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So tonight we um move to chapter 24 uh which if if you read Leviticus chapter 24 it seems um like some of the other chapters in Leviticus to be rather
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disjointed. Uh what you have is essentially three sections. Blockbuster news story. Okay. Well, no. If there's blockbuster news, I'll I'll yield to that. I mean, I
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don't have anything blockbuster. What you got, Abe?
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Figure out how to do that. All right. That's why we carry guns when you can't figure out how to reset it. All right. Three sections in Leviticus 24. Uh, the first one deals
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showbread. And the third one has to do with a half breed Egyptian Israelite who blasphemes the Lord. the Lord. Now what those three have to do with each other is not readily apparent. Um
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so I remind you that the chapter heading, the chapter numbers are not original. Uh so you know we don't won't get hung up on on that. Um, but I do
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think that that they do fall together uh under the the overall rubric of holiness in the camp,
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which as we've learned in Leviticus is centered on the tabernacle and particularly the inner tent, the holy of holies.
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So when we talk about the the holiness, I've we've we've moved through the priesthood and then out into the into the camp with the various clean and unclean, the rules, the purifications,
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and and so we've moved back and forth. It's not been like we tend to do it now. So if you were to buy a a a commentary or on the tabernacle, it would take it
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in sections. But in Leviticus, it moves back and forth. The people and then God and then God and then the people. And I think that's what we're doing in Leviticus 24. But we're not moving all
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the way back to the Holy of Holies. We're only moving to the outer what was known as the outer tent. Now, there are two veils and of course the altar.
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the altar. and the ironic priests day after day after day would sacrifice uh both the the typical morning and evening sacrifices and then those that were brought by the congregation. So there
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was constantly animals animals being slaughtered and offered up uh some of the meat going to the priests much much of it being completely emulated on the
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altar and it was just constant. So there's a ton of activity here. We've talked before about Israel, the
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priests were allowed to get as far as the altar. And in fact, they were the ones that slew the animals. You brought a a lamb or a goat or whatever your offering, you
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took its life, not the priest. Priests were really um to some extent they were butchers and they were responsible for the proper manipulation of the blood and all the
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rules that that pertain to the manipulation of the blood. Every day the ironic priests would go into the outer tent. They would pass through this veil.
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Some of the offerings the blood was to go through that outer veil and be sprinkled toward the inner veil. But the inner veil was only passed once a year
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on the day of atonement by one person, the high priest. So for most of the year, nobody went in this place. But every day
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they were in here. Now this was a a very dark room. It it had um it was wrapped in in cloth and it
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had a roof over it. And you can read about how they were made in Exodus. I assume that there was probably some type of protrusion in the roof because
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one of the art, one of the pieces of furniture in the outer tent was the altar of incense which was to be burning constantly. The thing about this outer tent, this
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room right here, which was twothirds of the overall tabernacle, the tent itself, the the rest of this was the like the
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court of meeting. It it was open to the skies. It had a fabric fence around it, but no veil. Again, the people could come in as far as the altar and they
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could see what was going on at the altar, but they certainly were not allowed past the altar and certainly not allowed in into the tabernacle itself. This room is is very significant.
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It's, how do I put it? It's like Yahweh's open kitchen, kitchen, family room.
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It's where Yahweh dwells with his priests. And what we see as far as the furniture in there is three pieces. There's the
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you walk in and what you see in front of you is the altar of incense which is in front of the veil which if you pass through that you see the ark of the covenant. To your left as you walk in on the on
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the south side you have the monora. Actually seven of them in the tabernacle. Uh, tradition tells us there were 10 in the temple. I don't think scripture actually confirms that, but
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that's Jewish tradition. To your right on the north side of the room was the table of showbread, which was actually really small, only about 18 in by like
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24 or 30 in. Those two articles of furniture are the only ones that Leviticus 24 deals with. It doesn't say anything about the altar
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of incense. So I think the the meaning is not is not just on the surface, okay priest, this is what you need to do. I think the
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meaning is deeper than that. I think I I do think not only is the meaning deeper at that time, but it's deeper in terms of the typology
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that this room, this place, place where Yahweh has caused his name to dwell, a place where he communes with his people, but also a place where
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his priests his priests offer up food and light in Yahweh's home. This this is where Yahweh dwells. Now
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he's omnipresent. He's God. He there's no place where he doesn't dwell. Psalm 139, where can I hide from your spirit? What I where can I go from your presence? So when we talk about God
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dwelling in the temple, we're talking about a not a a physical location where God is and he is no nowhere else. No,
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he's he's everywhere. We're talking about covenantal and gracious presence of God, the God of the universe, who
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owns all the nations. Exodus 19. But he's dwelling in a special covenantal way with one people, Israel. He's doing it in a manner
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that manifests this word holiness, not only to the people of Israel, but to the nations around Israel. We've talked about the wilderness years as somewhat
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like boot camp where Israel is learning through that generation what kind of people they're supposed to be when they are later in the land and
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distributed throughout the land. They're no longer camping north, south, east, and west of the tabernacle. The tabernacle will be in Shiloh. It
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eventually it'll be in Jerusalem. Eventually, it'll be replaced by the temple. But the people are living all through the former land of Canaan, and
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they're supposed to live in the land the way they're being taught in the wilderness. They didn't do a really good job of it, as we're going to see in Leviticus 25,
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um, with the sabbatical years and the Jubilee. They didn't do a really good job of of it, but they they did okay in the wilderness. And part of what they were supposed to do was maintain in
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perpetuity the candle and the bread. And and I that is the key to the first part of Leviticus 24 is that the the key here is not really like we have in
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Levitic in Exodus where we're told how the uh manora is to be constructed. For example, we're told how the table of showbread is to be made. We're told how
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the showbread is to be made. You know, all the instructions are there in Exodus. Moses is not rehashing them here in Leviticus 24.
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Leviticus 24. His point is that these things need to be done without exception. So that the key is perpetuity
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The lamp is not to go out. Now, the text itself, I'm going to read part of it, makes it sound like uh let's see if I can find
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here it is. Um yeah, in verse three, outside the veil of testimony in the
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tent of meeting, that's this is the veil of testimony right here. Okay, this is the tent of meeting. This is where Yahweh's presence came down and Moses would go in to speak with Yahweh. So he
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says outside the uh veil of testimony in the tent of meeting Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually. It shall be a
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perpetual statute throughout your generations. Now some commentators have looked at that and said that the the priests are only responsible for for making sure the lamps burning overnight.
