Chapter 24
The other night, the power went out at our house. It was one of those unexpected blackouts—no warning, just sudden darkness. I fumbled through drawers for a flashlight, found one with dying batteries, and finally lit a candle. It was just one tiny flame, but it changed everything. The room took on a calm, quiet glow. What surprised me most was how much effort it took to keep that one little flame alive—shielding it from drafts, trimming the wick, staying nearby.
It made me think: some things don’t stay lit on their own. They need tending. Attention. Care.
At first glance, Leviticus 24 seems like just another list of Old Testament rituals—oil for lamps, bread for a table, reverence for God’s name. But look again. Hidden in plain sight is a powerful picture of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit (oil), Jesus the Bread of Life, and the Father whose Name is above all names. This chapter quietly points forward to what would be revealed fully in the New Testament. It’s more than ceremony—it’s a call to intimacy, responsibility, and worship.
In Leviticus 24, God gives instructions that might seem like ancient temple chores at first glance—but it’s more than religious duty. It’s a picture of devotion, and how God invites us into the daily work of keeping His presence visible and His character honored in the world.
First, there’s the oil. Pure oil, beaten from olives—not the leftovers, but the best. This was for the lamp that had to stay burning continually in the tent of meeting. It was the job of the people to bring that oil, and the priests to tend it.
And I wonder—who’s bringing the oil now? Because in a world growing darker by the day, the light of God’s presence doesn’t come from church policies or programs. It comes from people filled with the Spirit, willing to show up and keep the flame alive through prayer, worship, and surrender. We don’t create the fire, but we do have to tend it.
Then there’s the bread—twelve loaves, freshly made every week, set before the Lord as a lasting covenant. It’s easy to breeze past this detail, but think about it: God didn’t ask for bread because He was hungry. He asked for it as a sign of relationship. He’s a God who gathers people around the table. The bread was a symbol of presence—His presence among them, and their presence before Him.
That hasn’t changed. Jesus would later say, “I am the Bread of Life.” But what are we offering the world today? Is it something nourishing and real—or something stale, over-processed, and empty? It’s our calling as the Church to offer Jesus to the world not just through sermons, but through hospitality, justice, compassion, and truth that satisfies. Fresh bread—not yesterday’s leftovers.
And then there’s the Name. This part of the chapter takes a serious turn: a man blasphemes God’s name, and the community has to deal with the weight of what that means. It’s a hard passage—but the message is clear. God’s name is holy. Not just the syllables we speak, but the weight of who He is. His character, His authority, His reputation. And we carry that Name. Not just in how we talk about God, but in how we live.
In a time when the name of God is often used for manipulation, for division, or simply treated as irrelevant, the Church body of believers are meant to honor His name by how we reflect His heart. In public and in private. In conflict and in kindness.
So maybe Leviticus 24 isn’t about ritual after all. Maybe it’s a quiet call to tend what matters.
Are we keeping the light of His Spirit burning? Are we offering the Bread of Life with freshness and grace? Are we honoring the Name we’ve been entrusted to carry?
In a dark world, these aren’t just ancient duties—they’re present-day invitations. Not for the “religious professionals,” but for all of us who dare to bear the presence of God into everyday places. So bring the oil. Bake the bread. Honor the Name. Be intentional while being the Church.
Olive Oil brought by the Israelites
1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning continually. 3 Outside the curtain that shields the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, Aaron is to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening till morning, continually. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 4 The lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD must be tended continually.
Bread Set Before the Lord
5 “Take the finest flour and bake twelve loaves of bread, using two-tenths of an ephah for each loaf. 6 Arrange them in two stacks, six in each stack, on the table of pure gold before the LORD. 7 By each stack put some pure incense as a memorial portion to represent the bread and to be a food offering presented to the LORD. 8 This bread is to be set out before the LORD regularly, Sabbath after Sabbath, on behalf of the Israelites, as a lasting covenant. 9 It belongs to Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it in the sanctuary area, because it is a most holy part of their perpetual share of the food offerings presented to the LORD.”
A Blasphemer Put to Death
10 Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) 12 They put him in custody until the will of the LORD should be made clear to them.
13 Then the LORD said to Moses: 14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp. All those who heard him are to lay their hands on his head, and the entire assembly is to stone him. 15 Say to the Israelites: ‘Anyone who curses their God will be held responsible; 16 anyone who blasphemes the name of the LORD is to be put to death. The entire assembly must stone them. Whether foreigner or native-born, when they blaspheme the Name they are to be put to death.
17 ” ‘Anyone who takes the life of a human being is to be put to death. 18 Anyone who takes the life of someone’s animal must make restitution–life for life. 19 Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury. 21 Whoever kills an animal must make restitution, but whoever kills a human being is to be put to death. 22 You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the LORD your God.’ ”
23 Then Moses spoke to the Israelites, and they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. The Israelites did as the LORD commanded Moses.
