Leviticus 24:10 The son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and the son of the Israelite woman and a man of Israel strove together in the camp. 11 The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name, and cursed; and they brought him to Moses. His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 12 They put him in custody until Yahweh’s will should be declared to them. 13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 14 “Bring him who cursed out of the camp; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. 15 You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16 He who blasphemes Yahweh’s name, he shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him. The foreigner as well as the native-born shall be put to death when he blasphemes the Name.
17 “‘He who strikes any man mortally shall surely be put to death. 18 He who strikes an animal mortally shall make it good, life for life. 19 If anyone injures his neighbor, it shall be done to him as he has done: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. It shall be done to him as he has injured someone. 21 He who kills an animal shall make it good; and he who kills a man shall be put to death. 22 You shall have one kind of law for the foreigner as well as the native-born; for I am Yahweh your God.’”
23 Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought him who had cursed out of the camp, and stoned him with stones. The children of Israel did as Yahweh commanded Moses.
After God laid out the moral and ritual requirements for the priests in the first section of Leviticus, Nadab and Abihu disobeyed God. Leviticus 10. As a result, they were judged by God. Their judgment served as a perpetual warning to the priests.
Similarly, in a parallel fashion, after God laid out the moral and ritual requirements for the people in this section of Leviticus, in disobedience to the Third Commandment the son of Shelomith blasphemed Yahweh’s Name, cursing God, the Lawgiver. Those who witnessed his sin were instructed to lay their hands on his head and then in front of the assembled congregation, they were to stone the man to death. In this way God demonstrated for the congregation the seriousness of disrespecting and disobeying Yahweh the Lawgiver.
The remainder of the chapter gives further details concerning God’s justice. In short, premeditated murder was always a capital crime, meaning that it was to be punished by death. All other crimes were to be punished with equitable recompense. Vengeance was never allowed. Further, there was to be only one set of laws applied equally to both the foreigner as well as the native-born. There was never to be a two-tiered justice system. There was never to be a justice system in which the poor or the rich or the weak or the strong were treated by different standards.
Today, because we no longer live in a theocracy, the Church does not directly punish those who break the civil law. God has given that task over to the government. Romans 13:4. However, this does not mean that the Church is to remain silent. To be silent is to be complicit in evil. Pastors and elders are to be ministers of redemption calling everyone, including public officials to repentance. As such, the Church must serve as the conscience of the State. Regardless of the laws of the land and the justice or lack of justice within any particular nation, the people of God must always warn unbelievers, including government authorities, that the God of Creation knows their thoughts, sees their actions, and will not hold them guiltless.
There are six things which Jehovah hates; Yes, seven which are an abomination unto him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood; A heart that devises wicked schemes, Feet that are swift in running to mischief, A false witness that utters lies, And he that sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19
In the same way that John the Baptist called Herod to account, Mark 6:14-29, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America should be commended for sending the following admonition to US President and all government officials in June of 2023:
Humble Petition to Governmental Leaders from the Presbyterian Church in America
God declares in Sacred Scripture that civil government, no less the Church, is a divine institution and owes its authority to God. The Bible is the supreme revelation of God’s will and teaches that God made man in his own image, male and female, and called his creation good; that God blessed man and woman commanding them to be fruitful and multiply; that children are God’s heritage given a special status of just protection by Christ Jesus before they are capable of choosing good and refusing evil; and that it is scientifically impossible for a male to become a female or a female to become a male. We who love our nation, in the name of God who alone is sovereign in his good and perfect design of men and women, call upon you to renounce the sin of all medical and surgical sex change procedures in minors by the American healthcare system because they result in irreversible harm. The obedience to God, which places us in subjection to your rightful civil authority, requires of us to humbly, boldly and prayerfully proclaim the counsel of God as it bears upon the same God-given authority.
Humbly and respectfully submitted,
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America
When nations continue to pursue wickedness God says that he will uproot, pull down and destroy them. Jeremiah 18:7-8