The Light and The Priesthood

The Perpetual Light and the Coming of the Priesthood

So over the last several weeks we have immersed ourself in the instructions of God as to the Israelite people regarding the construction of the tabernacle, its compound, its implements, its structure.

And so we have come to a place in our text now where we will sort of depart from the tabernacle, although we cannot get far from it because everything is tied back to it. We have seen so far in the pages of Scripture that each of the elements, each of the pieces of the structure, each of the areas of the compound teach us and point us forward because they are types and shadows of Christ.

They look forward to Christ coming and dwelling with men. In fact, if you were to go back and survey from the 25th chapter of Exodus beginning in verse 10 up through the 19th verse, which we completed last week, this is what you would have seen.

The price that looked forward, the peace looking forward to the coming of Christ and the truth that because of his work on the cross, we can enter into the presence of Almighty God. This culminated last week in our conversation regarding the wall that surrounded the courtyard.

And if you'll remember, we talked about that this wall represents righteousness and that as we stand inside of this righteousness, we view the silver that upholds the work of the atonement, the price that was paid, reminding us that the work of Christ provides the righteousness and also upholds and sustains the righteousness that is necessary for us and given to us by grace through faith, enabling us to enter into the presence of God.

Previously, you may recall that we have discussed the threefold office of Christ, that of prophets, of priest, and of king. As we have worked through the tabernacle this far, one of the realities that we have seen, although we have not necessarily pointed directly to the fact, is that each of this action, each of these things that we have talked about has foreshadowed the role of prophets in Christ and that it's talking about God's representation before man.

And so if you'll remember, the role of prophet is all about taking the word of God to the people of God, representing God in front of the people. And so what we come to this morning in our text is a bit of a transition point in what we are learning about Christ.

And so we are moving to that of the second office of the threefold office of Christ in the priesthood, our representative before God. Now, as we've looked at each one of these elements and what they taught us about Christ and his coming down or condescending to us, becoming flesh, dwelling with us, tabernacling as it were with his people, we have also touched on the fact that the Israelites needed a representative in the eyes of God, that only through this representative could the Israelites enter into the presence of God and represent the people.

And so this specific person, obviously, that we are talking about is the priest. And so in beginning here in verse 20 of Exodus and then continuing actually through the end of chapter 30 in Exodus, we will see not only the priesthood introduced, but the elements the priesthood, and we will elaborate on all of these things.

But before he ever gets into the specifications regarding the priesthood, God does something very interesting in the text that we are going to discuss where he provides a short transitionary piece that is actually extremely important and forms the connective tissue between the role of Christ as prophet and the role of Christ as priest.

And so this transitional piece is the formation of our text for this morning. We will be looking in Exodus chapter 27 beginning in the 20th verse, and we will read down through Exodus 28 verse 2. Along with that, we are also going to read Hebrews chapter 8.

So while we're talking for the next couple of seconds, you need to stick your finger in Hebrews chapter 8 and then flip over back to Exodus. Just hold your finger there in Hebrews 8. We'll get to it in a few moments.

And then flip back over to Exodus as we read beginning in chapter 27. And if you will, as we are accustomed to, please stand in honor of the reading of God's holy, inerrant, infallible, authoritative, and sufficient word.

Beginning in the 27th chapter of Exodus, the 20th verse, we find the following written. And you shall command the sons of Israel that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light to make a lamp burn continually.

In the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout their generations for the sons of Israel.

Verse 1 of chapter 28 says,. Now as for you, bring near to yourself Aaron and your brother and his sons with him from among the sons of Israel to minister as priests to me, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, Aaron's sons.

You shall make holy garments for Aaron, your brother, for glory and for beauty. And then if you will, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8 as we read the text from the New Testament that aligns with the text from the Old.

Beginning in the first verse of Hebrews chapter 8, we find,. Now the main point in what is being said is this. We have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister in the holy places and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.

For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the law, who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle, for see, he says, that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

But finding fault with them, he says, Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, for they did not continue in my covenant and I did not care for them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days, says the Lord, I will put my laws into their minds and upon their hearts I will write them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen and everyone his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all will know me, from the least to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful to their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.

