02.17.2015 Old Testament: Lev 24.23

To read the Bible in a year, read Leviticus 24–25 on February 17, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

A man blasphemed the name of the Lord and cursed. Israel did not know what to do with the man. Therefore, they held him in custody until the Lord revealed what they should do. The Lord commanded them to stone the man. Moses took that message to Israel,

Then Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they took outside the camp him who had cursed, and stoned him with stones. So the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses (Leviticus 24.23). 

That seems like a hard and harsh thing to us, but He who created the universe, knows what needs to be done that all things might operate efficiently and successfully. In this case, that meant removing permanently from their midst a man who had blasphemed and cursed.

The Lord wants the church to practice discipline, not the death penalty, but if someone walks disorderly, we are not to have anything to do with that individual. That may seem hard, but it is the wish of Him who created and saved us.