Messianic Education Trust
		Emor   (Lev 21:1 - 24:23)

Vayikra/Leviticus 24:3   Outside the Curtain of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, Aharon shall arrange it, from evening until morning before the L-rd regularly, a statute for ever, for your generations.

View whole verse and interlinear translation ...

Our text comes from a little set of verses that appear to repeat the original instructions concerning the burning of the lamps on the menorah in the Holy Place at the end of the instructions for building the Tabernacle. There - Shemot 27:20-21 - the focus is on the obligation upon Israel to bring the carefully prepared pure oil as a part of the provisions that they are to make for the daily operation of the Tabernacle, whereas here - in the instructions for the ritual of the Tabernacle - the focus has shifted to the duties of the priests during the daily service. Aharon is specifically named in the text, but since the service was to endure "for your generations", this is a shorthand for "Aharon and his descendants, the priests." The Who Is ...

Sforno: Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (1470-1550 CE), Italian rabbi, philosopher and physician; born in Cesena, he went to Rome to study medicine; left in 1525 and after some years of travel, settled in Bologna where he founded a yeshiva which he conducted until his death
Sforno reports that "though the kindling of the lamps and the burning of incense could [and would] be performed by an ordinary priest in future generations, during the wilderness journey only the Kohen HaGadol did this as a matter of holiness due to the proximity of the pillar of cloud and fire over the tabernacle."

In the three verses of instruction (vv. 2-4) the word תָּמִיד, tamid, appears in each verse. Although David Clines tells us that it is properly an abstract noun meaning 'continuity',¹ that is sometimes used with a definite article, הַתָּמִיד, to signify "the regular burnt offering" (Daniel 8:11) that was offered each day in the Temple, it is often used as an adverb meaning "continually, regularly or always". In our verse, the CJB chooses 'always'; the NASB, NJPS and NRSV offer 'regularly'; the NIV, NKJV and TLV have 'continually', while the NJB prefers 'permanently'. Among the individual translations, Richard Elliott Friedman uses 'always', Robert Alter opts for 'perpetually' and Everett Fox has 'regularly'. Baruch Levine explains that "whether used as an adjective or (as here) an adverb, [tamid] has the sense of regularity. It does not mean 'forever, always'. In practice, the lamp in the sanctuary burned only from evening to morning, as verse three states explicitly. The requirement that the lamp be lit in all generations is not conveyed by the word tamid, but by the formula, [at the end of the verse] " חֻקַּת עוֹלָם לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶםa statute forever, for your generations."

How much oil was needed each day? The Mishnah answers "three and a half logs - a half log for each lamp" (m. Menachot 9:3). The Sages of the Talmud calculated that "this is the required measure so that it may burn from evening to morning" (b. Menachot 89a). Mizrachi explains that "this was sufficient for the menorah to burn throughout the night, even on the longest nights of the year. Although the menorah would burn far into the day when the nights were shorter, this was not a problem and avoided failure at any time with a standard measure for each lamp."² Who Is ...

Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105 CE), French rabbi who wrote commentaries on the Torah, the Prophets and the Talmud, lived in Troyes where he founded a yeshiva in 1067; focuses on the plain meaning (p'shat) of the text, although sometimes quite cryptic in his brevity
Rashi adds that "it is sufficient even for the nights of the winter season. This measure was fixed throughout the year." Rab reports that "even though the westernmost lamp [the lamp nearest to the Most Holy Place] had only the same quantity of oil as all the others", it would burn all day so that it could be used for re-kindling the other lamps when they had been refilled in the evening, "as a testimony to mankind that the Divine Presence rests in Israel" (b. Shabbat 22b).

What is the light for? Moshe reminds The Name ...

HaShem: literally, Hebrew for 'The Name' - an allusion used to avoid pronouncing the Tetragrammaton, the so-called 'ineffable' name of G–d
HaShem that "Your cloud rests over them and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night" (B'Midbar 14:14) - what could be the reason for the menorah to be kindled for a light through the night? After all, as Rabbi Sheshet said, "during the entire forty years that the Israelites travelled in the wilderness they travelled only by His light!" (b. Shabbat 22b). The pillar of cloud and fire was a regular part of daily Israelite routine all that time. Samuel Balentine comments that, "given the tabernacle's extension of creational imagery, it is reasonable to suppose that the perpetually burning light sustains the memory of G-d's abiding promise to create light out of darkness."FootNote(3) Every time anyone sees the light burning in the darkness, they are reminded that HaShem created light and separated it from the darkness (B'resheet 1:4). Erhard Gerstenberger wryly observes that "G-d forfeits none of His power, even as the sun goes down."⁴

Walter Kaiser suggests that "the significance of the olive oil and the burning of the lamps before the L-rd ... can best be found in Zechariah's vision of the golden seven-branched lampstand" with "two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left" (Zechariah 4:3, ESV) that supply its oil. There, he says, "the lampstand symbolised Israel as G-d's congregation, who in turn was to give the light of life to the world." Pointing to the middle verse - "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the L-RD of hosts" (v. 6, ESV) - he comments that "the nation's ability to share this light with the world depended on the supply that came from the Spirit of G-d and the ministry of the high priest in the holy place."⁵ When the High Priest kindles the lamps on the menorah each evening, he lights a flame within the people Israel that is fed by the Spirit to empower Israel's witness to the nations.