When he has said a new covenant, he has made the first obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. Let us pray. Almighty Father, our heart is drawn out in thankfulness to you.

We are thankful for your grace. We are thankful for the gift of Christ. We are thankful for the influence and the assistance of the Holy Spirit and for the continued intercession by Christ on our behalf.

Father, we are reminded of your grace and mercy and the sweetness of our Christian service as we contemplate eternity in your presence, your continued provision in our life, and for the simple fact that you and you alone have raised us from death to life.

Father, we do not desire the favor of men, for that favor is fleeting where yours is.

Eternal.

Our desire is to serve you in whatever way that you require of us, regardless of the trial, the tribulation, or the persecution that we may face. Father, may we never cease to find your grace sufficient for our lives, and may we never confine ourselves to seek you on occasion, but to acknowledge you in all things, to glorify you in all things, to make your way ours.

To this end, Lord, we pray that you establish us in Christ, settle us, give us assurance, give us certainty that we are his and he is ours, that our hearts be filled with joy and.

Peace.

Father, we ask all of this in the blessed name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

You may be seated.

The Lampstand, the Light, and the Path to God

You may recall a few weeks ago as we were working through the various implements of the tabernacle that we discussed the instructions given to Moses regarding the creation of the lampstand that was to stand in the holy place.

During that discussion, we mentioned very briefly that one of the responsibilities regarding the lampstand was that the light be lit and be maintained before God at all times. What is interesting, however, is that after we have gone through all of the description regarding the tabernacle that we have talked about each of the implements regarding the tabernacle, God has given Moses the directions and specifications regarding the construction of the tabernacle, that here in verse 20, he circles back around to the light.

We read in verse 20 this interesting idea of the people of Israel bringing forth oil from beaten olives so that the lamp is maintained continuously, that is, continuously able to burn before God. Now it would be very easy to come to these two verses, to simply read them and dismiss them as nothing more than a simple translation from A to B.

However, when we do so, we miss the fuller, richer, deeper truths of Scripture. The first thing that we should do as we come to this section is ask ourselves why. Why did God determine to put this portion of the text where he put it?

What is the purpose behind it? Why is such a simple but powerful statement here? Now without belaboring a point, we need to be reminded that continuously as we have studied the tabernacle, we have talked about shadows and types and the ways in which the information and the specifications that God has given Moses point forward for us regarding Christ.

Overwhelmingly, that has been the main thread that we have talked about is God coming to dwell with his people. These types come together to teach and demonstrate that. This earlier section of the text has done a marvelous job and the section of the text that we are about to enter does the same thing except for talking about God's presence in the sight of his people.

We are now talking about our presentation in the sight of God. But notice, before he ever begins talking about our entry into his presence, our ability to come into his presence, our representation in his presence, there is some preparatory work that has to be accomplished and that preparatory work that we see here is the provision for a perpetual light to be in the sanctuary.

Before the priest could ever stand before God for the benefit of the people, God must be first satisfied. This claim begins all the way back in creation. Briefly, I recall your mind to the words that we find in Genesis 1, verses 1 -3.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, let there be light before a single creature was made, before a single thing of this world was made. Light had to first enter. The order, the same order that we find in creation regarding light holds true here in Exodus.

Before a person in the role of priest could come before God, the light had to be lit. The pathway had to be seen. The progression that we see along with what we have already talked about regarding types and shadows should naturally point the believer forward to Christ, before Christ could enter into the presence of Almighty God to serve as high priest on our behalf, he had to fully and finally satisfy the righteous demands of the law of God.

In other words, before he could serve as our great high priest, he had to first suffer the cross. Then and only then could he step in and intercede before the Father for each of us. If you'll note, as we have worked through the tabernacle, it has taken us from the very holiest of places, the center of the tabernacle, the resting place, the dwelling place of God above the Ark of the Covenant between the cherubim, and it has moved us from the center place all the way outward to the altar, the altar where the sacrifices were made, where the atonement was made, which sets the stage for the lamp to be able to continuously burn before God.

