Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
20. And thou, thou shalt, &c.] the emph. pron. marks the beginning of a new section (Exo 28:1, Exo 30:23, Exo 31:13, Num 1:50).
pure ] clear: LXX. (‘without lees, clarified’) .
beaten ] Exo 29:40, Lev 24:2, Num 28:5 . ‘Beaten’ oil was oil of the finest quality: it was obtained ‘by gently pounding the olives in a mortar; the pulp was then poured into a wicker or rush basket, which, acting as a strainer, allowed the liquid to run into a vessel underneath. The oil which would presently float upon the top was skimmed off,’ and this formed the oil in question. The commoner kinds of oil were obtained from the pulp remaining in the baskets (Kennedy, EB. iii. 3407, from descriptions in the Mishna).
to cause, &c.] to fix on a lamp continually: see on Exo 25:37.
continually ] i.e. not continuously (Exo 25:30 Heb.), but regularly, as a standing practice, whether daily (as here, Exo 29:38; Exo 29:42, Exo 30:8 al.), or whenever occasion required (Exo 28:29-30).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Pure oil olive beaten – The oil was to be of the best kind. It is called beaten, because it was obtained by merely bruising the olives in a mortar or mill, without the application of heat. The finest oil is now thus obtained from young fruit freshly gathered. The inferior kind is pressed from unselected fruit under stronger pressure, and with the application of heat.
The lamp – i. e. the lamps of the golden candlestick. (See Exo 25:37.)
To burn – See the margin to ascend up. It should be observed that the word does not properly mean to burn in the sense of to consume, but is the word regularly used to express the action of fire upon what was offered to Yahweh (see Lev 1:9).
Always – i. e. every night from evening until morning. Compare Exo 30:8.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 27:20-21
Pure oil olive beaten for the light.
Symbolic references
I. The purity of the light (Psa 26:9).
II. The perfection of the light.
III. The perpetuity of the light. Christ can never be superseded. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
Oil for the light
1. The source whence the oil was obtained–the olive. Thus is grace, free and full, obtained from Christ, the Plant of renown.
2. The qualification it was to possess–it was to be pure. All the grace which comes from Christ is pure and unalloyed.
3. The instruments of its dispensation–the children of Israel. The children of God are now the recipients and dispensers of Christs grace.
4. The uses to which it was put–it caused the lamp to burn always. Grace causes the life of each Christian to shine with a brighter glow. (S. Thomas.)
Lamps burning always
It is difficult to understand from the various passages bearing on the subject, whether the lamps burned both day and night, or only during the night–some passages apparently favouring the one view, and some the other; thus, To cause the lamp to burn always (Exo 27:20); and, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil, beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually (Lev 24:2). These passages seem to teach that the lamps burned both day and night. If they do not teach that, the meaning must be that continual and always signify at regular intervals, as in the case of some ordinances and offerings which are called perpetual, though occurring only at intervals. The other view, that they burned only during the night, seems to be supported by, Aaron and his sons shall order it from evening to morning (Exo 27:21); And Aaron shall burn thereon (the golden altar) sweet incense every morning, when he dresseth the lamps (Exo 30:7-8). From these texts it would appear that the lamps burned only during the night. If they were not intended to teach that, the meaning must be that the lamps were dressed in the morning, probably one after another, not necessitating more than one being extinguished at a time, and after being dressed and lighted, burned during the day, the lamps receiving such further attention in the evening as admitted of their burning till the morning. As there were no windows in the Tabernacle, and the priests had duties to perform during the day in the holy place, it is almost certain that the lamps burned always. (W. Brown.)
Light symbolism
As the first apartment in the Tabernacle was illuminated by the sevenfold light of the candlestick, and as the Church, composed of all genuine believers on earth in every age, is enlightened by the Holy Spirit, so will the Church triumphant in heaven, that great temple not made with hands, be a place of glorious light; and the light shall never go out, it will burn always; so that there shall be no night there, nor sun, nor moon, nor stars shall shine in that happy place, for the glory of God and the Lamb is the light thereof. (W. Brown.)
Burning with pure oil
It is related in the biography of one who lived to become a devoted Christian man, that while he was yet a little boy, the passage read from the Bible in the family on a certain occasion was Exo 27:20, describing the oil used in the vessels of the Tabernacle. The meaning and application of the verse was explained by other passages from the New Testament. This boy was then but five years old, and it was not supposed that he could understand or feel the slightest interest in a subject considered far beyond his age. The older children left the room after family worship, but the little boy was detained, as usual, to be taught some simple verses of the Bible by his mother, and to pray with her. He kneeled down at length to pray, and in the midst of his prayer he paused, and exclaimed, earnestly, O my God, make me to burn this day with pure oil! The morning lesson had not been lost upon him; he had understood its import. Most evidently, says his biographer, was this prayer heard and answered throughout the day of his life. How appropriate is this petition for the morning offering of every Christian, Make me to burn this day with pure oil! If He who hath all hearts in His keeping vouchsafe a gracious answer to that prayer, the example of the disciple must be one that will glorify the name of Jesus. Such a man will walk with God. No unhallowed fires will be lighted in his bosom. Neither revenge nor hate can burn there. The peace and joy of the believer will fill his soul..
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 20. Pure oil olive beaten] That is, such oil as could easily be expressed from the olives after they had been bruised in a mortar; the mother drop, as it is called, which drops out of itself as soon as the olives are a little broken, and which is much purer than that which is obtained after the olives are put under the press.
Columella, who is a legitimate evidence in all such matters, says that the oil which flowed out of the fruit either spontaneously, or with little application of the force of the press, was of a much finer flavour than that which was obtained otherwise. Quoniam longe melioris saporis est, quod minore vi preli, quasi luxurians, defluxerit. – COLUM., lib. xii., c. 50.
To cause the lamp to burn always] They were to be kept burning through the whole of the night, and some think all the day besides; but there is a difference of sentiment upon this subject. See the note on the following verse.
This oil and continual flame were not only emblematical of the unction and influences of the Holy Ghost, but also of that pure spirit of devotion which ever animates the hearts and minds of the genuine worshippers of the true God. The temple of VESTA, where a fire was kept perpetually burning, seems to have been formed on the model of the tabernacle; and from this the followers of Zeratusht, commonly called Zoroaster, appear to have derived their doctrine of the perpetual fire, which they still worship as an emblem of the Deity.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Beaten out of the olives with a pestle, which is freer from dregs than that which is squeezed out with a press.
