JUDGMENT STONE
Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be
holy unto me :for I the Lord am holy, and have severed you from other people,
that ye should be mine 27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or
that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with
stones: their blood shall be upon them.
Notice that it says that we are to
be holy as God is holy and that He has SEVERED us from other people. The Hebrew word used is badal, which means utter separation. When Christian or even Jewish churches and
temples lower their standards of holiness or adherence to God’s Word they also
lower their anointing (power) and their witness and effect upon those outside
the church. For all their complaining of
Christian ideals and beliefs, people who need a change in their lives will come
to a church that is truly different from where they currently are. They need a change and recognize that someone
with the same lifestyle as they are currently living cannot help them make that
change. They need a holiness church, a
church of power.
As much as they might like to avoid
it or even disagree, my children behave a lot like I do in various life
circumstances. It is certain that we
will behave like those who taught us our most important life lessons. God wants you to learn these life lessons to
the uttermost of His Word so we will behave like Him during difficult
seasons. He is absolutely insistent that
we would study to show ourselves approved and unashamed. To do this we must have our minds renewed by
His Word.
What about those who say they want
to be a part of us, to live with us and obtain the blessings and rewards of
this lifestyle. What about those who say
they do but actually do not? What do we
do when they bring in familiar and demonic spirits by their disobedience and
even threaten the sanctity of the church?
How do we protect ourselves from their destructive influences?
According to God these people have
forfeited their lives by bringing these demonic influences into the house of
God. In Old Testament times these
bringers of filth, destruction and demonic spirits would have been stoned to
death (remember we are speaking of those in the household of faith as in the
nation of Israel). In Christ, God
insists they be forcibly removed from the fellowship and sent out for ‘the
destruction of their flesh’ until they can learn not to blaspheme or hold false
doctrines. As you can see, God’s
punishment for this sin has not changed.
We do have a higher level of grace through Christ and complete
repentance can bring renewed fellowship.
The diverse communities of unsaved
men and women living among us are not included in this commandment; only we who
dwell in the household of faith in God.
He has never changed the ultimate outcome for those who sin and if they continue
and fail to repent, their blood remains upon their own heads. Remember … either we fall on the stone and
are broken, saved and made profitable, or the stone will fall and crush the
life out of us. This is the final end of
ALL mankind.
Just to make a point I would like
to revisit the previous (last) paragraph.
Did you notice the unsaved among us are not included in this
commandment? There is no holiness in
them and cannot be no matter how much they try to act good (Isaiah 64:6). Did you notice that the ultimate outcome for
sinners has never changed (death and hell) and that their blood remains (as it
has always rested) upon their own heads?
Did you notice that ALL mankind must fall upon the stone (which is
Christ, Isaiah 28:16-17), or else they cannot be saved (Acts 4:11-12)?
I am not God, and yet every
sentence I write in these lessons is important and makes an important point
because the Lord impressed them upon my heart.
Depending on how much someone consecrates and studies, the levels deepen
and grow. How much more does every
sentence, every name, number, letter, color and every breath that God puts into
His scriptures matter? God is forever
anointed and deeper than the universe we live in. His Torah, His Scripture is equally deep. Be attentive to every scripture you study to
discover the uttermost.
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; 11 And the Israelitish woman's son blasphemed the name of
the Lord, and cursed. 12 And they brought him unto Moses:(and his mother's name
was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan:) 13 And they put him
in ward, that the mind of the Lord might be shewed them. And the Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, 14 Bring forth him that hath cursed (the Lord) without the
camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the
congregation stone him. 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.
Remember, this is written to
Israelites; not sinners from other nations and certainly not to Christians…it’s
written to Israelites. I feel impressed
to stress this comment. The Jews had
certain laws that were for them and them alone, and then they had laws for
anyone living in Israel, Jew or Gentile. This passage actually begins in verse 10 where
a young man who was half Israelite and half Gentile cursed God. God had him put to death because he cursed
God within the camp of God while arguing with another Israelite.
I find it telling that the young
man’s name was not given but his mother, grandfather and tribal names
were. When you place them together they
say that, ‘Peaceableness’ is the daughter of ‘My Word’ which is ‘The Judge.’ The young man did not heed the peaceable law
of God and began to fight and blaspheme in his anger. Had he been gracious or more calm he might
have simply been chastened. Instead he
not only rose up against his brother Israelite but against God. Perhaps he was taunted for his half Egyptian
heritage but that is no excuse before God.
