PM Feb 15th Lev 24

February 15^th     Leviticus 24       E. The Laws & Prophesies for the future             The Lamp of God

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 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. 3: Without the vail 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. 4: He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the LORD continually.

The Showbread

5: And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 6: And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. 7: 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. 8: Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9: 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.

Stoning to death - Blasphemy

10: And the son of an Israelitish woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel: and this son of the Israelitish woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp; 11: And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of the LORD, and cursed. And they brought him unto Moses: (and his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) 12: And they put him in ward, that the mind of the LORD might be shewed them. 13: And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 14: 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. 15: And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. 16: 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 of the LORD, shall be put to death. 17: And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. 18: And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast. 19: And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him; 20: Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. 21: And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death. 22: Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your own country: for I am the LORD your God. 23: And 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.

Leviticus 25       Sabbath years and the Jubilee

1: And the LORD spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying, 2: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the LORD. 3: Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; 4: But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard. 5: That which groweth of its own accord of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, neither gather the grapes of thy vine undressed: for it is a year of rest unto the land. 6: And the sabbath of the land shall be meat for you; for thee, and for thy servant, and for thy maid, and for thy hired servant, and for thy stranger that sojourneth with thee, 7: And for thy cattle, and for the beast that are in thy land, shall all the increase thereof be meat. 8: And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. 9: Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10: And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 11: A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather the grapes in it of thy vine undressed. 12: For it is the jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. 13: In the year of this jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession. 14: And if thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbour's hand, ye shall not oppress one another: 15: According to the number of years after the jubilee thou shalt buy of thy neighbour, and according unto the number of years of the fruits he shall sell unto thee: 16: According to the multitude of years thou shalt increase the price thereof, and according to the fewness of years thou shalt diminish the price of it: for according to the number of the years of the fruits doth he sell unto thee. 17: Ye shall not therefore oppress one another; but thou shalt fear thy God: for I am the LORD your God. 18: Wherefore ye shall do my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; and ye shall dwell in the land in safety. 19: And the land shall yield her fruit, and he shall eat your fill, and dwell therein in safety. 20: And if ye shall say, What shall we eat the seventh year? behold, we shall not sow, nor gather in our increase: 21: Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year, and it shall bring forth fruit for three years. 22: And ye shall sow the eighth year, and eat yet of old fruit until the ninth year; until her fruits come in ye shall eat of the old store. 23: The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. 24: And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. 25: If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold. 26: And if the man have none to redeem it, and himself be able to redeem it; 27: Then let him count the years of the sale thereof, and restore the overplus unto the man to whom he sold it; that he may return unto his possession. 28: But if he be not able to restore it to him, then that which is sold shall remain in the hand of him that hath bought it until the year of jubilee: and in the jubilee it shall go out, and he shall return unto his possession. 29: And if a man sell a dwelling house in a walled city, then he may redeem it within a whole year after it is sold; within a full year may he redeem it. 30: And if it be not redeemed within the space of a full year, then the house that is in the walled city shall be established for ever to him that bought it throughout his generations: it shall not go out in the jubilee. 31: But the houses of the villages which have no wall round about them shall be counted as the fields of the country: they may be redeemed, and they shall go out in the jubilee. 32: Notwithstanding the cities of the Levites, and the houses of the cities of their possession, may the Levites redeem at any time. 33: And if a man purchase of the Levites, then the house that was sold, and the city of his possession, shall go out in the year of jubilee: for the houses of the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. 34: But the field of the suburbs of their cities may not be sold; for it is their perpetual possession. 35: And if thy brother be waxen poor, and fallen in decay with thee; then thou shalt relieve him: yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner; that he may live with thee. 36: Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. 37: Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. 38: I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, to give you the land of Canaan, and to be your God. 39: And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee; thou shalt not compel him to serve as a bondservant: 40: But as an hired servant, and as a sojourner, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of jubilee: 41: And then shall he depart from thee, both he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return. 42: For they are my servants, which I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: they shall not be sold as bondmen. 43: Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. 44: Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45: Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. 46: And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. 47: And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: 48: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: 49: Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him; or if he be able, he may redeem himself. 50: And he shall reckon with him that bought him from the year that he was sold to him unto the year of jubilee: and the price of his sale shall be according unto the number of years, according to the time of an hired servant shall it be with him. 51: If there be yet many years behind, according unto them he shall give again the price of his redemption out of the money that he was bought for. 52: And if there remain but few years unto the year of jubilee, then he shall count with him, and according unto his years shall he give him again the price of his redemption. 53: And as a yearly hired servant shall he be with him: and the other shall not rule with rigour over him in thy sight. 54: And if he be not redeemed in these years, then he shall go out in the year of jubilee, both he, and his children with him. 55: For unto me the children of Israel are servants; they are my servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

