Gooding, David: 4 - The Lampstand: Walking in the Light

Welcome again to this, the fourth in the present series of studies on the ancient Jewish tabernacle. Hitherto in these studies, we have been concentrating on the approach to God, on the road that God himself mapped out for his people when the tabernacle was first built. The road in was, as we have now many times observed, was marked out by the stationing of certain sacred vessels, marking the way in towards the presence of God. There was first and foremost the altar, the large altar at which the sacrifices were offered and the blood shed. For, as the Old Testament put it, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. It pointed us, as we thought of it, to our blessed Lord Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us at Calvary. And the New Testament tells us that the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience, as you'll see, from dead works. That is, it cleanses the conscience from guilt for the wrongdoings we have committed. Then in the second place, there was this laver. It was filled with water. And when we studied it, we observed that the priests came to this laver for two washings. There was at first their bathing all over when they were first inducted, that ceremony needed not to be repeated. What was repeated was this, that every time a priest came to do service in the tabernacle or outside, he had to wash his hands and feet in the water taken from that laver. As we thought of that, we were reminded too of our blessed Lord and what he taught us about the washing by water. He distinguished between the bathing all over that happens once, and then the constant rinsing of the feet. The once and for all bathing, according to the New Testament is the washing of regeneration, as the Apostle Paul puts it, and renewing of the Holy Spirit. Or as our Lord expressed it to Nicodemus, the, uh, rabbi, the teaching rabbi of the Jewish faith. He said, except a person is born of water and the spirit, he or she cannot see nor enter the kingdom of God. And so, summing up those lessons, the epistle to the Hebrews in chapter ten applies them to believers of this present day. It says that we shall come boldly through access into the very presence of God, our hearts sprinkled, that is, with blood, our bodies bathed in pure water. From that, in our last study, we moved on, and the direct road of approach into the presence of God. We found on that direct road another altar, a little altar made of wood and overlaid with gold, which came to be called the Golden altar of incense. And in Israel's history, it eventually became to be associated with the prayers of the priests and the high priest on the behalf of the people. That too reminded us of our blessed Lord, of whom it is written, he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. And we brought that down to each individual believer by remembering what our Lord said to Peter. When Peter was about to go out and deny the Lord, our Lord said to him, you're going to deny me three times this night, but I have prayed for you, for you singular, individually. I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail. Everything else about Peter failed. His te- courage failed. His Christian testimony was ruined for the time being. But thank God his faith was not lost. I prayed for you, says Christ, that your faith shall not fail. And because of those intercessions of our Lord, I repeat, Scripture says he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them. Eventually, in these studies, God willing, we shall ho- she shall pass through the veil and come to the goal of this journey into the immediate presence and throne room of God. But for the moment, I want to turn aside from the main road and to look at the two sacred vessels that stood here in the first division of the tabernacle, called in some places the Holy Place, in other, uh, positions it is called, uh, the, uh, First Tabernacle. Two sacred vessels that stood, one on the left hand of the road and one on the right. The first one is called the lampstand, though in some older versions called a candlestick. So let's be clear that the true translation is, uh, not a candlestick, but a lampstand. That we shall consider in detail this evening. Opposite on the other side stood a table, and has come to be known as the table of the bread of presents. Now, both these vessels were vessels of presentation. The lampstand was there because on its central shaft and at the top was placed an oil lamp, and then on the top of each of the six branches that came out of the lampstand, likewise an oil lamp was placed, so that the function of this lampstand was to hold up the lamps, to hold up the light. And first and foremost, they had to shine before the Lord. That is a concept easily forgotten. Christians will be, uh, uh, uh, aware, of course, that scripture, uh, charges us as believers in Christ be- act as lights in the world and before the world, and that is an exceedingly important. But the prime duty in the tabernacle was for this lampstand to hold up its seven lamps to shine before the Lord. And presently we shall have to consider what that means. The other side was the table. On that table were placed twelve loaves of bread, but similarly, they were to be placed there before the Lord regularly. They were first and foremost for his benefit. It wasn't, of course, that the Jews of those times thought that Almighty God came and ate the literal loaves on the table. It was obvious to everybody who went inside that he did no such thing. They didn't have to feed God in that sense, like s- people in pagan temples imagine they had to. But the bread was there primarily for God's