You might ask why his name was not given. Perhaps it does not matter. When God sends someone to Hell He forgets
about them. To Him they no longer
exist. To themselves they are in
torment.
After the accusation they waited
until the next day to receive God’s ruling.
Once the judgment was given he was taken outside the camp so his sins
would not infect the camp. He was judged
by God’s law and put to death. God’s
punishment for cursing His name is the same yesterday, today and forever. That is correct. God will send you to Hell for blaspheming
today just as He has for all human history.
During this time of grace you have an opportunity to repent and be
saved, but if you choose not to you will pay the final, awful price.
It is said that the death penalty
is no deterrent to crime. I
disagree. The death penalty is 100%
effective in preventing repeat offenses and it serves as a warning to others
that especially vicious crimes will not be tolerated. There are always reasons (excuses) for
committing crimes or killing your fellow man.
There are also reasons (valid and necessary) for killing your fellow
man. In many parts of the world the
reasons are religious and questionable and in others it is for true crimes such
as murder or child molestation. A nation
that winks at and ignores crime and sin is a nation that will grow worse and
worse (2 Timothy 3:12-13).
God’s punishment for abominable
acts like homosexuality or bearing false witness is the same yesterday, today
and forever…but…it is in abeyance, put on hold during this time of grace. Christ died for us to be saved. God is willing to suffer our disrespect and evil
words during this dispensation of grace so we might repent and be
forgiven. When Christ came to the
synagogue and read the prophet Isaiah, He did not finish the passage He was
reading. The passage read:
Luke 4:20 (Referencing Isaiah
61:1-2). “1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has
anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the
LORD,”
The comma that Jesus used to
pause there has lasted two thousand years since Jesus said it. There will come a time when God decides
enough grace has been offered and Jesus will come, standing upon the mount of
Olives and destroying all those who have for so long ignored and opposed God’s
will. On that day He will finish that
verse by saying, “…and THE day of
vengeance of our God.” When that
happens, all those who say it doesn’t take holiness or that God is too loving
to punish their unrepentant sins will discover just how HOLY God is. They will die in their sins.
In the passage above (Leviticus
24:14) we see the people laying their hands upon the head of the one they heard
speaking blasphemous words. The reason
for this is to transfer what they heard and experienced upon the one who
committed the sins and to profess before all that they did indeed hear the
accused blaspheming God and their witness was true. I imagine God’s punishment for someone who bears
false witness is extreme. Once you had
lain hands upon them and placed the blame for what you heard upon the one who
sinned, you were expected to follow through and together with the others, stone
that man or woman to death.
PERFECT STONES
Deuteronomy 9:9 When I was gone
up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, even the tables of the
covenant which the Lord made with you, then I abode in the mount forty days and
forty nights, I neither did eat bread nor drink water: 10 And the Lord
delivered unto me two tables of stone written with the finger of God; and on
them was written according to all the words, which the Lord spake with you in
the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly.
Fasting is a powerful, life
changing tool in the life of the believer.
In this case there were no animals upon the mountain or even water to be
a temptation. Without the miraculous
working power of God, Moses would have died.
Jesus fasted forty days and nights but scripture says He was hungry
afterwards, not thirsty. Moses dwelt in
the presence of God until his face glowed, his body became almost glorified. The companion scripture for this is Exodus
34:28-35. The people were terrified by
the presence of God on the mountain and frightened by the glow on Moses’ face
when he came down forcing him to wear a veil.
He was a symbol, a remez of
the transfiguration of Jesus in Matthew 17:1-7.
God not only carved the two stone tablets and wrote on them, but he
birthed the entire Torah and the plans for the Tabernacle into Moses heart so
perfectly that Moses wrote them down breath by breath, heartbeat by heartbeat,
letter by letter and space by space, as he received it from God.