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Um, I think that's a misinterpretation of of what is being said here because in verse two, verse two, he's already said, "Command the sons of Israel that they
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bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light to make the lamp burn continually."
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There's no other source of light in this room. First of all, no windows. and and from Exodus the construction of it, it has a roof. It has a cover. So, it's it's a dark room first of all.
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Okay. I think the misunderstanding may be this that when he says u evening to morning, which we would consider nighttime, um that's a time when there aren't
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regular offerings and min ad ministrations in this part of the tabernacle. This is a time at which if the lamp was going to go out, it would go out.
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He He's saying, "No, you're not going to just start it fresh in the morning like a like a kitchen fire. You know, you go in and start the lamps, you know, turn the light on." No, we're going to leave the light on for you all day and all
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night. It's continual because it represents something. It represents the presence of God. I think these two um sections of Leviticus 24
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Yahweh is at home. I mean when we travel, how do we make it look like there's someone home? someone home? We leave the light. Yeah, we put a sign out says no, we're home. No, we leave
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lights on, don't we? And in fact, uh now you can you can get the the programs that'll change different lights on in the house and make it look like someone's actually moving around,
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turning off lights. Yeah. I mean, I I always wondered how people could fall for that. Okay, the same light is on for a week. No other lights are on, but that
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light in the living room is still on. Yeah, they're not. Yeah, they're there. Uh, but you know, we leave a light on. That's that's the idea. Now, obviously, you know, the Motel 6 little jingle, we
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leave a light on for you. That's hospitality. But the point here is that Yahweh is in the tabernacle. He's home.
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And we find especially the lampstand to be most intimately symbolic of his presence, especially in the negative when it's
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removed. When the light goes out, that means that Yahweh has departed. And so that's why it is so critical that the priests not let the light go out.
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Even when they moved, they kept the flame burning so that when they set up the the tent in their new location, the lamps would be lit,
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burning all the time that all the time that the tabernacle was set up. Obviously, when they moved, you know, all of the elements of the tabernacle
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had to move with them. But later in the temple, the the 10 lampstands were they they were lit continually.
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So the symbolism is I think what is brought to the forefront with both the lamp and the bread. Anybody have any questions or comments on that?
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you do put your hand up high because I'm not wearing my glasses so I symbolism um that that is so integral to the
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perpetual burning. Well, as I mentioned, we do we can go all the way to the end to the letter to the church at Ephesus
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um when he commends them and then condemns them, you know, different things and he talks about leaving their first love. Return therefore,
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lest I come and remove your lampstand. Now, what what does what does that mean? Okay, that that's been debated. Uh obviously everything in re revelations
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What is the condition of a church whose lampstand has been removed? means it's he is not there. So it is not a
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church is it is it see that that's the very essence of the identity of a church is the presence of the Holy Spirit and if the Holy Spirit is removed if the
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lampstand is removed then the Lord has departed from that place that place may continue in its existence
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and there are I think many churches congregations and even denominations that have not had a lampstand in a long long time.
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long time. Um I think right now the Anglican church has has completely repudiated lampstands with its latest selection of an archbishop. But you you see that there's
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still church buildings and there's still people who are professing adherence to some form of Christianity. But what the scriptur is telling us is when the lampstand's gone, the presence
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of the Lord is gone. And if there's no presence of the Lord, there is no church. No matter what you call it. So this this is this is not a threat. This is a this is a dire promise that if
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a church abandons its first love which is Jesus if it continues to tolerate in the case of some of the nickelans you know if it continues to tolerate either
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immoral behavior or false doctrines then the Lord will remove its lampstand and its its essential identity as a
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church will go with that. That doesn't mean there aren't here and there Christians still in those churches or those denominations. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is the the Lord is
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not present there. And I think that I've always felt like it would be very hard for a believer to be in either a denomination or a church
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where the presence of the Lord is not there. I think one of the things that happens in practical application of this, and I think this is what um we're being
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shown here in Leviticus 24, the presence of the Lord is no longer welcome. Now, this doesn't necessarily mean the congregation turns into a church of
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Satan or some goofy thing like that. It just means in their doctrine, in their practice, they make it clear that the Holy Spirit is no longer welcome here. What the what the Leviticus 24 is doing
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is is teach is teaching the ironic priesthood how to continue to make the Lord welcome in his own home with the light and with the bread
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by following these rituals they are they are uh they're inviting Yahweh to stay and so I think the principle here
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It's it's the type of judgment for which we have no promise of restoration. There's always hope. But if you look at where the seven churches are today,
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you'll find them in Turkey or their remains, their ruins, the cities. I think Ephesus is now Ismir, I believe. Um but they're not Christian.
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they they are Muslim. Um, and any uh evidence of the once vibrant church that thrived in Asia Minor is is gone.
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It's somewhat like the prophecies of Babylon. We the archa archaeologists can't even find where Babylon actually was. And it's it's going to be pretty hard in Turkey to find where the Holy
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Spirit was. So the departure which we're going to see visibly in Ezekiel, okay, the departure of the Lord from his temple is itself a a massive judgment
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No, it's slow, isn't it? Yeah, it's Yeah, it's Yeah, it's it's it's it's um when it actually happens, actually happens, it isn't necessar I would say, you know,
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the the this destruction of the second temple was obviously violent. I would say most of this um the destruction of the first temple was also violent, by the way. Um but
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this is I think more subtle in insidious in insidious um What what kind of outward
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manifestation does a church show when the spirit
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I I think a church slowly by um neglect even more so than than willful opposition. U Paul says that we're aware of this of Satan's schemes.
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Satan may try coming into a church with just full-blown Eastern mysticism, okay? Or or some type of of wild heresy.
