In the days of old, wise priests tended to the temple lampstand (menorah) located in the inner court of the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Hanging goatskins and hides at its entrance prevented natural light from shining into the room. According to the Lord’s command through Moses (see Exod. 27:20), the lamp—which represents the Lord’s presence among His people to give them wisdom and revelation—had to burn continually. Thus, the priests kept the wick trimmed morning and evening. They kept plenty of fresh, pure oil made from pressed olives on hand so that the light could burn continually (see Lev. 24:2).
This lampstand illuminated the inner court of the tabernacle so that the shewbread, which symbolizes the Word of God (see Matt. 4:4), and the altar of incense, which represents worship and intercession (see Ps. 141:2) would be visible.
One day, the lampstand in the temple was about to go out. Eli the priest’s eyesight had grown dim; little remained of his visual acuity. This was true not just in the natural but in the spiritual. The land was dry and void of the word of God; the word of the Lord was rare, and visions (revelation) were not widespread. The Hebrew word translated “widespread”—parats—means “to break through or down or over, to burst, to breach; to break or burst out (from a womb or enclosure).” Very little breakthrough revelation burst through in those days; the understanding of God was not widespread. Eli’s sons, who were also priests, were evil, and they lustfully feed their desires while the spirituality of the nation died. Though he knew what his sons were doing, Eli did nothing about it or about the thirsty flicker of the fire in the lamp that needed fuel (see 1 Sam. 3:1–3).
About that time, the Lord raised up a spiritually perceptive young man named Samuel, a true seer prophet. Samuel was the opposite of Eli and his sons. He had 20/20 spiritual vision and served the Lord as a faithful priest who grew in stature before the Lord and whose words never fell to the ground (see 1 Sam. 3:19). Samuel spoke out of the realm of watching to see what God would say. He believed that the “Thus sayeth the Lord”—the word of the Lord—would reap much fruit, that it would be busy accomplishing God’s desire. This principle is explained in Isaiah 55:10–11:
For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Samuel saw it, heard it, and pronounced it as accomplished. Because of Samuel’s friendship with God and his keen spiritual sight, God accomplished much through him. His is an example we must follow.
Our words carry weight, and they are about to weigh a lot more—as a result of seeing and hearing the Lord well. God desires to give us a continuous supply of the fresh oil of wisdom and revelation, like the menorah, keeping us illumined so we might be the Father’s light in the world. The result of Samuel’s spiritual sight and faithfulness was great manifestation of God’s glory and power on the earth. The same will be true of us. When Jesus said He could do nothing of Himself, but only what He saw the Father do (see John 5:19), He was showing us the connection between spiritual vision and Kingdom works. Seeing is the first step. When we have eyes to see, the Father shows us what He is doing and invites us to join Him in it.
Pure Fuel for Your Eyes
Jesus explained this further in Luke 11:
No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lamp stand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.—Luke 11:33–36
When our eyes—our faculty/ability of knowing—are good, our whole bodies are also full of light. (The King James Version translates this “when thine eye is single,” meaning focused.) In Greek, the word translated “light” is phos, which means “a bright character”; it comes from a root word meaning “a heavenly light, such as surrounds angels when they peer upon earth with a countenance; anything emitting light; a star.” Perhaps, for some, star sounds too much like the New Age. However, it’s biblical. The Lord spoke through the prophet Daniel that, in the last days, the wise will shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.
Daniel prophesied that many would be purified, made white, and refined and that the wise would understand, but the wicked would not (see Dan. 12:3,10).
Our spiritual eyes are the gate that controls our whole being and our perception of life. We need pure eyes, taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ (see 2 Cor. 2:5). Interestingly, the root word for light in the Luke 11 context also means, “like a fire that releases light; like a torch.”3 Jesus called John the Baptist a “burning and shining lamp” (John 5:35). To be that fiery torch of the Lord, full of light, we must be walking with the Lord in full surrender and obedience, in purity of heart.
To be the fire that releases God’s light, first we must be the pho—the light of His purity and character. Thus, our ability to see and to shine are connected to the purity of our hearts.
This is not an isolated instance. The same Greek context for the word light appears in other significant verses of the Bible. Let’s examine a few examples:
The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light has dawned. —Matthew 4:16
This, of course, speaks of the coming of Jesus the Messiah. Seeing Him literally brings a dawning of light. Here’s another familiar verse:
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. —Matthew 5:14
Those who see Him become lights, reflecting His glory!
Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
—Matthew 5:16
This is the light that illuminates from the inside out, the inward gleaming of the bright character. We must be careful not to let darkness have any place in our hearts but instead to cast it out by being full of light. If we are walking with the Lord, His light will always cast out darkness. In Luke 2:32, Jesus is spoken of as the “light to bring revelation to the Gentiles”—the light that casts out the deepest darkness and transforms completely. (Check out other verses on light, such as 1 Peter 2:9 and 1 John 1:5.)
Refining the Eyes of the Heart
Not only was Jesus the light that purifies, but He explicitly connected purity with spiritual sight:
Blessed are the pure [clean, purified by fire] in heart for they shall see [with the mind, perceive, know, become acquainted with by experience] God. —Matthew 5:8
Refining brings a greater definition to our lives; it releases focus and engages our spiritual eyes. Refining brings defining! Our purification is similar to a vine being cleansed by pruning so that it can be fit to bear fruit. It is the filtering of a mixture to remove what is false. It is the process of becoming sincere and genuine, blameless and innocent. God desires that we would see ourselves as He sees us—innocent through the blood of Jesus. When we do, we will sing like Isaiah:
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, and He has covered me with the robe of righteousness… —Isaiah 61:10
In Christ Jesus, the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness cover us. Where we were once naked, we are now covered. This is what God sees when He looks at us. When we start to see how He sees, our hearts go through that purifying process. What an incredible reality!
No comments:
Post a Comment