Today's Devotion: Leviticus 24:10-16
Context: God has given the rules for priests and he has started listing special occasions the Israelites are to celebrate.
Text
10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.
13 Then the LORD said to Moses: 14 "Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: 'If anyone curses his God, he will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD must be put to death. The entire assembly must stone him. Whether an alien or native-born, when he blasphemes the Name, he must be put to death. (NIV)
taken from www.biblegateway.com
As best I can remember, this is the first instance of stoning in the Bible. I find it interesting that his mother's name is listed for eternity, but we don't know the name of the culprit. It says he was half Hebrew and half Egyptian...it makes you curious about the circumstances of his conception and birth. Was he the child of a forbidden relationship, or did the Egyptian force himself upon his mother?
I wonder what the scene really looked like. The Israelites have seen a few instances of death for sin -- after the golden calf and when Aaron's sons made unauthorized presentations to God. But this is an action of the 'entire assembly'.
All had heard the rules as they were presented by Moses. When this man (don't know how old he was) blasphemed, I wonder what the reaction of the onlookers was? Was there horrified silence? Did one person run directly to Moses, or did people jump him and forcefully drag him there? Did everyone silently go home and then later, with heavy consciences or maybe even malice against the circumstances of his birth, secretly meet with Moses to tell what was seen?
However the situation unfolded, the man was taken to Moses and held in custody while they prayed for direction. God, upholding the laws he had stated, required death -- a very visible death to prevent others from committing the same crime. I'm presuming all the men in the camp hauled him forcefully to the edge of the camp. The one he fought and those surrounding him laid their hands on him and most likely (hopefully) prayed for his soul. Each member of the assembly picked up a rock and took aim.
If every man in the camp threw a stone, there was probably a huge pile of rocks right outside the camp as a constant reminder of the consequences of sin.
Maybe we need a few of those reminders for our society today!
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