Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Leviticus 24:2
Nobody ever lost their way in the dark in the Tabernacle in the wilderness; the Tabernacle was never dark. The light of the sun kept it bright in the daytime, and the ever-burning lampstand kept it light at night. It was a lovely golden lampstand, with seven bowls for lights, not the bright lights that we take for granted in our day, but certainly bright enough to allow the service in the Tabernacle to be conducted properly. That great light in God’s house reminds us today of the need for the Word of God to be perpetually on display in God’s Assembly.
The more of the bowls on the lampstand that were burning, the brighter the light in the Tabernacle. So too today, the more we allow the Word of God to be our light and direction, the closer we will be to what God has required of us as Christians, and as Assemblies. There are places around us today that claim to be the house of God, claim to be the place where God dwells and receives the worship and service of His people, but they have set aside some, most, or even all of the Word of God. Following their own ideas and traditions, they have allowed the bowls to be extinguished. As a result, their service is not what God wants, their worship is outside the pattern of Scripture, and they are stumbling in the darkness of religion. With no light, they have lost their way. But in God’s Assembly, we open wide the Book and allow its truths to be our charter and guidebook. And we must take care to never allow any of God’s word to slip, because any loss of truth means a loss of light, and any loss of light means we are outside of God’s desire for His people.
Where did the oil for the lampstand come from? Our text says it was from olives that were beaten. To extract the oil took great effort. Great pains were also taken to make sure it was pure. These remind us that the truths of the Word of God are not to be had without exercise and diligence in study. Godly men of old provided for us the benefits of their studies and their labours, and today we practice those principles they found in the word of God. We hold onto those truths only as we ourselves spend time and effort to make them part of our own souls. And like the Israelites, we must be alert and vigilant to make sure that what we hold is pure and true, with no defilements or cheap imitations.
There is a lampstand of truth in your Assembly. What are you doing to keep it shining as it should? – Jim MacIntosh