Built or Broken by the Name (Lev. 24:10-16; LD 36)

The law of God sets the standard for believers to grow in Christlikeness. It teaches us that God’s holiness is supreme. The first commandment calls us to an exclusive relationship with God. The second commandment guides us in how to worship the true God. The third commandment instructs us on how to honor the Lord’s name.

It’s easy to think that God’s name is just a word or a label, but the Bible shows it means much more than merely some description. In Leviticus 24, we read about a young man who misused God’s name and faced the severe penalty of death via stoning by the entire community. While this seems extreme today, the passage teaches that misusing God’s name is like wounding God Himself because it diminishes His greatness, slanders His character, and mocks His holiness. God is not petty; His name is who He truly is. To misuse it is to show disrespect for God’s very identity.

Why don’t we see such punishments for sin today? This is a rather extreme punishment, and we might wonder if the God of the Old Testament is harsh while the God of the New Testament is merciful.  Ethically, we need to see ourselves as Israel in exile, as strangers awaiting the fullness of God’s kingdom or a reconstitution of heaven on earth.  We are pilgrims sojourning in our exile (James 1:1; 1 Peter 1:1). When similar sins occur in the New Testament church, discipline takes a different form: the offender is removed from the fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:5), given space to repent before Christ returns. The community plays an important role, warning divisive people and ultimately avoiding false teachers and divisive people (Titus 3:10-11; Romans 16:17-18), but not with physical punishment. Jesus instructs that persistent offenders are to be treated as outsiders to the church family (Matthew 18:17).  Our Lord tells us to put them outside the church as punishment to be as a gentile or a tax collector.

This is why the Apostle Paul reminds us that the Mosaic order is the “pedagogue” (Galatians 3:24-25).  The pedagogue was the slave commissioned to make sure that the children knew how to behave in public.  They were normally cruel and harsh teachers who exercised harsh punishments.  The Mosaic order teaches us the standard of holiness.  When Israel lived in the Promised Land, the law’s holiness was enforced strictly to reflect heaven’s perfection on earth.  However, Israel ended up in exile on more than one occasion, teaching us that we will not bring heaven on earth.

Paul admits his own past as a blasphemer before receiving mercy (1 Timothy 1:13), reminding us how seriously God takes His name. Today, as God’s people, we live as pilgrims in a foreign land, awaiting Christ’s return. We honor God’s name by living the gospel daily, walking in the Spirit’s power, and living in hopeful anticipation of the coming kingdom.

The only one who could establish the full and real glory is the promised messiah promised at the exit of Eden, covenanted to Abraham, and the one who establishes his kingdom now, spiritual.  He is the new Joshua leading us through the wilderness to heaven’s glory. This is why we revere the name of God today.  We do so as redeemed people who represent the Lord’s name.