To burn always, i.e. at all the times. appointed; daily, though not continually; as the lamb offered only every morning and every evening is called a continual burnt-offering, Exo 29:42. For that these were lighted only at the evening, may seem probable from the next verse, and from Exo 27:21; 30:8; Lev 24:3; 1Sa 3:3; 2Ch 13:11. But because Josephus and Philo, who were eye-witnesses of the temple service, and had no temptation to lie in this matter, expressly affirm, that some lights did burn in the day-time; and it may seem indecent and improbable that God should dwell and the priests minister in darkness, and there were no windows to give light to the tabernacle by day; it may be granted that some few burnt in the day, and all in the night, and that the latter is only mentioned in the places alleged, as being a more solemn time when all are lighted.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20, 21. pure oil olive beatenthatis, such as runs from the olives when bruised and without theapplication of fire.
for the light . . . Aaron andhis sonswere to take charge of lighting it in all time coming.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And thou shall command the children of Israel,…. Here begins a new section of the law; an account being given of the tabernacle, and its parts, and the furniture thereof, next the several parts of service done in it are observed; and the account begins with that of the candlestick in the holy place, in order to which Moses is directed to command the people of Israel, whose business it was to provide for it:
that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light; for the light of the candlestick, to light up the several lamps in the several branches of it; and the oil to be brought and used there was not any sort of oil, as what is got out of fishes, as train oil, or out of nuts, as oil of almonds, but what comes from the olive tree; and this must be pure and free from lees and dregs, and must be beaten with a pestle in a mortar, and not ground in a mill, that so it might be quite clear; for being bruised and beaten, only the pulp or flesh of the olive was broken, but being ground in a mill, the stones were broken and ground, and so the oil not so pure.
Jarchi and Ben Melech, from their Rabbins, observe, that after the first drop was pressed out, they put them into mills and grind them; but then, though the oil was fit for offerings, it was not fit for the light of the candlestick. Ben Gersom says, they put the olives bruised into a basket, and the oil dropped from them without pressing at all; and this was the choicest and most excellent for the light. The quantity to be brought is not fixed; but the measure fixed by the wise men of Israel, as Jarchi says, was half a log, that is, for every lamp; and this was the measure for the longest nights, the nights of the month Tebet, and so the same for all other nights:
to cause the lamp to burn always night and day, continually, as it was proper it should, that the house of God might not be at any time in darkness; as it would otherwise be, since there were no windows in it; and his servants minister in it in the dark, even in the daytime, at the altar of incense, and at the shewbread table, which is not reasonable to suppose; and though there are some passages of Scripture which seem to intimate as though the lamps only burnt till the morning, and then went out, and were lighted every evening; this difficulty may be solved, and the matter reconciled by what Josephus l relates, who must be an eyewitness of it, that three of the lamps burned before the Lord in the daytime, and the rest were lighted at the evening; and Hecataeus m, an Heathen writer, speaking of the golden candlestick, says, its light was unextinguished day and night, particularly the lamp which was in the middle; also the candlestick is by the ancient Jews, and by Nachmanides, said to have been never extinct.
l Antiqu. l. 3. c. 8. sect. 3. m Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 4. p. 408.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The instructions concerning the Oil For the Candlestick, and the daily trimming of the lamps by the priests, form a transition from the fitting up of the sanctuary to the installation of its servants.
Exo 27:20 The sons of Israel were to bring to Moses (lit., fetch to thee) olive oil, pure (i.e., prepared from olives “which had been cleansed from leaves, twigs, dust, etc., before they were crushed”), beaten, i.e., obtained not by crushing in oil-presses, but by beating, when the oil which flows out by itself is of the finest quality and a white colour. This oil was to be “for the candlestick to set up a continual light.”
Exo 27:21 Aaron and his sons were to prepare this light in the tabernacle outside the curtain, which was over the testimony (i.e., which covered or concealed it), from evening to morning, before Jehovah. “The tabernacle of the congregation,” lit., tent of assembly: this expression is applied to the sanctuary for the first time in the preset passage, but it afterwards became the usual appellation, and accords both with its structure and design, as it was a tent in style, and was set apart as the place where Jehovah would meet with the Israelites and commune with them (Exo 25:22). The ordering of the light from evening to morning consisted, according to Exo 30:7-8, and Lev 24:3-4, in placing the lamps upon the candlestick in the evening and lighting them, that they might give light through the night, and then cleaning them in the morning and filling them with fresh oil. The words “a statute for ever unto their generations (see at Exo 12:14) on the part of the children of Israel,” are to be understood as referring not merely to the gift of oil to be made by the Israelites for all time, but to the preparation of the light, which was to be regarded as of perpetual obligation and worth. “For ever,” in the same sense as in Gen 17:7 and Gen 17:13.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
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.
We read of the candlestick in the twenty-fifth chapter; here is an order given for the keeping of the lamps constantly burning in it, else it was useless; in every candlestick there should be a burning and shining light; candlesticks without candles are as wells without water or as clouds without rain. Now, 1. The people were to provide the oil; from them the Lord’s ministers must have their maintenance. Or, rather, the pure oil signified the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which are communicated to all believers from Christ the good olive, of whose fulness we receive (Zec 4:11; Zec 4:12), and without which our light cannot shine before men. 2. The priests were to light the lamps, and to tend them; it was part of their daily service to cause the lamp to burn always, night and day; thus it is the work of ministers, by the preaching and expounding of the scriptures (which are as a lamp), to enlighten the church, God’s tabernacle upon the earth, and to direct the spiritual priests in his service. This is to be a statute for ever, that the lamps of the word be lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is offered.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 20, 21:
The oil for the lamp was to be olive oil, pure and undiluted. It was made by beating the unripe olive in a mortar. This kind of oil is rated as the best. It is clear, odorless, and provides a bright and clear light while giving off little or no smoke.
The lamps on the golden lampstand were to be lit each evening, and were to burn until morning. The text implies it was the duty of the high priest to light the lamps and see that there was sufficient oil in them to keep them burning all night.
Josephus states that the lamps in the lampstand were to be kept burning continually, even in daytime. But certain reference in Scripture imply that they were to be lit only at night, see Ex 30:8; 1Sa 3:3.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
Exo 27:20
And thou shalt command the children of Israel. I have transferred these two passages from elsewhere, since they relate to the service of the tabernacle; for the children of Israel are commanded to contribute as much oil as may be sufficient for the seven lamps. Now, since Divine illumination and the grace of the Holy Spirit were, as we have seen, the truth of this symbol, God requires pure oil, i.e., not muddy, or mixed with lees, for, had it been in any respect faulty, so much would have been detracted from the dignity of the mystery. Its purity, then, shewed that nothing mean or common was signified by it; that the Israelites also might bring with them pure minds, and duly prepared and disposed to consider the spiritual light. He again repeats, that the oil must be supplied seasonably at its proper hours, so that the lamps may be always burning; that thus the children of Israel might learn that nothing is more opposed to the worship of God than obscurity and darkness; and that it is not to be interrupted at intervals, (137) but that the direction of the Spirit should shine from heaven in a perpetual flow. Thus, in the second passage cited, He thrice reiterates the word “continually,” to shew that the true light should never be put out in any respect. This office God enjoins upon the priests, because they ought to be ministers of light when they are interpreting the Law, which David calls “the lamp of our feet, and the light of our paths.” (Psa 119:105.) But what is the meaning of the offering (of the oil) by the people, since men are possessed of no power for the spiritual enlightening of their own minds? I reply that, in the types of the Law, the several parts are not to be so scrupulously forced to the rule, as if there were nothing in the outward sign with which the reality did not correspond; and again, that although men having nothing of their own and of themselves to bring, yet, that they may more diligently exert themselves in their endeavors to serve God, they are justly required to dedicate themselves and all that they have to God. At the end, where the words “a statute for ever” are added, understand them to mean, until the real manifestation of those things, of which the candlestick and its lamps were a type. This point I have discussed in Genesis (138) It is called “a statute from the (139) children of Israel,” ( a filiis Israel,) since God requires its observance from them; unless it be preferred to translate it with Jerome, “Before ( coram) the children of Israel.” The exposition of others, “among ( apud) the children of Israel,” or from the fathers to the children, is harsher, and altogether forced.
