Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
Numbers 8
Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” 3 And Aaron did so: he set up its lamps in front of the lampstand, as the Lord commanded Moses. 4 And this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold. From its base to its flowers, it was hammered work; according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstand.
5 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 6 “Take the Levites from among the people of Israel and cleanse them. 7 Thus you shall do to them to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them go with a razor over all their body, and wash their clothes and cleanse themselves. 8 Then let them take a bull from the herd and its grain offering of fine flour mixed with oil, and you shall take another bull from the herd for a sin offering. 9 And you shall bring the Levites before the tent of meeting and assemble the whole congregation of the people of Israel. 10 When you bring the Levites before the Lord, the people of Israel shall lay their hands on the Levites, 11 and Aaron shall offer the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the people of Israel, that they may do the service of the Lord. 12 Then the Levites shall lay their hands on the heads of the bulls, and you shall offer the one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering to the Lord to make atonement for the Levites. 13 And you shall set the Levites before Aaron and his sons, and shall offer them as a wave offering to the Lord.
14 “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. 15 And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. 16 For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. 17 For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, 18 and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. 19 And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”
20 Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. 21 And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, and Aaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. 22 And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them.
Retirement of the Levites
23 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “This applies to the Levites: from twenty-five years old and upward they shall come to do duty in the service of the tent of meeting. 25 And from the age of fifty years they shall withdraw from the duty of the service and serve no more. 26 They minister to their brothers in the tent of meeting by keeping guard, but they shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Levites in assigning their duties.”
So the Lampstands, what do we know of them?
They stood in the Temple Solomon built. More were added.
2 Chronicles 4:7
And he made ten golden lampstands as prescribed, and set them in the temple, five on the south side and five on the north.
Jeremiah 52
2 In the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month—that was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon—Nebuzaradan the captain of the bodyguard, who served the king of Babylon, entered Jerusalem. 13 And he burned the house of the Lord, and the king's house and all the houses of Jerusalem; every great house he burned down. 14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, who were with the captain of the guard, broke down all the walls around Jerusalem. 15 And Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poorest of the people and the rest of the people who were left in the city and the deserters who had deserted to the king of Babylon, together with the rest of the artisans. 16 But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
17 And the pillars of bronze that were in the house of the Lord, and the stands and the bronze sea that were in the house of the Lord, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all the bronze to Babylon. 18 And they took away the pots and the shovels and the snuffers and the basins and the dishes for incense and all the vessels of bronze used in the temple service; 19 also the small bowls and the fire pans and the basins and the pots and the lampstands and the dishes for incense and the bowls for drink offerings. What was of gold the captain of the guard took away as gold, and what was of silver, as silver.
The Lampstands and all the Mosaic Tools went to Babylon.
Winston Churchill wrote History is recorded by the victors. And Winston intended to be one of the victors.
In one of those unusual - Israel belongs to the Living God Almighty - twists - The Babylonian Chronicles absolutely mirror the Scriptures and we know 2 Ades March 16 597 B.C. was the day of 2 Chronicles 4. The Chronicles Nebuchadnezzar did indeed fulfill his promise to the King of Judah for leniency. And we see what food and supplies were given to...
Jeremiah 27:20
which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon did not take away when he carried Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, along with all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem--
2 Kings 24:12; 25:27-30
King Jehoiachin of Judah, along with his mother, his servants, his officials, and his eunuchs surrendered to the king of Babylon.
These facts, create some solid faith, leading to this story of prophecy requiring more faith - - -
Daniel 5:4-6
4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone.
5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king's palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king's color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.
26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”
Belshazzar's Feast painted by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
The Lampstands continued to be considered by the Lord during the second Exile.
And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.
Rebirth! Although obliterated - Israel is Reborn! The Lampstands and Tools return as a gift from the Emperor of Babylon - setting Slaves free to rebuild!
James Tisson - The flight of the Prisoners
Ezra 1:11
In all, there were 5,400 articles of gold and of silver. Sheshbazzar brought all these along with the exiles when they came up from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Ezra 2:1
Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken captive to Babylon (they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town)
Psalm 85:1
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. You, LORD, showed favor to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
Did we stop there? No!
Hebrews 9:1-3
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place.
Take a second and absorb it. This text, Hebrews 9, goes on to say the Temple is in operation. It is not written in 400 A.D. In faith, the Bible says the daily sacrifice will stop. The Sacrifice stopped at 70 A.D. - the year Jesus would have died of old age.
Why did the sacrifice stop for the last 2,000 years after the 2nd Temple was destroyed, but not for the 1st. The correct answer would be Jesus. Our Advocate.
Give us This Day.
Matthew 6:22
“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light."
We see through life just as a veil - to what will be.
2 Corinthians 4:6 †
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Do we stop here? No, we go forth. Just as Daniel saw the man in the midst of the fire of the Babylonian Furnace.
and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
Proverbs 3:5:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:6:
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Lord, our Father God, from Zion, we lift our hearts to You and Bless You Father God. You made the Heavens and the earth we seek your blessings from here to Zion. In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen
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