satisfaction, as later we shall see. Two vessels of presentation, therefore, and tonight we come to consider the, uh, lampstand. Now I shall have to trouble you by, uh, going through some of its technical terms, because a lot will depend in the message that we get from this lampstand, a lot will depend on our correct understanding of some of its technical terms. So let's turn to the passage that describes those terms. It is Exodus chapter twenty five And verse thirty one. Exodus twenty five, verse thirty one. and verse thirty one. And I'm reading from the, uh, Revised Version, now a very old version. And it says, verse thirty one, and thou shalt make a candlestick. No, not a candlestick, but a lampstand of pure gold. Of beaten work shall the lampstand be made, even its base and its shaft. But, if we look at the, uh, uh, model again, we can see that one of its prominent features was this, that it was made to look like a tree. We shall eventually find it was symbolic of the tree of life. For it was not only made to look like a tree, but it carried in its ornamentation various stages of the blooming and blossoming and fruit bearing of an almond tree, made to look as if it were alive. This was a tree, was in fact a tree of life. And because it was a tree, then we are told of its details in that verse 31. He, uh, the of beaten work shall the lampstand be made, even its base and its shaft. They are ancient words. The shaft is, of course, the trunk of the tree. That is its shaft, it's the trunk. And at the bottom is its, here called its base. But we're not told what shape the base was. I fancy myself that at that base, it was like a tree, a natural tree would be, and there would be the beginnings of the protuberances according to the tr- uh, tro- tr- the roots of the tree, and they would be seen to be roots that came down now into the soil to hold the tree, and by which the tree was nurtured. So there was the trunk and the base, there was its roots, of course. Then we are told there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof. Three branches of the lampstand out of the one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. Now, sometimes you will hear this object described as a six-branched candlestick. Uh, oh, sorry, you'll find it described as a seven-branched lampstand. That is not quite exact. It wasn't seven branched, it was six branches. There was the central stem, the trunk, that was not a branch. Out of the lampstand, and in some verses when the text says the lampstand, it means the central shaft. Out of one side of the lamp stand, out- out one side of the trunk, there were three branches. Out of the other side of the stand, out the other side of the trunk, were another three branches. Each of those, the trunk and the six branches, had on top an oil lamp that gave the light. The final thing that we should notice, that in the ornamentation that was built into the lampstand, were various stages in the development of an almond tree. So let's notice it wasn't just any tree. It was fashioned as an almond tree, and therefore there were in it buds, and then, uh, uh, the calyxes, that is the big swelling part, uh, o- o- of, uh, the, uh, almond branch that is about to come out into a flower and then provide the fruit. The botanists call it the calyx. And then, of course, there were the stamens and the uh eventual blossom, and then finally the fruit. Though the fruit is more like a plum and has a hard case, and when it is dried, it is split, and inside there is eventually to be found the actual almond nut. The lamps on the top were said to be made like almonds. We don't know for sure. Uh, we cannot be dogmatic over some of these technical terms, because they are technical terms relating to the goldsmith's work of those far distant centuries, and we don't know very much in Hebrew about the technical terms related to plant life and tree life. But this is so that that somehow these lamps resembled almonds. It may be that they, uh, of, uh, uh, that refers to the shape of the lamps, bulbous at one end and with the wick end a narrow point. Or it could be, as some scholars suggest, that the, uh, uh, actual lamps were made in repousse work, and if you don't know what that means, you can forget it forthwith, but for the experts present, I shall have to mention it, and all the ladies are experts, of course. Repousse work, uh, done in the actual metal of the lamp. But this we get, that it was a tree. It was made to look like a living tree with various stages of growth and development in it, and it was meant to represent an almond tree. It was a tree in which was life, so to speak, made to look as though it were alive. It was the tree that had life in it that carried the light. So now we must ask what the significance is, and we come to the more important part of our study. What was the significance of this particular sacred vessel? We start with what it may have meant to the original Israelites who first used it. I can imagine a priest, can't you? Going in for the first time, all fingers and thumbs, you know, uh, not knowing if he could carry it off very well. And when he got inside, there were cherubim. Ooh, cherubim on the veil in front of him. Done in the woven work of the blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, cherubim all over it. If he looked up to the roof, cherubim. If he looked at the sides, because allow me to point out, the sides were not, uh, just boards, they were more ladder-like work, and the curtains that went over them would be seen through the spaces in the ladder-like work, so that the priest would see not only cherubim in front of him and cherubim above him, but cherubim beside him, all around him, cherubim. And