Leviticus (Lesson Eleven: Tabernacle Upkeep and Unflinching Justice [Chapter 24])

Holiness to the Lord: A Survey of Leviticus

Lesson Eleven: Tabernacle Upkeep and Unflinching Justice (Chapter 24)

1. Tabernacle Upkeep

In the first part of the chapter, the Lord gives Moses instructions concerning two elements that will have to be supplied on a continual basis for the functioning of the tabernacle: pure olive oil for the lamp and the Bread of the Presence for the table. Throughout the book of Leviticus, instructions have already been given for the usage of every other feature of the Tabernacle (the way to use the altar was discussed in the description of the sacrifices, the way to use the laver was shown in the discussions of priestly ceremonial washings, the altar of incense was mentioned in the discussion of the Day of Atonement, etc.). These instructions here, therefore, bring to a state of completion the information that the Levitical Priests must have for the proper upkeep and functioning of the tabernacle.

The Gospel of John makes a point of revealing the Christ-centered meanings behind all the tabernacle furniture; and in chapters six and eight, he shows that Christ is the true Bread which came down from heaven, and the Light of the World, in fulfillment of these two elements.

* The Lampstand

The Holy Place of the tabernacle, at one level, represented the physical world in which man dwells; in the lampstand in particular, there are almonds and flowers, representing the fruits of the earth (see Ex. 37:17-24); as well as seven lights, representing the luminaries of heaven. But at a more fundamental level, the Lampstand of pure gold looked ahead to Jesus, who came down from heaven to light the whole world with the true knowledge of God (see John 1:4-5, 9, 14; 8:12ff.; 12:46).

So as long as Jesus walked physically upon the earth, he himself was the light of the world (see John 12:35-36; 9:5); but as he told his disciples he would, he ascended again to the Father, and today he is no longer physically present, to be seen with the eyes of flesh. How then is he the Light of the world today?

The answer must be that he now lights the world in his mystical body, the Church. Hence, he told his disciples, “You are the light of the world” (Mat. 5:14-16). This truth is beautifully illustrated (double-entendre intended!) by the Lampstand: in it were seven branches, all joined together to one central base and stem, and filled with pure oil. In the same way, the Church is being purified as fine gold (e.g. Job 23:10; 1 Pet. 1:7); she is wrought together as one body, one indissoluble people (e.g. 1 Cor. 10:17); she is founded upon Christ as her base and foundation (Eph. 2:20) and joined together with him as one flesh (Eph. 4:15-16; 5:31-32); and from him, the Holy Spirit (who is often represented by oil, cf. Zech. 4:1-6, for example) flows into her and fills her, so that by his power she might bring the light of the gospel into the world.

This all happens, not just when individual Christians live good lives, but in the context of the local church (remember Rev. 1:12-20!); if only the purest oil were allowed for the upkeep of the typological tabernacle, how much more important is it that we be pouring our very best efforts into local church ministry and fellowship, and thus laboring to see God light the world by the power of his Spirit through his Church, the Bride and Body of Christ?

But even better yet, Christ will soon return, and we will see him again with our eyes; and forevermore, he himself will be the light of the new world, which will no longer need the sun or the moon, because his own divine radiance will shed light upon his people without end (Rev. 21:23-25)

* The Bread of the Presence

The Bread of the Presence points to Christ no less poignantly: twelve loaves were laid out before the Lord, with frankincense upon them which would be regularly burned upon the altar of incense as a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord. This teaches us that Christ came down from heaven to be the true, life-giving bread: his broken body and shed blood would give life and nourishment to his people. In coming down to give his people life, he would bring to them the very presence of God; and ultimately, he would be God-with-them, dwelling among them all — hence the twelve loaves of the Presence, signifying God’s presence in all twelve tribes, that is, among all his people. Thus he is not just the bread of spiritual life for his people, but the bread of the Presence of God. Christ’s sacrifice of his body for his people would be pleasing to the Father, who loved and chose this people, and gave them to the Son; and hence, there was upon the bread frankincense, which arose as a sweet smell to God. So Christ poured forth his fragrant pleas for his people (See John 17), and they ascended before the Father, and he was pleased, and was reconciled to them, and delighted in them, and will never again be wrathful to them.

