"This was followed by the announcement of a law to meet similar offenses: “Thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death.” Leviticus 24:15, 16 . PP 408.1"
"And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin."
EGW directly quotes Leviticus 24:15.
"And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall be put to death."
EGW directly quotes Leviticus 24:16.
"There are those who will question God's love and His justice in visiting so severe punishment for words spoken in the heat of passion. But both love and justice require it to be shown that utterances prompted by malice against God are a great sin. The retribution visited upon the first offender would be a warning to others, that God's name is to be held in reverence. But 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. PP 408.2"
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The EGW passage discusses the consequences of sin, specifically blasphemy, and the need for punishment to deter others. This aligns with the principle in Romans 6:23 that sin leads to death.
"A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall not escape."
Both passages deal with the consequences of wrongdoing. Proverbs 19:5 speaks of the punishment for false witness, while the EGW passage discusses the punishment for blasphemy. The common theme is that sin will be punished.
"The mixed multitude that came up with the Israelites from Egypt were a source of continual temptation and trouble. They professed to have renounced idolatry and to worship the true God; but their early education and training had molded their habits and character, and they were more or less corrupted with idolatry and with irreverence for God. They were oftenest the ones to stir up strife and were the first to complain, and they leavened the camp with their idolatrous practices and their murmurings against God. PP 408.3"
"And the mixt multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?"
Both passages refer to the 'mixed multitude' who left Egypt with the Israelites and their negative influence, specifically their tendency to complain and introduce foreign practices. EGW elaborates on the nature of their corruption and their role in stirring up strife, which is directly related to the event described in Numbers 11:4.
"Soon after the return into the wilderness, an instance of Sabbath violation occurred, under circumstances that rendered it a case of peculiar guilt. The Lord's announcement 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 strictly prohibited. The prohibition was not to extend to the land of Canaan, where the severity of the climate would often render fires a necessity; but in the wilderness, fire was not needed for warmth. The act of this man was a willful and deliberate violation of the fourth commandment—a sin, not of thoughtlessness or ignorance, but of presumption. PP 408.4"
"And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day."
EGW directly references and expands upon the event described in Numbers 15:32, where a man was found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. She provides additional context and interpretation of the event.