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From Eternity Past
On one occasion one of the mixed multitude that had come up
with Israel from Egypt left his own part of the camp, and entering that
of the Israelites, claimed the right to pitch his tent there. A dispute
arose between him and an Israelite, and the matter being referred to
the judges was decided against the offender.
Enraged at this decision, he cursed the judge and blasphemed the
name of God. He was immediately brought before Moses. The man
was placed in ward until the will of God could be ascertained. God
Himself pronounced sentence. By divine direction the blasphemer was
conducted outside the camp and stoned to death. Those who had been
witnesses to the sin placed their hands upon his head, thus solemnly
testifying to the truth of the charge against him. Then they threw the
first stones, and the people who stood by afterward joined in executing
the sentence. [See
Leviticus 24:14
;
Deuteronomy 17:7
.]
Should Sabbath Breakers Be Stoned?
Had this man’s sin been permitted to pass unpunished, others would
have been demoralized; and as the result many lives must eventually
have been sacrificed.
The mixed multitude that came up with the Israelites from Egypt
professed to have renounced idolatry and to worship the true God; but
they were more or less corrupted with idolatry and irreverence. They
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leavened the camp with idolatrous practices and murmurings against
God.
Soon an instance of Sabbath violation occured. The Lord’s an-
nouncement that He would disinherit Israel had roused a spirit of
rebellion. One of the people, angry at being excluded from Canaan
and determined to show his defiance of God’s law, ventured upon the
open transgression of the fourth commandment by going out to gather
sticks upon the Sabbath. During the sojourn in the wilderness, the
kindling of fires upon the seventh day had been prohibited. The prohi-
bition was not to extend to the land of Canaan, but in the wilderness,
fire was not needed for warmth. This was a willful and deliberate
violation of the fourth commandment—a sin of presumption.
The case was brought by Moses before the Lord, and the direction
was given, “The man shall be surely put to death; all the congregation
shall stone him with stones without the camp.”
Numbers 15:35
. The