In today’s Bible reading the Lord gives further laws regarding the lamp of God and the showbread and specifies the method of execution that Israel is to have for blaspheme. And then the Lord explains how the sabbath years will be performed and the Jubilees. But first we will look at the Lamp of God. This lamp is the Menorah which was to be kept lit forever in the Tabernacle. It was situated in the tabernacle outside the most holy place but in the holy place. It was fuelled by pure olive oil. The lamps are to be kept burning with constant oil and trimming. In the days of Eli the light was about to go out and Eli being nearly blind was unable to know if the light had gone out, at this moment the Lord called on Samuel. Next the Lord speaks concerning the showbread. This consisted of twelve loaves made from fine flour. Each loaf was made of 2/10 of a deal. (about 4 pints-dry in volume). The twelve loaves sat on the table in two rows of six. Pure frankincense was put on each row. This incense was burnt before the Lord. It burned with a pure white steady flame and produced a beautiful scent. We see pictures of Christ in these items. His life was food for the soul and light and a sweet aroma to men and to God. The bread was renewed ever Sabbath day continually. It was made by the children of Israel for the priests to eat before the Lord. It was only eaten in the holy place. We see from this that those who serve the Lord are to be fed by the people of God. In the following passage we have a altercation that occurs within the company of the children of Israel. There was a fight between one Israelite (whose father was Egyptian) and another Israelite. However the first man blasphemed the name of the LORD and cursed. He was brought to Moses and they put him under guard until the LORD directed them what to do. Then the LORD directed Moses as to what to do. They took him outside the camp and they that heard him blaspheme put their hands on his head and all the people stoned him to death. The Lord also further commanded that any murderer was to be executed in this manner. Other damage inflicted on other people was to be judged fairly without any increase of severity. Animals were to be restored if they were caused to die. There was no double standard all men Israelite or stranger lived under the same law. The LORD spoke to Moses to outline the law of the Sabbaths of the Land. There were to be sabbatical years in which the land was rested from cultivation and it applied to crops and vineyards. After seven Sabbatical years there was to be a year of Jubilee. The Jubilee will begin on the Day of Atonement. In that year every man that is a slave is to be liberated and all land that is sold will return to its original owner. Any land sold was on the understanding that it was sold only until the following jubilee. This is what we call today lease-hold. As the jubilee got nearer so the land diminished in price. On the sixth year the LORD promised a threefold increase of fruitfulness. On the eighth year the land will be re-sown and the ninth year will produce a harvest. The land will not be permanently sold forever because it belongs to the Lord. If a family becomes poor then they may sell the land but if a near kin come that may purchase that which his brother has sold. However if a man has none that will redeem it but he is able to redeem it then he is to give the price according to the years left on the lease and it will return to his family. But if he is too poor to redeem it then he is to wait until the year of jubilee when it will return to his possession. If a man sells a house in a walled city then he may compulsorily purchase it for one year but if it is not redeemed then it remains his property forever. It is not returned to its owner at the jubilee. The houses of un-walled cities or villages are treated as land and are never permanently sold. However the cites of the Levites and their houses may be redeemed at any time. The fields of the Levites may never be sold it is their permanent possession forever. Those who are poor are to be supported by their families even if they are strangers. No man is to charge his brother interest on the borrowing of money. No Israelite that becomes poor is to be enslaved by his brother but he is to be employed as a hired man. No employer is to treat his workers will hard labour because that is what the Lord delivered them from in Egypt. If a stranger (a Non-Israelite becomes rich and an Israelite becomes poor and if the poor man sells himself to the rich man then his brethren are to redeem him or if he is able he may purchase his own freedom. The price will be according to the years left until the Jubilee.