. In verse
12, Moses was commanded of the Lord to shut him up in ward.
People put him in prison that they might know the mind of the
Lord. Oh, that's a good lesson. They brought him to Moses, not
like the Pharisees brought people to the Lord Jesus like that adulterous
woman. But they brought him to Moses
because they trembled. They heard what was going on.
And they knew what God had said. They knew what happened in the
Maydabinah Bayou. But this thing didn't take place
inside the holy place. This thing took place out here
amongst them. They were strife in the camp of Israel. Moses!
What do we do with this man? Moses said, I can't say right
now. I've got to seek God's mind. Oh, what a wise man. I promise
you, my brothers and sisters, If we are willing to bow and
seek God's will, not our own, God will show us His will and
guide us in His way. Now this is not your sentence.
This is not Israel's sentence. This is not the sentence of the
consensus of opinion in the land. This is God's sentence. You bring
that man out of the camp of Israel. The place of blessedness. The place of overflowing, bounteous
grace. The place where God meets with
man. The place where God is honored.
The place where God's name is hallowed. Bring him out! Outside
the camp, to the cursed place, the unclean place. And when you
do that, everybody who heard him blaspheme my name, let them
lay their hands on his head, just like Aaron laid his hands
on the head of the Paschal Lamb. imputing back to that man his
own transgression. Saying to that man, you're about
to be stoned, but your blood's on your head, not on mine. Your
blood's on your head, not on Moses. Your blood's on your head,
not on God's. You're about to be stoned, and
your blood's on your head, not your daddy's, not your mama's,
on your head, because you blaspheme God. And the congregation, all
the congregation must stone him. So that everybody in the congregation,
can't you picture, everybody, every man, every woman, gets a rock in each hand, and
they take him out. This man who had cursed God is
now cursed of God, brought out to the cursed place. And they
with one consent say, Amen, God's right. And that man's mother
has a rock in this hand, and a rock in this hand, and a heart
breaking in her, and tears burning her cheeks, and she says, Amen!
God's right! And he's stoned to death. Publicly. And thus it shall be, with you who blaspheme God's name with your
obstinate rebellion and unbelief. Now you can read verses 17 through
22 at your leisure. Again, it's talking about civil
law. And there are two things here.
Moses is inspired of God, seizing this opportunity to move from
the ceremonial law as God's prophet in Israel to the civil law as
the king and magistrate and judge of Israel. The law that God here
gives, he declares to be for man's good. He says, man is made
in God's image. And he that kills a man shall
be killed by man. He that kills a man shall be
killed by man. Oh, but that's vengeance. That's
revenge. That won't do any good. That
won't bring back the dead. That's not going to help anybody.
That's not going to make the family feel any better. Oh, he
can't do that. Moses was not acting as a private
citizen. As a private citizen, he had
no right to take a man's life. As a private citizen, he had
no right to avenge himself. As a private citizen, he had
no right to go after a man who committed a crime against him.
But as a civil magistrate, he had no right not to. And I wish
I could get the ear of every judge and lawmaker in this land.
As a civil magistrate, they have no right, no right not to execute
justice upon criminals. And God speaks plainly. He speaks
of the taking of a man's life, and he speaks of rape, and incest,
and homosexuality as the very taking of a life. And he says
they have no right to live. Because in doing so, they destroy
man and our society made in the image of God. That's why. That's why. The second thing
here. This law was not only a matter
of civil justice, but this law was for the good of the people.
You know, this is hard to believe in our society, this enlightened,
philosophical, psychologically massaged, politically correct
world of ours. I know it's hard to receive it. You know, there's some folks
out there who would steal everything you've got if they could. If
it wasn't for one thing, they're scared of the consequences. They'd come in, brutalize you,
beat you, murder you, rape your family, take everything you've
got. Except for one thing, they're scared of the consequences. Because
there's still a little bit of law. A little bit of law. Don't
amount to much, but there's a little. There's a little. A fella does
some things here. If a fella should get caught,
heaven forbid, wringing a chicken's neck, some folks haven't been
in prison for life. Now, if he murdered you, he might pull two
years. But if he does some bad things, you're going to get caught.
Well, whatever the law is, it's exercised by God's ordinance
to protect you from those who would destroy you. That's the
reason. Man kills your beast, he restores
your beast. The man pokes out your eye, not
unwittingly, but purposefully. He got to have his eye poked
out. That's what he said. What's he talking about? Be careful.
Be real careful. Because your neighbor is made
in the image of God too. And then we come to the last
verse. Moses spake to the children of
Israel. that they should bring forth
him that had cursed out of the camp, and stone him with stones. And the children of Israel did
as the Lord commanded Moses.