Oil for the Lamps – Made in the Image of God
THE fourth great division of this book now commences. Throughout it we are carried on in thought to the future. From chap. 1.-16. inclusive God's provision in grace to meet the sinful creature in his need, and to bless him fully is delineated, as we have pointed out in Vol. iv., pp. 112-212. Thus far the spiritual teaching of the book has instruction for God's saints during the present dispensation. From 17. to 23., however, we have traced out in the subjects treated of, and in the order in which they are presented, an outline of that which especially concerns the people of Israel.
Called to maintain the truth of the unity of God, as His creatures, and as Jehovah's people, they were thus to live in the wilderness, and subsequently in the land (17). Taken up, therefore, by Jehovah to be His people, what became them in their social life and in intercourse with each other is set forth for their instruction in 18-20. Then follow special directions for the priests of Aaron's house (21.-22.). After which the historic outline of God's ways in grace with His people is set forth in 22. Now in 24., we begin a new section of the work with the provision for keeping the people nationally ever in sight before God, though apostasy, when it manifests itself, must be rigorously dealt with.
Again the Lord addresses the law-giver, “Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations." When in the mount with God Jehovah, gave Moses a command about this (Exod. 27:2020And 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. (Exodus 27:20)) very similar in terms to that which he was authorized now to communicate to the people. Oil for the light was one of the items which the Lord then told Moses that Israel might offer to Him (Ex. 25:66Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense, (Exodus 25:6)). Communicating that to the people after his second sojourn on Sinai with God (Ex. 35:88And oil for the light, and spices for anointing oil, and for the sweet incense, (Exodus 35:8)), the rulers we read provided it, (v. 28), in response to Jehovah's invitation. So in Ex. 39:3737The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for light, (Exodus 39:37), we are told how all was in readiness for the setting up of the Tabernacle on the first day of the first month of the second year, dating from their departure out of Egypt. And in Num. 4:1616And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof. (Numbers 4:16), we find that to Eleazar belonged the charge of the oil, when the congregation was on the march. Here in Leviticus the direction about the oil olive beaten appears in connection with the twelve loaves of shewbread, that were each week to be placed on the golden table before the Lord.
From evening to morning the lamps burned (1 Sam. 3:33And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; (1 Samuel 3:3); 2 Chron. 13:1111And they burn unto the Lord every morning and every evening burnt sacrifices and sweet incense: the showbread also set they in order upon the pure table; and the candlestick of gold with the lamps thereof, to burn every evening: for we keep the charge of the Lord our God; but ye have forsaken him. (2 Chronicles 13:11)). At the time of the offering of the morning burnt sacrifice, it was Aaron's duty to trim them. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, between the two evenings, it was his work to relight them (Ex. 30:7, 87And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. (Exodus 30:7‑8)). Thus throughout the night of darkness the seven lamps burned, illuminating the chamber called the holy place, in which, just opposite to the candlestick which was placed on the south side, stood the golden table on the side of the tabernacle northward (Ex. 40:22-2422And he put the table in the tent of the congregation, upon the side of the tabernacle northward, without the vail. 23And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses. 24And he put the candlestick in the tent of the congregation, over against the table, on the side of the tabernacle southward. (Exodus 40:22‑24)). As long, therefore, as the lamps burned so long was the table with the twelve loaves visible by their light, which shone on them; a beautiful illustration of the twelve tribes being ever in remembrance, and as a whole in acceptance before God. For ages have the tribes been dispersed: but God has not forgotten them, as Paul reminded his hearers in the hall of audience at Caesarea (Acts 26:77Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. (Acts 26:7)). Of this, too, James is a witness, who addressed his epistle to them (James 1).
In Ex. 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; 40:2330And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me alway. (Exodus 25:30)
13The table, and his staves, and all his vessels, and the showbread, (Exodus 35:13)
36The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the showbread, (Exodus 39:36)
23And he set the bread in order upon it before the Lord; as the Lord had commanded Moses. (Exodus 40:23), we have mention of the shewbread. Here we are told of the number of the loaves, of their composition, and of their arrangement on the table. The twelve loaves were arranged in two rows. Each row, therefore comprised six loaves, and each loaf, or cake, as it is called here perhaps from its roundness, was composed of two tenth deals of fine flour, the same measure as that appointed for the meat offering which accompanied the sheaf of firstfruits, that was waved before the Lord. Placed on the pure table on each Sabbath, with pure frankincense laid on the two rows of bread, there they remained throughout the week, the light from the candlestick shining on them, throughout each night that they were before the Lord. At the end of the week, those twelve loaves were removed, fresh ones being put in their place; the frankincense which had been upon them was then burnt, an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, and the loaves were eaten by the priests in a holy place, most holy they were of the fire offerings of Jehovah. Such were the directions about them. The twelve loaves, by their number, symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, and they were placed on the pure table, made of shittim wood, and overlaid with gold, typical in itself of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is both God and man. On the march, that table was itself covered with a cloth of blue, telling us thus plainly, by the color, of whom it was a type. But over it and the loaves which remained on it, was put a cloth of scarlet, indicating that the glory of earthly rule is His whom the Table prefigured, and that He will exercise that rule in connection with the tribes of Israel; for on the day of His glory the people will be named the priests of the Lord, and men shall call them the ministers of God (Isa. 61:66But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. (Isaiah 61:6)). Then will be seen the perfection of administrative power exercised by man, and in connection with the tribes of Israel, whose names will be engraven on the gates of the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:1212And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: (Revelation 21:12)), and after whom the twelve gates of the restored earthly city will be severally named (Ezek. 48:31-3431And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi. 32And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan. 33And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun. 34At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali. (Ezekiel 48:31‑34)). But that power will really be centered in one man, the Lord Jesus Christ; so the composition and measure of each loaf have reference to Him as the perfect, spotless man.