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But if the church has anything to it, it's going to recognize that and rebuff it. The danger is actually just generational
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neglect, just a lack of being alert. Does that make sense? You know, a a lack of of being aware that we are in warfare, a a tendency just to become apathetic
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and comfortable and then to assimilate with the culture around. That was Israel's problem. And Israel stands, I
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think, as a type of the church in the world. And Israel's problem, the prophets just repeat this over and over again, was that they basically just acclimated themselves to the culture
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around them. around them. Second temple never received. Yes. The the second temple No, they just kept on going, right? Ex. That's a good point. They
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never did. This the spirit ne I understand what you were getting at. Absolutely. The spirit never came back to the second temple. And even the Jews of that era knew it. They they wrote
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about it. They recognized that what had come down on the tabernacle and had come down on Solomon's temple never came. Even after Herod did his building program and all that renovation, the
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spirit of God never rested on that temple. And so when he departed from the from the temple, the second temple was part of God's redemptive plan. But he
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tells us through the prophet Haggi that the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former because the the glory of the Lord did eventually come to that temple. Malachi
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prophesies this. The messenger of the covenant will come. That's Jesus. But the shikina did not come again until Pentecost when it came down upon the
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temple of Christ's body, the church. So yes, that building that was was a a a building an edifice of for the most part
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ignorance and negligence. The people of Israel did not know how bad things really were. And I think that's typical that I don't mean it's
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typical like it always happens that way. It's typical as in typifying. This is what happens to a church like Ephesus. a church that is in danger of losing its
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lampstand. And I really don't believe it's just doctrine. I think that's another pervasive error, especially in the reformed camp, that we got to have our doctrine right. If we have our
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doctrine right, then we'll be okay. In fact, you know, if we get our doctrine written down and we all sign saying that we hold to this confession or this creed, we we will be protected. We'll be
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okay. No. No, you won't. You'll just become more complacent in your intellectual neglect, in your intellectual complacency, intellectual complacency, and you're going to you're going to
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leave lose your first love. You're going to leave your first love. That practice is as important as doctrine. They're they're not one without the other. So neglect,
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So neglect, u apathy, and assimilation. So the departure is itself condemnation. It is judgment.
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I think that is why we have the second half of Leviticus 24 that's talking about the the man who curses and blasphemes Yahweh blasphemes Yahweh and it's like a case study.
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In fact, that's what it is. It's a it's a legal study that's brought before Moses. And it also gives us what we call the Lex Talionus or Tal Talionus. Yeah. uh
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the eye for an eye that is so much maligned as being barbaric. Um and we'll talk about that this evening. But otherwise, the um the last half of
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Leviticus 24 seems rather odd and out of place. But as I said before, you know, we've talked about this. Liberal scholars say that that proves that books
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like Leviticus were sewn together by redactors and later editors, which would only prove that those redactors were incompetent. Because if they had actually done that,
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then it stands to reason they would have made the transition smoother. I think okay the fact that they're not smooth is more indicative of the nature of ancient writing
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and also of the the the influence of wisdom on these writings not the evidence of of different editors who couldn't figure out that we need to
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smooth this out. Okay. If somebody, some late redactor took the second half of Leviticus 24 and actually put it where we find it, some other redactor would say, "What have you been smoking? It
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doesn't fit there." Okay, why is it there? Well, it's there because it illustrates the principle of how the camp, how the people are to act and live
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when Yahweh is at home. See, this is being done in the presence of Yahweh. An an unholy act. What are you going to do about it? Now, we're also going to see,
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I think, if we have time, the the fact that the man who offends is actually half Egyptian. half Egyptian. And that raises a legal question that
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honestly they should have been able to answer, but they took it to Moses anyhow. And so, that kind of highlights the fact that there's one law for both the alien and the native, not two
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different laws. Okay? So much of the principles that we've read in Leviticus are now given an actual example in the second half of Leviticus 24.
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But it's put there because what we're what we're to think is this is happening out in the camp. This is happening out on the front porch as it were while Yahweh is home
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because the priests have welcomed him. The lamp is lit. The bread is on the table. Yahweh is home. What do you Why are you doing this? And as we've seen
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before, the burden of enforcing the law was placed upon the people and their success or failure in doing so
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was adjudicated by the land. So this is this is nothing more than an actual test case as it were. What are you going to do about it? And on the one
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hand, it's encouraging. You read at the end of the chapter that they did what Yahweh commanded. Yahweh commanded. On the other hand, it's rather
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discouraging because they did not know what to do at first and had to leave it to Moses to decide. And if if you read what we've read, the penalty for blasphemy is
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death. And he's already told us in both Exodus and and Leviticus that there's only one law for both the alien and the native. The fact that this man was a
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half breed was no legal recourse for his defense. So we'll get to that. Um but other other than that we we see that the lampstand
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is symbolic of the presence of the Lord and it can be removed. Now the lampstand itself though itself though u all three of these articles of
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furniture are christoologgical meaning they they do foreshadow the coming of Jesus Christ and of his
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people. But the one that is most powerfully christoologgical scripturally is the It is the it is the light of the presence of the Lord.
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It's the light of the presence. Uh actually the showbread is called the bread or the table of the presence. It's that word presence that's used throughout the pentatuk. Uh that indicates what what I'm saying. The Lord
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is at home. The Lord is present. As long as the lamp is burning and the bread is on the table as it should be, the Lord is present in the midst of Israel. It's
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the it's the lamp or the light of the presence. Um, but it also required
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fueled. Now, I I've reread the instructions for making the lamp, and I'm I'm no metal worker,
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but honestly, I don't think the modern manora is what it looked like. Um, most modern monora either burn
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candles or are electrified. The actual lamp in the tabernacle and the temple was to burn the purest possible olive oil and it had bowls that
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somehow fed the wick. Well, I I have a photo of it in in your notes, a photo of a typical manora, and I'm not really sure where they put the
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oil. So I I don't know that we know what the manora actually looked like, but the oil was not to run out. That was the key. And the priest had to keep the oil
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bowls filled. That was his that was their function. And it was not to fail. But we go to Zechariah 4. It's an incredible
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Zechariah is what is called um in some cases apocalyptic cases apocalyptic but there are a series of visions right in the center of it three four five and
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that are among the most powerfully christoologgical prophecies and visions in the whole Old Testament but they're not readily clear at least not to Zechariah who
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asked the angel showing him the visions what what it's kind of you know you know the way it goes what is this my lord do you not know what this is no my lord
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what is it like no my lord I wouldn't have asked you if I knew okay but let me just reiterate I do not know what this
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means 4 Um, this is what we read. Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me
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as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, "What do you see?" So I said, I am looking and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl
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on top of it and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the
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right of the of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?" And then the
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angel who talked with me answered and said, "Do you not know what these are?" And he said, and I said, "No, my lord." All right. So, this is not a a really uh obvious vision. So, but you do have and
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okay, I'm going to do my great artwork. Okay. You do have the lampstand.
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and I guess one of them is also attached to the center. I don't know. That's what I come up with. Okay. Give it a stand. Okay. All right. It's what I come up with. Now,
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what's what's we we do know that the lampstand had bowls. That's where the oil went. And we can assume that the oil was then piped to each wick so that it
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would be constantly feeding wicking up into the into the actual light, the fire. So, I I don't think this is is u
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The significance of these trees is that the oil is coming directly from the olive tree into the bowl. There's no priesthood in between. Nobody's preparing the oil for the bowl.
