Leviticus 24:10-16: a reflection

10The 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. 11The 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. 12They put him in custody until the LORD’s will should be declared to them. 13The LORD 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. 15You shall speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. 16He who blasphemes the LORD’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.

This is a hard passage, recounting a case of blasphemy, a man who cursed the name of God, and the severe penalty the law prescribed for it. The severity is jarring to us, and we live under a different covenant. But behind the harshness lies something worth pausing over: the profound reverence God's name was to command among his people. To blaspheme the Name, to treat it with contempt, was regarded as one of the gravest of acts, precisely because the name of God was to be held in the highest reverence.

Notice what the severity conveys, whatever we make of the penalty: the holiness of God's name. In a culture, and a personal life, where God's name is often treated casually, tossed about thoughtlessly, used as a curse or an exclamation, this passage confronts us with how seriously God's name was to be honored. His name represents his very person, his holiness, his glory; and to treat it with contempt was to treat God himself with contempt. The name of the holy God was to be reverenced, not profaned.

We are not under this law's penalties, but the reverence it points to remains. God's name is holy, and it is easy, in an age that treats it lightly, to grow careless with it ourselves, to use it thoughtlessly, casually, even irreverently. This passage recalls us to reverence: God's name is not to be treated as a common word or a careless curse, but honored as the name of the holy God. Guard your speech and your heart against treating God's name lightly. Reverence his name, for it represents the holy God himself.

Lord, this hard passage recalls how seriously your name was to be reverenced, for it represents your holy person. In an age that treats your name lightly, tossing it about thoughtlessly, using it carelessly, keep me from growing careless with it myself. Teach me to reverence your name, not to treat it as a common word or a careless curse, but to honor it as the name of the holy God. Guard my speech and my heart, that I may hold your name in the reverence it deserves. Hallowed be your name.