The Daily Word of Righteousness

You Are My People, #36

And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. (Exodus 25:31)

And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. (Exodus 27:1)

Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: (Leviticus 23:42)

The Altar, the Lampstand, and the Booth. These are the three great symbols of biblical Judaism.

The Altar is the place of the shedding of innocent blood on behalf of the guilty, and also the instrument of fellowship with God. The Divine scales of equity can be balanced only with blood. There can be no release from the guilt and power of sin apart from the blood-offering.

The Altar speaks to the believer of the need to offer his own life so that God's will may be done in the earth.

As in the case of the other experiences and objects of Israel, the Altar has a Divine fulfillment in Christ. The guiltless Lamb of God, after having fulfilled the Law of Moses perfectly and completely, gave His blood for the remission of our sin.

The Lampstand of Israel, with its central shaft and six side-branches, has become the symbol of Jewry. The figure of the Lampstand can be seen wherever Judaism is found.

The Lampstand represents the priestly anointing of the Holy Spirit. The central shaft portrays Christ while the six side-branches speak of the elect, the Body of Christ. Six is the number of man—man having been created on the sixth day.

It is in the Kingdom of God that the eternal form and life of the Lampstand are found.

The devout of Israel, when it is possible, construct a booth each year. During the annual feast of Tabernacles there can be seen outside the homes and hotels of the Jews in Israel the structures made from tree branches, boards, and other materials.

The Booth portrays God dwelling in Christ in Israel, and finally—perhaps to a lesser extent—in all the saved peoples of the world. The Booth represents the tender agony of God, the awesome Divine love that no human being could sustain that reaches out to bring into eternal union with Himself the souls that God claims as His own possession.

The forms and practices of religion point us toward the revelation and desire of God and prepare us to participate in God's purpose. But it is in the blood, the Holy Spirit, and finally the Divine embrace, that God and man find ultimate and eternal fulfillment.

To be continued.