(137) “ Et que ce n’est point assez d’estre eselaire par bouffees;” and that it is not enough to be enlightened by puffs. — Fr.
(138) “ Au dix-septieme chapitre de Genese ” — Fr.
(139) מאת , from the. A. V., on the behalf of. C. adheres to S.M. , and in so doing he has kept close to the Hebrew. — W.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 27:20-21
THE OIL FOR THE LAMPS
Consider the provision for the lamps as a service. The children of Israel were to bring oil for these lamps for ever, and the priests were to trim the lamps and keep them brightly burning. Notice:
I. The service of the people. Is not the duty of the people in relation to this service most suggestive? a pattern of service to all after-times?
1. They were to bring their first. The olive berry is first green, and assumes, later, a purple and black colour. The best kind of oil is obtained from the unripe green olives. We are not to give God the gleanings of our power, or time, or influence, or life, but the first-fruits.
2. They were to bring their best. It was the purest and costliest oil. We are not to give to the cause of God anything that is inferior. We are to hold our best for God, and for His service.
3. They were to give freely their first and best. Beaten oil. That is such oil as could easily be expressed from the olives after they had been bruised in a mortar; the mother-drop, as it is called, which drops out of itself, as soon as the olives are a little broken, and which is much purer than that which is obtained after the olives are put under the press.Clarke. Does not this signify that our service for God should flow freely from a loving heart? God loveth a cheerful giver.
II. The service of the priests. The priests were to feed the lamps. Aaron and his sons shall arrange it from evening to morning before the Lord, &c., Exo. 27:21. A daily constant service. And thus it must be in this dispensation, if the Church is to be a brightly burning lamp. Every morning the priests cleansed the lamps and replenished the oil: and the Christian ministry must keep the Church pure, and preserve all its ordinances in vigour and brightness. As the lighthouse-keeper preserves all his lamps in cleanliness, and each evening sends for the guiding light, constant as the stars; so must the ministers of Christs Church see to it that no impurities dim the glory of the Church or impair its efficiency.
III. The glorious result when ministers and people are faithful in their service. The Church then stands forth with a guiding, warning, cheering light. If the people are unfaithful, it cannot be so. They are to bring the oil, and if that oil be wanting in quantity, or inferior in quality, the light is defective; and so if the members of the Christian Church do not bring the pure oil of a loving, generous, spiritual service, the lustre of the Church is dimmed. And if the ministers be slothful, or selfish, or unspiritual, the lamps are tarnished and the flame flickers. When ministers and people are faithful, the Church is the light of the world, the day-star of a grander world.
THE LAMPS OF THE TABERNACLE
Consider these lighted lamps as a symbol. The golden candlestick, lighted as in the text may justly be regarded as a symbol of Christthe light of the world. Observe
I. The purity of the light. The oil prescribed for the holy service is of a white colour; it gives a better light and little smoke. The holy oil was pure, and unmixed with oil of any other quality. Was not this significant of the light which God has given us in Jesus Christ? In our philosophies we have truth mixed with error, as much smoke as light; in the various religions of the heathen world we have the true and the false strangely blended, and giving forth a most uncertain ray; in Christ we have the true unclouded illumination. God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light (Psa. 26:9). In that pure light it is our privilege to walk.
II. The perfection of the light. On each of the seven arms of the candelabrum rested a burning lamp. Seven, the note of perfection. On all the great questions touching our salvation from sin, our moral discipline and development, our duty to God and man, our preparation for the life beyond, we have sufficient light in the Lord Jesus. We have no need to resort to the philosophies of man. The speculations of the natural reason. No need to resort to ecclesiastical traditions. Opinions of the Fathers, &c., as in Catholicism; as if the New Testament did not contain all that was necessary for salvation, character, and destiny. All; spiritual light is in Christ, as all natural light is in the sun. The light in Christ brings conviction to the understanding, assurance to the heart. Dont add to the lamps; dont take any away. The doctrines of Christ are all necessary; they are all that are necessary.
III. The perpetuity of the light. That light on the candlestick was to burn on for ever. The light we have in Christ is not an artificial light to guide us through some passing perplexity, it is the essential and everlasting truth. It is not a light to be superseded in this world. Some tell us that Christ is destined to be eclipsed by greater teachers, that His Gospel is destined to be eclipsed by systems of moral and spiritual truth far more full and reliable than His own. The greater teacher, the grander gospel, has not yet appeared, and gives no sign of appearing. We need expect no grander light. The seven-branched golden candlestick of the Jewish Temple is buried, if we believe tradition, in the bed of the Tiber; but the Light of the world shall shine through all time, the master light of all our seeing.
Our little systems have their day;
They have their day and cease to be:
They are but broken lights of Thee,
And Thou, O Lord, art more than they.
It is not a light to be superseded in the world to come. The Lord God and the lamb are an everlasting light. In Christ we have the light of eternal truth, love, righteousness, felicity. All flesh is grass, &c.
O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. (Isa. 2:5).
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
You will observe,
1. The requirement of oil to cause the lamp of the sanctuary to burn. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun. (Ecc. 11:7.) In the absence of that glorious luminary, artificial light becomes a great convenience. The Tabernacle possessed no windows; whence the necessity for an ever-burning lamp. A lamp, however, although costly in material and exquisite in form, can emit no radiance of itself; oil, therefore, must be furnished for its use. In like manner, the Church of Christ must be illuminated by extraneous aid. It is not in mere human intellect, how rich soever in resources and attainments of a worldly kind it may be, to discover the way of life: it must consequently be taught of God and replenished with wisdom of a heavenly kind. It is the inspiration of the Almighty which alone giveth true and saving light unto mankind; and the oil that must burn in the lamp of our understanding is, the Holy Ghost.
Mudge.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Mosaic-Ritual! Exo. 27:1-21.
(1.) Beautiful and rich as were the materials employed, there was a remarkable simplicity about the tabernacle and its adjuncts. And why? Glance at the books designed for the instruction of children. They may be rich in design and ornate in execution, but how mono-syllabic they are! What pictures of simplicity they contain! When the child develops in body and mind, the thoughts and words are also proportionately developed. We do not dream of instructing the babe-mind in the mysteries of algebra, or the intricacies of science.
(2.) God speaks, by the mouth of a later prophet, as of Israel as His child at this time. As a child, Israels host could but receive milk of truththe elementary truths of Divine wisdom. Pictures interleave the Divine manual of saving instructionpictures such as the tabernacle, the altar of burnt-offering, the outer court with its brazen laver, and encircling curtains, and solitary gateway.
