Creation structure

Mike Bull has shown how the chiastic structure in Leviticus 24 fits into the feasts of chapter 23 and into the surrounding text through the sevenfold creation pattern laid out in Genesis 1.
His book, Bible Matrix goes into this pattern in much more detail. I haven't gotten through it yet, but from what I've read it looks fantastic.

Heroes

From the introduction of Everett Fox's translation of Genesis:

A word should also be said here about hero traditions. In the great epics of the ancient world the hero often stands as a lonely figure. He must overcome obstacles, fight monsters, acquire helpers (whether women, "sidekicks," or magic objects); and his triumph in the end signals man's triumph over his archenemy, Death. Every battle won, every obstacle hurdled, is psychologically a victory for us, the audience, a cathartic release from our own frustrating battle against death.
The Bible sees things rather differently. Death is also overcome, but not only by the individual's struggle. It is rather through the covenant community, bound together by God's laws and his promises, that the heroic vision is lived out. Despite the triumphs of the characters in Genesis, it is really in the book of Exodus that the great battle scenes (the plagues in Egypt, the Red Sea) and meetings with the divine (Mount Sinai) take place. And it is therefore God himself who is most properly the "hero" of these stories. No major character in Genesis achieves success without depending fully on God, and the standards that are held up to them are ultimately seen as God's own, to be imitated by imperfect humankind.

Leviticus 24 chiasm

Leviticus 24:13-23 forms a chiasm
I've modified this a little from the original posting. The "A"s didn't quite line up as well as I would like.

A. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, "Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.

B. And speak to the people of Israel, saying, Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him.

C.  The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

D. "Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.

E. Whoever takes an animal's life shall make it good, life for life.

F. If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him,

F'. fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

E'. Whoever kills an animal shall make it good,

D'. and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.

C'. You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native,

B'. for I am the Lord your God."

A'. So Moses spoke to the people of Israel, and they brought out of the camp the one who had cursed and stoned him with stones. Thus the people of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses.

Blood curse

God pronounced a blood curse on the royal family of Judah in Jeremiah 22:

Is this man Coniah a despised, broken pot,
a vessel no one cares for?
Why are he and his children hurled and cast
into a land that they do not know?
O land, land, land,
hear the word of the Lord!
Thus says the Lord:
"Write this man down as childless,
a man who shall not succeed in his days,
for none of his offspring shall succeed
in sitting on the throne of David
and ruling again in Judah.

This is the same Coniah (Jechoniah) that shows up in Matthew's genealogy of Christ:

and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon...and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

Of course, Joseph is only Jesus' legal father, but still the inheritance comes down through the father and Joseph's line has been cursed.  In step the daughters of Zelophehad.

The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, "Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah, but died for his own sin. And he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? Give to us a possession among our father's brothers."

Moses brought their case before the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses,"The daughters of Zelophehad are right. You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father's brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, 'If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

and in Numbers 36:

And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers.

Mary is an heiress to the line of David also, but through Nathan, Solomon's brother, thus bypassing the blood curse and allowing Gabriel to say to Mary,

"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."

There will your heart be

Vapor of vapors, says the Preacher. Vapor of vapors! All is vapor.

Ecc 1:2

Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Luke 12:33-34

The things of this world are transitory, a vapor. Not to say matter is evil; God made it and called it good. But it's not perfect. It is corruptible. To steal a dialog from George MacDonald:

"Why not lay up for ourselves treasures upon earth?" 

"Because there the moth and rust and the thief come." 

"And so we should lose those treasures!" 

"Yes; by the moth and the rust and the thief." 

"Does the Lord then mean that the reason for not laying up such treasures is their transitory and corruptible nature?" 

"No. He adds a For: 'For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.'"

"Of course the heart will be where the treasure is; but what has that to do with the argument?" 

This: that what is with the treasure must fare as the treasure; that the heart which haunts the treasure-house where the moth and rust corrupt, will be exposed to the same ravages as the treasure, will itself be rusted and moth-eaten. Many a man, many a woman, fair and flourishing to see, is going about with a rusty moth-eaten heart within that form of strength or beauty.

Things revealed

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 29:29

God has secret things, things he has chosen not to show or explain to us. These things belong to him. This is good news for us. If he told us, it would probably explode our heads.

