Numbers 8:1-4—1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "Speak to Aaron, and say to him, 'When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.'" 3 And Aaron did so; he arranged the lamps to face toward the front of the lampstand, as the LORD commanded Moses. 4 Now this workmanship of the lampstand was hammered gold; from its shaft to its flowers it was hammered work. According to the pattern which the LORD had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand. This is a rather odd passage, and a rather odd place for it. In the middle of all these commands about what was to be consecrated and how, God drops in this command about how to light the lampstand. Before this passage, we read about how He commanded the carts and oxen to be brought to the Levites, and after this passage we read about the consecration rites for the Levites. So why do we see this passage about lighting the lampstand?
Well we read later in the chapter (verse 22) that the ministry of the Levites was to begin either that day or shortly thereafter. Which is why it is so important to not just pick out a verse or passage at random and use it to build a doctrine. Every verse in the Bible must be understood in its context, and should not be wrestled out of its context to fit one’s desires. Jeremiah 29:11 is such a verse. People will pluck it off the page and call it their “life verse”, when they were never and Israelite that was taken into captivity to Babylon. Now, does God promise good to His people? Yes. But not always in this life. We may see persecution in this life, we may see poverty or disease. But after this life is over, He has promised us joy unspeakable.
So then, the reason this passage comes where it does is that there needed to be light in the tabernacle, as the coverings cut off any light from getting in. And notice, there are instructions on how the lamps were to be placed in the lampstand. They were to give light to the area in front of the lampstand. They were not to face the curtain behind it. They were to shine into the first room in the Tabernacle. This is what Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16—14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” If these lamps faced the curtain, they would provide no light for the tabernacle, and would be like a lamp hidden under a basket. They would not have served their purpose. And in the same way, we do not fulfill our purpose if we do not let the light of Christ shine forth from us.
Many people go to church on Sunday morning, sometimes Sunday night or even Wednesday. They sit and listen to the preacher, they sing, they sit in Sunday School. But when they are outside the church walls, there is nothing in their lives that would show that they are a Christian. Or worse, they have been at the bar the night before—not sharing the gospel, but reveling with drunkards and storing up wrath against themselves. They are like lamps in the lampstand lighting the curtains. And as James wrote in James 2:14-26, does that faith save us? Our faith, if it does not have works to give evidence of it, is dead. It is alone. It is, as he points out in James 2:19, the faith of demons.
You see, Jesus said we are to let the light we have been given shine out of us, and we are not to hide it. And when we do let that light shine forth, the people that see it will glorify God. You may say “but many will not believe!” This is true, many won’t. They will still glorify God, but not willingly. They will glorify Him in their destruction. Before we knew Christ, not only were we in darkness, we were darkness. Romans 12:12-13—12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. The things we did prior to knowing Him were darkness, and we were right smack dab in the middle of them. Notice I say “we”, including myself. If God had not brought me out of the darkness, I would have glorified God in the depths of Hell. It still astounds me that He would pick me out of that and make me what I am today. I do not boast of myself, nay, I abhor myself in dust and ashes as did Job. And were it not for Him keeping me, I would go right back to wallowing in the same mud I was in before.
And let no one think they are any different. None of us was ever any more worthy that another when it comes to salvation. As Martin Luther so famously said, “We are all mere beggars showing other beggars where to find bread.” And as another quote says, “the only thing we contribute to our salvation is the sin that made it necessary.” We are never righteous enough to earn salvation, no matter what The Vatican says. And to say we can be evil enough to lose our salvation—that is really saying we can be righteous enough to keep it. John MacArthur said the following:
It’s impossible to lose your salvation because you didn’t do anything to gain it. I’ll reverse that a little bit: if you could lose your salvation you would. If my salvation depended on me, I would lose it. I don’t have the power to keep my salvation. Listen to the words of Hebrews, that He ever lives to make intercession for us, for the purpose of bringing us to glory (Hebrews 7:25). The reason that Christians are going to get to heaven is not because they hold on; it’s because Christ holds on. He will bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10). If Christ didn’t hold onto me, I would never get there. That is the incredible reality of His high priestly work.
You don’t keep yourself saved. Jesus keeps you saved. Romans 8:35-39—35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: " For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In other words, if you are saved, there is absolutely nothing on earth, under the earth, in the Heavens, nor principalities nor powers that can separate you from Christ. He is the light of the world (John 8:12). In 1st John 1:7, the Apostle says that if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. Jesus’ light shines in the darkness, and His blood cleanses us when we walk in His light. So let us always walk in His light, that we may be forgiven of our sins and walk in fellowship with one another.
One more thing about the lampstand. It was set opposite the Table of Showbread. So it cast its light on that bread. And we have to ask, what is the purpose of the showbread? It was to be food for the priests as they ministered in the Holy Place on the Sabbath. But there was to be one other thing on that table: wine. Exodus 37:16 (ESV)—And he made the vessels of pure gold that were to be on the table, its plates and dishes for incense, and its bowls and flagons with which to pour drink offerings. I use the ESV version here, since the NKJV—and even the KJV—do not fully render this verse, and leave out the portion that deals with drink offerings. But that is an important part of this verse. Because it really completes the meaning of the Table of Showbread. And really lends more meaning to how the lamps in the Lampstand were to face. You see, as I said earlier, we are to be a light in this dark world. We are to let our light so shine—why? So we can look good to the world? So that we can outshine our neighbor and bring more attention to ourselves? No! “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” We are to let our light shine to guide the world to Christ. We are to let our lives show forth Christ, so that all may see Him and glorify Him.
All through Scripture, bread and wine are symbols that point the way to Christ. And even the Table of Showbread, with the bread and wine, are not the first time we see this. In Genesis 40, we see Joseph in prison in Egypt, and who do we read about being imprisoned with him? The Pharaoh’s butler and baker. “Butler” is better translated as “cupbearer”, the one who gave Pharaoh his wine. So the cupbearer handled the wine, and the baker made the bread. And interestingly, Genesis 40:20-22—20 Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants. 21 Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. 22 But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. So on a national holiday, a pagan ruler brings out two prisoners. He sets the one prisoner free, and then hangs the other on a tree. Think about that.
Jesus, when He is criticizing the people for only following Him to get a free meal, tells them in John 6:32-35—32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” He is not to be, as the showbread, eaten but once a week. He is to be taken in every day, to give us life and to sustain us. And let us not forget when our Lord kept the Passover with His disciples. What did they have at what we call “The Last Supper”? What are we to partake of when we eat of the Lord’s Table? Bread and wine. Matthew 26:26-28 (see also Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20)—26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” In one of His last lessons to His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus once again uses the elements of the Table of Showbread to point to Himself as the true bread from Heaven. And we, as lights in this dark world, are to “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
Part 2 next week