if he knew his Genesis, he would remember the first reference to the cherubim. It was at the fall, wasn't it? When Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden. And cherubim put there at the gate to guard the way of the tree of life. Beguiled by the serpent, Eve and then Adam had broken the commandment of God not to try to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan, misrepresenting God and his word, attracted Eve. The tree, he said, look at it, my dear woman. Beautiful. Look at this tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You'll see. Uh, it it is, um, desirable to the eyes. Look at it, woman. Can't you see its aesthetic beauty? Oh, how attractive it is. Uh, uh, and then it's good for food, you know. Will satisfy your stomach. That's physical satisfaction. And it's most desirable to make you wise. That's intellectual satisfaction. Woman, said the Satan, that is life. Physical satisfaction, aesthetic satisfaction, intellectual satisfaction. That is life. No, but, said Eve, no, no, uh, well, that may be so, but God has said that we, we mustn't eat of it, and the day we eat thereof, we shall surely die. Oh, nonsense, said the serpent, nonsense woman. Nobody around here believes that these days. That's old fashioned stuff. What did you say? You shall surely die? Nonsense. The reason why God stops you eating it is because he knows that in the day you eat it, you'll be as God, you see, and God wants to keep you down. Doesn't want you to get up on his level. And as for dying, of course you won't die, my dear good woman. And she took of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and of evil, of good and evil. In a foolish attempt to be independent of God when it comes to the whole question of life, morality, aesthetics, and intellectual satisfaction. And gave to her husband. And in that moment occurred the fall. It is important to remember what happened at the fall, where sin entered our world. It was not because Adam lost his temper with Eve and beat her up one Monday morning. Sin entered in our world when man, beguiled by the serpent, attempted to be independent of God. When it comes to life, moral judgment, intellectual satisfaction, and even physical satisfaction. God exiled them from the garden, we read. What for? Lest in that fallen state, the couple should again stretch out their hand and take and eat of the tree of life. Had they access to it constantly, they would have lived forever in that fallen state. God, in his mercy, turned them out of the garden and put cherubim at the gate to guard the way of the tree of life. I suspect the new priest would have heard that story many times. When he drew aside the curtain that's that hung at the door and entered, oh, the first thing would be cherubim. Galore of cherubim, cherubim everywhere. And then to his astonishment, the tree of life, an almond tree, with all the stages of growth and life in it. From the bud to the flower to the fruit. Was enough to make the hair stand up on the nape of his neck, surely. The tree of life and the cherubim. What a magnificent message, even for Israel in that far off day. Granted, they were only symbols. The blood of beasts couldn't put away sin nor make the conscience perfect, but it stood for the blood of Christ. And Old Testament believers owed their forgiveness and their acceptance with God through what that symbol spoke of, namely the one coming of our blessed Lord eventually to shed his, uh, his blood for the forgiveness of sins. And that washing was only an external symbol, but it pointed forward to the coming of God's Holy Spirit. And now the priest, having gone through those ceremonies, comes inside. All the mercies of God. An early beginning of coming back to God. The cherubim represented the tree of life. But we leave what it meant to them at that day, and come to think of this particular sacred vessel as a picture of our Lord. As the Hebrew letter tells us, these things were shadows of the good things to come. That is, those good things that would come with the incarnation of the Son of God, his person, his life, his death for our sins, his resurrection and ascension to heaven, and eventually his second coming. So we have authority for f- feeling that this particular part, like the whole rest of the tabernacle, was a shadow of the good things to come, a foreshadowing of Christ. And what in particular about Christ did it foreshadow? But then it's easy to answer, isn't it? This was a tree. It looked as if it were alive. Buds, branches, blossoms, fruit. And yet it was the thing that carried the light. Seven lamps, one on the central trunk, six of them on the branches. It reminds me, at any rate, of what John's gospel says in chapter one of that gospel. Let me read it to you. And I start at verse one. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. Look at it. A tree, symbolically saying, in it was life, all the stages of life, yet it carried the light. What a superb representation in prophecy of the coming of our Lord. For in him was life, and that life was the light of men. To understand what John is saying, we must, of course, read its- this verse in its context. What life is John talking about? Well, verse t- three explains, all things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that has been made. It's talking about the creation of our vast universe, and stating simply but emphatically, all was made through him and by him. Nor is there anything in the vast universe that wasn't made through him. And if you should ask, well, that's, that's interesting, but where did he get the life from? Because as well as stars and galaxies and rocks and mountains and oceans, this planet is marked by