The Lamp of the Lord: “The Royal Priesthood”
Proverbs 20:27
Speaker: Missionary Joanna Pae
Service: Shiloh's Saturday Bible Study
Date: October 3, 2020
The “spirit” of man is the Lamp of God
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord.” Thus, the spirit of man is God’s lamp. This means our spirits must be bright for God to reach out and grab them (Pro 20:27). Rev Abraham Park said if our spirit is bright then God would say, “I would call him as my man who will fulfill my will.” And He will grab hold of us and use us as a “flashlight.” God has so many places to shine through us. Therefore, when we are called by God and used as His mighty instrument how blessed will we, our families and even our nations will be? So let us truly be focused on the Word of God so that we become the spiritual oil for our spirit to burn brightly so that we can be held in the right hand of our God as a very bright flashlight to shine against this world of darkness.
When do we need a lamp?
A lamp is necessary when it’s very dark and the Bible repeatedly emphasizes we need a lamp when the Messiah comes. So when is the day of the Lord? The scriptures testify that the day of the Lord, the coming of the Lord will not be in the daytime but will be at nighttime. That is why we need a lamp. Moses said in the time of the exodus, “The day of deliverance will happen in the night of the Lord” (Exod 11:4; 12:29). Prophet Amos also said, “The day of the Lord will be darkness” (Amos 5:18, 20). Prophet Zechariah also prophesized about the future and the end time and said, “The second coming will be during a time of darkness” (Zech 14:1-7). Even Jesus Himself said through the parable of “ten virgins” that we need to “prepare a lamp for the Lord” who will come at night (Matt 25:1-13). Even the Apostle Paul spoke of the second coming and said, “The Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thes 5:1-2).
History of the Exodus
Redemptive history in the Bible foreshadows what’s to come (Isa 46:10). God declared the end from the beginning and all these things recorded in the Bible happened to the Israelites as an example for us (1 Cor 10:11). This is why we study “redemptive history” and the Scriptures because they teach us from what took place in the past and what will happen in the future so that we can be ready. When we look at the time of the “exodus” and the last plague, the tenth plague that struck the “firstborn” the word “night” appears repeatedly and God’s execution of His judgment will happen at night (Exod 11:4; 12:12, 29-31). Hence, the “victory” of freeing the people of God takes place at night which is a promise that God had made in the “covenant of the torch!” (Exod 12:41-42). This is the formula that we must remember as we also as Christians wait for the return of the Lord (Amos 5:18-20). Jesus Himself tells us to prepare a lamp and oil, for His return will happen at midnight (Matt 25:1-13). It is very important that we have a lamp and oil. We must be thankful that we are already the lamp but just being the lamp is not good enough.
We must become a functional lamp that can burn and shine brightly. Therefore we need oil (Matt 25:3-4).
Because it’s night, God prepared a lamp for His Anointed
God says, “I have “prepared” a “lamp” for Mine anointed” which is referring to the Messiah (Psa 132:17). The presence of the word “lamp” implies what time the Messiah will return, at night.
The verb “prepared” is (arak) in Hebrew meaning “set in order or array, and line up.” When a lamp is just about to go out God replaces it with another, thus “lining up a lamp,” until the coming of the Messiah. God entrusted the duty of preparing a lamp to none other than Aaron the high priest and his sons from evening to morning, which is night time “continually” which means forever until the coming of the Messiah (Leviticus 24:3-4). There is a record of 77 generations of the high priest scattered throughout history and these 77 generations of high priest are the lamp of God (Prov 20:27).
Why did God commission the high priests to keep and prepare the lamp?
There is a distinction between the high priests and the regular priests. First, priests are deeply involved with men’s sin because they are the ones who make atonements for sins. Hence, everybody in the temple service is involved with sins where animals are slaughtered for a burnt offering for the atonement of sins. Secondly, the duties and role of the high priests is unique, for one day out of the year on the “Day of Atonement” which is the 10th day of the 7th month they enter the “most holy place.” Aaron and his household were mediators between God and the entire nation of Israel and only the high priest would enter into the “most holy place,” where the Ark of the Covenant is to make atonement for his own sins, the sins of his family, and for the rest of the entire nation of Israel (Lev 16:17). Their job climaxes on this Day of Atonement. And to the high priests God entrusted this duty in lining up the lamp until the coming of the Messiah. In the day of deliverance from Egypt, as soon as God brought out the Israelites and spoke to them for the very first time in human history the first thing He said was, “I want to make you as My priestly nation” (Exod 19:6). Hence, God wanted the entire nation of Israel to become His priestly nation to mediate between the rest of the world and God. This is God’s purpose for delivering the Israelites. Likewise, we need to become these priests and our nation must stand as the priestly nation for we are receiving the Word of redemptive history. God said, “You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod 19:6). The word “kingdom” means (kingship) and we have the priests. Together, this is called the “royal priesthood.” This is God’s desire for you and me. So, we must be very good at lining up the lamps in order which means keeping our lamps bright. It also means that we must be very good at atoning for sins.
Conclusion: We must remember two things. First, God will come during the time of “night” and He has asked us to prepare a lamp with oil that is burning brightly. Secondly, God has already prophesied it in the Old Testament that He was going to prepare a lamp and entrust this duty to the high priests for the purpose of atoning for sins so that His people can be without sin and we as the priestly nation can ultimately become the mediator between God and the rest of the world. This is the vision that we want to keep as we study the royal priesthood.
