Exodus 27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
21 In the tabernacle of the congregation without the vail, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning before the LORD: it shall be a statute for ever unto their generations on the behalf of the children of Israel.
I want to take a moment to thank each person who reads these devotionals. I know you have many things going on in your day. I have had some people tell me they just do not have time to read these devotionals. Each person needs to take the time to prioritize what is important for you. The most important thing for any person is to begin your day with the Word of God. I believe the pattern is if you read 89 verses a day, you will read through the Bible in a year. Personally, I read more than that. I am not boasting. I want to know God better so I spend more time in His Word. Of course all of this is dependent upon knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Saviour is foundational. If you are not saved, you need to get saved in order to be able to begin to understand God’s Word properly.
I also want each one reading this to understand what my reason for putting out these devotionals is. I know there are men who are better writers and speakers than I am. I am not in a competition with anyone. I am doing what I believe God wants me to do. My goal, my aim is to help people to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own personal Saviour and to see the blessing of having Him as the Lord of your life. John the Baptist put it this way:
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
As we look at our text for today, we see that God continued to command Moses regarding the important things in life. As we have already noted, there are many things that can occupy our time. God was showing Moses that there is nothing more important in a person’s life than to know Him. Moses needed to take that fact to the people.
Here in verse 20 God commanded Moses to tell the children of Israel that they needed to bring him pure olive oil beaten for the light. The candlestick was fuelled by pure olive oil. Notice that these lamps were to be burning always. This was to be a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is not a moment in time where He is not the Light of the World.
In Genesis 1&2 God (Eloheem) spoke to Adam and told him that He would meet all his needs. God also told Adam that he needed to listen and obey Him. There was one tree that Adam was not to eat the fruit of. All the other fruit bearing trees and all the herbs were there for him to eat. One tree was off limits. God gave Adam all the light he needed to live successfully. We find that not long after the creation of man, Adam decided that he did not need the light of God in his life. He chose to believe a lie. He chose darkness over light. From that time on, man no longer had the blessing of living in the Garden of Eden. He no longer had access to the tree of life. Spiritually man died the moment he disobeyed God. All of Adam’s children are born in darkness. All of Adam’s children need to choose to turn to the Light — God, and have life.
As we mentioned, God is introduced to us as ‘Eloheem’ often in the Bible. That speaks of the plurality of the Godhead. From John 1:3 we know that Jesus Christ was there with God the Father in Genesis 1:1. We know from the Bible that Jesus Christ declared Himself to be the Light of the world. If we want to get out of darkness, we need to know the Lord Jesus Christ as our own personal Saviour.
In verse 21 we see that the candlestick was outside of the vail. It was outside of the holiest place. It was before the testimony. Aaron and his sons were to be in charge of keeping that candlestick lit at all times. There would be enough priests so that there would always be someone available to keep the bowls full of pure olive oil and thus keep the fire burning.
Notice that this duty was to be fulfilled from evening to morning. God had designed those bowls in such a way that the oil in them would last from evening to morning. The pure olive oil would burn at a consistent rate so that there would enough oil for the duration.
This law was to be a statute for ever to every generation of the Jews.
Thus as the priests would look after this important task they would be constantly reminding themselves of God’s provision for light in their lives. That light is found in Jesus Christ.
Luke 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.
Today is the Lord’s day. Once again we have the opportunity of getting up and going to a true local church where we can hear the Word of God taught and preached. We can fellowship with the Lord and with other saints. This should be an exciting time for each person. It is a privilege to be able to go to the house of the Lord.
Psalm 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
Be sure you do not rob yourself of the blessing of being able to be where God wants you to be on this Lord’s day. Invite a friend to come with you. Be consistent in this. Let your neighbours know that on Sunday you go to church. Let them know that you see this as a precious blessing that He provides for you.
Our world has many distractions to try to keep us away from God’s house on this important day. Many farmers think their harvest is of much greater importance than church. Golfers would rather be on the golf course than in church. Not long ago our town scheduled a run for Sunday. Many people came past our building, running in this event, rather than being in church.
There are so many distractions. The day will come when those who give in to those distractions will regret that foolishness. Going to church will not save a person. Keeping Sunday in a godly way will not save anyone. However, those who are truly born again will want to be in God’s house on the Lord’s day. Their life will seem empty if they miss going to church and fellowshipping with other saints.
God spent forty days at this time, instructing Moses regarding the importance of the Tabernacle. Moses would instruct the people in this matter. This needed to become the central part of the life of the nation of Israel. They never missed out on anything important by honouring God in this.
You and I will never miss out on anything important by faithfully attending a true church on the Lord’s day. You will miss out if you choose to ignore this important time.
Pastor Bartel
