Tag Archive | blasphemy

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 52

Feb21
Day 52.  Reading Leviticus 24 – 25. 

Read the scripture for today. What do you learn about God? Share what you learn with others.

Leviticus 24.

Oil & Bread in the Tabernacle.

The priests must replenish the Tabernacle Lampstand oil and the Table bread regularly.  Pure oil from beaten olives is used to light the lamps before the LORD every morning. The Shewbread is to be made of fine flour, twelve loaves, put into two piles of six on the Table in the Holy Place each Sabbath. Pure frankincense is to be put with each pile of six.

An incident of Blasphemy, what to do?

Two men fought in the camp. One of them (whose father was an Egyptian) blasphemed God’s Name.  The shocked people brought him to Moses who held him in custody until he could inquire of God. The LORD’s instructions were to…

  • bring the man outside the camp
  • gather all who had heard him blaspheme as witnesses;
  • have them lay their hands on his head
  • then let the congregation stone him to death.

“Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the Name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.”

An eye for an eye – just retribution.

Whoever murders a person must also be killed. If anyone injures a neighbor, as HE has done to that one, so it shall be done to HIM. (Not more and not less)  An eye for an eye, fracture for fracture, tooth for tooth. If anyone kills a neighbor’s animal, he must make equal compensation. 

Leviticus 25.

Sabbath and Jubilee (50th) years.

As the people and animals rested every seventh day through the year, they AND the land were to rest every seventh year.  No crops were to be sown or vines pruned. The crops produced were left to fall to the ground (and/or for the poor).  

The same for the 50th year.  Of course that meant two years in a row (49th – 7×7 – and 50th) there would be no harvest.  God promised them if they would be faithful to let the land have its Sabbath rest, that HE would make a huge bumper crop on the 6th and 48th years. They would have enough to last until the harvest of the 8th and 51st year.  

“Would they trust God?  It turns out no.  Did they become greedy?  Yes.  And when God finally sent them off into captivity for 70 years, one reason He gave was to give the land its Sabbath rest, which they had neglected. “The land is MINE,” said the LORD.  If you don’t let it rest, it will be taken from you. 

NOTE: agriculturally, it was good for the land. Needed nutrients would be replenished in the resting years.

Jubilee Year was also a time to reset indebtedness.  Land that had been sold to get one out of debt, was returned to the original owner that year. (Remember each tribe was allotted certain land in Canaan.)  If a person had sold himself into servitude because of debt, he would be freed that year.  The price of the land or servant would be calculated according to how many years were left before Jubilee.  All’s fair.

Because the Levites had the job of Tabernacle and Temple upkeep and service, they were not given a portion of land in Canaan.  However they were given cities to live in with small fields around them for veggies & fruit to eat. 

An Israelite that is sold to a “sojourner or foreigner” because of debt, may been redeemed (bought back) by a wealthy relative in Israel.  (Think of Boaz with Naomi and Ruth.)  All are released on Jubilee year.

“For it is to me,” says the LORD, “that the people of Israel are servants.  They are MY servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”

 

 

2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 282

Oct9

    Day 282—We are in the TENTH month of Bible reading and studying the New Testament Gospels.

    Day 282 – Matthew 12, Mark 3, Luke 6 (Man with a withered hand, blasphemy, crowds, mom & brothers)

Several of the incidents and teachings of Jesus are in all three of these passages today. 

Matthew, Mark, and Lukeall tell about a man with a withered hand whom Jesus encounters in the synagogue. The conversation begins with the Jewish leaders’ strict rules (not the law) about how to keep the Sabbath.  They say healing someone is breaking the law. Jesus says mercy rules and that it IS lawful to do good on the seventh day. (Their priests do good and work every sabbath when they offer sacrifices.)

“Stretch out your hand,” He tells the man, and his hand is restored. Fury burns in the Pharisees’ hearts, and they discuss what they can do to Jesus.  Jesus is grieved by their hardness of heart. Because of this, He withdraws from there. Crowds follow Him, and he ministers to them ALL. 

Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1-4 about Jesus’s ministry.  “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon Him, and He will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not quench until He brings justice to victory; and in His name, the Gentiles will hope.”

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Matthew and Mark tell us about the next incident and teachings.  Jesus heals a man who is blind and mute because of a demon. The healing amazes the crowd. “Can this be the Messiah?”   But the Pharisees say that Jesus is possessed by a demon and only heals by the power of Beelzebub (the devil).  Jesus must have chuckled at that. “If Satan casts out Satan, then he is divided against himself.” Then He corrects them.  “But it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, and the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Then Jesus levels a grave accusation at them. “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, EXCEPT the blasphemy against the Spirit. It will NOT be forgiven. Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven…. in this age or the age to come.“

Do you want to know the truth about someone? Look at their fruit. “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the HEART, the mouth speaks.”   “I tell you, on the day of judgment, people will give account for EVERY careless word they speak, for by your words, you will be justified, and by your words, you will be condemned.”

“We wish to see a sign from you,” said the Pharisees. (In other words, PROVE IT!)