(3.) And as Israel grew, so the instruction was raised. The theocratic nation was schooled in the deep things of God, while its saints and seers were permitted to drink deeply at the Fount of Divine Wisdom, searching diligently into the mystery of redemption, until the Teacher Himself became Incarnate. Thus the Law was alike the pedagogue leading to, and the schoolmaster instructing as to, Christthe End of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
And when the last trumpet shall sound through the skies,
When the dead from the dust of the earth shall arise,
With bright millions Ill rise far above yonder sky,
To wear Christs Righteousness for ever on high.
Olive-Oil! Exo. 27:20.
(1.) Dr. Burden observes that by the expression oil-olive this oil is distinguished from other kinds. The addition beaten indicates that it is that oil obtained from olives pounded in a mortar, and not pressed from olives in the oil-mill. The oil obtained from pounded olives is, according to Columelas observations, much purer and better tasted, does not emit much smoke, and has no offensive smell. From passages in the books of Joel and Micah, it would seem that the olives were usually crushed in the mill by mens feet, just as in the vintage operation.
2. In the museum of Naples is a graceful olive in bronze, on whose spreading branches the various members of some old Pompeian household used to hang up their little lamps when they came from their different employments, and mustered in the family apartment around the symbolic family tree. Figure of each member of the Church of Christ, each of whom should contribute the small lamp of a Christian life, fed with the pure oil-olive of Divine Grace, to be suspended on the fair olive-tree of the Church (Psa. 52:8).
Gods saints are shining lights; who stays
Here long, must pass
Oer dark hills, swift streams, and steep ways
As smooth as glass.
But these all night,
Like candles, shed
Their beams, and light
Us into bed.
Vaughan.
Olive-Symbolism! Exo. 27:20. The word tree, as pointed out by Grindon, actually means intellect in both English and Hebrew. It is even intellect in its widest sense amongst the Hebrews. The personifications of Scripture are not like those of merely human poetry, which are addressed simply to the object. On the contrary, they always involve a direct reference to the mental, the moral, or the spiritual. The trees of the forest clap their hands. Here the figure is borrowed from the waving of the branches; but the figure is itself figurative. The idea is that of the joys of the redeemed being expressed to God. When, therefore, particulars kinds of trees are mentioned in Scripture, it is in reference to specific mental gifts, moral virtues, or spiritual graces. It is the tree department of the language of flowers in its highest and noblest use. The olive has from time immemorial been identified with peace, forgiveness, charity, reconciliation, and similar high attitudes of virtue. In the sphere of Revelation and Grace, its oil thus symbolises the Graces of the Holy Spirit.
For Nature dwells within our reach;
Yet though we stand so near her,
We still interpret half her speech
With ears too dull to hear her.
Anon.
Olive-Oil Objects! Exo. 27:20-21. Thomas calls attention to,
1. The Plant, whence the oil came, as an emblem of Jesus, the Plant of renown, full of grace and truth; to,
2. The Properties of the oil, as expressive of the purity of the Spirit of Christ;
3. The Process of its manufacture, as predicting the sufferings of Jesus ere the Holy Spirits full descent at Pentecost;
4. The Persons receiving and dispensing, as types of the true Israel of God, who receive of Christs fulness, and grace for grace; and,
5. The Purposes to which the oil was put, as symbolic of the Divine Light ever shining in the holy place of the Church, and of the temple of the Christian heart.
The Rites of God are fair for nought,
Unless our eyes, in seeing,
See hidden in the type the thought
That animates its being.
Anon.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE OIL FOR THE LAMP.
(20) Thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring thee pure olive oil.This instruction had been already given (Exo. 25:2; Exo. 25:6), only not with such particularity. Oil had been required, but not pure olive oil beaten. By this is meant the best possible olive oilthat which was obtained by beating, or pounding in a mortar; which was free from various impurities that belonged to the oil crushed out, after the ordinary fashion, in a mill.
To cause the lamp to burn alwaysi.e., every night without intermission. Josephus says that three lights were kept burning both night and day (Ant. Jud., iii. 7, 7); but there is nothing in Scripture to confirm this. The tabernacle would have received sufficient light during the daytime through the entrance curtain, which was of linen (Exo. 26:36), not to mention that the curtain may, when necessary, have been looped up. The lighting of the lamps every evening is distinctly asserted in Exo. 30:8; their extinction in the morning appears from 1Sa. 3:3.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE OIL FOR THE LIGHT, Exo 27:20-21.
20. Pure oil olive beaten See this passage as repeated in Lev 24:2-3. This oil for the light of the holy place was to be obtained, not by pressing the olives, but by beating or bruising them, by which means the finest quality of oil was produced.
Cause the lamp to burn always According to Exo 30:7-8, and Lev 24:3-4, the lamps were to be dressed each morning, and lighted each evening, so that the light was perpetual; the light of the sun sufficiently finding its way within the tent by day, and the lamps of the golden candlestick (Exo 25:31-37) burning all the night. Comp. 1Sa 3:3, note .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Burning of the Light of Israel Before Yahweh ( Exo 27:20-21 ).
The account of the making of the Dwellingplace finishes with a description of how the common people can have their part in the worship of the inner Sanctuary. Regularly they are to provide the oil for the feeding of the lamp which burns continually in the Holy Place. This compares with their free and liberal giving in the beginning (Exo 25:1-9).
We can analyse this as follows:
a The children of Israel were to be commanded to bring to Moses pure olive oil, beaten, for the lamp, so as to cause a light to burn continually (Exo 20:20).
o In the tent of meeting, outside the veil, but in front of the Testimony (hidden behind the veil) Aaron and his sons were to order the maintenance of the lamp from evening to morning before Yahweh (Exo 20:21 a).
o This was to be a continual statute through their generations for ever on behalf of the children of Israel (Exo 20:21 b).
o In ‘a’ ‘the children of Israel’ were to bring the oil for the lamp so that it would burn continually, and in the parallel ‘the children of Israel’ were to fulfil this ministry as a continual statute. Inside the Holy Place it would be Aaron and his sons who on behalf of the whole people maintained the light of the lamp. This central stress on Aaron and his sons now lead on to the next chapter.
Exo 27:20-21
“And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons will order it from evening to morning before Yahweh. It shall be a statute for ever throughout their generations from the children of Israel.”
The type of olive oil described, beaten but not crushed, gave a clear, pure light. This was to be provided by the people and prepared with great care which confirms that this light shone on their behalf. They would feel that they had a real part in what went on in the Sanctuary. This was probably the light on one branch (or more) of the lampstand. Whether ‘continually’ meant that it never went out, or that it shone continually through the night only is open to question. The fact that it was ‘ordered’ from evening to morning seems to suggest the latter (compare Exo 30:8; 1Sa 3:3). It would seem to be intended to be seen as a reminder to Yahweh of His people as dependent on Him for light and life.
Note that here the Dwellingplace is called the Tent of Meeting which was the name of the ancient tent that it had replaced. The meeting was at the tent rather than in it. The reference to Aaron and his sons presupposes what is to follow, and in its central position in the analysis prepares for the following two chapters.
“ It shall be a statute for ever throughout their generations from the children of Israel.” This statement is used when great stress is laid on something. Clearly this act of providing the oil was seen as very important. It was a direct link between the people and Yahweh. It explains why this command was placed at the end of the instructions for the Dwellingplace in order to emphasise it. The whole description of the Tabernacle and its main contents closes with the order for all Israel to continually burn a light there before Yahweh, and this final solemn injunction.