So, the things he has revealed he has given to us and our children. And what he has given us is amazing. He has revealed himself to us in his son and him through the scripture. The scripture is ours radically and completely. He has given it to us and in so doing, has revealed himself (and thus given himself) to us and our children. 

Why? So we may do all the words of this law. He has called us to obedience not because he wants us to follow a bunch of arbitrary rules, but in obedience he gives us himself. Obedience is absolutely fundamental not because it earns us anything, but because in laying down our lives he gives us his. It's not about keeping the law, it's about entering into life.

Balaam's oracles

Balaam takes up seven discourses, four of them "against" Israel which points to Israel's "fourness" - that is, that Israel is the land (four corners of the earth). There seem to be hints of a creation theme sprinkled throughout. The third oracle talks a bit about plants:

Like palm groves that stretch afar,
like gardens beside a river,
like aloes that the Lord has planted,
like cedar trees beside the waters.
Water shall flow from his buckets,
and his seed shall be in many waters;

Day three - separating land from water and bringing up plants yeilding seed

In the forth oracle, Balaam says,

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

Day four - stars, sun, and moon

The war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent is also restated in the forth oracle:

a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;
it shall crush the forehead of Moab
and break down all the sons of Sheth.

Pushing even farther, Moab means "from father" - Moab is the seed of the serpent

Enjoyment and entertainment

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

He could have left it without form, without color or variation. He could have made it without hills and mountains and valleys. Without streams and lakes and oceans. Without trees and birds and leafy sea dragons. All those colors in the sunset really aren't necessary. All food could taste like cold oatmeal. He could have made sex feel like brushing your teeth. But he didn't.

The creation was made good. It was made to be enjoyed. This says a lot about it's creator. He is to be enjoyed, because He is good. Now, all these things are good and enjoyable because they point to a good and enjoyable God. Without God at the center, all these things become worthless and abominable. Sex sought outside of a godly marriage relationship is degraded to adultery or pornography or rape. Gluttony elevates food to a god-like mastery over the life. Entertainment is the deification of Enjoyment.

Paul exhorts the Philippians, saying,

whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

How much of what is called entertainment fits any of these descriptions? One may be tempted to include proficient, well-crafted movies or music or plays or books as "excellent", but Paul sets the mark high. The Greek word for excellence is aretē, a virtuous course of thought, virtue, moral goodness.

Is there value in entertainment? Is it more than just an "activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time"? What edification comes from tv shows created for the purpose of selling consumers to advertisers? What is commendable about learning all the stats of the coaches and players of games? Is there truth in top 40 radio? "Christian" radio?

King David declares in Psalm 101,

I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless.

In his Confessions, Augustine laments his fascination as a youth with reading of the wars and murders and adulteries of the gods,

For Thou didst grant me Thy discipline, while I was learning vanities; and my sin of delighting in those vanities Thou hast forgiven. In them, indeed, I learnt many a useful word, but these may as well be learned in things not vain.

So much time is wasted in these things. Moses put it aptly in Psalm 90,

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!

Lady Wisdom

In Proverbs 9, Solomon contrasts the Lady Wisdom and the foolish woman, Folly. Together they cry out to the simple from the high places in town, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!"

After the invitation to come in, Wisdom instructs,

"Come, eat of my bread

and drink of the wine I have mixed.

Leave your simple ways, and live,

and walk in the way of insight."

But Folly seduces to pleasure,

"Stolen water is sweet,

and bread eaten in secret is pleasant."

The "stolen water" refers back to chapter 5,

"Drink from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets?

Let them be for yourself alone,

and not for strangers with you.

Let your fountain be blessed,

and rejoice in the wife of your youth,

a lovely deer, a graceful doe.

Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight;

be intoxicated always in her love."

So, Folly calls to a life of adultery, a leaving of "the wife of your youth," and running after foreign gods. It is the same as the "teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality." It is a call against "the fear of the Lord" which is "the beginning of wisdom."

Folly's call to eat bread in secret is a call to individualism, and is a direct attack on the communion meal of bread and wine offered by the lady Wisdom. Wisdom calls us to the table, the shared meal of Christ with his body.

Come, eat!