life, isn't it? It remains still the only one that, as far as we know, has life in it. Where did he get the life from to make it? He didn't get it from anywhere. In him was life. He is the source of all created life. So says the context. All things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. In him was life, and that life, that is the created life of the universe, that life was the light of men. And the existence of life in this universe still remains a light to human beings, if they will listen. You see, if you were walking, uh, down a nice country road, many of which you have around here, and you were working, uh, with a friend one dark night. And suddenly a beam of light comes through the hedge across your path. And if you said to your friend, look at that light. Where does it come from? And your friend replied, come from? Oh, it doesn't come from anywhere. What would you do? To advise him to see a psychiatrist or something? To say light doesn't come from anywhere is a little bit contrary to all experience, isn't it? We want to know what the purpose of life is and its significance, even created life, and in particular human life. Then we must trace that life to its source. In him was life, all things were made by him, and through him, and as the Bible says, ultimately for him. Each of us exists, you know, ultimately through Christ and for Christ, whether we know it or not. And, uh, this tells us the basic significance of life and what life is for and where it is leading us. Atheists do not accept that, do they? They prefer to believe there is no God. And one of the arguments they use is this: there's so much evil in the world, and such disasters as the recent earthquake in Haiti. How could you believe in the existence of Almighty God, the Creator? They choose not to believe there is a God. Um, if you ask them, then how did it start? They might cite you the Big Bang, but then if you ask them, what was it that went bang? They cannot tell you. Even one such as Professor Richard Dawkins has publicly to admit that they don't know how it all began. But there are implications, are there not, of the atheist view? And one is, and I shall say it slowly, if there's no God creator, there is no such thing as evil. You say, but how did you arrive at that startling conclusion? Well, let the aforesaid Professor Dawkins point out that in a world that's governed simply by DNA and genes, some people are going to get lucky, some people are going to get hurt. There is no rhyme nor reason in it. You'll see genes, DNA doesn't care. It just is. There's so much stuff. And if that is true of the whole universe, there is no such thing as evil. Suppose you are walking along the coast road of Antrim with all its delights, and when you come to the big cliffs, a rock falls off the cliff and hits you on the head. Now, I assure you, it's no good you're turning around to that rock and saying, you evil rock. He doesn't know what evil is. It's just a bit of stuff. It just is. If there's no God creator, and all there is is matter, then ultimately, there is no such thing as evil. Evil. And if we want guidance on life and its significance, we must come back to what here scripture says. All things were made by him. Without him was nothing made that has been made. In him was life. This is its source. And that life was the light of men. It adds the light shines in darkness, and the darkness has not been able to smother it over, and alas, often doesn't understand it. As I said, this was a tree, and as its base, the roots. If I may borrow the term of our blessed Lord without offending you, his roots go back into eternity. He is the eternal Son of God, God of very God. Oh, but there's more to it than that. This lampstand, made solely of gold, actually, one material, which many people think points to the deity of Christ, has six branches coming out of the side of it. What shall that tell us? Because we say this is a picture of Christ. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. He is the creator. What about these branches coming out of the side? Well, the same paragraph in John's first chapter has the answer to it, does it not? It says he was in the world, verse ten of chapter one, and the world was made by him, and yet the world did not know him. He came unto his own things, and his own people did not receive him. But as many as received him, to them he gave the right and authority to become children of God, even to those that believe on his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And we must notice here the different categories that are now being introduced. There is creation. All things were made by him. All of us, through our parents and our foreparents, were made by God, made by the Son of God. Then he came into the world, and the people among whom he was born, the Jews, the Israelites, who in one sense were his own special people, instead of receiving him, largely rejected him. But as many as received him, now we go slowly over the words, to them he gave the authority to become children of God. We notice here that to be a child of God requires that somebody should become a child. We're not born children of God. We are born creatures of God. Oh, God, in a fatherly fashion, looks after all his creatures, loves them all. But in the strict terminology, there is a difference between a creature of God, all men and women are creatures, and a child of God, not all are children of God. For a creature to be a child of God, they have to become one. And the verses are going to tell us how to become a child of God. Let's use an illustration. Here's a computer buff. He knows all about computers and face, face something or other, and Twittering and many other