Notes for Christians.
In the brazen altar we have a type of Christ Who provided in Himself both altar and sacrifice for us (Heb 13:10). Always if we would approach God it must be through Christ, and while we come without fear we must come reverently. For He is of heaven and we are of the earth. Indeed the only reason that we can even dare approach Him is because Christ is our altar and our sacrifice. It is foursquare because He was perfect and full balanced. It is made of acacia wood, symbolic of His true and perfect manhood, and of brazen copper (which to them was a precious metal) symbolic of His heavenly nature which was yet hidden while He was among us (Mar 9:1-11), but will be revealed as pure gold. But we cannot experience the gold until we enter the Sanctuary, for it is through our knowledge of Him that the gold become apparent.
The court is a reminder that we are welcome to approach Him and to fellowship with Him. It too contains the purple which reminds us that we are a royal priesthood (1Pe 2:9), the red which reminds us that we are constantly cleansed by the blood of Jesus (1Jn 1:7), the pure linen cloth which is indicative of the righteousnesses of His people (Rev 19:8). And the intricate details also are a reminder of God’s perfect work which indicate that all has been wrought that it might be for us a perfect place to meet with Him. The very detail of the description is a reminder of the care with which He has provided for us to come to Him. And while the screen may seem to prevent access to the Sanctuary it is only in order to remind us of the care with which we should approach. It is not now there in order to prevent access but in order to remind us that holy things must not be treated lightly.
And finally we are reminded that it is our responsibility to feed the lampstand so that its light continues to shine out brightly. In our daily worship of Him and our praising of Him before the world the light burns more brightly, but never more so than when our lives reveal the fruit of he Spirit. This is an important part of the ministry of God’s people, for the shining of that light to the world is our privilege and responsibility and it is only as we feed on God and His word that we will be able to enable it to do so.
End of note.
The Care of the Lampstand Exo 27:20-21 gives instructions on the care of the lampstand.
EXPOSITION
THE OIL FOR THE LAMP. It has been observed that this paragraph is somewhat out of place. It would more appro priately, according to human ideas, have terminated Exo 25:1-40. But “God’s ways are not as man’s ways, nor his thoughts as man’s thoughts.” It is frequently difficultsome-times impossiblefor the keenest human intellect to trace the connecting links between one portion of God’s word and the next. In such cases it is best not to speculate on the nature of the connection, but to content ourselves with laying to heart the lesson which each portion teaches separately.
Exo 27:20
Thou shalt command. Compare Exo 25:6, where the general command had been given. Here certain additions are made as to the quality of the oil which was to be brought. The oil was to be pure olive oil beaten that is to say, it was to be olive oil purified from any admixture of that watery juice which the Romans called amurca; and it was to be of the kind which is obtained by mere beating or pounding in a mortar, and not by crushing in a mill. Oil of this kind, which is usually made from the unripe fruit, is reckoned much the best; it is clear and colourless, and gives a bright pure light with little smoke. To cause the lamp to burn always. It has been supposed from this expression that the lamp must have been kept constantly burning both day and night; and Josephus declares that this was actually so, at least with three out of the seven lights (Ant. Jud. 3.7, 7). But there are several places m Scripture which state, or imply, the contrary. (See especially Exo 30:8; and 1Sa 3:3.) It seems to have been the duty of the high-priest to light the lamps every evening, and to give them a sufficient supply of oil to last till daybreak, at which time “the lamp of God went out” (1 Samuel l.s.c.) The supposition that “one light at least was always burning” (Kalisch), because no daylight could penetrate into the structure through the fourfold covering, ignores the fact that light would enter through the single curtain at the entrance, as well as the probability that some portion of that curtain may generally have been looped up. If we regard the lamp as extinguished during the daytime, we must understand “always” here to mean “regularly every night.”
Exo 27:21
The tabernacle of the congregation. Rather, “the tent of meeting”the tent where God would meet the earthly ruler of the people (Exo 25:22), and give him commands and directionsnot the place of meeting for the people themselves, who might in no case go beyond the entrance to the structure. The testimonyi,e; the ark which contained the “testimony,” or two tables of stone written with the finger of God. Aaron and his sons. Compare Exo 24:1. The intention to confer the priesthood on the descendants of Aaron, first openly revealed in the next chapter (Exo 24:1 -43), is tacitly assumed from time to time in the earlier narrative. Shall order it from evening to morning. See the comment on verse 20. It is difficult to assign these words any distinct meaning unless we accept the view, that the lamp burnt during the night only. It shall be a statute for ever. This expression is not at all common. In Exodus it occurs only here and in four other places. In Leviticus it is met with some six or seven times. The portions of the law thus characterised must be regarded as of special importance. (See the homiletics on this verse.)
HOMILETICS
Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21
Oil for the lamp.
I. THE PEOPLE‘S DUTY.
(1) The people were to bring the oil regularlyto attend to what may have seemed to them a little matter, but what was in God’s sight of such importance that he made it “a statute for ever”and to attend to it with such regularity that oil should never be lacking.
(2) They were to bring of their best. The oil was to be from the olivenot from the sesame plant, or the castor-oil plant, or the Raphanus olifer, or from any vegetable which furnished oil of a coarse kind. It was to be “pure,” not adulterated, as oils often were in Egypt (Plin. H.N 13.1), and not mixed with the amurca, or watery juice of the olive, which made it unfit for burning. Next, it was to be “beaten oil”oil made with extra trouble by careful pounding with the hand, instead of rough mechanical crushing in mills.
II. THE PRIESTS‘ DUTY. The priests were perpetually to trim and tend the lamps. Daily, at even, they were to light them; daily, in the morning, they were to extinguish them, if any were still alight; to trim the wicks; to cleanse the bowls which held the oil; and to replenish them with a proper supply. They were to lake every care that a pure light was constantly maintained night after night, so that the house of God should never be dark, or even obscure, but be ever ready for worship, ever illumined, ever prepared for any visitation of its Lord, who might come at the third, or the sixth, or the ninth, or the twelfth hour. It does not appear that there were any night services in the tabernacle; but the lighted lamp was a testimony that the Church continued ever on the watch, strove ever to be “the light of the world” (Mat 5:14)like the wise virgins, “kept its lamp burning.” And this is the duty of ministers at all times. The Christian ministry must take care that the light of the Church shines pure and bright continuallythat nothing dims itthat it glows ever as a beacon light, a guide and a help amid the storms and tempests of the world. If the people do not bring a due supply of oili.e; of loving, faithful servicethe Church must suffer, its light be dimmed. If the people do their duty, and the ministers fail, if they are careless, or slothful, or self-seeking, or worldly, or wanting in faith, the result is the samethe flame flickers; the light sinks and threatens to go out; gross darkness settles down upon the people. A Church in this condition must expect to have its candlestick removed, unless it repents, and bestirs itself, and turns to God, and “does the first works” (Rev 2:5), and “strengthens the things that remain and are ready to die” (Rev 3:2).