Jesus answers them with Old Testament scripture. “You evil and adulterous generation.  The only sign you’ll be given is that of the prophet Jonah. As he was three days and nights in the belly of a fish, the Son of Man will be three days and nights in the heart of the earth.” (Speaking of his death, burial, and resurrection).   “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for THEY repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold….. someone greater than Jonah is here.”

Meanwhile, Jesus’ mother and siblings are concerned about Him. They hear about his ministry to the crowds and confrontations with the Jewish leaders. He is so involved that he doesn’t have time to eat. (Of course, a Mom would worry about this.) “He is out of his mind,” they say.

They stand at the edge of the crowd and call to him.  Some notice and tell Jesus, “Your mom and your brothers are seeking you.”

But Jesus gestures to those around Him, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother.”  Jesus was not “trashing” his family but emphasizing the importance and eternality of a spiritual relationship with Him.

(NOTE:  Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 mention the names of Jesus’ four earthly half-brothers and the fact that He also has sisters.)

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Luke 6 also begins Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.”  But we’ll read that tomorrow with Matthew 5 – 7.

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 52

Feb21

    Day 52 —  We are in the second month! We’ve been reading for over a 1/12 of a year! Praise God! I hope that it’s become a GOOD habit that will continue.

   Day 52 – Leviticus 24 – 25 (blasphemy, retaliation, Sabbath years, Jubilee & restoration)

Leviticus 24 opens by reminding the people about holiness in the making of the oil for the Tabernacle Lampstands, and the flour in the bread for the Table of Presence, both are holy to the LORD.

Then there’s a cautionary story about a half-Egyptian son of a Jewish woman who blasphemes the Name of the Lord, and curses (Him).  God said to Moses to take him outside the camp and stone him to death. Pure and simple. Do not blaspheme the Name of I AM.

God then establishes the rule of retaliation that was first mentioned in Genesis 9:5-6, whoever kills a human, is to be executed. Life for life. Here, more details are added to RESTRICT, not INFORCE, retaliation. (Only) a fracture for a fracture, (only) an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Not more. Not death.

Chapter 25 deals with the time when Israel will be in the Promised Land. Currently they are to celebrate with rest the seventh DAY in every week. Then, they and their land would rest in the seventh YEAR.  No harvesting or planting. What grew of itself would be food for them to eat, but not for harvesting and storing.

Besides the seventh-year rest, all the land was to rest after 7×7 weeks of years, in the 50th year. it was to be called the year of Jubilee. Again they could eat the produce of the land for themselves, but not sow and harvest for storage or profit.

PLUS, in that year any land or person who had been sold to pay for debts would be returned to the owner, and released from servanthood.  The LORD would provide extra harvest in the year before, to carry them over until the harvests of the 51st year. God would be faithful provide their daily bread as they obeyed Him. If they did not…………..

(It is interesting that the prophets of Judah who observed them going into captivity said that the length of their exile was because they’d neglected this sabbath rest for their land.  Seventy years the land would rest while they were in Babylon… making up for the sabbaths they were deprived of, out GREED and lack of faith in their God.)

(Compare Leviticus 26:34-35 with (2 Chron. 36:21) “To fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths, all the days of its desolation it (the land) kept sabbath until seventy years were complete.”)

Mark 3 – Concerned Moms & Rejecting Leaders

Sep6

Mark 3:13-35.

Jesus has gone back “home” to Capernaum after being on the mountain with His disciples and appointing the twelve to be apostles.

In the city, He is immediately surrounded by great crowds of people wanting healing, deliverance, and to hear his teaching.

His family (mom and siblings) come to rescue Him, saying “He’s out of His mind.” They couldn’t understand Jesus’ total willingness to be accessible to the crowds; to have them impose on Him constantly.

(Who of us would be wiling for this?)

Officials from Jerusalem also batter Him with accusations (they will later batter him with slaps and fists and spitting before sending Him to Pilate to be tortured and killed), saying “He has an ‘unclean’ spirit! He does these miracles by the power of Satan!”

Yikes!!

Jesus rebukes them with severe judgement. Blasphemy against anyone – even Himself – can be forgiven, but NOT blasphemy against the Spirit of God. Jesus was indwelt by the HOLY spirit, and to call Him “a unclean spirit” (a demon) is truly unforgivable…for eternity. They knew what Jesus was claiming about Himself – to be their Messiah, the Son of God – and they rejected Him, saying He was empowered by Satan.

(It freaks me out to just type that!)

Again Jesus’ family calls to Him from the periphery of the crowd, concerned that He needs food and rest (a typical Jewish mother).

Jesus gently rebukes his natural family, knowing their hearts were unbelieving at this point, but not vicious against him like the Jewish officials. He reminds them (again) that He has to be about His (heavenly) Father’s business, and that those who are sitting around him, eagerly hearing His words and believing in Him (which is the will of God – see John 6:40) are his SPIRITUAL brothers, sisters and mother.

 

(PS: We know that later His mother, Mary, and His brothers James and Jude believe in Jesus, and maybe other siblings too.)