07/29/2008 Leviticus 24:10

07/29/2008

Leviticus 24:10 - 15 (HCSB) ¹⁰Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father was among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between the Israelite woman’s son and an Israelite man. ¹¹Her son cursed and blasphemed the Name, and they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, a daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan.) ¹²They put him in custody until the LORD’s decision could be made clear to them.

¹³Then the LORD spoke to Moses: ¹⁴“Bring the one who has cursed to the outside of the camp and have all who heard [him] lay their hands on his head; then have the whole community stone him. ¹⁵And tell the Israelites: If anyone curses his God, he will bear the consequences of his sin.

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While I was preparing for a class that I will be teaching, I reviewed a TV show about karma. In the opening sequence, people on the street were giving their impression of what karma was. Most gave the expected answer that you will bear the consequences of what you do. And unfortunately, the majority of people subscribe to some for of karmic retribution.

In the verses above, there was a young man of mixed heritage. In the course of an altercation, he openly blasphemed God. Blasphemy is any statement or action that lowers the status of God. It is possible that this young man was careless about his words because of his Egyptian heritage. Nonetheless, he found himself in the midst of God’s chosen people, a people specifically called to be holy, and thus, his crime was grave indeed.

The young man was put into custody until his fate could be decided. God gave the decree: death by stoning. Further God gave the instruction, “If anyone curses God, he will bear the consequences of his sin.”

Let me be perfectly clear on this point. What God is saying is not a law of karma, but a statement of justice. In karma, one is rewarded or punished by the ripple-effect of their actions. That is, if they do something nice, that it will work its way back around so that something nice is done for them. If they do something bad, then eventually, bad will come back to them.

However, God states the principal for justice in different terms. If you sin, you will bear the consequences. In other words, your sin will not just work its way around the cosmos back to you, but rather, there will be a strict accountability. God will look at your life and your sin and pronounce judgment. The sin of blasphemy is an offense to God and He will deal with it.

Now let me bring this closer to home. As I stated earlier, blasphemy is any words or actions that lower the status of God. When anyone invents or adheres to any religious or spiritual ideas that preclude the Creator-God Jehovah—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—The Holy Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, then that person is lowering the status of God.

So many people are following religions that just feel good. They are religions that make themselves into gods, or perhaps they follow religions that claim that Jesus was just a great man; not the Son of God. These religions and these people are committing blasphemy. God personally will pronounce judgment on them.

Do your words and actions reflect God as the supreme master of your life? Are you portraying yourself as the master of your destiny? When others look at you, to whom will they see you giving honor?

Blasphemy is any words or actions that lower the status of God. Are your words and actions keeping God at the highest reverence in your life?

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