You older Christians, don't forget. You are being watched not under a magnifying glass, but just the strength of memory to be that older saint that the younger ones say, I remember.
So and so. And I wanted to be like that guy when I got to his age. And the day will likely come where you will get there. And you'll be able to say, Am I like them or not? It's Meaningful.
This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Leviticus. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio. specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Leviticus chapter 24 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Leviticus chapter 24. Lamps, Showbred, and Law. In this chapter, the Lord gave Moses instructions concerning four holy things. The first three are are obvious.
the holy oil for the lampstand in the Tabernacle, the meeting place. of God with his people. Instructions concerning the holy bread. The holy name of the Lord, Yahweh. There's an incident concerning his name.
And then the sanctity of life. That is the fourth topic in this section, and there'll be a little bit more to go with it. The responsibility, though, of light bearing, which will be the first one we'll get to, Their privilege of communion, which the bread speaks about. The lampstand's an easy one. That's the bearing of the light.
The bread is. the privilege of having companionship, friendship with God. And I hope you teens appreciate that even at your age. Don't wait to be old to start appreciating. These wonderful things from Scripture, and you're going to need them.
If you're going to serve well, Then the holy name of the Lord well, adherence to the commandments and the sanctity of life, which goes all the way back to Genesis chapter 1, being man being created in God's image. These are the things about the book of Leviticus that are so attractive to believers. Holiness, the purity that we crave so much that awaits us after this life, but we begin to familiarize ourselves with it now. And so the psalmist wrote Yahweh, I have loved the habitation of your house. and the place where your glory dwells.
Well, the psalmist is writing about The things that Moses is writing about. Long after Moses, and we appreciate it all.
So we look at verse 1. Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives. For the light. to make the lamps burn. continually Well, if the people were to benefit from the ministry of the priesthood, They were, to contribute to it, and to support it.
And that's why he says, command the children of Israel to bring to you the pure oil. in God's prescribed manner. Not according to whatever whim landed on the people.
Now, there was a single lampstand in the sanctuary or the holy place. If most of you are familiar with how the tabernacle was laid out, the floor plan, you'd come in as the holy place, and to your left would be this lampstand that had seven lamps on it. And to the right would be the showbread, the table, a little table there with the twelve pieces of bread or loaves of bread. And then again to the left, a little further close to the veil. That Separated the holy place from the holiest of places.
Was the golden altar where the incense was offered. And we'll come back to that also. Because it is in the the The teaching for the words given to us by Moses.
Well, when he mentions bring pure oil, unmingled. If it were bread, we'd say unleavened, but it's oiled. no additives. And many ministries they lose their light or their light dims and People stumble in darkness. Due to additives to impurities in their ministry.
They begin to attach themselves to things that are contrary. to scripture.
So, what goes into the lamp matters. That's what God is saying. I want the people to support the ministry. I want them to bring things that are pure. without additives.
Because what goes into the light, I know I'm repeating myself because I think it's that important. What goes into you matters. losing the light due to unfaithfulness or Irresponsibility is a threat.
Something we need to be mindful of. Jesus said to the church at Ephesus: Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. Repent and do your first works, or else He could have stopped right there. Just or else. But he does not stop.
He says to that church, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.
Well, at the back of the sanctuary facing the pulpit, there is a seven-stemmed lamp. That's for me. more than for you. as to remind me that the Lord can take the light. If I'm irresponsible, if I'm unfaithful, if I'm not fighting the things that make us irresponsible and unfaithful, I understand that Jesus cleanses us.
I understand that as concerning the lampstand, the priest had to maintain it. They had to trim the wicks. They had to make sure the oil, the right kind of oil, was in it. They had other duties they had to fulfill also. I know Jesus cleanses us.
Peter said to him, You shall never wash my feet. Peter thought he was saying the right thing. Jesus answered him, If I do not wash you, You have no part with me.
Well, we know that was not a one a single event. Is Recurrent cleansing. Just like blood constantly flowing through our veins, pumped through our body.
So is the grace and the cleansing and the forgiveness of God. What? happened inside the holy place was more important Then anything that happened outside of the holy place. Because It impacted what happened. If the priesthood failed, the people would fail.
And these lessons somehow are lost. on the church and I I don't know why.
