Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

The mantle of responsibility settled even more heavily around him as Moses issued yet another requirement from God’s lips to the priest’s ears. It was all he could do not to release a meaningful sigh. There was already so much to keep track of, so many things to do. Rules and requirements. Regulations and responsibilities. The position should be accompanied by a set of manuals, so extensive was the list. Officiating. Teaching. Sacrificing. Maintaining. Tax collecting. Dispute settling. And that was just the professional part. The personal side was just as tedious. Touch this. Avoid that. Marry her, but not her. Eat this, eschew that. Wear these clothes. Use this hairstyle. Be respectful, appropriate, perfect, holy. It was a lot to keep straight. And now there was a new addition. Tend the lamps. Continually. (Leviticus 1-24:4, Exodus 30:7-10, Numbers 18, Deuteronomy 17:8-13)

It wasn’t a huge ask, but still Aaron’s shoulders slumped at this new duty. He was busy. Incredibly so. All the priests were. There was always something needing tending. A skin issue to examine. A moldy fabric to inspect. A sacrifice to slaughter. A grain offering to burn. Commandments to teach. Laws to preach. They barely had time to sleep. And now it seems they truly don’t. The lamps in the tabernacle are not to go out. Ever. They have to burn all night, every night. Brightly. They must never go out. The darkness must never come in. The light of God must shine. Continuously. For His people. In His people. Out of His people as they walked in obedience to Him. 

Obedience was imperative. Outlined just as clearly as His commands and decrees were the results of choosing alternate paths. Terror. Illness. Famine. Fear. The ground would not yield its fruit. Wild animals would ravage their towns. War would come. Plagues would descend. Starvation would ensue. Death would be certain. There could be no other gods. There could be no other paths. There could be no other rules and laws and commands. Not because God was some arrogant, selfish taskmaster. No. The rules were put in place to protect their souls. To keep the lamps of their hearts clean and full and burning. The consequences were clearly delineated to remind them that the light of God among them must never go out. Ever. Morning. Evening. Day. Night. A glance at the tabernacle would be a steady reminder that careful obedience to God was better than the sacrifice of their souls on the altar of the impotent gods of the world. (Leviticus 26:14-39) 

Blessing would accompany their obedience. Amazing blessing. Nearly unbelievable promise. Skies that dropped the necessary amount of rain. Land that yielded bountiful crops. Their bellies would be full. Their barns would overflow. Peace and safety would rest on their land. Wild beasts would avoid them. Enemies would fall to them. God’s favor would rest on them. The covenant God had sworn to His people would be fulfilled. He would walk among them. They would be His people. He would be their God. So long as they followed every decree, obeyed every command, and observed every law passed down from God’s lips to their ears via Moses. So long as the light of God among them, in them, was never extinguished. (Leviticus 26:1-13)

It meant someone had to be in the tabernacle. Always. Awake. Alert. Keeping watch. Anticipating outages. Intercepting any form of unexpected circumstance or unceremonious disaster. The glass must be clean. The oil must be clear. The wicks must be trimmed. The flames must be lit. The light of God must fill the room. In the dusk of evening. In the darkness of night. In the slowly emerging light of dawn. Aaron and his sons, his descendants, must tend the lamps. Continually. 

For quite some time they did so. Even after Aaron died on Mount Hor. Even after Moses climbed Mount Nebo and never returned. Even after 110-year-old Joshua was called to his eternal reward. They tended their lamps and obeyed their God clear up until every last man of Joshua’s entire generation had gone the way of all the earth. And God blessed them. Time and again the hand of God can clearly be seen fulfilling the promise that results from obedience. Jericho fell at their feet. Ai succumbed in spite of Achan’s extinguished light. The five Amorite kings are annihilated. The southern and northern cities were conquered. The people were able to settle in the land God had promised. Then Joshua died. One by one the members of his generation followed. Eventually, no one was left to remind them to tend their lamps. So they didn’t. (Numbers 20:22-29; Deuteronomy 34:1-12; Joshua 24:29-31,6,8; Judges 2:10)

The younger generation didn’t bother. Although the priests may still have been lighting the lamps in the Tabernacle, it was simply a habit. The light in their hearts had faded. The brightness of their relationship with God had dimmed. Their obedience flagged. Instead of being lights in a dark world, they became distracted and enamored by the gods of the people around them. And again God kept His promise. In response to their abandonment of His laws and commands, God allowed them to be plundered and sold. There wasn’t a battle they could win. Distress mounted. Regrets piled up. Sorrows nearly suffocated them. If only they’d tended their lamps! (Judges 2:11-19)

Unfortunately, things never really changed. Not permanently. Generation after generation came and went. Sometimes they obeyed God. More frequently they didn’t. Through judges and prophets, good kings and bad, their lights flickered and fluttered, sputtered and guttered. The prophet Isaiah cried out words of repentance and change, an end to the meaningless rituals that left their hearts in darkness. Jeremiah, in anguish over the darkened state of his people, wept while speaking the words of the Lord against them. Amos outlines their sins and resulting punishments, begging them to repent. Zechariah issues a call to return from the darkness of their evil ways and practices. Yet still, they failed to turn and tend their lamps, choosing instead to dwell in the darkness of this world rather than revel in the light of God. (Isaiah 1:11-20; Jeremiah 9,11; Amos 4-5:17; Zechariah 1:1-6) 

Into this inky darkness, Jesus comes. The light of the world to people dwelling in darkness. Folks stumbling around trying to find their own way. They were in disgraceful condition. Lamps unlit, wicks untrimmed, oil depleted. The lamps in the Tabernacle may be lit and burning in honor of the centuries-old ritual, but the light of Christ in their hearts was sadly missing. The people called to be filled with the Light of the world so they could be lights in the world, had fallen prey to the darkness around them. They hadn’t tended their lamps. Didn’t really comprehend what that looked like. Jesus tells them the same things in the flesh that God the Father had spoken through prophets hundreds of years before. Obey my laws. Keep my commandments. Follow my decrees. Tend your lamp. Be the light of the world. (Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:12-16, 5:14-16; John 8:12)

In the ensuing centuries since Jesus walked the earth, His message hasn’t changed. You are the light of the world. You are the witness of Christ on earth. You are an example of His attributes. You are the living, breathing word of God to those who have never read it, refuse to acknowledge it, and race to refute it at every turn. You are words of grace and peace to the people lost in the darkness of this world. Your life is a beacon of hope radiating through the shadows, pointing to the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ, calling others to repentance and change. At least it should be. If you’ve been tending your lamp. Just as Aaron was tasked with the continual tending of the lamps in the Tabernacle, you are tasked with tending the lamp in the temple of your heart. Tend it constantly. Clear the sins and cobwebs out so the light can be clearly seen. Trim away the unnecessary excess, the edges frazzled and frayed by the pull of the world so your light will burn strong and bright. Be filled with the Spirit, the fire of the Holy Ghost, the presence of Almighty God. Willingly, happily follow His voice, obey His commands, speak His words. Tend your lamp so those lost in the darkness of their trespasses and sins can see Jesus shining in and through and out of you. Jesus called you to be the light of the world. So tend your lamp. Continually. (Acts 1:8; I Timothy 4:12; II Corinthians 3:3; Ephesians 5:18; I Corinthians 6:19; Philippians 2:14-15; Ephesians 2:1-10)