Exodus
27:9 ¶ And thou shalt make the court of
the tabernacle: for the south side southward there shall be hangings for
the court of fine twined linen of an hundred cubits long for one side:
10 And the twenty pillars thereof and
their twenty sockets shall be of brass; the hooks of the pillars and
their fillets shall be of silver. 11
And likewise for the north side in length there shall be hangings
of an hundred cubits long, and his twenty pillars and their twenty
sockets of brass; the hooks of the pillars and their fillets of
silver. 12 And for the breadth of
the court on the west side shall be hangings of fifty cubits: their
pillars ten, and their sockets ten. 13
And the breadth of the court on the east side eastward shall be
fifty cubits. 14 The hangings of one
side of the gate shall be fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their
sockets three. 15 And on the other side shall
be hangings fifteen cubits: their pillars three, and their sockets
three. 16 And for the gate of the court shall
be an hanging of twenty cubits, of blue, and purple, and scarlet,
and fine twined linen, wrought with needlework: and their pillars shall
be four, and their sockets four. 17
All the pillars round about the court shall be filleted with
silver; their hooks shall be of silver, and their sockets of
brass. 18 The length of the court shall
be an hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty every where, and the height
five cubits of fine twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in
all the service thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the
court, shall be of brass.
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.
Of the many
things that can be discussed about this passage I want to focus on the olive
oil for the flame that is never to go out. This is the origin of the eternal
flame in everything from ancient Persian religion down to the flame at a tomb
or memorial in modern times. For the Christian the oil represents the Holy
Spirit, in type, and the light it gives. We have the ability to quench the
light the Holy Spirit gives us although not our salvation.
1Thessalonians
5:19 Quench not the Spirit.
We do this by
sin, by our love of the world and our embracing of its standards, and by not
focusing on God. There are several verses in the Old and New Testaments that
are important to this idea. These are some but certainly not all.
We must keep our minds focused
on God.
Isaiah
26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee:
because he trusteth in thee.
Philippians 4:6 Be careful
for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God. 7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We
must not adopt the world’s standards.
Luke 16:15 And he said unto
them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your
hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight
of God.
1John 2:15 Love not the
world, neither the things that are
in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Much
of our sorrow comes from misplaced loyalties, idolatry, and covetousness.
1Timothy 6:6 ¶ But
godliness with contentment is great gain. 7
For we brought nothing into this
world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. 8 And having food and
raiment let us be therewith content. 9
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts,
which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
We, too, have a flame that must be kept burning in the tabernacle
of our hearts. We can let it be quenched by not focusing on God and by loving
things other than Him. We are still saved because it was He who did the saving
and not we who saved ourselves. But, we can walk around blindly in darkness
without the light of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Of course, typology always
breaks down at some point and while it is good to use types as a way of
learning a principle in the Bible it is not good to ride that horse to death.
We do not provide the fuel for the fire. God provides it. We choose by our
actions to allow the flame to lead us or we by our actions choose to quench it.
It is still there but we are of all people most miserable when it is not our
guide.
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