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Okay. Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left?" And I further answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees that drip into
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the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains? The oil is coming from the tree directly
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in to the lamp. Does that make sense? At least in terms of interpreting what I've read. Doesn't necessarily have to make sense.
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Right. You have to process them. And for the lampstand in the tabernacle, they had to be highly processed. They they could not be um there could not be any of the shell. The oil had to be
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completely pressed clear. So any any of the impurities that would come just from pressing the olive had to be filtered out. But we don't have any of that going
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right. The same thing with Yeah. with kerosene, but also whale oil was that way. Absolutely. If it the purer it is, the clear cleaner it burns. But what we've what we've got going on here though,
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the tree is dripping oil into the lampstand.
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Now, it doesn't really answer the question yet. Um, and so, and so, um, he says, "What are these two olive trees that drip oil into the
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receptacles?" And then he answered me and said, "Do you not know what they are?" Okay. Now, is he just being hard of hearing or difficult? the angel.
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When the scripture does this, what it's what it's saying is as Jesus said to Nicodemus, "Are you the teacher of Israel and you do not know these things?" So, we're reading it in Zechariah, which
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is post exilic. So, we're way down the calendar of Israel's history, right? And we've had just about all the typology and symbolism that we're going to get is
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already been given. But even a prophet like Zechariah is not getting it. getting it. When the angel says, "Do you not know?"
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What he's saying is, "Why don't you know?" And it brings in a a a symbolism that we'll talk about, Lord willing, when we do the next biblical theology study and
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talk about the kingdom because the angel gives the answer. But again, the the prophet should have had an
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inkling of this already that what what the writer of Hebrews tells us about the insufficiency of the mediatorial priesthood
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mediatorial priesthood that it has to happen every day and over and over again and they have to be succeeded because they die. Right? So you know that that whole uh transient nature of what Israel permanently needed
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holiness and acceptance by God should have shown them that this was all typological that this was all
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something that the Lord was going to do fully and finally maybe not. We don't know if it's his son, but you know, we've heard about Messiah and we've heard about the servant of Yahweh. We've
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heard about the seed of woman and the seed of Abraham. In other words, we we got all this data in our head. And then Zechariah shows up like he's in some modern art museum
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and says, "What is this?" Okay. And the angel says, "No, no, you do not know what this is." He's like, "O how do you
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not know?" not know?" And then when we read it, again, this is easy for me to say because I'm on this side of the cross. I'm on this this side of the of the incarnation and the
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ministry and work of Jesus Christ. And I don't think Zechariah was condemned for not knowing. But my point is biblically it's there
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and it could have been seen. But we are so dull that without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, which is what the Lord is giving Zechariah,
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but he's not indwelling Zechariah. We can read the Old Testament. By the time we get to Zechariah 4, we ought to know what this means.
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We know that the oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit. We know that the light is symbolic of the presence of the Lord. And we also
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know that olive trees do not drip directly into the lamp. That's the key that the olive trees are dripping directly. But there's two of them. And why are there two of them?
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Well, he says he gives he gives the explanation. He says, "These are the two anointed ones who stand before the Lord of the whole earth.
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are not the two witnesses that are going to come back from the dead in in Revelation. Okay? These are not characters that are coming in the future. In fact, they're not even two people.
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In the Old Testament, there were two anointed offices in Israel. What were they? High priest and the king.
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The two anointed ones are the high priest and the king. Okay. So, all right. That's what these two are. We'll say, okay, they might I might have them out of order. Sorry. Um, if I have them
42:23
out of order, just go behind and look that way. The king. Okay, they're the two anointed ones. All right, the prophecy is not over though. This is only Zechariah 4. We
42:35
need to keep reading and we get to Zechariah 6. And I think this this this explanation to Zechariah
42:47
to Zechariah looks back on Zechariah 4. He says starting in verse 12, "Behold the man whose name is the branch." Now, he's already shown up before, okay? the
42:57
branch that will will uh shoot out of the of the stump of Jesse. So, we've already met him. And by Zechariah's time, he is widely known as the promised
43:09
one or the Messiah. Okay? So, behold the man whose name is the branch. From his place he shall branch out, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. Yes, he
43:21
shall build the temple of the Lord. The temple is being rebuilt during Zechariah's lifetime. Zechariah's lifetime. Okay? But it's the temple that is not
43:32
going to witness the Shikina, right? Everything will be reestablished in terms of the ministry of the ironic priesthood, but the presence of the Lord
43:43
will not come to this temple. So when he's saying at that time, he means not this building, this building, not Zerubbabel.
43:53
not Zerubbabel. It's going to be the branch who's going to build the temple of the Lord. And yes, he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory and shall
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sit and rule on his throne. So he shall be a priest on his throne and the council of peace shall be between them both.
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Who's on the throne? Yeah. Which king? The Davidic. Right. David is on the throne. The high priest is not on the throne. So this man is sitting as a priest on
44:35
his throne. his throne. This is branch. This is Messiah. Okay, he's coming from the lineage of David, but he's a priest. That takes us
44:45
to Hebrews, right? Hebrews reminds us that if if according to his his uh human birth, Jesus would have never ministered in the temple, right? Because he wasn't of the tribe of Levi. He was of the
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tribe of Judah. So this is not two people. This is one. This is the Messiah. This is the branch. Okay? So, it's the the priest
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That's why I say the lampstand of of all the articles is is the most christoologgical because it is Jesus who becomes
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who becomes the conduit the the the two trees that by his giving of the Holy Spirit after his glorification
45:46
his glorification he's now pouring oil directly into the lampstand. stands and who are now the lampstands. Well, we are. Okay, we are the light of the world. We we are now we
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take the place of the lampstands, but we don't need a priest to prepare the oil and to fill the basin and to keep us burning. Um, and that that just reminds me of the
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idea that so many people have that they have to go to church to get charged for the week. You know, it's almost like I've got I've got to I take my bowl because it's empty and I go and I I get
46:21
filled and then I can I can burn through the week. No, there's no there's nobody doing that. You know, the pastor is not doing that. doing that. The the Holy Spirit is is direct. Now,
46:32
Jesus said, "He will take from me and he will give to you." He will take from me who am the pri the high priest and the king and he will give to you
46:45
so that what your lamp never goes out there there's no danger of the priest falling down and not refilling your
47:15
That's the next thing. What did the lampstand illuminate? lampstand illuminate? Well, primarily based on the way it was situated in the in the outer tent, it illuminated the table of showbread.