Well, I know why spiritually, the flesh, the carnality, I understand that. But you would hope that enough expository preaching would have greater effect on Christianity. At least I thought it would have a greater effect. When I got to Virginia, I said, boy, they're going to love verse-by-verse teaching.
Well, many have. But many have not. seem to appreciate it. There's nothing I can do about that, but try to stay faithful. And and you know how that is.
You think you're going to share the gospel with somebody in Christ and it doesn't turn out the way you had hoped, but you understand is no less true.
So That is not to say, when I mention that what happened inside the sanctuary affected what happened outside, that does not mean to say that what took place. In the camp of the Jews was unimportant. It was vital. It was totally important, but they are connected. When the people rule the priests, you have a breakdown in holiness.
And that will happen to Israel. Trouble looms when the spiritual leaders are not leading, they're overruled. And we'll come to that again also, and we should learn to embrace this. It's hard, as we Americans, you know, we love our freedom so much. We let people have authority, but so much.
And, you know, we've got to stay close to the scripture. That's the safest place. And all will come down to who is the Lord. Our understanding of him.
So not only are we to share the fellowship of the Lord's suffering, As Paul boasts, well, Paul said that I may be found in him. In the fellowship of his sufferings, as he prayed in Philippians, but we also are to be in fellowship of his service. the entire life. Don't wait. until you know you've retired from work or The kids are out of the house, and you're an empty nester.
Don't wait for that to happen before you serve. You should sign up instantly. To serve, to get with the Lord, where can I be useful? To not only you, Lord. but to others.
And you can't really be useful to the Lord if in some way it does not help others. If the people were irresponsible, then the light would go out in the presence of the Lord. And so Moses puts it on them again, verse 2: Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil. of pressed olives. The priest had enough to do.
The people had their responsibilities also if they wanted the light to shine. in the meeting place with God. Because that's what the temple represented, God meeting with his people. In verse 3, outside the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before Yahweh continually. It shall be a statute forever.
in your generations.
Well, outside the Holy of Holies. The holy place, as I mentioned before, in the furnace.
Well, because that veil that separated. The holy place from the entrance that when you first, when the priests first walked in, because nobody else could go in there. The Levites could come in when they were going to break camp. But only after the priests covered all the articles. They weren't even to look at them.
And so when you come into the holy place, the veil separated.
Well, behind the veil, was the Ark of the Covenant. That held the word of God, the rod of Aaron, the authority I alluded to earlier. the manner, the provisions of the Lord, And on that chest was a lid, the mercy seat, and that was with the cherubim facing each other. And once a year on Yom Kippur, the priest would go in, and on behalf of himself and the people, he would Gain atonement. covering of his sins.
So, this outside the veil of the temple is not behind where the Ark of the Covenant is, but it is where the showbread is, the lampstand, and the incense altars. And if you're a new student to the Old Testament, there are two primary altars that belong to the temple: there's the brazen altar where the blood offerings were, then there's the incense altar. inside The holy place.
Now we know that Jesus is our light because we're still on the topic of the lampstand. Jesus said in Matthew 5. That we too are the light. In John 8, Jesus spoke to them again, saying, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.
Well, this is tied into the lampstand. In Matthew 5:14, you are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. This should be things About your Christianity. that you cannot hide.
And the world will create those circumstances where you cannot hide it. They'll offer, they'll ask you to get you involved in something that you know you're not supposed to do, and you're going to have to stand up to them. And you teens especially learn that now when you enter into the workplace. And somebody wants to get you to do something that you know is wrong, stand up to them. I'm not doing that.
It's not what I believe. You might be surprised to find You may make converts out of them. They don't mind standing up to you with their darkness. Stand up to them with the light. They can't find that light anywhere.
The individual believer and the assembly of believers are to be his light. In this dark world there is no other source. We're it. You can read about more of this in Revelation 1, verse 12. Matthew 5, 16.
Ephesians 5.8. Philippians 2:15. That's just four places. It's all over the New Testament. It's in the Old Testament too.
Verse 4. He shall be in charge of the lamps. On the pure gold lampstand before Yahweh continually. You get the sense that there's a passion. that belongs to this.
That starts from God and has worked its way to Moses.
