Message 114
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 27:20-21; 28:1-5
With the foregoing message, we finished the life-study of the tabernacle with its outer court. After completing the section on the tabernacle, we would expect to come next to the priests, especially to the garments of the priests. But chapter twenty-seven concludes with two verses on the lighting of the lamps on the lampstand in the tabernacle: “And you shall command the sons of Israel that they bring you olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamps continually. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set them in order from evening until morning before Jehovah; it shall be a statute forever for their generations by the sons of Israel.” If these two verses were not included at the end of chapter twenty-seven, probably none of us would miss them. Years ago, I was bothered by the fact that after such a long portion concerning the tabernacle with its court, the divine record inserts these two verses related to the lighting of the lamps. Because I do not take anything in the Word for granted, I have brought this matter to the Lord and spent time with Him regarding it, seeking to find the reason for the insertion of these two verses at this very point. Why is this matter, which does not describe any aspect of the tabernacle or its furniture, included here? Why does this chapter end with a word about lighting the lamps?
In reading chapters twenty-seven and twenty-eight of Exodus, I have noticed that chapter twenty-eight also begins with the conjunction “and.” Chapter twenty-eight is concerned with the garments for the priesthood. Although these garments do not seem to have anything to do with the lighting of the lamps, chapter twenty-eight begins with the conjunction. This indicates that the divine record puts these two matters together. After the lengthy record concerning the tabernacle with its furniture and outer court, Moses adds a short section on lighting the lamps, and then follows with a portion on the priestly garments. We need to find the reason for this sequence, especially why Moses links together the lighting of the lamps and the priestly garments.
To understand this matter, we need to realize that there were no windows in the tabernacle. In particular, there was no sky light, no window in the roof. Therefore, it was impossible for light to get in. If there had been no light inside the tabernacle, the tabernacle would have been filled with darkness. When we are in the dark, we are not able to do anything. If we try to do something, we may cause damage or injure ourselves. Because there were no windows in the tabernacle, there was the need for the lighting of the lamps inside the tabernacle.
The activity of lighting the lamps was holy. These lamps were not in a common or ordinary place; they were the lamps in the sanctuary, in the Holy Place. Because it was a holy task to light these lamps, the common people were not qualified to do this. They may have been good people and well-educated, but they were not holy. There was the need for holy persons to light the holy lamps in the Holy Place. Thus, for the lighting of the lamps there was the need of the priesthood. The lighting of the lamps was a priestly service.
The priestly service involved three main items. The first was to offer the sacrifices at the altar in the outer court. All the sacrifices had to be offered to God by a priest. A person coming to offer something to God was not able to do this himself. He had to offer his sacrifice through a priest. Thus, the priestly service first included the offering of the sacrifices. This aspect of the priestly service was rather rough or coarse, for it involved the sacrifice of large animals. The altar was a place of slaughter, and it was the duty of the priests to slaughter the animals and offer them to God as sacrifices.
The second and third items of the priestly service were the lighting of the lamps and the burning of the incense. These matters were fine and delicate. As we have seen, the lighting of the lamps could not be done by common people, but could be done only by holy ones, by priests.
According to the Bible, spiritually speaking, a priest is one who has been fully possessed by God. In the New Testament sense, a priest is not only possessed by God in full, but is entirely filled and saturated with God. The priests in the Old Testament were types, shadows, of the real priests in the New Testament. Today we who believe in Christ are true priests. As priests, we should be possessed by God, filled with God, and saturated with God. Furthermore, a priest is a person who is absolutely for God. His life and living are wholly for God. He lives and has his being for God. He does not care for anything on earth except God. Hence, a priest is a person possessed by God, saturated with God, and living for God. He has no other interest. In every respect and in every way, his unique interest is God. Because a priest is filled and saturated with God, he is a man of God. The lighting of the lamps in the Holy Place requires the service of this kind of person. For this reason, we emphasize the fact that the lighting of the lamps was a priestly service, a service of the priests.
The light in the Holy Place was a particular light. It was not a natural light, that is, a light that comes from the sun during the day or from the moon and the stars at night. Neither was the light in the Holy Place a man-made light. Neither a natural light or a man-made light, it was a light that came from the golden lampstand. In other words, it is a light that comes from the divine nature.
In the messages on the golden lampstand we pointed out that the lampstand is made purely of beaten gold. No substance or material other than gold is used. The light comes out of the gold. This indicates that the light in the Holy Place comes purely out of the divine nature of Christ.
