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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Seven Furnishings of the Tabernacle, #18
And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. (Exodus 30:7,8)
Thus we see that the seven lamps were tended twice each day by the high priest—at sunrise and in the evening. At sunrise the wicks were trimmed and the lamps filled with oil. In the evening the lamps were lighted and burned through the night.
The Lampstand was to be kept lighted throughout the night, just as the Presence bread was to be kept on the table continually. Also, the fire was to be kept burning on the Altar of Burnt Offering that stood outside the door of the Tabernacle.
The Lampstand represents the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, as described in I Corinthians, Chapters 12 and 14. The Courtyard of the Tabernacle, the location of the Altar of Burnt Offering and of the Laver, was illuminated by sunlight. The part of the Christian experience typified by the Altar of Burnt Offering and by the Laver, that is, the accepting of Christ's death on the cross and water baptism, is conducted while we still are walking in natural light, so to speak.
But once we enter the Holy Place of the Tabernacle there is little sunlight, little "natural" light. The Holy Place is lighted by the Lampstand. The seven lights of the Lampstand represent the gifts given by the ascended Christ during the "evening of the Day of the Lord," that is, during the two thousand years of the Church Age.
The fact that sunlight illuminated the Courtyard, while the Holy Place was lighted by the Lampstand, means that the understanding, knowledge, and wisdom of the Church are not to come from the natural "light" of the world but from the revelation and manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God.
As the disciple presses into Christ each day he learns more and more to discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit and leans less and less on his own understanding.
During the Kingdom Age we will pass from the light of the ministries and gifts of the Spirit to the light of Christ Himself, to that which is perfect. That which is perfect is the Fullness of the Father and the Fullness of the Son through the Fullness of the Spirit dwelling in the members of the Body of Christ.
Christ always walks in the fullness of the Glory of God, not in ministries and gifts. Paul explains this transition in I Corinthians, Chapter 13 when he indicates that the gifts of the Spirit are temporary—incomplete in the ability to reveal God, and are not a sign of maturity. Rather, they bring us to that which is perfect—the fullness of the Glory of God in us.
The Lampstand was lighted at night. This tells us that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are for the "evening" of the Day of the Lord, which is the two-thousand year Church Age. During this period we see through a glass dimly. When we come to the "third day," the Kingdom Age, we shall be in the "morning" of the Day of the Lord. Then the gifts, the flashes of light from the darkness, no longer will be needed. We will have that which is perfect.
To be continued.