REPLACEMENT STONES
Deuteronomy 10:1 At that time
the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and
come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. 2 And I will
write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest,
and thou shalt put them in the ark. 3 And I made an ark of shittim wood, and
hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount,
having the two tables in mine hand. 4 And he wrote on the tables, according to
the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the
mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord
gave them unto me. 5 And I turned myself
and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made;
and there they be, as the Lord commanded me. 6 And the children of Israel took
their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera:there Aaron
died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest's
office in his stead. 7 From thence they journeyed unto Gudgodah; and from
Gudgodah to Jotbath, a land of rivers of waters. 8 At that time the Lord
separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to
stand before the Lord to minister unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this
day. 9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the Lord
is his inheritance, according as the Lord thy God promised him
The first stones God gave to Moses
were freely given and open for all to see.
Had Israel not sinned they may have been placed where the men could look
upon them and remind themselves of God’s law and it would have made walking
before God much easier. It is possible
that Moses broke the tablets in a fit of rage but more likely that God chose to
have them broken as Israel broke their covenant with the golden calf. God knew they would sin. In scripture we often see God’s people
(Christian or Jew) do something foolish and then God is forced to deal with
that situation. We ought to remember
that God always knows in advance what we are going to do and has prepared our
chastening AND our redemption in advance.
Never forget that the first time
God offers His assistance or blessings they are usually obtained without difficulty. When we fail Him there is a period of silence
where He lets us consider our failure after which He makes a way out of our
predicament. The way out, the redemption
if you will, is almost always more difficult than the first blessing. God tests us to see if we are going to obey
this time and the test is ALWAYS harder than the original way. Before you blame the Jews for being hard
heads and difficult, failing to follow the 613 laws of the Torah, remember that
all mankind was cursed because Adam and Eve could not follow one simple
law. God told them not to partake of the
tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and they disobeyed.
In this case God had Moses hew two
brand new tablets exactly like the first and then create a box to place them
in. From this time on the tablets would
not be where the people of God could actually see them. They had to learn the laws and keep them on
their hearts without that external reminder.
Eventually the tablets themselves would be housed in an ornate box along
with Aaron’s rod that budded and a bowl of manna. An even more ornate golden Mercy Seat would
be built to cover the ark and not even the High Priest would be allowed to look
upon the sacred objects. Our God is an
invisible God and expects us to obey by faith and not by sight (2 Corinthians
5:7).
I have often said that there is
always a reason for how God places words in His Torah. In this case the passage continues with verse
six and if you continue reading you will see that immediately after this Israel
moved on from Beeroth-bene-jaakan (the wells of the sons of Jaakan) to Moserah
(bonds). Aaron was taken down as High
Priest and died. What is the
significance of this? Some sources say
that Ja-akan means twisted or wrested from Akan. They went to Moserah which means bonds.
Another way of stating this would
be that the wells of water were wrested away from Aaron and he was brought to
bonds for his sins with the golden calf.
God could no longer use him as High Priest and wrested the ephod from
him and gave it to his son Eleazar (God has helped/Comforter). God took the priesthood from a weak High
Priest and gave it to the Comforter.
Jesus is our great High Priest and has also given us the Comforter to
dwell with us and help us.
From here Israel traveled from
Gudgodah (The Slashing Place) to Jotbath (Pleasant Place). To put this all together, God FREELY gave
Israel His law and they smashed it before they had even received it from Moses
through their idolatry. He made a way of
repentance but the law was hidden from their eyes and He took Aaron from the
wells of water to bonds and death. The
people also were chastened at Gudgodah the slashing place before God relented
and brought them to Jotbath, a pleasant place with running waters. All this pain and grief could have been
prevented had they been faithful in the first place.
God originally wanted Israel to be
a nation of priests but they abdicated that honor when they told Moses they
could not bear to hear God’s voice (Exodus 20:19-20). Because of Aaron’s sin Levi was forever kept
on a short leash. They would not inherit
as the rest of Israel did but would live day by day in faith believing God for
their sustenance. This caused some
difficulties during the times when Israel was living in sin and failed to pay
their tithes and offerings. There were
times when the priests were hungry and destitute and God’s house was laid
waste. One might consider this a
terrible price to pay but it became a symbol of the Christian lifestyle. We gentiles are the worst sinners and God
expects us to live by faith. If we do so
and obey we will be cared and provided for.
God acknowledges that we are always
weak and unable to follow His commandments without help. He has provided help in the guise of the Holy
Spirit and the redemptive power of Christ.
Proverbs 24:16 says that a righteous man may fall seven times but he
gets back up. Have you struggled? Have you failed the test and missed the
mark? Get back up beloved and press on
again. You can make it.
Bishop J
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