III. THE TRUE LIGHT. After all, let ministers and people be as faithful as they will, let them “keep their lamps burning,” and cause “their light to shine before men” ever so brightly, still they are not, they will never be, “the true light.” Christ is “the true light””the light that shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not””the light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (Joh 1:4-9). In him are hid “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”nothing needful for man to know but he has taught itnothing expedient for man to see but he has revealed it. “His word is a lantern unto our feet, and a light unto our paths.” He is both an outward and an inward light. His gospel illumines the world withoutpenetrates its dark places, exposes its unholy doings, throws a flood of light upon the past, makes plain to us the ways of God with man. And his Spirit illumines the soul within, quickens and guides the conscience, makes our own way plain before our face, “enables with perpetual light the dulness of our blinded sight.” He is the only true “light of the world”the light which will endure throughout all timethe one Teacher who cannot deceive-the one Guide who cannot lead astray! And he is the light of the world to come. “In him is the well of life; and in his light shall we see light” (Psa 26:9). The “holy city, New Jerusalem,” has therefore “no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it,” because “the glory of God cloth lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 27:1-20
The brazen altar and court of the tabernacle.
From the sanctuary, we pass in this chapter to the outer court, the principal object in which was the brazen altar, or altar of burnt offering.
I. THE BRAZEN ALTAR (Exo 27:1-9).
1. Form of the altar. The altar was a foursquare case of shittim wood, five cubits long and five broad, made with four horns, and overlaid with plates of bronze. Round it, at some distance from the ground, was apparently a ledge, on which the priests stood when engaged with the sacrifices. We must suppose that the central part was filled with earth, or with the unhewn stones commanded in Exo 20:24, Exo 20:25. The “grate of network” of Exo 20:4, seems to us to have supported the ledge, or compass of Exo 20:5. Some take a different view of it.
2. Its horns. These are rightly understood as the points in which the force or virtue of the altar concentrated itself.
3. Its uses. It was
(1) the place to which the people brought their offerings to God;
(2) the place at which reconciliation was made for sin;
(3) the place on which the parts of the sacrifices which belonged to God were consumed by fire.
Here, at the altar, were the victims slain; around the altar the atoning blood was poured or sprinkled; in the case of the sin offering, the blood was smeared upon the horns: with live coals from the altar did the priest replenish his censer when he went in to burn incense before the Lord. On this altar was laid the daily burnt-offering, together with the “sacrifices of righteousness,” “the burnt-offering, and whole burnt-offering” (Psa 51:19), by which the people expressed their consecration to God. Here were consumed the fat and choice parts of the peace-offerings, etc.
4. Its typical significance.
(1) The altar, as the place of atonement, reminded the worshipper of sin, and of his need of cleansing from sin’s guilt. In this way, it pointed forward to Christ, in whom the whole ritual of sacrifice reaches its consummation.
(2) As the altar of burnt-offering, it taught the duty of unconditional and entire surrender to the will of God. This offering up of the whole being to God in inward consecration underlies the special acts of consecration symbolised in the shew-bread, in the lighted candlestick, and in the ascent of incense from the golden altar.
(3) As God’s altar, it was a witness to the Divine readiness to pardon; yet a testimony to the stern truth that without shedding of blood there is no remission (Heb 9:22).
II. THE COURT OF THE TABERNACLE (Exo 20:9-20). On the general construction of the court, see the exposition. We have to view it as a spacious enclosure of a hundred cubits by fifty, its sides formed by linen hangings, five cubits in height, and supported by pillars of brass (bronze) five cubits apart, to which the hangings were attached by hooks and fillets of silver. The brazen altar stood in the forepart of the court; the tabernacle towards the rear. Between the brazen altar and the tabernacle was the laver. The design of this court was to furnish the people, who were precluded from entering the sanctuary, with a place in which they might still, though at some distance, personally appear before Jehovah. The court conferred a privilege, yet taught a lesson. The fact that he could approach no further than its precincts painfully reminded the Israelite that, as yet, the work of atonement was incompletethat he still stood, because of his unholiness, at a great distance from God. In the gospel of Christ, these barriers are all done away with.J.O.
Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21
The burning lamp.
God’s care for his sanctuary descends even to so small a matter as the replenishing and trimming of its lamps, Note
1. The end of the ordinance. God desires that the light obtained from the lamps in his sanctuary be
(1) pure,
(2) bright,
(3) constant.
The best light possible. Such should be the light of the Christian life.
2. The means to this end.
(1) The lamps were to be fed with the best and purest oil. The Holy Spirit.
(2) The lamps were to be duly trimmed and ordered. Watchfulness, care. The light needs to be attended to.J.O.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21
The oil for the lamp.
A special commandment was given that the oil should be pure and rich:
I. THAT THERE MIGHT BE A DUE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY OF THE CANDLESTICK. The candlestick was composed of the most precious of all metals, and it had been fashioned by the hands of an artist Divinely chosen and inspired. Great, therefore, would have been the incongruity, if any but the steadiest and most brilliant light had shone forth from this candlestick. Indeed the provision of the very best material might seem to have been self-suggested and to require no commandment at all, did we not know how forgetful, how inconsiderate human nature is. Man needs to be kept up to the mark by sharp and frequent admonitions; else he will keep the best for himself, and let anything be put forward for such a mere formality as too often he reckons the service of God to be. Still it surely would not require much thought to perceive how disgraceful a dim light would be in connection with such a glorious fabric as the candlestick presented. But there is a more glorious fabric far than this candlestick, if we only consider each human life that comes into this world; if we only consider the riches and strength that are in each one of us by natural constitution. There is something very glorious about the natural life of man, in spite of its depravity, its miseries and its mortality; and God has given us the opportunity of still further glorifying our natural life in this world by offering to make us supports such as may aid in sustaining and diffusing the light he would shed abroad amongst men. When God puts his gospel into the charge of human beings he calls attention to the peculiar glory and eminence of our nature. The more faithful his servants have been to the gospel charge put into their hands, the more they have revealed how vile a thing humanity is. God wishes us in all our connection with him to be worthy of our humanity, and to keep ever in our thoughts the gulf that divides us from even the highest of the brutes. Man is never more truly human, never more fully an exponent of the peculiarities of his nature than when he is doing his best to reveal the saving light of God to men. The Christian, no matter what he may lack in such endowments as the world values, is the best kind of man; and the better Christian he becomes, the higher he stands in that best kind wherein he is already numbered.
