In my grandmother’s home, there is no set time for meals. All waking hours are considered appropriate for the one, all-day meal of grazing. If you are spotted without a plate in your hands, she furrows her brow and inquires with concern if you need someone to fix you a plate from the options on her table. On one visit, I slipped into the kitchen at 6:30 in the morning to find plates of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, okra, my favorite vegetable soup, and a chocolate cake already laid out as she stood by the stove frying leftover ham and scrambling eggs for breakfast.
In her ninety-seven years, she’s experienced more lean seasons than seasons of plenty. She is at rest only when she knows every person in her presence is full—preferably without experiencing even a moment of hunger pangs. Filling us physically is her gift of comfort and affection.
We see a glimpse of what it means to be spiritually filled in today’s readings about the lampstand oil. The priests are instructed to fill the lampstand with pure oil regularly in order to keep it burning. The lampstand, in doing the work of providing light to the tabernacle, also served as a constant reminder of God’s presence.
This picture of a lampstand is one Scripture returns to again and again. Jesus says He is the light of the world and gives the same responsibility to His followers (John 8:12, Matthew 5:14). The apostle Paul describes us as children of the light, a reflection of Christ through the work of His Spirit (Ephesians 5:8).
We are meant to be small lights twinkling in a dark world. But I fail at this on my own, often. A biting retort to someone I love, frustration with my toddler trying to put on his shoes, indifference toward the struggles of a friend. When prayer feels worthless, or when love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control seem like futile options against so much darkness.
The instructions for the lampstand in Exodus 25 describe seven bowls shaped like almond blossoms with wicks placed in them. This isn’t a candelabra. The fire in this lampstand kept burning because it was filled regularly with oil from an outside source, not from burning its own wax like a candle.
“Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD of Armies.
—Zechariah 4:6
These words in Zechariah remind us again that the source of the light is not us.The Lord shares a picture here of limitless oil, in the form of two olive trees, flowing straight from the source to directly fuel the lampstand. He tells Zechariah that this is the work of the Spirit.
We aren’t replenished by our own strength, or by our own might, but by the Spirit. We have access to what we need in the Spirit; we have fuel from the source. We have this gift from the true Priest who constantly fills us. As we are filled with His Spirit, we become more and more reflective of Jesus. We slowly begin to see the fruit of His faithful, everyday presence and the influence of His light in our lives.
Not by strength or by might, but by the Spirit.
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35 thoughts on "The Lampstand Oil"
Who is like the Lord?
Thank you Father for your word.
Lord let your spirit guide me! I love you Jesus I worship and adore you just want to tell you Lord I love you more than anything I lift my hands in total adoration unto you you reign on the throne cause you are God and God alone because of you my cloudy days are gone and I can sing to you this song I just want to say that I love you more than anything! Lord let me continue to love through it all as you have so graciously loved me in spite of you have extended your amazing grace and mercy! Lord I thank you for the love of Jesus and your love for us to let him make the ultimate sacrifice Lord you are good and your mercy endureth forever! He loves us oh how he loved us that he rescued us from sin so we may be free in Christ and those who are set free are free indeed! Love! Love! I love you! Bless you Jesus!
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Excellent thoughts today
I don’t even know how to put into words all my thoughts from catching up on my reading. I am filled with such love and peace when I read. I have never read through The Book entirely and I have never been so inspired to do so! Thank you SRT! My heart is full!
Welcome back Taylor. I will add these things to my prayer list and know that you are covered by so many of us here in the SRT sisterhood. Praying for you sweet girl. We got ya…
Thank you for the breakdown of these verses, it made so much more sense to me after. I love what you said about being “twinkling lights in a dark sky.” Beautiful insights!
I love seeing all of the verses in a new light. God uses every detail to point towards Jesus.
Lord please help me in my work on my assignment tomorrow. Let me be a source of your light.
Lord fill with the Spirit so my light can shine and enlighten this dark world. May everyone know and believe in our Savior Jesus Christ!
HEIDI – that is perfect unsolicited advice!! TAYLOR – I am so impressed with your commitment to God bringing you the perfect partner in life.
Am I going crazy or did we skip exodus 26:1-13? Yesterday only had verse 14 and today continues from there.
What a great day to “check in”. I get to read a great devotional, hear from Taylor (been missing you), and enjoy, be enlightened by your comments. I’m working on a different study on fruits of the Spirit so mostly missing this Exodus study & all y’all. I’ve been checking in to keep up with prayer requests & be praying. Can’t be without my SRT family!
Taylor, so fun to see your name again! Praying for all your requests and have a wonderful time exploring Europe!
TAYLOR- so good to “see” you again :) That’s a lot going on you’ll be in my prayers… hopefully you can find an area to let up a little and provide yourself a little rest (but as someone who’s ALWAYS doing too much, I get it!!!!)
I want to offer you a piece of unsolicited advice ;) As you navigate this new relationship, let yourself just enjoy what is there and leave the rest in Gods hands. Some relationships are brought to us for learning and growing, and some are intended to have more permanence. So if this relationship is a “forever” one- then God already has plans for that and will orchestrate it with the same detail He did the tabernacle (seriously!). So I just want to be an encouragement to you to just keep seeking after God and fulfilling his purpose for you and rest in the enjoyment of new relationships, however long they are in your life. He totally has you- there’s nothing you need to do but keep seeking Him and just enjoy what’s in front of you :) :)
TAYLOR – praying for all your requests. Did you find and move into a new apartment?