2. Unflinching Justice

In the latter part of the chapter, we find the second and final narrative portion of Leviticus (the first was the account of Nadab and Abihu): a man of mixed blood was guilty of blaspheming the Name of God; and after Moses inquired of the Lord, he was stoned by the whole community. The basic point is that God’s unflinching justice would be exacted upon Israelite and Egyptian alike; the whole world is guilty before God, and will pay the penalty (cf. Rom 2:12; 3:19).

The basic principle of God’s justice is this: he will unfailingly bring a requital proportionate to the offense — or, in the words of Obadiah, “As you have done, so it shall be done to you” (Obad. 15).

* Requital for blasphemy against God

Since the majesty and dignity of God is infinite, the proportionate punishment for blasphemy is the eternal torment of “destruction away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thes. 1:9). Thus, the people of God joined together, placed their hands upon the guilty party’s head, signifying that he would bear his own guilt (remember the significance of Lev. 16:21), and solemnly put him to death. Thus, his punishment was a twofold death: both physical death and separation from God and his people.

God has given the authority to punish infractions against other men to civil government (Gen. 9:6; Rom. 13:1-7); but he has given the authority to pronounce the penalty for blasphemy to his Church. When Church discipline takes place, the Church is saying that this impenitent person is cut off from the fellowship of God’s people and cast back into the domain of the devil; unless he repents and is restored, he is liable to the punishment of eternal separation in hell. How much better is it for him to be physically delivered over to Satan for a time so that he might come to his senses and be eternally saved (1 Cor. 5:5)! This is the goal of Church discipline therefore: that those against whom it is enacted might be taught not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 4:20).

Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, who alone applies the effects of Christ’s redemption to the soul of each saint, is an offense that will never be forgiven (Mat. 12:31-32); and everyone found guilty of it, by slighting the testimony of him who has now come to “convict the world of sin and righteousness and judgment” (John 16:8), will eternally perish. On that day, the whole Church will gather together and solemnly praise God for his just punishment of every blasphemer (Rev. 19:1-4)

* Requital for injury against creatures

Since all creatures are infinitely less glorious than God, the penalty for wrongs done to them are also less; but here, as well, the principle of exact justice (the “lex talionis”) applies. For every animal stolen, another animal must be given, tit for tat; and for every human killed, since there is nothing more valuable in all creation than a human, who was made in the image of God, the killer’s own life would be forfeit. Similarly, an eye would be gouged out of anyone who gouged out another man’s eye in a fight; a tooth would be forfeited for a tooth, a fracture for a fracture, etc. This is a harsh, unyielding law; but it is utterly just.

When Christ interpreted the Law in his Sermon on the Mount, he added a very significant nuance to this law of unflinching justice; although justice demands an exact, proportionate retaliation for any injury done to us, Christ commands us not to require any just requital — and he even goes beyond this, and commands us to submit ourselves to the same injustice a second time (Mat. 5:38-42)! This is because he freely forgave us, not by ignoring justice, but by submitting to the penalty of it himself — bearing our wrongs against him as well as the punishment for those wrongs. Now, because we have freely been forgiven, justice demands that we freely forgive others (cf. Mat. 18:21-35). Henceforth, we are to treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated (Mat. 7:12).

* Discussion questions

What does the image of the Church as the Lampstand teach us of the need for unity and selfless service to one another in the Church?

What does the second part of the chapter teach us to think about the so-called “blue laws,” the early American laws against blasphemy and the like? What about Muslim “sharia” laws? What about laws against homosexuality? Pornography? How about capital punishment?

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