Exodus 27

Bible Passage:  Exodus 27

We read in yesterday’s posting about the materials that were used to make up the tabernacle.  Today, we continue with more instructions about the Altar of Burnt Offerings, the Courtyard and the Oil for the lampstand.  And yes, like what belovedofthelord said, there can be a tendency to get caught up with all the details.  And knowing me, this will be a super long posting (which I am trying to avoid)…. so for now, here are just a few key points that came out strongly for me …

What Do You See When You See The Altar of Burnt Offering?

The picture above shows a bird’seye view of the tabernacle.  And you will notice that just after the gate (there is only one gate), there is where the Altar of the Burnt Offering is.

You simply cannot miss it.  It was the first and largest item an Israelite would encounter upon entering the court.  You cannot avoid it even if you tried.

The continuous sacrifices made on it were a constant and vivid reminder that the people could approach God by means of a sacrifice.  There was only one gate (door) and one altar.  Just as there is now only one way to Salvation – Jesus.  The perfect sacrifice Jesus offered was made “once and for all” (Heb 7:27; 9:12; 9:26; 10:10).

God knew that without reminders, the people of Israel would forget easily.  And God also wanted them to see that painful sacrifices with the shedding of blood was necessary because of their sins – hoping that such vivid reminders would make the people realize the terrible consequences of sin and no longer commit sin.

That was why the tabernacle was in the centre of the camp of the 12 tribes of Israel – so that they can be reminded.

What reminders do I have daily of Jesus’ perfect and complete sacrifice? Do we need such painful reminders to keep us from sin?  Isn’t the terrible price that Jesus paid not enough reminder for us today?

What Do You See When You See The Courtyard?

If you are standing outside the tabernacle, you would see a rectangular structure that surrounded the courtyard, the holy place and holy of holies.  This marked the boundaries of the tabernacle and is imposing enough that anyone seeing it from afar would immediately recognize the importance of this seutup for the Israelites.

And this was where God would ‘meet’ His people.  This is where He will accept their offerings and sacrifices.  This was where God would dwell amongst His people.

The problem was that people tend to then “box” up God or confine Him to a specific location.  Much like how we sometimes behave only when are in church.  We are a different person in church and outside of church.

Or we tend to limit Him within our own perceived boundaries and not realize that He is beyond our capacity to understand while we are on earth (Isa 55:8-9).

Are we guilty of only thinking about Jesus and giving Him His due honour when we are in church only?  Or think that He is only there in church and cannot be found elsewhere?

What Do You See When You See The Oil for the Lampstand?

Do you see the continual scene being played over and over again every day for as long as the tabernacle or holy temple was around?  The lamps were to be kept burning by Aaron (cf. Lev 24:1-4) and his sons with a supply of pure olive oil so that there would be a light in the Tent of Meting.  The lamps were to be lit every evening (Ex 30:8) and never to let the light go out.

This task was a relatively simple one.  Nothing too exciting or difficult.  But it was very necessary.

Just imagine what this work did – it provided for a light in the holy place.

This reminds me of the parable of the 10 Virgins that Jesus gave that all of us are most familiar with. We know that the lesson is that we must always with filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit so that we can be ready to welcome the Bridegroom anytime He comes.  And if He comes, and we do not have oil, the results are terrible!

When I thought about it, the analogy becomes even clearer.

Today, we are the temple of the Holy God – after we have been purchased with His precious blood.  We are the holy place where God dwells!

With His Holy Spirit in us, we have an intercessor – helping us in our prayers before God.

Our bodies are to be the Holy Place where God wants to meet us.  This is the one place where a pure light needs to be kept burning.

Yet, this simple “chore” of keeping a flame burning in our meeting place with God is easy to overlook.  We tend to get caught up with many things in the church but here it speaks to me that it is very important to see that the light of our first love to God never goes out!

It starts with the simple discipline of daily prayer!   We need to work out a pattern of daily communion with God – prayer for ourselves and others, bible reading, singing hymns.

Something simple and yes… oh so unexciting.  But that is precisely what we must do…. what I MUST DO!

Keeping the lamp of love for God burning is not an impossible task.  If it is sometimes a chore, so be it.  Just think of the Old Testament priests keeping the lamps lit in the tabernacle, and later in the temple day in day out.  Not very exciting… but they did it consistently.

And yes… we do need to spend the necessary time and effort to do all these.  And if we think that all this is dreadfully hard to do, it IS!

That is IF we only think of reading the Bible every day and spending “so much” time in prayer each day as “tasks” we have to do.

If we keep the real purpose of doing all this in our mind – that is we are trying to get to know Him more and more and keeping Him first place in our heart – then these “tasks” would not seem so onerous anymore.

But the main message for me here is that to keep my lamp burning and shining brightly for the Lord – it is not something automatic but something we have to keep doing all the days of our life on earth.

Are you prepared to do this?

May God be merciful on us for our weaknesses and help us keep Him before our eyes always and our lamps burning brightly till He comes again.