A .W. Pink is helpful here in his explanation when he says, thus provision having been made through Christ atonement for the lamp to burn always, that is for the unsullied holiness of God to act without compromise in his gracious dealing with poor, and I want to just clarify here for a minute because we misuse that word poor in our world.

It means one thing for us anymore. It means without wealth, but this is not talking about physical manifestation of wealth. This is talking about the poor in soul, the poor sinner dealing with poor sinners.

The way was then clear to make known the provisions which divine mercy had made for reconciled sinners to draw near to God within the veil. Now, to be able to truly begin to grasp this transition, this use of lighting, we must first understand that light was not necessary for God.

You see, if we read this in the manner and we talk about it in the manner which I have described thus far, one could walk away and say, oh, well, you know, God had to have the light before. No, God did not need the light.

We needed the light. It was for, not for the benefit of God, it was for the glory of God and our benefit. The creation of light in Genesis was for creation of this world and for everything in it. It was so that God would be glorified, but it was for the benefit of the world.

The light of the lamp stand was not so that God could see, but so that the people could see the path to him. Christ, the true light, came for but one purpose, to light, to be a light in the dark place, to illuminate the one and only way to enter into the presence of Almighty God.

Here in Exodus, we see that before the priest can properly enter, indeed, before the priesthood could ever even be introduced, it was necessary that the light burn. But I want you to note here that the light does not just burn, it burns continuously or perpetually.

That word perpetual means that it is ongoing, that it never is extinguished. And so in the Israelite camp, that light was maintained. Anytime the tabernacle was up, the light was maintained. For us, the light continuously stands in the presence of Almighty God, a perpetual intercession on our behalf in his sight.

Christ is the light that lit the way. But the Holy Spirit is the light that burns, continuously burning in our lives, guiding us, directing us. If you notice here in verse 20, it was the people that were called to bring the oil.

Again, signifying for them that this was their intent, this was their, as we would put it maybe today, their skin in the game, how they were invested in the service of God. Now, it is only after that provision is made for the light to be lit that scripture first describes the tabernacle as the tent of meeting.

Now, we have used that term, but if you go back and you read through scripture, scripture doesn't actually use that term until after the light has entered. The church would do well to pay attention. The church would do well to note that the tent of meeting, the gathering place of the people of God, was only introduced as such a place after the light entered.

The light entered. The church was only created after the light entered. In fact, one of the arguments regarding church creation and church membership that is done by cynical people points to the very limited teaching in their eyes of Christ about his church.

Most of them point to the fact that he really doesn't say much at all other than he says that he will build his church. In Matthew 16, 18, where he says, upon this rock I will build my church. But you notice that Christ didn't say, I am building my church.

He said, I will build my church. It was a future tense creation. In fact, if you look at the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter 1, beginning in verse 20, we read the following, when he worked in Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavenly places far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but in the one to come.

And he put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all. We see and recognize and understand that Christ's church was not in existence until he was exalted and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

In Acts chapter 2, beginning in the 33rd verse, it says, therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you both see and hear.

Again, the provision of the church of the Holy Spirit was only after the Son returned to the presence of the Father. Please, please do not miss this truth. Christ, the light, has entered. The lampstand is lit continuously before the presence of God.

The Holy Spirit is light within our lives that continuously light the path and guides us into his presence. Once the light is introduced, once the light is introduced into the presence before the veil, before the Holy of Holies, between the entryway of the tabernacle and the entryway into the Holy of Holies, a way to light that path because of the construction, it would have been pitch black.

Once that has been done, God proceeds forward in the introduction of the priesthood. If you'll notice here in verse 20, excuse me, in 21, he says, in the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons will keep it in order from evening to morning before Yahweh, that it would be a perpetual statute in the presence of God.

Previously in Scripture, we have talked about Aaron, and certainly as we have worked through the elements of the tabernacle, we have talked about Aaron and his sons and the ironical priesthood, but this is the first time that Scripture actually mentions them in connection with each other and in the service of the tabernacle.