such devices that in my youth were never known to man, you'll see. But he's an expert. And to show how an expert he is, he makes a computer. Brilliant. Marvelous. And shows the man's genius in the devices he's put into this computer. Hm. If you worked it, you would immediately see, ah, that's a computer not by Apple or any of those inferior makes, but this good man, he's made it, you see. Well, that's one thing. Then he falls in love with a beautiful young lady, of course, and fathers a child. Tell me, what is the difference between the computer and the child? The computer is a very sophisticated thing. Wow. This few and a half ounces and pounds of this child of his. Well, it could be disgusting, doing bad things at both ends. And yet, the little child is more significant than this computer. The computer, however sophisticated, doesn't possess the engineer's life. He just made it. The babe has its father's life and will grow up to know his father in a way the computer never will. We are all God's creatures. He made us. And the divine genius in making the human being is everywhere evident. But let scripture tell us... that there is an opportunity to become more than a simple creature. Now to become a child of God. How is that produced? Well, verse thirteen goes on to tell us. These, the children of God, were born, or begotten, if you will, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. By a spiritual process, these people that receive Christ and put their faith in him and believe on his name. God in them produces this miracle. He generates, regenerates, if you like. He begets them as children of God that have the very life of God within them. That is a stupendous wonder. This is God's holy gospel. The very mention of the thing exalts us surely to ask ourselves, I surely am a creature of God, whether I believe in God or not. I didn't make myself. Have I become a child of God? Begotten of God? Born from above? Or do those very words make no sense to us at all? Let this tree of life that carried the light. Remind us of this superb opportunity from being creatures of God to proceed to become children of God, sharers in the very life and nature of God. How is it done more precisely? Verse twelve tells us, but as many as received him, that is Christ our Lord, the Word and Son of God. As many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name. Then let us look a little bit more closely at the branches, to say something that is obvious, that scarce needs saying. The ornamental motif in the central trunk of the tree was, of course, olives, buds, and calyxes, and flowers, and almonds. What do you suppose the motif was in the branches? And you say, don't be so stupid. If they came out of the tree, the same motif would be in the branches. It would be almonds, of course, uh, uh, like the central stem, almonds, and buds, and flowers, and almonds. Well, of course so. But therein lies a very interesting, uh, illustration. Our Lord used it, later on in this gospel, we have the record of it, to explain to his disciples the secret of their fruit-bearing lives. In chapter uh fifteen, he changes the tree from being an almond tree, do you see, to being another kind of tree, but the principle is the same. He said, I am the true vine, and now he's talking about, uh, a vine that produces grapes. I am the true vine, my father is the husbandman. You are, says he, the branches. Without me you can do nothing. He that abides in me bringeth forth much fruit. That same analogy is applicable to this lampstand. Central shaft of an almond tree with its fruit, uh, and blossoms and buds. The branches, of course, coming out of the tree trunk, they have the same fruit, almonds, flowers, buds. It's a simple lesson, isn't it? But in practice, vitally important. As believers in Christ, let us hear Christ again without me you can do nothing, but abiding in me you can bring forth much fruit. Finally, let us notice once more, that the motif was that of an almond tree. And that, of course, was very significant, because in the Middle East, the almond tree is the first tree to come out in blossom after the deadness of the winter. And becomes, for us, of course, exceedingly significant. For our Lord, who was God, with God, was God, who was creator, all things were made by him, and without him nothing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. He became flesh, as John says it. He became human, died for us at Calvary, rose again from the dead and sent forth his Holy Spirit to regenerate us. But he's risen from the dead in the power of an endless life. And Peter puts it this way, talking to his fellow believers. He, that is God, has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Death is not the end of everything. Some believers ho- uh, in fact, who are still alive when the Lord returns, will never physically die anyway. But when the Lord comes, those that have passed away but are true believers will be raised bodily from the grave and caught up together with the living believers to meet the Lord in the air. Marvelous fact. But listen to the implication that Paul makes of it at the end of his great chapter, one Corinthians fifteen, supplying us with the evidence that the resurrection of Christ really took place, and that his coming again is certain. And this is how Paul ends it, with a practical exhortation. