The Light of the World

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:3).

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge (Psalm 19:1-2).

Light was the first of God’s creation as He spoke into the darkness of nothingness. Ever since, in ways we won’t understand this side of eternity, outer space and the sky declare the Lord’s glory. The countless stars in a myriad of galaxies spinning around the universe reflect the glorious presence of the Creator. Day and night those heavenly bodies speak of unseen things above … if we listen to their voice.

As a boy, one of my favorite past times was looking into the night sky. I didn’t grow up in a home with money, but somehow my mother scraped together enough to buy me a telescope so I could gaze at the heavens and dream of the wonders unimagined. Though my eyes are now dimmed, I keep staring into the night sky with anticipation.

In the days of Israel’s wilderness wandering, God instructed Moses to build a tent where He would meet with His people wherever He led them. This tabernacle of His presence sat at the center of the camp, reminding Abraham’s descendants that God was ever-present among them.

Inside the tabernacle was total darkness but for a golden lampstand with 7 individual lamps. This alone lit the Holy Place with it’s table of daily bread and simmering altar of incense. The lampstand was to burn continually and only Israel’s High Priest was permitted to attend to it (Leviticus 24:2-3).

But before “In the beginning” of Genesis and the candlestick in the tabernacle, the Gospel of John reveals In the beginning was the Word … in Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4). Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star and Sun of Righteousness who reveals the Father in Heaven and sheds spiritual light upon us that we may see and follow Him (Revelation 22:16; Malachi 4:2).

The light of creation’s first day and the golden lampstand in the tabernacle of God’s presence among His people point to Jesus, the light of the world (John 8:12). Do you see Him and His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14), or are you in the dark?

God’s Sole High Priest

Almond trees are native to Iran, but are now widely cultivated around the world. More than 2 million tons of almonds are harvested each year, nearly half of them in the United States.

The seed of the almond tree can be eaten, ground to flour, and pressed to create a drink. The fatty oils in the nut are useful in cooking. The almond is also highly allergenic, the source of the poison cyanide, and is extremely prone to forming toxic molds.

It requires 3.25 gallons of water to grow a single almond smaller than the end joint on your little finger!

In Biblical lands, the almond tree has been a symbol of resurrection for millennia. Before leaves form, the tree produces white or pink blossoms as early as January while there is still snow on the ground. By August, when every leaf has died and fallen to the ground, the nuts are finally ready for harvest.

Numbers 17 tells how the people of Israel argued that there were many ways to God’s presence and not Aaron alone. To silence every self-appointed minister, God commanded each of the twelve tribal leaders to carve their family name on a walking stick. The 12 sticks were then put in the tabernacle before the ark of the covenant.

Overnight, God supernaturally invigorated Aaron’s walking stick so that it produced flowers, leaves, and mature nuts all at the same time! This miracle not only silenced those who said they had the right to boldly enter the presence of God on their own, but fixed Aaron as God’s sole high priest for Israel.

The Bible says of Jesus, Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

Because of His resurrection from the dead, Jesus was made the great High Priest of the Church. He alone is qualified to both present and represent God’s people before the throne of God. Through Christ alone, we are assured of the heavenly ministry of grace, mercy, and help in our times of spiritual need.

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Our Worship is Idolatrous

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! (First Kings 8:27).

The center of godly worship in the Old Testament was never in an old tent carried through the Wilderness, nor in an ornate building on a hillside in Jerusalem. The true center of worship was God Himself, the One who dwells in Heaven rather than in buildings made with hands.

While preaching in the city of Athens, the Apostle Paul explained, God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things (Acts 17:24-25).

Our worship of the Father is in spirit and in truth. Our worship is through Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Worship is not about a place or efforts of our own. If our worship goes no further than a building, a tradition, a ritual, a priest or pastor, or a Sunday experience, our worship is idolatrous.

Lifting the Veil on Sanctification

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Exodus 32-34 details Moses’ response to Israel’s worship of the golden calf. In their false worship, Israel broke the Ten Commandments they’d twice previously agreed to obey. In his anger at their sin, Moses slammed the two tablets of stone to the ground, illustrating Israel’s disobedience.

One result of Israel’s sin was God’s refusal to dwell in the midst of His people. Instead He’d remain far off (Exodus 33:7). Sin separated God and man.

From outside the camp, Moses would enter the tabernacle of meeting to hear from God and then bring God’s message to the people. Moses became the mediator between God and man.

Whenever Moses met with God, his face shone like a lamp, reflecting the majesty and glory of God. The glow terrified the people because it revealed God’s perfect holiness and the darkness of their sin-corrupted hearts. After delivering God’s word, Moses would veil his face – not to hide the glory of God – but to hide the fact that the glory quickly faded from his own face (Exodus 34:30; 2 Corinthians 3:13). Moses’ veil protected the people from God’s judgment but also kept them from being transformed by God’s glory.

In Second Corinthians 3, Paul uses the shining face of Moses as an illustration. Many people only see the Bible as a series of stories, God’s wrath, commandments impossible to comprehend or comply with, and difficult sayings. Sin veils the heart from seeing Jesus in Scripture, the primary reason Scripture exists!

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16). When we follow where the Scripture leads – which is always to Jesus – we see Him in all His glory and can’t but help to love, adore, obey, and worship Him alone.

Now we all, we who trust in Jesus by faith, have the veil of separation removed and we find ourselves looking in a mirror. The shadows are replaced by a crystal clear revelation of Jesus. As we lovingly gaze at His image revealed in Scripture, something remarkable happens to us: the Bible becomes ever clearer and we find our own image being transformed bit by bit, from glory to glory, into Christ’s moral likeness and character. This is sanctification!

The Tabernacle and Christ in You

Replica of the Tabernacle in Timna Park, Eilat, Israel

When Israel reached Mount Sinai, God called Moses to the mountain and there gave the people a covenant of law. Obedience to the Law brought God’s blessing, disobedience brought His curse. As Moses descended the mountain, he found the Israelites engaged in gross sin, violating each of the Ten Commandments of God.

In his righteous anger, Moses smashed the two stone tablets to the ground breaking them into pieces, symbolic of Israel’s literal breaking of the Law.

Moses was so disgusted with Israel’s sin that he took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the Lord went out to the tabernacle of meeting (Exodus 33:7). Outside the camp, Moses pleaded for God not to abandon him and the Jews in the desert, but to personally go with them to the land He’d promised (Exodus 33:12-17).

Moses’ own tent was soon replaced by a tent of God’s own design. The Bible spends one chapter describing the creation of the universe, but 5 chapters describing the Tabernacle of Meeting (Exodus 35-39)! God’s design was portable so it could be erected and taken down at His command. It was a visible symbol of His presence with His people all the way into the land He promised and was personally taking them to possess (Exodus 33:15; 40:34-38; 2 Samuel 7:4-7).

But once Israel was firmly established in the Promised Land, God and His people we no longer on the move. David and his son Solomon built a permanent temple structure in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 7:8-17). Neither He nor His people were moving. He was with them and worthy of their worship, and the world would see His glory.

No building today symbolizes God’s presence. Jesus came into the world to tabernacle among us (John 1:14), but when He ascended to Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell within His people. We are the temple of the God (1 Corinthians 3:16), the symbol of His presence in the world (Ephesians 2:14-18, 21-22). His glory is exhibited within you (2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 1:12; 3:21; 1 Peter 4:14). As the world looks at the believer, it gets a glimpse of Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).