Now, although the people supply the oil, God has ordained and set aside the one who would minister. So from here through the end of the book of Exodus, the priesthood will play a major part in everything.

In fact, so major that over the remaining chapters of the book of Exodus, we will see Aaron and his sons mentioned no less than 24 times. Just as it is necessary, and this speaks to the importance of the role that they are playing in the lives of people of Israel, it is imperative for our sake that Christ continues to intercede on our behalf in the presence of the Father.

Now, I want you to understand that this creates a point in the minds of some believers, and a question in the minds of some believers, and the asking of this question is framed in this way. If the word of Christ on the cross was sufficient, and if the words of Christ from that cross, when he cried out, it is finished, are true, then why is it necessary that he continually stand in the presence of God on our behalf?

And so for the remiss of the time this morning, I pray that our understanding of the answer is illuminated by the Holy Spirit through the use of Holy Scripture. Now again, we have continually talked about the priesthood as we have worked through the tabernacle in relation to how each of the elements is utilized, or how the priesthood plays into each of the elements, but what we have not done is that the text, or what does not happen is that the text itself does not mention them.

In fact, A .W. Pink points this out, nothing whatever has been said of any human agents or ministers appointed to officiate in the tabernacle service, and to delight themselves in the dwelling place of God among men, amidst the heaven-given shadows and emblems of eternal varieties which we have previously contemplated.

In other words, none of what has come before has had anything or has talked about a person being involved. But we come to this introduction of and the reality of the priesthood, but the priesthood is all too often ignored in the life of what we will call quote-unquote New Testament believers.

What has occurred in the church is that we have decided that there are certain things that just are not worth our time investing. In the early 1800s, one commentator wrote this, to a large portion of those who would be regarded as intelligent Christians.

I want to stop there and make sure we understand who this writer is talking about. He's talking about believers, and he's not just talking about your average believer. He is talking about those believers amongst the people who would be of good intelligence.

They're not geniuses. We're not talking about the Spurgeons of the world. We're talking about those who have an intelligence, who can read and who can comprehend and who can study and understand scripture.

This is what he had to say. To a large portion of those who would be regarded as intelligent Christians and who are something more than mere routine readers of the Bible, which I pray we all are, the types of the tabernacle with its priesthood, service, and offerings are barren of comfort and edification.

In other words, as they look at the priesthood and they look at the tabernacle and they look at the service and the offerings and all of the things there, they receive no comfort. Their faith is not built up.

Yet it is generally acknowledged that they are pictures by which God, in his condescension, meaning his coming to us, his alluring himself to our level, would teach his children things otherwise all but incomprehensible.

It is generally admitted also that the key to unlock these treasures of spiritual truth lies ready to the hand of every student in the New Testament. In other words, although the ability lies clearly in the New Testament and in the word of God to understand these truths, and although understanding the pictures given to us by God unlock even greater comprehension to us of Scripture, what they have done and they have decided to do at that point in time was stick their head in the sand and decide that they wouldn't study.

What's interesting is that although this quote is 200 years old, we could have been talking about the church today. In fact, I would propose that it has not gotten any better. In fact, it has worsened over the centuries.

Milk feedings continue in the church today and Christians who should be growing into maturity are starving because they are not being properly sustained in their walk. But it is necessary. Listen to me, brothers and sisters.

It is necessary in your walk as a believer, in your growth as a disciple of Christ, to dig deeper, to study harder. Now, nobody expects anyone to grasp it the first time through or maybe even the tenth time through.

I am assured with a thousand percent confidence that at the moment of our death, we will not comprehend all of what Scripture teaches, even if we were to live for a thousand years, which is not going to happen.

But it is our responsibility to dig deeper, to seek these truths, to take the time and carefully unpack the beauty, not only of God's overall plan, the overall plan of Scripture, the redemptive arc of Scripture, the reconciliation that is provided for man to be reconciled to God is absolutely important.

We need to understand that, but we also need to understand the intricate details because it is in those details that the beauty blossoms, the wonder and the awe of the sovereign most high grow and accelerate.