47:29
I I believe that the showbread represents the word of God. U I think when Jesus says man does not live well actually he's quoting the Old Testament so but of course that was his word then too so I guess it kind of goes back um but man does not live on bread
47:41
alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the father. Um, I I think that the the word being a lamp to our feet, a
47:53
light to our path shows the reciprocal nature of these two pieces of furniture that there is no understanding of the
48:05
word of God unless it be illuminated by the spirit of God. Does everybody agree with that? So the light of the lampstand is shining
48:16
upon the bread on the table. Okay. Now I think we can go I could elaborate on that and maybe go a little bit too allegorical on the fact that the bread was cycled
48:29
every seven days. You know, and I I might be able to say that's why we should meet every seven days. And you know, you you could take that and and go a little bit too far with it, but I think um you wouldn't be
48:42
far wrong even then that the the bread has a a a sell by date. Now, it doesn't mean God's word has a sell by date. It means that our
48:55
reading and understanding and seeking the word is as perpetual as the lamp and the showbread. Does that does that make sense? Okay.
49:16
Yeah. Is that Yes. And it's still being I think so. And I think it's renewed on a weekly basis. Um, and I I again I I might be guilty of
49:28
allegorization here, but I do think that's one of the reasons why it is it it is not only important in and of itself, but every believer should feel
49:40
it important it important to be in regular attendance. Do not neglect the assembly of one another as some do. Hebrews tells us if you neglect
49:52
it then that which is now yours because it's and we're going to get to the bread now but it it's interesting what what is said in Leviticus 24 about the showbread but to understand just that that the
50:04
mechanics the table was really small and the text seems to indicate that the 12 loaves representing the 12 tribes were actually stacked in two piles. they
50:16
they were not laid out because wasn't enough room. Uh if you take the the measure of the bread and it was unleavened they can estimate the size of the bread and they can they know the size of the
50:27
table because we're told um it's it's not a large table. So you you have probably two stacks of six loaves, right? Um, you also have
50:40
frankincense on the table, not in the bread, but on the table. the table. And we're told in Leviticus 24, as we move on, that this is an an offering by
50:54
fire to Yahweh. Now, that's a burnt offering, an ola. And the burnt offering was to be scented with frankincense whether it was grain.
51:20
Is well this is the this also tie yes is this also ties this passage in with the holy gifts of of chapter 21 and 22. Okay. So there's there this the the
51:32
flour is brought by the people for the Levite or sometimes some commentators think the bread was made but it does it does seem in I think it's first chronicles that the Kohathites were
51:44
responsible for break baking the bread but the fine flour with which they baked the bread came from the people. It was part of their peace offering their gift the holy gifts. Okay. And then the
51:55
Kohathites, the Levites would take that and apparently they they probably had a bakery in the temple, you know, and they would bake the loaves. Okay. But then the loaves are called an offering by
52:06
fire, but they're not burned. The frankincense is there because it is an offering by fire. Okay, I'm just talking now. I'm not even
52:17
writing. So, um, so the bread is like a burnt offering. Now the burnt offering, the entire offering was given over by fire to the Lord and that was symbolic
52:29
of him of him consuming it. consuming it. Does that make sense? Eating it literally eating it. So to call the bread an an offering by
52:41
fire and to add the frankincense which would go but the frankincense is not put on the bread because what happens to the bread? It's eaten by the priest.
52:53
This is the most intimate priestly meal right here. This is this is absolutely Yahweh's food. It's called an offering by fire to the Lord, but instead of
53:06
being burned, it is eaten. It is still consumed, but it's consumed by God's mediator, God's representative, the
53:19
Okay? So this is the most intimate table fellowship that we see in the entire Levitical system where the priests are not just taking from the sacrifice
53:31
that's their portion. They're actually taking it directly from the Lord's table that he's already said this is as it
53:41
were consumed by me by fire represented by the frankincense but in reality consumed by my priests.
53:54
Okay. Now table fellowship we know in the ancient near east is the is is one of the highest forms of approbation and fellowship in any human society to sit
54:07
down at the table together. So I'm going to I'm going to paraphrase and it might seem a little sacrilege religious but hopefully it's not. It's as if Yahweh is saying,
54:20
"I am consuming this bread through my priesthood with whom I am well pleased." Now, that does not mean he was well pleased with every priest,
54:32
but the priesthood itself was established by Yahweh and he was pleased with it, with the with the institution itself. He was pleased with it because
54:43
it pointed to the perfect answer to it which would be his son. Now in that history that moves from the tabernacle of the wilderness finally to
54:54
the cross, there is another incident that Jesus actually brings up in his teaching and that is the in incident at no where David is fleeing from Saul
55:07
and the tabernacle was there and he goes to the priest and says, "What do you got to eat? We're hungry." That's all he did. He didn't go into the tabernacle. He didn't go past the veil. If you read
55:18
the story carefully, he did not. It was a Sabbath. That's why Jesus used it because the Pharisees were hypocritically claiming that his disciples in in crushing grain and
55:28
eating the grain in the field were violating the Sabbath. He's he dude, have you not read what David did when he and and Jesus says he went into the tabernacle. He didn't go into the tent.
55:39
The high priest um aim him. Yeah. A himch. He said, 'All we got here is last week's bread. I mean, it's the Sabbath and
55:50
we've got the bread from the table. We're replacing it with the new bread. I'll give you that. Um, and obviously Saul finds out and it's used against him and and the priests forfeit their life.
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Saul will kill all the priests of Nome except one will escape and go to David. But David is not condemned by the Lord. And Jesus doesn't condemn him either
56:12
because it's as if Yahweh is saying, "David is a man in whom I am well pleased. He may eat the bread. He may eat from my table." It's it's kind of an exception that
56:23
proves the rule rather than a violation. Now, I think if David had gone into the tent, that would have been no good. But I think David understood enough to know,
56:34
I'm not doing that. Would you mind, you know, bringing it out to me? He's he's not a priest and he's not going to act like one. So the bread then becomes the
56:44
the the Lord's nourishment. It's his food, but it typifies I think the word of God by which we his people are fed by his spirit. Okay. So
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you have the united ministry of the spirit in the lampstand. But now the spirit is the one who is as a himch did giving us the bread. I don't think it's
57:09
the priesthood again. I don't think it's the pre preacher because we all have the anointing within us. John tells us so we have no need of any to teach us. We we have this in us if we are in Christ. And
57:23
what that does then is it illuminates the word of God. So it it's incredibly christoologgical, but it's also ecclesiological
57:34
because what the tabernacle what the temple now is is the body of Christ. And so when Paul says, "Do you not know that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit?" This is what he's talking about. These
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these images that that we're reading, that's what he's talking about. that we now have the two fig olive trees dripping directly into our reservoirs
57:56
and we have no need of a priesthood to crush the olives for us. I I think that's pretty exciting personally, but um and I love seeing it in the Old Testament.
