Leviticus 24: Equal Treatment

“You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.” -Leviticus 24:22

Leviticus 24 includes a gruesome account of an Israeli-Egyptian man who had cursed the name of the Lord. According to the Jewish law, a Jewish person who committed this offense was to be put to death by stoning. But what about a person who was not a full-blooded Jew? The people were unsure, so they held the man in custody until Moses provided an answer.

God’s response to Moses? Verse 22 reveals, “You are to have the same law for the foreigner and the native-born. I am the Lord your God.” End of discussion. Anyone who lived among the Jewish people were to abide by the same laws…and consequences.

Interestingly, we once again see God treating both his people (the Jewish people descended from Abraham) and outsiders among them equally. In this account, the equal treatment resulted in capital punishment. However, the fact that God cares equally for both those of Abraham and outsiders offers an important insight into God’s mercy and grace.

God loves each of us equally, regardless of our background. He calls us to do the same.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.