Another commentator wrote notably in this case with the subject before us, what hazy and inadequate ideas concerning the priesthood are entertained by the average believer. In other words, we know very little about the priesthood.

And the problem with knowing very little about the priesthood is that when we know very little about the priesthood, how can we ever comprehend Christ as our high priest? That the Lord Jesus is the great high priest of his people, he knows.

But as to the place of Christ's priesthood, the nature of its activities, its relation to other truths, especially to redemption, the design accomplished by it, the blessing secured from it, the portion which the saints enjoy by virtue of it, are most definitely, indefinitely defined in the minds of most.

In other words, we simply, for the most part, believers do not grasp. And so we return to the question at hand. If the work of Christ on Calvary's cross was sufficient and if the words of Christ from Calvary's cross, when he screams out, it is finished, are true and real, then why must Christ continue to stand in the presence of God on behalf of the people of God?

And the answer is simple, but yet, it is not. Complex. The simplicity of the answer is shown here in verse 21, and we'll come back, but the complexity will be revealed over time. But I want to focus in on the simplicity that we find here in verse 21.

First of all, we should be reminded that the work of Christ on the cross accomplished all that it was designed to accomplish. You need to understand and walk out of here today in full assurance that his work is absolutely sufficient, that his work is absolutely finished when it comes to providing for you to enter a place in the presence of Almighty God.

His work was to secure our place, to ensure that we could enter by providing for us the righteousness that we need because he atoned for our sins. This is the grace, the unmerited favor of God that is given to his people by faith in that work, the work of Christ's death fully and finally securing our place.

But you need to understand that there is more to it throughout the New Testament. Throughout the New Testament, the words of Christ, the teachings of the apostles under the direction of the Holy Spirit, all of these things speak of living a life worthy of the salvation that you have been given.

They talk of how you run the race. This is where we get to the priesthood, the grace that enables us to enter into the presence of God, the grace that brings us to a point where we can enter into the presence of God, where we can accept and have faith in Christ now sustains us in the presence.

The priesthood was all about maintaining the relationship between the people and Yahweh. If you think for just a moment, and we don't have time this morning to do a deep dive into the priesthood, we'll do that over the next few weeks as we work through these chapters in front of us, but if you'll think for just a moment, the entire life of the priest was all about ministering in the tabernacle, taking care of the sacrifices, doing the work of atoning for the people by following the rules that are set before him, entering into the presence of the Almighty God on our behalf.

The priesthood hasn't changed. The priesthood is still about him maintaining our place. Christ secured our place before the Father in his role as prophet, his work on the cross, his atoning sacrifice, and he maintains our relationship as our priest.

Again, pink is helpful. Its need arises from the fact that sinful nature remains in those who have been bought with a price. It is to meet the failures of a people who when they could or would do good, evil is present with them.

This evil which causes them to offend in many things makes the priestly ministry of Christ so essential. He is interceding on our behalf. As we move through the text, what becomes more evident is as we study Aaron and as his sons that are introduced for us here, there becomes these striking realities that we see between the priests and Christ.

First of all, let's begin with the fact that God makes a very interesting choice in the person that he chose to be the priest. As we have worked through the book of Exodus, you may recall because we've probably said his name at least once or twice, Moses was the main guy.

He was the mediator between God and man. In our way of thought, most of us, if we sat down and we said, okay, we need to decide who is going to be our representative before God, then we probably would have chosen Moses.

After all, he's already the leader. He's already in the presence of God. Why not? Who better to stand? Yet God chose Aaron, the lesser brother. It's also interesting to note that while God, both Moses and Aaron are of the tribe of Levi, in Genesis 49, 5 -7, we learn something interesting about that tribe.

The tribe of Levi was actually under a curse. Now, I know we're all under a curse. I get that. But they were under an additional curse because of Levi himself. We read this, Simeon and Levi are brothers.

Their swords are implements of violence. Let my soul not enter into their council. Let not my glory be united with their assembly, because in their anger they killed men and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.

Cursed be their anger, for it is wrong, and their wrath, for it is cruel. I will divide them amongst Jacob and scatter them in Israel. If you know anything about the tribe of Levi as we move forward, they're the only tribe that isn't given a specific portion of land in the promised land.