Well, it's given to Moses, and now it's being given to the people. He shall be in charge of the lamps. On the pure gold lampstand before Yahweh all the time, continually. The lampstand required Vigilance As did the altar. Place of light, the place of sacrifice.
They go together. I wish it were just light. One day it will be. Leviticus chapter six and the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not be put out. Verse 13: A fire shall always be burning on the altar.
It shall never go out. Every Christian wants their inspiration to be just like that. And if you're going to have that kind of inspiration, it's got to come from the inside out, not the outside in. If it comes from the outside, now you're dependent. Oh, I hope the song is the song I like.
I hope the preacher preaches on the verses that I like. See, that's external. But if it's well, reg regardless of whatever they sing or preach on, I love the Lord, He loves me. I know this, and I'll be able to join whatever He is doing through song or preaching. And so as the priests were to keep The fire on the altar Burning, they were to keep the lamps within the tabernacle burning, and we are a royal priesthood to keep the word and the witness.
radiating Psalm one nineteen The entrance of your words give light. It gives understanding to the simple. See these other verses on light? are there for Preachers Whether you're preaching the gospel or you're expository preaching or you're preaching on a particular subject, whatever it may be, those verses are there to cross-reference because they mean something. unless by faithlessness they don't.
But by faith they mean the word. World to us, verse 5, and you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes. With it? Two tenths of an ephoth shall be in each cake. And you shall set them, verse six, in two rows, six in a row.
on the pure gold table before Yahweh.
Well, we're not going to talk about the eFoth. And how much flour. You can look up that stuff that's secondary right now. But what I would like to concentrate on now It's the bread. and the tabernacle, the six loaves.
Each tribe had representation. Each loaf Had a name of a tribe. On it before the Lord.
Well, the priests didn't put any names on it, they put the bread there, but God saw. And the people would know what the symbolism was. It would be what we call a no-brainer. It assured them That they were ever in the presence of God. Even though they never saw that table.
They never got to see the loaves in there. Only the priest's eyes could see that the people had to, by faith, accept the The word of Moses that came from God, and they had to. Trust that the priest did due diligence. to what they were supposed to do. And so when I say that each tribe had representation, when we fast forward many centuries to Hosea the prophet, and his heart is broken over the condition of the people, as God's heart is broken.
We see that the tribe Of Ephraim, that he's going to single out, which is in dire spiritual trouble. is before the Lord. He's not lost sight of them. He says, How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel?
My heart churns within me. My sympathy is stirred. There's passion there. And for the prophet to Preach it, and I believe they preached most of what they wrote. They first preached it, then they wrote it.
And I believe that the prophet Hosea is hard as much as it. Agonized over the spiritual state of the people. It could not agonize more than God. The people were always before the Lord. In verse 7, he says, And you shall put frankincense on each row, that it may be on.
the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to Yahweh.
Well, now placing the incense to burn at the head of the row, flavored the bread. Years ago, early in the morning, I was driving somewhere when I lived in New York. And I wanted a cup of coffee, so I pulled over to a diner. Diners that I miss so much. But anyway.
I got a cup of coffee and I saw this big cookie. Right on the counter. And I'll have that.
So I got the cookie and I get back to my car and I go to eat the cookie and I couldn't because the smell of cigarettes. Was all over the cooking.
Somebody sitting at that counter, smoking away, blowing their smoke out. Getting it all over the cookie.
Well, that's the negative. The positive is here. That the frankincense will get on the bread. I'm just saying, I've experienced that cross-contamination, but in this, it's not a contamination. It is a blessed additive.
The room smelled like frankincense. I'm glad it's not the room smelled like Frank. But it smelled like frankincense. I wish Frank were here because he'd get a kick out of that. Maybe if you can if we're here at the same time and you see us on a Sunday, remind me of this, if you would, so I can point it out to him.
Anyway, that's an inside joke, and that's how I'm covering it. The bread, of course, back to the serious side, speaks of the people. Don't lose sight of the fact that tribes are made of people. people. Nations are made of people.
Neighborhoods are made of people.
Well, what's an you know, the old saints would call them souls. And that's what they are. That means they're going somewhere when they die. Serious business belongs to the Christian life. It should.