58:08
It just again it shows that the New Testament is not a new religion. It's it's the only logical and theological explanation of the Old Testament is the New Testament. Without the New
58:20
Testament, the Old Testament makes no sense. Especially now that there is no ironic priesthood, there is no Davidic king, there is no temple, there are no
58:30
lampstands, there is no showbread. What What do the Jews have left? Nothing of any substance. Nothing of any biblical revelatory substance is left to
58:46
because the Lord has come and he has fulfilled all of this and now it it is a living reality in his people rather than a living symbol. It's now a
59:00
living reality. living reality. So I think that's what those two passages are telling us in Leviticus 24. Any comments, questions?
59:52
other. All right. So let's let's say on the south side of the outer tent you have your charismatics. On the north side you have your reformed. Okay. The south side you got your practice
1:00:03
your your uh your orthopraxy. On the north side you have your orthodoxy. No but you can't have the north side without the south side. And there's no
1:00:14
purpose to the south side without the north side. So it is reciprocal. And that's that's vitally important that is reciprocal. But there's a third piece of furniture in the room that isn't
1:00:26
addressed in Leviticus 24 because I don't think it has any pertinance to the Lord being at home. A known as known as Yeah. Yeah. I mean that's we haven't
1:00:39
talked about the prophet because the prophet wasn't anointed. The prophet was kind of the reality of what the anointing
1:00:50
symbolized. That the true prophet was not anointed. He came from whatever tribe the Lord chose. It wasn't, you know, you had to be a Levite or from Judah, the family of
1:01:02
David or family of Aaron. No, the prophets were more murial. They were some like what something like what Jesus says to Nicodemus, the wind
1:01:12
blows where it listeth, but you know not where it is coming or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the spirit. So the true prophet
1:01:22
uh I I don't know. I mean Jesus is a prophet. Um he is our king and he's clearly called the the the true high
1:01:35
priest. And the elements of each of those ministries coalesce in Jesus. But the emphasis of Zechariah is on the high priest and the king, not the prophet. Because the prophet is not an
1:01:47
anointed office. He is actually anointed with the reality that the oil symbolizes. Does that make sense?
1:01:57
So if if he is operating falsely, he doesn't have the charisma of the oil to fall back on. He he can't fall back
1:02:09
as the king or the priest could do on his office. his office. He was truly a maverick. Okay? And in that case, he was to be
1:02:20
stoned and he was certainly not to be feared. But in Deuteronomy 18, we read that if you encounter a true prophet, him you shall fear and you fear him
1:02:32
because he doesn't just have a symbol. He's got the real thing. Okay? He's got the full monty and therefore he speaks for me and you should fear him. So the
1:02:42
prophet is a unique ministry of which the lord is the supreme example and consummation because he did not speak on his own but he spoke the father's words.
1:02:54
Okay. And the holy spirit is also prophetic because he does not speak on his own but rather takes what Jesus says and gives it to us. There's no need of the of the symbolic oil because the
1:03:05
prophet had the reality. Does that does that make sense?
1:03:24
he is. Yeah. He would he would be thus sayaith the Lord. Exactly. So he would he would be verbalizing the revelation of God of God and it was the word of God whether it ever got written down or not. So when
1:03:35
Elijah or Elisha spoke, it was the word of God. As they spoke as a prophet, we have no book of Elisha. We have no book of Elijah. We, you know, they they were not writing prophets. But what they said
1:03:47
was indeed the word of God. Yes. But what I'm saying is they were not actually anointed as the king and the high priest were anointed. So they're
1:03:57
not they're not represented by these olive trees. Okay. All right. Any other comments,
1:04:20
Yes. Samuel anoints David and um Elijah or is it Elisha? Both of them. Didn't they both anoint anointed Joo or Yeah. Oh, that's right. Elisha anointed the
1:04:32
king. Um, so yeah, sometimes the prophet was actually the one who did the anointing, but he himself was not anointed. Elijah did not anoint Elisha, although he did get a double blessing
1:04:44
because he got the mantle, but that wasn't an anointing. Did you have a comment? I think of Isaiah too.
1:05:11
They do um they come they are independent of the official offices. that the only two official offices correspond to the two tribes, Levi and the family of Aaron,
1:05:23
Judah and the family of David. So we have a rigid pattern for those and they are generation after generation they are anointed with the oil. Okay,
1:05:35
the prophet might be from Tish Tishp wherever that is because he's a Tishbite. Okay. Um, so
1:05:47
it's I think there there one of the prophets is from Dan. Uh, you know, so the prophets were not from now Samuel was a was a was a Levite. He was he was
1:05:58
from Ephraim, but he was of the tribe of Levi. So, but he was a prophet. So, it wasn't that you couldn't have a prophet from Judah or the family of David. You couldn't have a prophet from Levi or the
1:06:09
family of Aaron. Yes, you could, but it wasn't it wasn't limited to any particular tribal orient or clan orientation. But what I'm what I'm trying to get at is that the prophet was the reality. And
1:06:23
you're right, what he spoke was the word of God. So, in a sense, the prophet was the was the one who foreshadowed this,
1:06:33
which may be why the angel was kind of dumbfounded that Zechariah didn't know what he was looking at. You know, he might have said to paraphrase another, "Are you the prophet
1:06:44
of Israel and do not know these things?" Anyone else?
1:07:02
Yeah. Yeah. And and that I think is not is not reading backwards into the text
1:07:12
because the text is very clear. The trees are dripping their oil directly into the lamp. Okay. So to an Old Testament reader or to
1:07:24
Zechariah seeing this vision, he would think, well, but that's what the priest did. It's the priest who presses the oil, purifies it, and and daily fills
1:07:36
the bowl. So if you just look at this vision, Zechariah could have asked, "Well, my Lord, where's the priest? I I see trees. I see oil dripping into
1:07:48
the lampstand. Where's the priest?" and Zechariah or the Lord's going to answer that two chapters later in Zechariah 6 Zechariah 6 that the branch is the priest king who
1:08:00
will bring this about. So this is this is just a beautiful picture of regeneration and indwelling of the Holy Spirit right here.