II. THAT THERE MIGHT BE A DUE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE LIGHT AND THE GLORY OF THE MOST HOLY PLACE. From between the cherubim within the veil God shone forth when it was so required with a glory and impressiveness which no light of human invention could rival. But outside the veil the seven-branched candlestick was ever to be lighted in the night-time to symbolise the glorious illumination which came from Jehovah himself. How important, therefore, that the light should be the very best which man could afford l Nowhere in all the tents of Israel was there to be a brighter light than that which shone in the holy place. A symbol was needed of such light, instruction and wisdom, as are not to be found in the most sagacious and experienced of men, advising simply upon the grounds of human sagacity and experience. When we look at a Christian we must be able to look at one whose light, while it does not fail in a certain sense to glorify himself, glorifies still more his Father who is in heaven. Every Christian is meant to live so as to arrest the attention of men, and make them ask whence comes the power to inspire him with such remarkable motives and make him the agent of such remarkable effects. Whereas the humiliating confession is to be made that most Christian lives are lived on such a low level that one is led to ask “Is this all?” We read of remarkable manifestations and approaches of the Divine in the way of an incarnate Son of God, a resurrection of the dead, a descent into the Church of a life-giving and transforming Spirit, so that all believers may become new creatures in Christ Jesus; and then, when we look at these professed new creatures, and see how much remains unchanged, inveterate as ever, we ask “Is this all the product of Christ’s appearance on the earthly scene?” It is a dreadful reproach that we should let our inconsistency and infirmity be made an excuse for unbelievers to mock at God. We ought to be so under Divine influences, as to combine in one the bright candlestick and the pure, rich oil; and then from us there might shine forth in a pure inviting radiance, a light such as would guide, and cheer while it guided, many a wanderer to God.Y.
Exo 27:20-21. Pure oil-olive beaten, for the light, &c. Pure oil of olive beaten (i.e. obtained by pounding or expression,) is here commanded to be brought for the use of the golden candlestick, as being most excellent, and freest from sediment. We have before observed how necessary it was that there should be a continual light in the tabernacle; and Josephus (Antiq. b. 3: ch. 8.) informs us that this was the case; though it must be confessed, that Exo 27:21 and other passages of Scripture, would rather lead one to believe, that the lamps were only lighted in the evening, and went out in the morning: see Lev 24:3. 1Sa 3:3. 2Ch 13:11 with which the expression, to cause the lamp to burn always, may well comport; for always, in the Scripture, very frequently signifies constantly, continually, regularly; and the meaning here may only be “oil for the constant supply of the lamp when it burns.” Calmet observes, that the priests entered into the holy place every morning to offer the incense, and to put out the lamps; and every evening they went in to light them again: every morning they offered a lamb for a burnt-sacrifice upon the brazen altar, and every evening they offered another upon the same altar. The Egyptians used lamps in their religious worship: they had a feast, as Herodotus tells us, (l. ii. c. 62.) called the feast of lighted lamps. Note; Provision is here made for the continual supply of the lamps in the golden candlestick, and Aaron and his sons must attend them. The oil signifies the graces of God’s spirit, which shine forth in the conversation of his people; and Aaron’s care should remind every faithful minister, how diligent he should be in his labours towards the flock, of which the Holy Ghost hath made him overseer.
Further reflections on the altar of burnt-offering as typical of the Messiah.
That Jesus Christ is the Antitype of this altar, the apostle to the Hebrews permits us not to doubt; for, speaking of him, he says, “We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle,” Heb 13:10. He says not altars, as if they were many, but an altar, speaking of one; and this altar is Christ. As the intercession of Jesus Christ was typified by the golden altar of incense, so the altar of burnt-offering represented both his satisfaction in general, and his Godhead in particular. Let us begin with the first.
It represented the Person of our Redeemer, as the propitiation for our sins. It was a brazen altar. Did it not signify the same glorious Person whom Ezekiel saw like a man of brass, with a line of flax in his hand to measure the temple; and whose feet are described, in the visions of John, like fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace? Brass is a cheap and common metal. When by himself he purged our sins, he shone not with golden lustre; for his visage was marred more than any man’s, and his form than the sons of men. Brass is a strong metal, and fit to endure the fire. Our strength was not the strength of stones, our flesh was not of brass, to dwell with devouring fire, to abide with everlasting burnings: but Christ was the mighty One, who felt the power of God’s anger, and was not devoured by the fiery indignation.It was a horned altar. This may signify the strength of his atonement, both to satisfy the justice of God, and pacify the consciences of men. It was a four-square altar: an emblem of his perpetual stability, who is the same to-day, yesterday, and for ever. It was a public altar. For the death of Christ was to be a transaction of the most public kind. It was a burning altar, on which the fire never went out. The Holy Ghost is that eternal spirit of judgment and of burning, through whom Christ offered up himself unto God, and who dwells for ever in the Son. With this holy fire the great High-Priest inflamed his legal sacrifice of atonement; and with this holy fire the royal priesthood ought to kindle their moral sacrifice of praise, which they offer by him continually.It was the only altar of burnt-offering, and, according to the law of Moses, admitted not any rival. So Jesus Christ is the one Mediator between God and man. To multiply mediators is no less condemned by the New Testament, than to multiply altars by the Old.It was an altar most holy, which sanctified all gifts. Whether we present unto God the meat-offering of alms, the drink-offering of tears, the peace-offering of thanksgiving, the heave-offering of prayer, or the whole burnt-offering of body and soul, by Christ alone they are sanctified and accepted, as the altar sanctified the gift.It was an altar which protected criminals who fled to it; though, for some crimes, they were to be dragged from it to suffer condign punishment. In Jesus Christ the guilty sinner finds a refuge from legal condemnation; nor can they fail of making peace with him, who by faith take hold of his strength, be their crimes ever so atrocious.It was an altar which nourished the Levitical priests who served at it, and were partakers with it. Even so the happy persons who are made priests unto God, and partakers of Christ, receive from him, not a natural, but a spiritual and eternal life: “For he that eateth me,” himself declares, “even he shall live by me.” Joh 6:57.
But in a particular manner his Deity seems fit to be called the altar on which he offered his humanity: for he was his own Altar no less than ours. It was not the wooden cross on which he died, that served him for an altar. Far less can the material table on which the holy memorials are exhibited, in the sacrament of the supper, deserve any such glorious epithet. Hear what himself says about the altar and the gift. “Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?” Mat 23:19. Will any dare to say, that the wooden cross was greater than the soul and body of the Redeemer who expired on it? or that the table of the supper is greater than the consecrated symbols of his body and blood? If it be impossible to find any thing greater than the humanity of our Lord and Saviour except his own divinity, his own divinity, and nothing else, must be the altar. Did the altar support the gift or victim while it was burning upon it? It was the Godhead of Christ which supported the manhood from sinking under those direful sufferings that he patiently endured. Did the altar sanctify the gifts that touched it? It was the Deity of Christ which sanctified the gift of his humanity, and imparted a dignity and value to the sacrifice of his body and soul. The sins of many are fully expiated by the sufferings of one, because he is God, and there is none else; besides him there is no saviour.
Blessed be God for such a High-Priest; such a Temple; such a Sacrifice; such an Altar of burnt-offering. We have an altar, not only in the midst of Canaan, but in the midst of the land of Egypt, to which the sons of the strangers may bring their sacrifices. We have an altar which God will never cast off; a sanctuary which he will never abhor. The great atoning sacrifice is already offered up: what remains for us, but to offer unto a gracious God the calves, not of the stall, but of the lips, and the sacrifice of praise continually.
Is not this a lively a type of the Holy Ghost in his gifts and graces bestowed upon the church? Who but the Spirit can enlighten the mind of a poor darkened sinner, to give him the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Zec 4:11-12 .
Exo 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.
Ver. 20. Pure oil olive. ] Signifying the precious gifts and graces of the Spirit in godly ministers, whose lips must both preserve knowledge, and present it to the people.