Think, if you will, of what it must have been like, those thousands of years ago, travelling through the wilderness and camping around the tabernacle each night. No matter how dark it is, the light in the tabernacle always burns, blinking out from the open doorway of the tabernacle; always shining, always steady. If anyone wakes during the night, afraid or alone, the light in the tabernacle shows where the presence of HaShem is to be found. Perhaps, although HaShem had commanded it, the light is the human response to the pillar of fire: the Israelites letting heaven know that we are still here too! Yeshua's command, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16, ESV), is still looking for our response, is still waiting for us to let heaven and earth know that we are still here!

As we wait for Yeshua's return, we live in a time of increasing darkness. The prophet warns, "the day of the L-RD is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!" (Joel 2:1-2, ESV). Darkness already covers many people and they cry out for release. Yet the words of the prophet - "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined" (Isaiah 9:2, ESV) - that Matthew applied to the people of Nazareth and Capernaum in the days of Yeshua's earthly ministry are still describe us today. We may live in deep - and increasing - darkness, but the light is available for all those who want to see it. As the light in the tabernacle at night was a constant reminder that G-d still existed and where He was to be found, so the light burning in us - the light of Messiah - is an ever-present reminder to the people of our world and time that G-d still exists and is still calling them.

So why hasn't everyone become a disciple of Yeshua and turned from their wicked ways to follow Him? Yeshua has the answer for that one too: "this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil" (John 3:19, ESV). The light may be shining, but many folk simply don't want to come to the light because they love the darkness; they love where they are and what they are doing. They don't want to change and come into alignment with the values and authority of the kingdom. Some are honest enough to admit it: "I don't want to become a follower of Yeshua because I don't want to change my life in the ways that will require; it is just too expensive right now." Some brush the issue aside, trying to pretend that it doesn't really exist, that it is just religion made up by men. Others swear and cuss, shouting at us for daring to interrupt their lives with all this judgemental nonsense. At the root of it all is that the world is - in various ways and flavours - in rebellion against G-d; they refuse to accept His authority over their autonomy, His love of them over their own love of self, His light over their darkness.

As followers of Yeshua, our job is just exactly the same as Aharon. We are to trim the wicks, fill the lamps and kindle the light so that it burns through the night, even in the longest, darkest nights of winter. We are the current expression of the tabernacle, where the presence of G-d still dwells by the Spirit of G-d. We are the priests who tend the menorah, charged with keeping the light burning, regularly, as an everlasting statute for all our generations. We may live in darkness, but the light burning in the people of HaShem still shines, is still calling people home and is still the light of comfort in the middle of the night of people's lives when all around is black. Yeshua said, "I am the light of the world" (John 9:5), and has delegated this role to us, hence "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14). We shine His light and introduce people to Him so that He may kindle His light in them too. This is what Yeshua said to His first disciples: "Come and see!" (John 1:37). Can you do that too?

1. - David J. A. Clines (ed.) The Concise Dictionary of Classical Hebrew, (Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009), page 489.

2. - A super-commentary on Rashi's Torah Commentary, by Elijah Mizrachi of Constantinople, 1455-1526 CE, the Grand Rabbi of the Ottoman empire.

3. - Samuel E. Balentine, Leviticus, Interpretation, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2002), page 79.

4. - Erhard Siegfried Gerstenberger, Leviticus: A Commentary Old Testament Library, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), page 336.

5. - Walter C. Kaiser, "Leviticus" in The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary Vol I, edited by Leander E. Keck, (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2015), page 639.

Further Study: Isaiah 30:9-11; John 9:39-41; Philemon 4-6

Application: Is your light shining clearly and brightly, burning the golden oil of the Spirit, penetrating the shadows and bringing clarity of vision to those around, enabling them to see who and where they are? Make sure you have a fresh supply of oil and a clean wick by calling the Chief Lamplighter today and booking a service call with Him right now.

Comment - 09:59 18May24 Kelila Hunter: Wonderful drash full of teaching and instruction. I love how you bring the practice of our brothers and sisters during Temple times and make it completely relevant for how we live out our daily lives today.

Buy your own copy of the Drash Book for Leviticus/Vayikra now at Amazon US or Amazon UK.

© Jonathan Allen, 2024

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