This chapter gets into the preparation of the holy lamps, the shewbread and the penalty for blasphemy of God and His holy things.

Leviticus 24:1 "And the Lord spake unto Moses saying,"

Leviticus 24:2 " "Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually."

"Command" as used here is only used twice in the entire book of Leviticus, and this is an order from God. "To cause the lamps", is to cause the light from the olive oil to ascend to to the Father.

Leviticus 24:3 "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."

This lamp stand is to be placed before the vail that is in front of the ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies.

Leviticus 24:4 "He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually."

Aaron shall order these lamps, and these lamps are not to be used for common use, but left burning in the Tabernacle. This candlestick had seven branches with a oil container for each branch. It burned pure olive oil, and was cleansed ceremonially. This symbolizes Israel as the light in the world of darkness. However the only light in the world today come from the Lord Jesus Christ.

Leviticus 24:5 "And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake."

This verse deals with the shewbread offering. Normally only one tenth is required for an ordinary offering of these cakes, but here double the amount is required.

Leviticus 24:6 "And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord."

A "Pure table" is one that has been made clean for this purpose.

Leviticus 24:7 "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."

"Frankincense" is symbolic for prayers. There would be a small saucer and the frankincense would be placed in the saucer to the side of the bread.

Leviticus 24:8 "Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant."

Aaron, or whom ever is in the position of high priest would be the one to set this frankincense before the Lord on each and every Sabbath. The shewbread is symbolic of the fruits of the labors of the children of Israel before the kingdom of God

Leviticus 24:9 "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."

The shewbread is one of the four things that God considers most holy before Him.

Leviticus 24:10 "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;"

This woman was an Israelitish woman, and while she was in Egypt, she married an Egyptian, and this family came out of Egypt with the rest of the children of Israel. Remember that this time is about two years after the night that the death angel passed over Egypt, and on the day after, the Egyptians had the Israelites to leave their country. So the son of this family was walking through the camp, even though they were living outside the camp, on the edge of the community. This heated fight took place in the camp of the tribe of Dan.

Leviticus 24:11 "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:)"

In the course of the fight or argument, this son of Shelomith the mother, of the tribe of Dan blasphemed and made light of the name of the Lord, in his cursing. The people that heard the words of this boy, brought the boy to Moses for trial.

Leviticus 24:12 "And they put him in ward, that the mind [mouth] of the Lord might be shewed them."

Moses had the boy or young man under guard in prison until it could be sorted out what this young man had said and done. The punishment for blasphemy had already been given to the Israelites, and set in the law. So Moses has to judge this young man as a foreigner that is traveling with the children of Israel, and as such it is important to make the judgment right for a foreigner in the camp of the Israelites. Israel has not yet been given instructions in dealing with foreigners, so they will hold him and wait on the correct judgment from God.

Leviticus 24:13 "And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,"

Leviticus 24:14 "Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all them that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him."

By "lying their hands upon his head" was symbolic of transferring the guilt of blasphemy that was attached to this, off themselves, and on to the young man that blasphemed.

Leviticus 24:15 "And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, `Whosoever cureth his God shall bear his sin."

So this was to continue this punishment even to those foreigners that lived amongst the Israelites, or were a distant relation to an Israelite.

Leviticus 24:16 "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."

If you live with and among Israelites and the people, then you will be judged by the law of God the same as any other Israelite that would have committed this same act. If you blaspheme the Lord, you will die. This is repeated from Exodus 21:12: "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death." God compares the blasphemeth of the name of the Lord in the same category as the lying in wait to kill a man. Murder and blasphemy God puts in the same category.

Leviticus 24:17 "And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death."

"Killeth" as used here, is murder, premeditative, lying in wait to take a life of a person. Down through the years, many scholars have take these verses to mean that the sacred name of the Lord is not even to be spoken, it is so sacred; and thus they have used other names to be used instead. The Sacred Name of the Lord is "YHVH"; and many scholars believe that this young man was taunting the name YHVH, and that this was reason to put him to death. This verse is repeted from Exodus 21:12, that is given above.

Leviticus 24:18 "And he that killeth a beast shall make it good; beast for beast."

Leviticus 24:19 "And if a man cause a blemish in his neighbour; as he hath done, so shall it be done to him;"

Leviticus 24:20 "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."

If you take the eye of another in a fight, the punishment for you would be the taking of your eye; or tooth; or ear; or whatever that person lost in the fight. The point is that you gain nothing in fighting, and that it is better being settled by other means.

Leviticus 24:21 "And he that killeth a beast, he shall restore it: and he that killeth a man, he shall be put to death."

Do you get what this is all about? The property and possessions that we have can be restored and when by accident they are destroyed, then either replace them with like kind, or pay the price of their worth. However if the life of a person is taken, and it is premeditative, then that person shall be put to death. If a man has done you wrong, the way to make a settlement with him is not by taking his life, for that is murder, and God demands that the murderer be put to death.

Leviticus 24:22 "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.' "

There is only one manner of law, and that law that is affect for the poor is also in affect for the rich. No one is above the law, and if you live in the camp, the city or nation of an Israel nation, you will be judged equally by the law. If you live in Jerusalem or in Chicago or Kansas city, if you do murderer, you will face the same judgment equally under the law, whether you are of the tribes of Israel, or a stranger and foreigner living in our land. There is only one God, and He is the creator of all things and all peoples. He loves all His people, no matter what their race and He also hates it when a man, no matter what his race, sins against His law. God's commandments were given to us to govern our lives while we are living in the flesh, and living in the community with other human being, as we are.

Leviticus 24:23 "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."

God gave the law, and the punishment for the law. The man broke the law and the punishment for his sin was death. As long as that punishment had not been carried out, the curse of that sin remained in the camp, and when the stones flew and killed the lad, then the curse had been lifted by God on the Israelites. The people did exactly as the Lord commanded Moses to do, and his death was on his own head, not the ones that threw the stones.

Our laws today have become so twisted that we coddle the murderers and turn our backs on the victims. We give all the rights to the thieves and murderers, and neglect the needs of those that have been raped, robbed and killed, and it brings a curse on our communities that allow this to go on. Capital punishment, the taking the life of a person that has been proven to be a premeditative killer, is not murderer, and the one that causes the death of the murderer, is the same as the one who threw the stones at this one that God commanded to be put to death. Don't overlook this fact that it was the Lord that commanded it to be done, and the one that does it is the righteous man of the community carrying out the judgments of our Heavenly Father; "The children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses."