Command the children of Israel that they bring unto thee pure beaten olive oil for the light, to light the lamp continually.
The whole nation had to bring oil for a lamp inside a room none of them could enter. So the command raises three questions: what the oil stands for, why it had to be beaten, and who keeps it burning "regularly."
Every Israelite was shut out of the holy place, yet every Israelite had a share in what happened there.
What a privilege and responsibility for the sons of Israel! They could not enter the holy place: the covering or curtain forbade it except for the priests. But the charge lay on all the children of Israel. They had to provide pure beaten olive oil for the light of the sanctuary, outside the veil of the testimony, so that the lamps would burn continually.
One writer explains why God arranged it that way.
The children of Israel must supply the oil that keeps it burning — a blessed necessity! It is through the people of God that the light of the Spirit keeps burning, for the Spirit works through man and in man. So the lamp burns from evening to morning before Jehovah continually. Nothing is said but of the night, for in the world it is always night.
Kelly reads the lamp in the sanctuary as Christ Himself, and the oil that fed it as the Spirit.
He is the light shining in the sanctuary. He is the light of God for those who have priestly title to enter there, while darkness rests on the people who reject Christ... We also know what the oil means that made the light burn. It was the Holy Spirit given without measure. In that Spirit the Lord met the tempter. In that Spirit He was anointed for every kind of service. In that Spirit He offered Himself spotless to God.
The verse asks for beaten oil, not just oil. One writer sees the cross behind that word.
The "pure oil" stands for the grace of the Holy Spirit. That grace rests on the work of Christ, as the lampstand of "beaten gold" shows. The "olive" had to be pressed to yield the "oil," and the gold "beaten" to form the lampstand. So the grace and light of the Spirit rest on the death of Christ. The priesthood of Christ keeps them clear and strong.
The people supplied the oil, but a priest had to tend the flame.
Aaron was to order the lamps. This teaches that only the priestly care and intercession of Christ can keep the light of the Spirit shining... Every ray of light that shines out below, whether through the church or through one believer, is only the answer to His priestly work.
The testimony can be interrupted, but it cannot be put out.
So God has provided that there will always be a testimony. There may be a break in it — and sadly, as we know, there has been in God's dealings down the ages. Still God will keep up, without fail, what suits His own character... The great High Priest keeps up the light during the long night of Israel's history.
The curtain hid the lamp from the camp outside. Its first audience was not the crowd.
This was not a light for the crowds of Israel to see. The first veil hid it from those outside. It was for the eye of Jehovah first of all, and then for those who had the privilege to serve inside the holy place... "Pure beaten olive oil" is the fruit and work of the Holy Spirit. That oil gave the light that showed the features of the lampstand before God and before those who were near to Him.
Commentators differ in emphasis. Another writer reads the light as a public witness too. He says it was "first the witness of Jehovah's presence, and then a testimony to them and to the nations" (The Bible Treasury).
- Beaten — the crushed olive and the hammered gold both point to the death of Christ. The light rests on His finished work first of all.
- Brought — the oil is the people's charge. They cannot enter the holy place, yet the Spirit works through them and in them.
- Ordered — Aaron trims and arranges the lamps. Every ray that shines through a believer answers to the priestly work of Christ. It does not rest on human effort.
- Continually — the great High Priest holds the office, so the testimony outlives every break and burns all through the long night.
- Before the Lord — the veil hides the light. It shines first for God's eye, then for those who serve near Him. Commentators differ on how far it reaches the nations outside.
Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, shall Aaron dress it from evening to morning before Jehovah continually [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations.
One lamp, one man to tend it, and a flame that burns from dusk to dawn: this is the daily rhythm of the tent of meeting, set as a rule for every generation. Who is the light for? Who keeps it burning? Why does God measure it by the hours of darkness?
The lamp stood in the holy place, screened from the camp by the first curtain. So who was the light for?
Aaron had to keep the lamps burning. Their light was to fill the holy place and show up the beautiful features of the lampstand inside it. This light was not for the crowds of Israel to see. The first veil hid it from everyone outside. It was first of all for the eye of the LORD, but also for those who had the privilege of serving inside the holy place. There the priests who served before the LORD could take in what met His holy eye.
The whole nation supplied the oil. Only the priests handled the lamps.
The service of the people of Israel was to bring the oil that kept the lamp burning always. The special care of Aaron and his sons was to arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord. ... So during the dark night of Israel's history, arranging the light is the care of the priestly family. But in reality it depends on the High Priest — that is, on Christ in heaven.
William Kelly draws out both halves of the picture — the light itself, and the oil that feeds it.
He is the light shining in the sanctuary. He is the light of God for those who have priestly right to enter there, during the darkness that rests on the people who have rejected Christ. Verse 3 gives us the detail: "in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly." This is the work of the high priest — and we know Who it is that acts this way in heaven itself. He acts there, not in a holy place made by hands or in the copies, but in the true one. We also know what the oil stands for that made the light burn. It was the Holy Spirit, given without measure.
The verse gives the lamp a start time and a finish time: the hours when nothing else gives light.
Notice how long the light was to burn. It was to be "from evening to morning." The lamp is for the night. All through the night of Israel's unbelief, until the day dawns and the shadows flee away, the golden lampstand is to be arranged before the Lord. The intercession of the One they rejected and crucified keeps up this witness to their true place, all through the weary years of their dark unbelief.
Another writer takes the night wider than Israel, and follows the light to where it now shines.
So the lamp burns from evening to morning before the LORD continually. Nothing is said except about the night, for in the world it is always night... The light is in the house of God, and Israel was not that house. The lampstand that carries this light is Christ, the first-born from the dead... God has indeed kept the light burning while Israel has turned away from Him. And He has not only kept it — He has lifted it up to a higher, heavenly place.
Older translations say the lamp was to "burn always." That does not mean the flame never went out.
Exodus 27:20 might make you think the lamps had to stay alight all the time. But this does not appear to be the sense of "burn always." It should be read "burn continuously" — that is, every evening. The next verse adds "from evening to morning"... In the morning the lamps were allowed to go out.
The verse binds this service on every generation. Israel's history shows what happened when one generation let it slip. (The writer quotes 1 Samuel 3:3 in an older translation; the ESV reads, "the lamp of God had not yet gone out.")
God gave this to Israel as "a statute forever" throughout their generations. It was to be a service to Him that never failed. Sadly, in the days of Eli, the record says, "the lamp of God went out" (1 Samuel 3:3), which shows Israel's failure. But there is no failure with our Great High Priest. He waits in patience for the day of His coming, when He will take His own to be for ever with Him. All that time He will keep the lamps shining for the pleasure of His God and Father.
- Hidden — the lamp burned behind the curtain. It was not for the camp to admire, but for God's eye and for the priests inside.
- Tended — Israel brought the oil. Aaron arranged the lamps, a picture of Christ as priest in heaven.
- Fuelled — the oil stands for the Holy Spirit, given to Christ without measure.
- Timed — "from evening to morning" marks the night of unbelief. The light burns on until the day dawns.
- Unfailing — the statute stood for every generation. Israel's lamp went out in Eli's day, but our Great High Priest never fails.