Oil olive beaten. children = sons.
pure oil. This is without measure. See on Joh 3:34
the light = the light-holder. Compare Gen 1:14.
to burn always: i.e. a perpetual light.
the Beaten Oil; the Ephod
Exo 27:20-21; Exo 28:1-14
Always in Scripture oil is an emblem of the Holy Spirit. It is His grace communicated to the wick of our character and life, which makes them capable of giving a bright light for God. This oil was pure, because none shine brightly for God who are not pure in heart and poor in spirit. It was beaten, because our best work is often the result of our sorrows. McCheyne used to say, Beaten oil for the sanctuary, referring to the care with which ministers and teachers should prepare for their work. Get your oil direct! See Zec 4:2-3.
It is befitting that we should consider the priestly garments. We minister within the curtained court; order the lamp of testimony till daybreak, and stand before the altar of incense-it is meet that we should be arrayed in the beauty of holiness. Our Lord bears our names, graven indelibly and eternally, and we are accepted in the Beloved.
oil
Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Cf) Joh 3:34; Heb 1:9. In Christ the oil- fed Light ever burns, the Light of the world Joh 8:12. But here we have not the world, but the sanctuary. It is a question, not of testimony in and to the world, but of our communion and worship as believer-priests in the holiest Heb 10:19; Heb 10:20. In the Tabernacle there were two compartments, two lights: the holy place with the candlestick (See Scofield “Exo 25:31”) the holy of holies with the shekinah, or manifested glory of God. These two places are now one; Mat 27:50; Mat 27:51; Heb 9:6-8; Heb 10:19-21 but it is important to see that there are still two lights: Christ, the Light of life Joh 8:12 through the Spirit giving light upon the holy things of God, the showbread and altar of incense; and also the shekinah, now on the face of Jesus Christ 2Co 4:6. Into this twofold light we, as believer- priests, are brought 1Pe 2:9. We “walk in the light,” not merely which He gives, but in which He lives 1Jn 1:7. But what of the command to “bring pure oil” Exo 27:20. Because our access, apprehension, communion, and transformation are by the Spirit; Eph 2:18; 1Co 2:14; 1Co 2:15; 2Co 13:14; Php 2:1; 2Co 3:18. Our title to His presence is the blood Eph 2:13 but only as filled with the Spirit Eph 5:18 do we really walk in the light.
pure oil olive beaten: That is, such oil as could be easily expressed from the olives, after they had been bruised in a mortar; and which is much purer than that obtained after the olives are put under the press. Exo 39:37, Lev 24:2-4, Jdg 9:9, Psa 23:5, Zec 4:11-14, Rev 11:4
for the light: Exo 25:31-37
to cause the lamp: Josephus says, that the whole of the seven lamps burned all night; and that in the morning four were extinguished, and three burned the whole of the day. Such might have been the practice in his time; but it appears sufficiently evident from Exo 30:8, and 1Sa 3:3, that they were anciently extinguished in the morning.
to burn: Heb. to ascend up
Reciprocal: Exo 25:6 – Oil for Exo 30:7 – dresseth Exo 35:8 – And oil Num 4:16 – the oil 1Ch 9:29 – the oil 2Ch 4:20 – burn after 2Ch 13:11 – the candlestick
Exo 27:20. Pure oil-olive beaten Not squeezed out by a press or mill, such being full of sediment; but which run freely from the olives when bruised or beaten with a pestle. To cause the lamp to burn always Josephus, who was himself a priest, says, they burned the lamps day and night, three of them being kept burning all day, and the rest being lighted in the evening. And indeed to keep them burning by day as well as night, was no more than what was necessary, for otherwise the priest must have ministered in the dark at the altar of incense; there being no windows in the holy place. Now the pure oil signifies the gifts and graces of the Spirit, which are communicated to all believers from Christ the good olive, of whose fulness we receive, Zec 4:11-12. The priests were to light the lamps, and to tend them; to cause the lamp to burn always, night and day. Thus it is the work of ministers to preach and expound the Scriptures, which are as a lamp to enlighten, the church. This is to be a statute for ever, that the lamps of the word be lighted as duly as the incense of prayer and praise is offered.
27:20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive {h} beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
(h) Such as comes from the olive, when it is first pressed or beaten.
6. The investiture of the priests 27:20-28:43
Here begins the revelation of those things that related to the Israelites’ relationship with God (Exo 27:20 to Exo 30:38). The preceding section (Exo 25:10 to Exo 27:19) emphasized the revelation of the things that revealed God’s character. The priesthood is the primary revelation in this new section.
"The approach to the Holy One, both within the biblical tradition and outside it, has always included some kind of mediatorial ministry, for it is inherent in any kind of ’high religion’ that an otherwise unbridgeable chasm exist between ineffable deity and finite mankind.
"In earliest times, of course, Yahweh met directly with His creation, which in turn communicated with Him in word and act. With the passing of time and the rise of patriarchal familial and clan structures, the father of the household functioned also as its priest, the minister who stood between the family and its God. Finally-and even before the covenant at Sinai-there had developed some kind of order of priests, as Exo 19:22 expressly declares." [Note: Merrill, "A Theology . . .," pp. 49-50.]
The responsibilities of the priests in Israel fell into four primary categories.
1. They were responsible to maintain the holy place of the tabernacle. This included burning incense each morning and evening, trimming and refilling the lamps each evening, and replacing the showbread each Sabbath.
2. They also maintained the tabernacle courtyard. This involved offering sacrifices each morning and evening and blessing the congregation after the daily sacrifice. It also meant keeping the fire on the brazen altar burning always, and periodically removing its ashes.
3. They were responsible to inspect and appraise people and sacrifices. These included lepers, wives accused of adultery, and things dedicated to the sanctuary.
4. Finally, they were to teach and counsel the people. They were to communicate the Mosaic Law to the congregation and decide difficult cases of law (cf. Leviticus 11-27).
The oil 27:20-21
These instructions concern the clear olive oil that the priests were to prepare for and use in the tabernacle lamps. They form a transition from an emphasis on the tabernacle furnishings to the priests’ ministry that follows.
The priests had to trim and refill the lamps on the lampstand in the holy place every evening. There was light in the holy place all night (cf. Lev 24:3; 1Sa 3:3).
"Oil . . . is clearly a symbol of the Holy Spirit in Scripture." [Note: Davis, p. 264. See John F. Walvoord, The Holy Spirit, pp. 21-22; and Ryrie, p. 27.]
"It was a favourite saying of [Robert Murray] M’Cheyne when discussing the method of pulpit preparation, that only beaten oil might be used in the sanctuary, intimating that careful preparation was required for all material presented for the consideration of our hearers. It is not a light thing to speak to men for God, and none of us should essay the holy task apart from very careful preparation; but when we have done our utmost in this, we must depend on the kindling of the Divine fire. Ours is the beaten oil at the best, but what is that, unless the High Priest Himself shall cause the lamp to burn?" [Note: Meyer, pp. 323-24.]
The Spirit would, on the one hand, be a perpetual source of light for them. On the other hand, He would also empower God’s people to be a perpetual light to the nations (cf. Isa 42:6).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)