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Ex. 27
One verse in this chapter got my attention this morning. It was verse 20, “You shall charge the sons of Israel, that they bring you clear oil of beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually.” It was the word, “beaten” in association with the continual light that got me. My mind immediately went to two separate New Testament passages.
The first is from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16) Interestingly, Jesus made this statement right after saying that we are blessed when people persecute us because of Him. Which brings me to the second passage, from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians. “….we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (2 Cor. 4:8-10).
So back to those beaten olives and the application of all these scripture passages. What I see is that it is the persecutions and struggles of life that produce in us the oil needed to keep God’s light shining in us continually. Can we serve God faithfully when things are going great? Of course we can, and most certainly should! But consider what Satan said about Job. “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge about him and his house…?…You have blessed the work of his hands…” (From Job 1:9-10). God’s glory and our eternal blessing shine brightest when the chips are down.
John 6
Andrew was one of the first to believe who Jesus was. He left John the Baptist to follow Jesus when John pointed out who Jesus was. I can see in John’s telling of the feeding of the 5000 that Andrew still wanted to believe. It was he who suggested the five loaves and two fish to Jesus, though he did so with some uncertainty. I imagine he felt a little ridiculous offering such a meager amount to fill such a huge need. Thus, rather than confidently presenting the provisions, he added the statement, “but what are these for so many people?” (Jn. 6:9b). His human reasoning watered down his faith.
Prov. 3
“Do not let kindness and truth leave you” (Pr. 3:3a). I love how this verse partners kindness with truth. Today’s culture would have us believe that truth isn’t kind. What people really mean, however, is that truth often isn’t nice. But “nice” and “kind” are not the same thing. I actually looked this up, and the most concise way I came up with to define the difference is that niceness is cosmetic while kindness is sincere. You could also say that the primary concern of niceness is self, while kindness is borne out of a genuine concern for others. Thus, truth is almost always the kinder thing, even when it is hard. I think, especially in the more difficult cases, that gentleness is likely the tie that binds the two.