1:08:12
right here. I mean when you when if you ever hear it again this little light of mine think of this. Okay, this this is the little light of mine because it's it's now direct.
1:08:24
There's no mediator. And and we've talked about this before. Those denominations that resurrect or revivify the office of a mediator,
1:08:40
where is he in this vision? Where is a mediator in this vision? It's not there. So I think that's that's that's pretty strong in terms of um of of not you know
1:08:54
the New Testament's just so explicit. There is now there is no mediator between God and man except Jesus the righteous. And that's this little spot right here. This little interface
1:09:14
So then he goes into uh the chapter he um I'll summarize.
1:09:25
he talks about a man who's um I get it get it right here. Uh what was the the father the mother was Egyptian? No, the mother was Israelite. The father was Yeah. And now the son of
1:09:37
an Israelite woman. and his father was an Egyptian. Sounds like an insult, doesn't it? Went out among the sons of Israel and the Israelites, the Israelite woman's son and an Israelite man had a
1:09:50
fight within the camp. And the son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the name and cursed. So they brought him to Moses. Now his mother's name was Shelomit, the
1:10:02
daughter of Dbri of the tribe of Dan. that obviously had some pertinence at the time. Uh to us it tells us this is not a par this not a parable.
1:10:14
This happened this is actually a case of at of court law. Okay. The fact that it was done in the camp could be read it was done in the presence of Yahweh. He's
1:10:27
at home. The lamp's lit. The bread's on the table. And this is going on outside. But they bring the man to Moses because it doesn't seem like they know what to
1:10:37
do. Then they put him in custody waiting for Moses to give them a clear decision in accordance with the command of the
1:10:49
Lord. Now on the face of it when I read it I wonder why they have to do that.
1:11:04
So the Lord gives the answer in verses 13- 16. Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Bring the one who has cursed outside the camp and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head.
1:11:17
Then have all the congregation stone him." This this is simply the law. First of all, the um the condemned could
1:11:31
not be condemned to death on the testimony of less than two witnesses. Second, those witnesses must take the
1:11:41
responsibility upon themselves by being elsewhere we read the first to cast the stone. But by laying hands on this man, they're either showing themselves to be
1:11:54
subhumanly callous subhumanly callous or vicious or committed to the purity and the holiness of the camp.
1:12:06
Because if they were bearing false testimony against this man, then what they were doing was nothing less than murder and their sin would find them out. But they couldn't just simply say
1:12:17
he did it. They had to involve themselves. And they had to involve themselves in another man's death.
1:12:28
Most people are not comfortable doing that even at four-way stop signs. Okay, that's where I come closest. that you know most people are not comfortable
1:12:41
with involving themsel in another human being's death even if they believe that death to be just and right.
1:12:51
Do you want to turn the switch to the electric chair? Not really. Do you want to pull the lever at the gallows?
1:13:02
Not really. Not really. And so, no, you can't you can't get away with it that easy. You've got to be front and center because you are the witnesses that will either justly or
1:13:15
unjustly bring about this man's death. So, it it's like you're you're all involved. Okay. Some people say it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes a village to execute a man.
1:13:32
Yes. Yes. You have to face your accuser. and and um also in in the law that that which you sought to bring about upon an innocent man will
1:13:43
be your penalty. Okay? So if you sought that a man should lose his life or that he should lose his property and you you are he is found innocent, you have falsely accused him,
1:13:55
then what you sought against him is now exacted from you. I would love to see that in our legal code. I think lawsuits would start to disappear if that was in
1:14:06
our legal code. If you are if you are found innocent than the accuser who has to be involved, it can't be hearsay. Then the accuser suffers what he sought
1:14:16
from the accused. I mean, the Torah is incredibly modern and progressive. It is not the least bit barbaric.
1:14:30
It it sought equity among the people, not equality, but equity. And it sought above all justice and not vengeance.
1:14:40
So all of the provisions like the cities of refuge and all of that, they all seem kind of weird to us, but that's only because we're so arrogant in our modernity that we cannot see the wisdom
1:14:52
and the equity and the justice of scripture when it's staring us in the face. Okay, you must face your you must have the you have the right to face your
1:15:04
accuser. So the man's accused of it and he says what I say there has to be someone who says there has to be at least two who say this is exactly what you said and with their
1:15:15
corroboration of of witness they lay hands on the man and say we certify with our with our own beings that this man blasphemed the name. Now, this also ties
1:15:27
into the discussion of of Kirush Hashem and Kilu Hashem. This is an example of profaining the name. Talks about cursing and and I'll have
1:15:40
some in the notes about that. Um, we talked about a little bit last week.
1:15:52
What we call profanity is not necessarily a violation of the third commandment.
1:16:04
vulgarity. It's not taking the names Lord in vain. And I made the comment last week, you know, that you you don't get around it
1:16:14
by saying gosh darn or you know, my uncle always said cheese and crackers. Like don't know what that means. Okay, that was before he became a
1:16:24
believer. Praise the Lord. And he didn't say that anymore. Hiding with your words doesn't hide the
1:16:41
calling something a violation of the third commandment that is simply vulgarity. I'm not advocating vulgarity, but blaspheming the name means meant something and it means something even
1:16:52
today. And we we need to understand that and not and not um cloud it and and make it foggy by inserting things like you know the Christian name of of the
1:17:03
capital of Holland is you know Amsterd. Actually, I don't think that's the capital, but um you know, like no, that that that's not that's not the Lord is not fooled by that. You know, he he
1:17:14
knows what's in your heart, and just hiding behind a different phrase is is not really escaping the fact. I also think, and I've taught this many many
1:17:24
times, that we should very rarely say things like, "The Lord is telling me." that should not be in our vocabulary
1:17:34
unless we are susceptible to revelations from the Lord. I have a problem with that too, but that's a different problem. But when we claim that the Lord is telling me something, we are using
1:17:46
his name. And if he in fact has not told us, we are using his name in vain.
