Exodus 27:20-21--Oil for the Lamp

Oil for the Lamp
​20 “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. 21 In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.

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Is it not strange to you that this command is part of this section of Scripture that is telling us how the Tabernacle is supposed to look and all the things that point to the Christ, the Church, and the New Creation (what some would call the "Consummation" in the "7 C's of the History" (Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross/Church (some people say different things here because they might lump the "Cross" in with "Christ"), and Consummation)?  It just seems strange following in a "some assembly required" instruction manual for building the Tabernacle.  But, if you understand its significance, it's not strange at all.

What is a lamp without fuel with which to make light?  It of no use and is worthless!  The same is true for the people of God that are not filled with the Holy Spirit (represented by oil over and over again in the Old Testament and New Testament).  It is impossible for the believer (either Israelite or Christian) to be "the light of the world" without being perpetually empowered by the Holy Spirit day and night--it's a 24/7 job that only the Third Person of the Trinity can do.

But what about Jesus?  We've said so far that everything in the Tabernacle also pointed to Him?  Well, He too was filled with the Holy Spirit--not in the same way that you and I are, but it's clear that Jesus too prayed to the Father to fill Him with the Spirit to enable Him to accomplish the works and speak the words that the Father had prepared for Him.  This seems to be closely related to us seeing Jesus going to a solitary place to pray and He comes back and is "full of the Holy Spirit" and ready to preach and do miracles.

As New Testament believers, we too are filled with the Holy Spirit to equip us and enable us for every good work that the Father has prepared for us in Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit also leads us into all truth as He is the author of the Bible and gives us the right interpretation and correct application (correct orthodoxy and orthopraxy).  In much the same way that without the sap or "oil" of the olive tree that the tree cannot bear any fruit, so we too as believers see from the Sermon on the Mount and the book of Galatians where we learn of the Fruit of the Spirit that apart from the "sap" of the Holy Spirit moving in and through us to do God's work and produce the Fruit of the Spirit, we are dead, worthless, and fit to be "cut down and thrown into the fire" of hell.  We are still dead in our trespasses and sins if the Holy Spirit has not taken that which is dead and made it "Alive in Christ" as we studied during Easter (the vision of the Valley of the Dry Bones from the prophet Ezekiel).

One of the symbols of the nation of Israel is an olive tree, and now you probably know why.  The olive trees were necessary not simply for food and for the economy of the people as olive oil was something that was greatly desired, but it was these trees from which the fuel was made for the Golden Lampstand--the one that we know from the book of Revelation guards the way to the throne of God and where Jesus as High Priest walks among it and serves His priestly duties among the Church (which we are told in Revelation that the seven lights of the Golden Menorah represent the Seven Churches) and a Church that is not full of the Holy Spirit cannot be the light of the world as commanded by Jesus and cannot produce the light to enable the people of God (the holy, royal priesthood) to do their daily work that are serving the Lord.

Only the purest of olive oils could be used here to fuel these lamps because our lives must be fully fueled by the Holy Spirit without being contaminated or tainted by anything else.  No additives or enrichment are needed in our faith to make our light stronger or brighter or a different color to make it more interesting for people to look at--we should shine for the glory of God alone through the power of God alone.  Anything else that we try to add to that is actually sinful and subtracts from what God intended and corrupts our "light" and our witness as a member of the Church and as the Church eternal.

So, how does this fit into the New Jerusalem and the New Temple?  We no longer need this light at that time because the work of Christ is finished and there is no more Holy Place for which to go to in order mediate on behalf of God's people.  In fact, we will live in a place where the light of God's glory in the person of Jesus Christ will provide us with light day and night as He is the ultimate Light of the World as He said.  He is the Light and Life, and in Him there is no darkness.  Oh, how we long for the day to be able to dwell in the presence of the Almighty without veils or tents (or human flesh in the person of Christ and the members of the Body of Christ) to conceal His full glory.  May our light shine full and bright both day and night as we serve the Lord and are about His work as ministers of His gospel both now and forevermore.