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Oh, wonderful hope. Not only is there a heaven beyond because of the living God, and believers will come to the Father's house on high because of the merits and power of the Savior, but even while we live, because we have this living hope, begotten again, as Peter would put it, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God that lives and abides forever. Because we have the living hope already, then it befits us to show it by always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. With that, we come to the purpose of the lamps. I will put seven of them, one on the central trunk, the other six on the branches. We are told that these were oil lamps, of course. They had to have pure olive oil, that is olive oil that has been strained to take away all bits and pieces of matter from them, because if that wasn't strained and you tried to burn it, it would issue an inglorious and bad smelling, uh, smoke, you see. So it had to be pure olive oil and brought and, uh, filled, and, uh, there was a wick in, and the wick was lit on certain occasions, eh, tw- uh, and then the wick faced inwards across the body of the holy place. The purpose of the lamps? In the first place, it was to shine before the Lord. And I'm going to read you an exhortation from Leviticus chapter twenty four. And you may care to listen, maybe, and then, uh, take a note of the reference to read it again with its practical implications. This is Leviticus chapter twenty four, beginning at verse one. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure olive o- oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually, that is regularly. Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, shall Aaron order it from evening to morning before the Lord continually, or regularly, and it shall be a statute forever throughout your generation. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually. That was their purpose, their prime purpose. This was a vessel of presentation. It held up the lamps to shine before the Lord continually. And for that purpose, Aaron and Moses were told to tell the people to bring pure olive oil, beaten fine, to serve the lamps, so they should burn continually before the Lord. You say, now be careful, Mr. Preacher, this time. Don't let fancy take you away, because the oil represents the Holy Spirit, and God gives us the Holy Spirit, does he not, as a gift? We don't have to contribute the Holy Spirit. Well, thank the Lord for that. Yes, the Holy Spirit is a gift and is given to all believers. But... we could neglect the Holy Spirit. We could grieve the Holy Spirit. Allow me to be exceedingly and indefensibly personal. When I ask, how is each one of us getting on in this business of shining before the Lord. Does he find our heart and soul and spirit positively shining in his presence? Or does the light sometimes grow dim. As a church, or many churches here represented, we're meant to be lampstands, aren't we? Does our lamp burn brightly before the Lord and before men? We need a lot of treatment, don't we? And so we're told... in Exodus... of Aaron's ministry. Exodus chapter thirty, it is, verses seven and eight. He was to come... in the morning and take the lamp that had been burning and dress it for the next evening. Now, I'm old enough to remember oil lamps in the home. I think you're too young to remember anything like that. But... it was a messy job when father or mother had to take the, the lamp thing off the top and deal with the wick. Phew. Smelly job that was. And when Aaron did it, he was told he had to burn incense before the Lord when he did it. Whatever the spiritual significance of the incense, it seemed to me this, that God doesn't like bad smells. And to cover the smell of dealing with the wick of a lamp that had been burning a long while and was now smoldering a bit. God asked that they burn the incense. It covered the bad smell, you know. And then when the lamps were to be lit at evening, new wick perhaps, new light. But you know what wicks are, they will be wicks, you know, these things. And when you try to light them first, there's a danger that they give out more smoke than light, you know. And the smell isn't good either. And when he lit the lamps in the evening, Aaron was told to burn incense before the Lord. And we are lights in the Lord. Meant to shine as lights before God and before the world. We need a lot of attention, don't we? From our great high priest. For sometimes we issue more smoke and bad smells than we do light. Occasionally, perhaps that way. Thank God for a high priest. Who will not give up on his people, but tends us. And while he's tending us, covering our errors, the incense, the perfume of his gracious character and the wonder of his sacrifice to God on our behalf comes up and fills the nostrils of God with everlasting delight. So may the Lord use our study this evening that we might understand these deeper things that are given to us of God, and above all, that we might fulfill the responsibilities given to us to be part of God's testimony in the world, joined to Christ, filled by his gracious spirit, that we might shine before the Lord and shine clearly before the world. Shall we pray? Our Father, we thank thee for thy word. We thank thee for its inspiration. We thank thee thou hast not written a book that is dull and monotonous, but interesting, calculated to grasp our minds and more deeply our hearts, and to find response in our spirits, regenerated by thy Holy Spirit. For lavishing such a great salvation upon us, we bless thee. And we ask, Lord, that seeing it is thy will and desire that we shine before thee and shine before the world, that thou will give us grace to attend to our spiritual duties, that we may cooperate with thee in all that needs to be done to us by our great high priest, that our light may be the better refined and the more a guide to those that sit still in darkness. So we thank thee and offer thee our evening worship, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.