It is in connection with Israel, then owned as God's people, that He will reign, and Jerusalem will become the metropolis of the whole earth, being the city of the great King, and the center to which the nations will turn, and from which the law shall go out,-and the word. of the Lord proceed. By the light, therefore, of the burning lamps, which kept the table and its loaves from being enshrouded in darkness, those in the sanctuary could see that God's thoughts about the kingdom, though long deferred from being put into execution, must yet be accomplished. The night might be long, and the gloom thicken outside, but inside the light from the lamps steadily burning, would show the priests who entered the sanctuary that God had not forgotten His people, nor the establishment in power of that kingdom, of which He had spoken to men from time to time since the fall.
Inside, then, during the night of darkness, by the light of the seven lamps which shone on the golden table with the twelve loaves arranged in order upon it there I was foreshadowed the future; but that could be seen, and was seen, only by the priests, who passed behind the curtain which screened the outer chamber from the eyes of those in the court of the tabernacle. And now we can understand the fitness of introducing the directions about the loaves of shewbread in the book of Leviticus, and especially in this part of it. For, coming as they do, just after the outline of God's ways in grace with the people has been traced out in the order of their different great feasts throughout the year, the Lord, after reminding us by the feast of Tabernacles of Israel's final blessing, would here tell us of the kingdom coming in power, which He has not forgotten, neither will He forever be wroth with the tribes of His inheritance (Isai. 63: 17). But Israel's acceptance, as the frankincense on the loaves portrays, will only be by virtue of the sweet savor of the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Such, then, is some of the instruction conveyed by this passage in the book, instruction, too, especially suited for the present time, that we should not forget to give Israel their proper place in connection with the coming day of blessing for earth; for if we were to interpret all the blessings which are predicted by the prophets, as if they concerned the Church of God, and not the earthly people Israel, we should fail to give them their proper place, in the declared counsels of God. But how different the scene inside the sanctuary from that which could, and we here read did, go on in the camp. All calm and silent within, the testimony to the coming kingdom in power, and Israel's connection with it being steadily kept in view, God's purpose was thus seen to be unchanged and irrevocable; for the nation's future is inseparably bound up with that which is due to the obedient man, the Son of God's love. In the camp, on the contrary, there was strife, and one was found, then but one (though by and by it will be the many, the mass) who, of Israelitish extraction on his mother's side, had the hardihood to blaspheme the name of the Lord. An apostate in heart and in act, he turned his back on Jehovah, and blasphemed Him who was Israel's Creator and God. This man was the fruit of an alliance with the world, for his mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan, but his father was an Egyptian. He has passed away from earth, his name unknown to us, though his crime has never been allowed to sink into oblivion, a warning, and surely a foreshadowing, too, of that which will characterize the mass of the Jews when antichrist will be their king and apostasy will be their crowning sin.
Charged with the guilt of cursing the name of Jehovah, he was brought to Moses, and put in ward, till the mind of the Lord should be shown them. For that they did not wait long. Jehovah revealed it to Moses, and it was accurately carried out. For the apostate there was no mercy "Bring forth him that hath cursed," was the word” without the camp, and let all that heard him, lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him " (24:13-14). And the children of Israel did as the Lord commanded Moses. Condign punishment speedily overtook the offender.
But this sin necessitated a new revelation, for God knew full well that though only one was convicted of blaspheming that day, others would subsequently be guilty of it. Hence the law here given, verses 15-22. which prescribed the punishment to be awarded for that sin to any who so offended: " Thus shalt thou speak to the children of Israel, saying, whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as well the stranger as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord, shall surely be put to death."
Further, any one who took the life of man, the right to take which belongs only to God, or to those to whom he delegates the authority to execute His commands, such an one was to be put to death. And any one who took the life of a beast b'hemah, i.e., cattle, in opposition probably to chaiah, a wild beast, should make it good, beast for beast. And as for men, whosoever injured his neighbor, whether his eye, his tooth, or whatsoever it might be, he should be treated as he had treated his neighbor. Elsewhere these injunctions come in, the witness of the perfectly righteous rule established amongst them by the law (Ex. 21). But here they are introduced in connection with apostasy. If man would deny God His place, or attempt to deprive Him of His rights by apostasy, he might not be scrupulous unless thus enjoined to be careful of his neighbor's life, or his neighbor's rights, who in common with himself was made in the image of God.