(973) Cursing and blaspheming Yahweh carry separate penalties. “Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. And whoever blasphemes the name of Yahweh shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes the name of Yahweh, he shall be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:15-16) We’ve seen this concept before, but it bears repeating. There are two contrasting sins in view here, carrying two distinct consequences. First is “cursing” God. That translation is off the mark a bit: the word (qalal) actually means to esteem lightly, to consider insignificant, to treat with contempt or dishonor. There are many who, whether through superstition or politeness, would never “curse” God; yet they don’t pay Him any attention, either. They go about their lives as is He didn’t exist, or as though if He did exist, He wouldn’t or couldn’t do anything to help or harm them. Qalal is kind of like the relationship we usually have with our elected politicians. We don’t “curse” them so much as we merely ignore them. And what is the penalty for taking God lightly? We will “bear our sin.” That is, we will carry the weight of our own error. That may not sound too bad until we realize that it’s tantamount to remaining forever unforgiven for our sin. Yahshua’s entire Messianic mission was to provide this forgiveness, atonement, and reconciliation with God to anyone who would place their faith in Him. But since He is Yahweh incarnate—God in the form of a man—taking God lightly would include taking Yahshua lightly. Forgiveness will not be forthcoming to one who treats His sacrifice with contempt or indifference.

To “blaspheme the name of Yahweh” is a different matter, and it carries with it an entirely different penalty: death. “Blaspheme” is the Hebrew verb naqab, meaning literally, to bore, to pierce, or to designate or specify by name—in modern parlance, we might say it means to focus on something in a negative or destructive way. Whereas qalal was a passive concept—“merely” failing to take God seriously—naqab implies a proactive hatred of its object, in this case, Yahweh Himself. It speaks of purposely going out of one’s way to harm the name (shem: the reputation) of God. The consequence of naqab is therefore of the same nature—active, purposeful, and personal: the penalty is death.

Once again we see that Yahweh draws a distinction between those who simply fail to reciprocate His love and those who purposely choose to hate Him. We discussed this at length in Future History, Chapter 29: “The Three Doors,” where the scriptural position on eternal destiny was explored. Careful exegesis revealed that, as one might expect with a loving God, Yahweh does not damn people to an eternity of hellish torments simply because they weren’t smart enough or lucky enough to be in a position to see and respond to His grace. As the Messiah told Nicodemus in John 3, “You must be born from above”—you must choose to have a familial relationship with God—in order to receive everlasting life. In the same way, you must choose to suffer eternal damnation—defined as having formed a similar relationship with the adversary, Satan. This is seen here in Leviticus 24 as “blaspheming (naqab) the name of Yahweh,” that is, pointedly choosing to attack His shem, His name and reputation, especially with the purpose of preventing others from choosing to return His love. But what of those who choose neither God nor the devil, who seek to form no spiritual relationship at all (qalal)? These will simply “bear their sin.” Yahweh won’t punish them, but He won’t forgive them, either. Their souls will simply cease to exist when they die.