I love that God provides a way to be present with His people through the tabernacle. What a wonderful God we serve who provides a way in to His presence. The oil stands really stood out to me today. What an example of His desire to constantly fill us so we never have to be empty. He instructs us to be the light and provides a way every time. Praising Him for His gracious provision.
Oh GrammsieSue and others, I too feel the same, I usually skim but such a fresh light this study! Thanks for sharing Heidi, so insightful! I too looked up some images and an article with insight, so good!
Praying for your Taylor, I have missed you!
Have a good day She’s!
I like GRAMSIESUE finds myself skimming over all these details. ADD kicks in. I’m so thankful for the devotional by Jessica to shed light on these scriptures. “The source of light is not from us. The Lord shares a picture here of limitless oil. We aren’t replenished by our own strength, but by the Spirit.
Thankful for this reading today. Fill me Lord each day so I can reflect You! Help me to be in Your word daily and seeking after You always. ❤️
Or he was the son of a king, an aristocrat ** not a king himself
“Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit,” says the LORD of Armies. — Zechariah 4:6
I easily fall into pride and forget it is the Giver of Life who has gifted me. I pray to remember I only accomplish good by His Spirit. He said this to an earthly king! How easy Zerubbabel could fallen into pride, too! He had so much power. But it is God who put him there in authority.
Dorothy — prayers for healing and peace in your family, especially Carol. May she feel loved by you, God, and may Be comfort her.
In a couple of the podcasts they’ve drawn attention to the way this entire story, from exit from Egypt and provision in the desert and now the construction of the temple, relates and shadows the creation/fall story. In that context, it struck me today that God has been WAITING to once again dwell with His created children the way He did in Eden. Only, bc of the fall, He couldn’t do it in the same way. In the beginning, GOD CREATED His garden to dwell in. He did all the work. In the temple, we see the curse of man – “he will labor to get anything from the earth”- as we see the people are told to do the work of creating the space for God to dwell with them. BUT. So cool, we also see that even though God put forth that curse, He also provided the instructions and materials for them to be successful in His plans for them. It’s like a parent seeing their teen be irresponsible with finances and so they stop giving them gas money and expect them to get it on their own… But they don’t just leave them to find the money on the side of the road, they then also provide a means of work/chores/etc for them to earn the money. It’s a beautiful reminder He doesn’t just leave us ANYWHERE or in anything despite how badly we may deserve it. Even in His judgments and consequences He stays present and provisional.
Father help me be a woman that is only at rest when I know I’ve shown You to every person in my presence so they may be filled!
You know, at 63 years old, I have read my Bible through many times. And these descriptions of the tabernacle and all of the details involved…I usually just skim over them. Maybe think to myself, “God is a God of details”, so He cares about the details of my life. What a shallow person I am. Sigh But today! Oh my stars! “The lamp stand kept burning because it was filled regularly with oil from an outside source. The source of our light is not us. We are replenished by the Spirit…as we are filled with His Spirit, we become more and more a reflection of Jesus. Not by strength or by might, but by the Spirit.” Such a great reminder of how important it is for us to meet with Him everyday, study His Word, meditate on it, pray about it, and let it sink into our souls. Oh ladies, I am so grateful that God keeps growing me through the years so that my reflection of Him gets a little bit more clear as I get older. I am singing praises to Him! Hugs to you all. ❤️
Father, fill me afresh with Your Holy Spirit today. In Jesus name, Amen
Not by our might or by our power but by the Spirit!
This truly is beautiful. Psalm 18:28 For it is you who light my lamp;the Lord my God lightens my darkness. (Psalm 18:28 ESV).
I didn’t realize the bowls were crafted without any wax inside!! They had to be FILLED with Oil!! And the Holy Spirit is that Oil! So Cool!
Hi SRT family <3
I haven't been here in quite some time. It's been a very busy season but I miss you all and think about you all regularly. I miss being in the Word regularly, and hope to join back again with you in the next study. I would appreciate your prayers in a few areas.
1. I'm feeling quite stressed managing my full time job and my side job of officiating field hockey. I have college games almost every Friday, Saturday, Sunday for the months of September and October and it feels daunting to juggle so much.
2. Another prayer request is that today we are putting my 22-year-old cat down today. It is time to say goodbye but we will miss him so much.
3. I leave for Europe for 2 weeks tomorrow! So prayers for safe travels and good health before, during, and after my trip would be much appreciated.
4. Lastly, I am starting a new relationship with someone who loves Jesus yet lives very far from me (Texas – we were connected via social media by my college roommate who is our mutual friend). Pray the the Lord's will would be done and if this is meant to be, it will flourish, and if not, the Lord will lead me away from it.
I'm trying to live open-handed in this season and say yes to everything God has for me but also my eye has been twitching the last few days from stress. I feel comforted knowing you are praying for me and I can't wait to get back into my routine of joining with you all every morning <3
Amen and Amen!
What a cool concept – this light that constantly burns but not from its own might, from an outside source constantly replenished. We are to be this light in the world, but not by our own might. Like Aaron and his sons we are to constantly come close to the light, but unlike them we have the Holy Spirit within us who stokes this light for us. We don’t have to do it on our own. We can lean on it; let it guide us, and allow it to shine outward for others to see.
❤️❤️❤️❤️
I can only shine light into this dark world by the “fuel” of the Holy Spirit. The flame burns brightest when the wick (my flesh/sin nature) is kept trimmed.
Have a good day Shes