1:18:20
No, I I think um I think Tilica is right in that. I think that um that when we use I think that to give an example of that to the extreme when the Jewish people refuse to say the name of God
1:18:31
they're they're going to the opposite extreme but when Christians use it you know just willy-nilly as an impromator of whatever it is I'm doing or saying
1:18:41
then you are treating the Lord's name as common the Lord says you know um about his word that his word is holy who are you to take it upon your lips and his
1:18:53
name is most holy. So it should never pass our lips without deep consideration of what we're saying. And and I'm not saying that that people who say that
1:19:06
now. I think we do it now because it's become part of our language. I think it needs to be consciously unthought. We need to stop saying it. Realizing
1:19:17
that no, I did not have a vision. The Lord did not speak to me on the road to Spartanberg. You know, it it it's it's okay. These are these are not I I think this is a good idea as far as the wisdom
1:19:29
God has given me. Lord willing, I'm going in the right path. But to say the Lord has told me, that's not solid ground. We should not be saying things. And I think it's more of a violation.
1:19:42
This is going to sound very radical, but it's more of a violation of the third commandment than when someone drops the fbomb because at that point they're just being vulgar. Okay? They're just being okay. They're
1:19:54
not they're not necessarily taking the Lord's name in vain. I think this man did both, frankly. Um he cursed, which meant I think he broke two commandments.
1:20:05
He broke the third and the sixth using the name of the Lord. He cursed a man. He he hated meaning he murdered verbally
1:20:15
murdered a fellow Israelite. So he in in one fell swoop he brought he knocked down two commandments. I think it's important to recognize
1:20:26
the name of the Lord in the camp in the camp right out in front. He wasn't in Syria doing it. No. No, he wasn't in Egypt. Yeah. You know, with his with his father's family. He was right there. He's right
1:20:38
on the front porch as it were of Yahweh's house because I think that's why it's here in this chapter is Yahweh's home. Don't be doing this stuff. Okay. So, I think that's a good
1:20:50
point. It's it's right there right there in front in front as opposed to
1:21:04
Yes. At all times. Yeah. At all time. That's a good point. We're we're in the camp. We dwell corormo before the face of God. And so our behavior is not um
1:21:17
is not what you know like okay you behave one way on your vacation and nobody you're not going to meet anybody who knows you. Don't be so sure of that by the way. Don't be so sure of that. Um but you know it's it's not like I'm at
1:21:29
church. uh you know maybe at work you you are a certain way in a church you're a different way okay uh that's what we call hypocrisy but God sees through that you know that's the point God sees he's
1:21:42
already ready to render judgment he tells Moses exactly what's to be done but at my point he's already done that it's blasphemy it's blasphemy I think what they what this brings out
1:21:54
is the the reiteration it's three times in scripture of the lex Talionis, the that infamous eye for an eye. Modern liberal scholars consider it to
1:22:05
be ancient barbarism. But no ancient scholar nor any medieval or even early modern scholar thought that that's what it was
1:22:18
because it was never taken literally. Nor does pretty much anybody think that it was meant to be. The lexellionus is actually quite
1:22:32
enlightened. It fundamentally means that the punishment should fit the crime. Whereas in the ancient world, for example, if you read Hammurabi's code,
1:22:42
it was a very simple one because for most crimes, you simply killed the person. Just about everything you did was a capital crime. Now, I for an I here in this place is
1:22:56
simply establishing in somewhat of a parenthetical statement here. It does seem a little out of place, but it's it's actually the underlying um principle of the law. And that is the
1:23:08
offense is what dictates its own punishment. And the offense here is the greatest possible one. You have blasphemed the
1:23:18
name and you have done it in the camp and I shall be holy by those who approach me. Okay? And so the the crime
1:23:29
is not susceptible of a financial punishment which many were many were
1:23:39
many were uh and and it also had to do with the dignity of the one offended. So you you'll find and and people have a hard time with this, but this is just the way the world was. Fallen and
1:23:50
corrupt in sin. The life of a slave isn't as valuable as the life of a king. And if that bothers you, just remember that your life isn't as valuable as the
1:24:01
president's. Okay? If you go jump someone outside, you're going to go to jail. If you go jump, you're in deep doodoo. Okay? And so the
1:24:12
dignity of the person offended is also part of of the of the uh penal code as it were. Well, who's offended here? Not
1:24:22
the Israelite man who was cursed, but God who was blasphemed. So the sentence is summary. He's he's to
1:25:05
That's a tricky one. Um, you know, on the on the one hand, you could and I would agree with both of these perspectives. So that that's why it's tricky to me. You know, if you're in a workplace and your coworker is constantly blaspheing the name.
1:25:17
I think you're you're well within your rights. This is where maybe where Paul uses his rights as a Roman citizen. You have rights as a American citizen. You have rights as an employee to ask that person to please stop. It is very
1:25:29
offensive to me to hear that. And then he may tell you to go to purgatory. But um if he's Catholic, I I don't a little bit of hope. Um but on the other hand,
1:25:43
to just go around as if you're you're the moral police. Um I I don't again I think it is in the camp and and judgment begins at the household of God. We we really are
1:25:55
we we outdo the Pharisees in their hypocrisy when we become moral policemen of the unbelieving world unbelieving world and ignore the offenses within the
1:26:07
household of God. You know, first clean the inside of the cup. You know, the outside isn't what matters. And and so I think that's a
1:26:19
good point and and Abee's point is is is excellent. This is in the camp. This is this is kind of what I'm trying to point out in the notes if you have an opportunity to read them. But you know, this is in the presence of of Yahweh at
1:26:31
home among his people. You can't be doing this stuff. What have we to do with judging the evil? the evil? Very good. 1 Corinthians 5. You know
1:26:41
what what do we have to to with judging the outsiders? But you know inside so-called brothers who live in a certain way do not even eat with such a one.
1:26:53
Okay, that's a that's a very hard judgment. But the purity of the people of God, the purity of the camp rests on us obeying
1:27:07
that no matter who the person is. And that's why the chapter ends by saying, "And the people did what Yahweh commanded,
1:27:18
aka the guy died." Let's pray. Father, we do ask that you would burn in our hearts the desire
1:27:30
to see your equity and your justice prevail within your people and in our own lives. that we would be given the wisdom that you gave Moses
1:27:40
or even just help us to see what the people should have seen, that which is clearly written in your word. But but help us to strive for the
1:27:51
equity and justice and purity in holiness of your people in the camp. For we know that you are dwelling amongst us. We live in your presence and by your
1:28:04
spirit we pray that our lives might reflect your glory and not our shame. Father we ask this for your glory for the good of the church and we ask in Jesus name. Amen.