The lampstand is the embodiment of the Triune God. With the gold we have the nature of the Father, the divine nature; with the form, the shape, of the lampstand, we have the Son; and with the lamps of the lampstand, we have the expression of the Spirit. Therefore, the lampstand is the embodiment of the Triune God, and the light in the Holy Place issues from the Triune God. With this golden lampstand, there is no mixture. With the exception of the wick, everything is golden.
The light of the lampstand comes from the burning of the wick. In ancient times the wick was made of materials from plants. The wick signifies Christ’s humanity. Yes, Christ is divine, golden. But it is His humanity, signified by the wick, that burns with oil. If the wick had not been saturated with oil, it would give off smoke instead of light. This is the reason 27:20 speaks of bringing “olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamps continually.”
We need to dwell on this matter of the olive oil used in lighting the lamps. Christ, as signified by the lampstand all of gold, is the embodiment of the Triune God. But in the center of the lamps there were the wicks. These wicks were not of gold; on the contrary, they were of the plant life. Because gold does not burn, it cannot give light. It is the wicks that burn to give light. However, in themselves it is very difficult for the wicks to give off light. Instead of giving off light, they give off smoke. This is the reason it is necessary to saturate the wicks with oil in order to have light.
In typology oil signifies the Spirit of God. Oil comes from olive trees, and the olive tree signifies Christ. In the sight of God, Christ is the real olive tree.
Chapter nine of Judges speaks positively of three kinds of trees: the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine tree. According to Judges 9:9, the fatness of the olive tree is used to honor God and man. According to verse 11, the fig tree is known for its sweetness and good fruit. This fruit is for man’s nourishment. Verse 13 says that the vine produces wine which cheers God and man. All three of these trees typify Christ. Christ is the olive tree, Christ is the fig tree, and Christ is the vine tree. In John 15 the Lord Jesus clearly said, “I am the vine.” In this message we are concerned with Christ as the olive tree.
We have seen that the lampstand is Christ as the embodiment of God, that within the lamps are the wicks, and that the wicks signify Christ’s humanity. The wicks burn with oil, and the oil signifies the Spirit of God. What we have today is not only the Spirit of God, but the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of God has become the Spirit of Christ. Just as olives pass through a process to produce olive oil, so the Spirit of Christ has passed through a process. For us today, the oil with which the wicks burn signifies the Spirit of Christ.
Putting all these matters together, we have the gold to make the lampstand signifying Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God; we have the wick, Christ’s humanity burning with oil; and we have the oil signifying the Spirit of Christ. As the olive tree, Christ grew on earth and then passed through a process that included incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. When all these matters are put together, we have the coming forth of the light.
The lighting of the lamps by the priests in the Holy Place implies a great deal. As the fulfillment of the type of the tabernacle, the church today is the real tabernacle, God’s dwelling place. The Holy Place is within the church, and the church is God’s sanctuary. However, it is possible for a group of believers to come together to meet as the church, and yet these believers may meet in darkness. They may meet in a sanctuary, but that sanctuary is dark. I once attended that kind of Christian meeting. Because I had such an experience, I can give an experiential message on this portion of the Word.
For years I met with others in a dark sanctuary. All who came together for the meetings were genuine Christians. Nevertheless, there was no divine light. We met in darkness. In the meetings I sometimes had the sense that we were in darkness. At certain times, there was a kind of light in the meetings, but it was a natural light, the light of the sun, moon, or stars. This light was given off by those who talked about culture or philosophy. In addition to such natural light, there was sometimes a man-made light, a light that comes from someone’s concept. But although there was a natural light and a human light, there was no holy light. There was no light that comes out of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, with His humanity burning with the Spirit of Christ who has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection.
As we consider the scene of the lampstand in the Holy Place, we see the embodiment of God, the divine nature, the humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of God who is now the Spirit of Christ with incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. Furthermore, the one who lights the lamps is a holy person, a priest, a person possessed by God, saturated with God, and living absolutely for God. Whatever such a person does in the Holy Place is the lighting of the lamps. He gives light in all he says and does. All his actions are the lighting of the lamps.
Whenever a group of believers comes together for a meeting without any who are holy priests, that meeting will be in darkness. Some may utter something according to the human concept, and others may speak according to natural thoughts. As a result, in that meeting there will be natural light or man-made light, but no divine light, no holy light.
Suppose when believers come together, everyone in the congregation is a priest. When they open their mouths to speak, that will be the lighting of the lamps. A young sister may give a short word of testimony, and in her testimony there will be the lighting of the lamps. The saints in the meeting may be surprised, and the meeting itself will be full of light. Then the gathering, the sanctuary, will be full of divine light. This light comes out of the embodiment of the Triune God, out of the divine nature, out of Christ’s humanity, and out of the Spirit of God becoming the Spirit of Christ with the elements of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. What we say and do in the meetings should always include these elements.
