Keeping our LAMPS always ‘BURNING’ for GOD!
February
7 Bible Reading: Leviticus Chapters 22-24
Keeping our LAMPS always ‘BURNING’ for GOD!
Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
"Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed
olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. Outside the veil of the
Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from
evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute
forever in your generations. He shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure
gold lampstand before the Lord continually." (Leviticus 24:1-4)
In the above
passage we see that God instructs Moses that pure oil from pressed olives was
to be burned in the gold lampstand continually. This is the repetition of a law
that God had previously given in Exodus 27:20, 21. Olive oil was the fuel of
the golden lampstand, the only source of light inside the tabernacle, and it
was to burn continually. The lampstand
symbolized the life-giving and light-giving power of God, and was shaped to
resemble an almond tree in full bloom.
Only the purest olive oil was needed for the
lampstand because it stood within the tabernacle, and it was supplied by the
people of Israel. This oil for the sacred lampstand was extracted by pounding
olives in a mortar by hand, a process that produced the finest, lightest olive
oil. It was the duty of Aaron the High Priest and his sons (Exodus 27:21) to
trim and refuel the lamps every morning and evening (Ex. 30:7, 8).
A deeper and comprehensive study of God’s Word
reveals that the pure oil used in the
lampstand is symbolic of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 4:2-6), and the
light that radiates from the lampstand is symbolic of Jesus Christ who revealed
Himself as the “Light of the world” (John
8:12). Jesus Christ was the true light that came to this world to
bring revelation to the Gentiles, and was the glory of His people Israel (Luke
2:32).
Before Jesus
departed to His heavenly abode, He told us that we are now the light of this world in the midst of a crooked and
perverse generation (Phil 2:15). The light that is within us is the revelation
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. "For
it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Let us keep our lamps continually burning for God and before
others with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us!
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (Eph 5:8).