Well, the two stacks of six loaves representing the 12 tribes of Israel there on the table. This means that the people who were not allowed in the tabernacle still had representation. By faith, they knew it. The manner from heaven speaks of the Lord Jesus and his care. for us as Yahweh cared for them in the wilderness.
You know what I was thinking about? I was thinking about Caleb. What am I going to preach on? And so I'm toying around and Caleb comes to mind. Caleb Caleb finally gets his land.
And he gives us a a healthy chunk to his daughter. And He gets this beautiful patch of land that he fought for because he tells Joshua, I'm 80, but I can still fight and I can take this land. He does that. But he doesn't bring up the fact that because of unbelievers within. His own Israel He wasted forty of his best years in the desert.
And he doesn't, there's no indication of a grudge. I'd be pretty peeved. I say, man, look at this land, now I'm too old to work it. Catob, he didn't have that view. You older Christians, don't forget.
You are being watched not under a magnifying glass, but just the strength of memory to be that older saint that the younger ones say, I remember.
So and so. And I wanted to be like that guy when I got to his age. And the day will likely come when you will get there. And you'll be able to say, Am I like em or not? It's Meaningful.
When the bread was removed, It was given to the priest. And they could eat the bread, the priest could. in a holy place. In other words, in the presence of God. Presumably, the frankincense was burnt upon the altar, the golden altar.
Because we read here in verse 4 of verse 7, pardon me, of a memorial.
So, and you shall put frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord.
Well, the bread will not leave the table and go into the fire, it'll be eaten, but the frankincense. will most likely assume that role. Verse 8, Every Sabbath He shall set it in order before Yahweh, continually being taken from the children of Israel. by an everlasting covenant. Because we have an everlasting God.
Well, the showbread, as it's called, because it was there to show this. People of God, that God was mindful of them, would provide for them because we need bread to live. But the showbread, because they were Yeah, but Continually before the presence of the Lord. This bread was prepared. by the Levites.
So the Levites had a vital role. It wasn't: well, why do they get to be the priests? Why do they get all of that?
Well, they were in a support role that was vital. 1 Chronicles 9: The sons of the Kohathites were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath. Can you imagine the honor behind that? The honor behind coming into a church and preparing a children's class for these little toddlers that are coming in, all the older ones that are coming in, is an honor. It should be.
It is an odd.
Sometimes I'm tired, I don't feel like preparing. to track down everything, to make sure, to fact check myself. But it is an honor be tired because of such things.
Well, Josephus, back to the text, explicitly says that these loaves were unleavened.
Well, we're not surprised by that. The older bread was eaten by the priest, and the new bread was put in its place. It would be. This upkeep is another word I want, but I can't find it. But anyway, There came a time when David came to this temple, and he got to eat the bread, him and those men that were with him, that were very hungry.
But that bread was for the priests. What happened there? And we fast forward to the New Testament, and Jesus supported the whole thing. He said to them, Have you not read what David did when he was hungry? That's Jesus cross-referencing Scripture, because there it's there also for that.
He and those with him, Jesus said, how he entered the house of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful. for him to eat. nor for those who were with him, but only for the priest.
So what's going on there? A higher law When in conflict with a lower law of God, suspends or limits the lower law. And that takes away the conflict. One law overrules another law. Without violating it, without taking it away.
I love the, like, Idios Alan Redpath, I get this one from. The law of gravity is overruled by the laws of our aerodynamics. ideally. The law of gravity remains, it's always working. But aerodynamics overrules it.
And it functions well.
So the higher law of mercy suspended the lower law of ritual. That's the point Jesus is making. There are bigger things than ritual. There are souls to be dealt with. and sustaining their life is a part of that.
Thanks for tuning in to today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Pastor Rick Gaston is currently going through the book of Leviticus. We're glad you joined us. We trust that you're gaining some valuable insights into God's Word as we go through this Old Testament book. Cross-reference radio comes to you from Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia.
If you'd like to subscribe to our podcast, you can do so by going to your favorite app store and downloading from there. For any additional information about this ministry, we invite you to visit our website, Crossreference Radio.com. Make sure to come back again for the upcoming edition in the book of Leviticus, as Pastor Rick has much more to share. We thank you for being with us right here on Cross Reference Radio.