Certain elements must be involved whenever we experience the genuine lighting of the lamps in the meetings. These elements are the embodiment of the Triune God, the divine nature, the uplifted humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ with Christ’s process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. If we have these elements, then whatever we say and do in the meetings will give forth light. This is the lighting of the lamps in the Holy Place.
It is easy to understand typology in a doctrinal way. According to this way, the types in the Old Testament are merely shadows of various matters in the New Testament. But to interpret the real significance of the Old Testament types requires much spiritual experience. More than fifty years ago, I heard teachings concerning the lampstand, the lighting of the lamps, and the oil used to produce light. However, I did not hear a word regarding the experiential significance of these things. As a result, those teachings did not have any effect on me. All they did was fill my mind with concepts. Furthermore, when I passed on these teachings to others, they were not affected either. There was no result in life. We thank the Lord that He has been merciful to us in that we are touching the experiential aspect. Now concerning the lighting of the lamps, we are covering the experiential matter of functioning as priests whenever we come together to meet as the church.
In the church life the saints are of different ages. Some are very young, and others are old enough to be grandparents. Moreover, the younger ones among us are students, and others have various occupations and professions. But regardless of our age or occupation, when we come together in the meetings, we all should be priests. We have heard the terms clergy and laity, and we often declare that we do not want anything of the clergy-laity system. In the church meetings we are neither the clergy nor the laity — we are priests. Individually we all are priests, and corporately we are priests also. We are the priesthood; we do not have the clergy-laity system.
In the Bible the word priesthood has two meanings. First, it denotes a priestly body, that is, a group of priests. Second, it means the priestly service, the service of the priests. We are not only priests; we are a priesthood. We are priests together, priests in a corporate way. Because we are a priesthood, when one brother gives a message in a meeting, he is not speaking alone. Rather, the entire body of priests is speaking with him. Whenever such a speaking takes place in the meeting, the lamps are lighted, and the meeting is full of divine light.
We have emphasized the fact that the divine light, the holy light, includes the embodiment of the Triune God, the divine nature, the humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ. Christ is the One who has passed through incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. When we light the lamps, using the oil of the Spirit of Christ, we cause the lamps to ascend. Literally, “to light” the lamps means “to cause to ascend” (v. 20). It is to cause the lamps to arise. When the holy priests speak in the church meeting, the light ascends, and the sanctuary is full of light.
Exodus 28:2 says, “And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” As those who are part of the priesthood, we need to know what these priestly garments are and to have the reality of these garments in our experience. Verse 4 says, “And these are the garments which they shall make: a breastplate, and an ephod, and a robe, and a tunic of woven work, a turban, and a girdle; and they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, and for his sons, to serve as priests to Me.” What is the spiritual significance of all these garments? The significance of the priestly garments is the expression of Christ in the priesthood. This means that the garments signify Christ lived out of the priesthood. We have not only Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, the divine nature of Christ, the uplifted humanity of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ with all the steps of Christ’s process, but we have also the expression of Christ.
If in our daily living we do not have the expression of Christ, then whatever we do in the church meetings will be hypocrisy. Our speaking and activities in the meetings will be hypocritical. If we do not have the priestly garments, we are not qualified or equipped to light the lamps. The qualification for a priest to light the lamps in the Holy Place is the expression of Christ. As priests who would light the lamps, we need the adequate expression of Christ. The conjunction “and” at the beginning of chapter twenty-eight indicates that the priestly garments are needed for the lighting of the lamps.
As a priest, what kind of garments, what kind of expression, do you have in the church meetings? If you try to light the lamps in the sanctuary without the adequate expression of Christ typified by the priestly garments, you will suffer spiritual death. This means that you will experience a divine killing because you are not properly clothed in the sight of God. Priests need a long robe to cover them completely. This priestly robe is Christ.
If our speaking in the meetings is hypocritical, not genuine in expressing Christ, we shall experience death, and this death will bring in darkness. Therefore, if we would light the lamps in the sanctuary, we must wear the priestly garments. In forthcoming messages we shall consider in detail the significance of the different garments. We shall see that they describe various aspects of the expression of Christ. In this message my aim has been to point out in a general way that we need the expression of Christ so that we may be equipped and qualified to light the lamps in God’s dwelling place. We all must wear a priestly robe.