They're spread out between all of the tribes. But the tribe itself was under a curse. Not only was the Levites under a curse, and not only was Aaron the lesser brother, at the time of God's choosing, Aaron was with the people leading them in worship of a golden calf.

Now, there are some who would say, well, this is just obvious. God doesn't know what he's doing. I would say that it speaks more to the marvelous grace, the magnitude of the grace of God. It was the unmerited favor of God that chose Aaron.

Aaron was certainly not worthy, but his grace, the grace of God allowed him to serve as priest. It should remind us of the gift of grace that we have been given in the form of Christ, our great high priest, something that none of us could ever deserve.

None of us could ever work hard enough to achieve. Truly, it was the unmerited favor of God to give his people Christ. We also may take note of the meaning of Aaron's name. The name Aaron actually means very high, and Aaron stands not just over his house, but over all of Israel as a high priest.

This makes Aaron himself a type or a shadow of Christ who is to come. What's interesting to note is that Christ was identified in Hebrews as the great high priest. This is the only time in all of Scripture and Christ is the only person in all of Scripture who has had the adjective great added to the title high priest.

Again, elevating him. Not even Melchizedek received this elevation. Along with this, along with the name Aaron and what it means, we also have the sons of Aaron. Nadab means willing. Abihu means my father is he.

Eliezer is the help of God. And Ithmar means the land of palm. One commentator had this to say regarding the names. These four words afford a little prophetic intimation of characteristics attaching to the house of which the son of God is the head.

Deriving its life from the father, and all its power and help from him, following in the footsteps also of its blessed master, in yielding, willing, and not constrained service to God, and like palm trees, lofty in righteousness and ever bringing forth fruit.

This should be a description of the church. Part of this quote comes from Psalm 92, 12 -14. The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree. He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon, planted in the house of Yahweh.

They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age. They will be rich and they will be fresh. Finally, we need to note the structure of the statement made in verse 1 of 28.

Now it's a little difficult to see in this particular English translation, although the truth is still there. Other translations translate it just a little bit different. But the statement is, now as for you, bring near to yourself Aaron, your brother, and his sons with him, from among the sons of Israel, to minister as priests to me.

What you cannot see here is that although there are many priests, there is but one priesthood. Although each one of Aaron's sons is mentioned, the description here in the original language is that they are united in priesthood.

Indeed, throughout history there would be multiple priests. It gets to the point where in the time of Christ there was one elected and they rotated the high priest job on a basis. So not the same person didn't serve every single year because there were so many priests.

But if you think about this singularity in the priesthood, and you think back over what we have talked about with the tabernacle thus far, the idea of one should jump from the pages. In fact, we have seen the truth of one way.

We have seen that God has chosen one people. We have seen that God has chosen for himself finally one priesthood, just as the priesthood of Aaron was inseparable from the people of Israel. They could not continue to be the people of God apart from the priesthood of Aaron, so to our great high priest is inseparable from his church.

Remove Christ and the church no longer exists. How wonderfully this demonstrates for us that Christ ministers in the presence of the Father for his people, and for his people alone. As we have worked through every detail of the tabernacle thus far, the elements, the priesthood, the perpetual light.

These things are not merely ancient rituals. They are a divine foreshadowing of the work and personage of Christ. The light that burns continuously in the sanctuary was not for God's benefit, but for ours.

A picture of the true light, Christ himself illuminating the one and only path to the Father. It bears repeating, and it will bear repeating until we are called home. That it is only by Christ atoning work that we may stand before a holy God, and it is only by his continued intercession that we are sustained in that presence.

The priesthood of Aaron was a shadow, but Christ is the substance. If you remember from Hebrews chapter 8, he is the great high priest who entered a sanctuary, a temple, a tabernacle, a heavenly place where it was not made by man but by the hand of God.

Which brings us to the final question that we all have to consider. If God has made such a provision, if Christ, the true light has come, and the Holy Spirit now dwells with his people, what excuse remains for those who refuse to walk in the light?