And the boy Samuel ministered to Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was rare in those days; a vision was not frequent. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli lay in his place (now his eyes began to grow dim, he could not see), and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the ark of God was, that Jehovah called to Samuel. And he said, Here am I. 1 Sam. 3:1-3
The temple? Every English version I looked up says the temple. The first temple had not been built, yet. We do know that the tabernacle was parked in Sheckem after the Israelites settled and the tabernacle apparently is the setting. What really has me confused is where are are Eli and Samuel sleeping? There was no provisions for any sort of sleeping furniture in the courtyard or the holy place within the tabernacle. I don’t know where they slept, but I do know what time it was.
The lamp of God had not yet gone out ... In other words, it was pre-dawn. The golden lamp stand in the tabernacle was to be burning from evening to morning, from dusk to dawn.
Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, shall Aaron dress it from evening to morning before Jehovah continually: [it is] an everlasting statute throughout your generations. Lev 24:3
And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee olive oil, pure, beaten, for the light, to light the lamp continually. In the tent of meeting outside the veil, which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall dress them from evening to morning before Jehovah: [it is] an everlasting statute, for their generations, on the part of the children of Israel. Ex. 27:20-21
These three sets of verses show that the lamp was to be lit from dusk to dawn.
When healing a blind man, Jesus says As long as I am in the world, I am [the] light of the world. John 9:5 . While He was in the world He was the light of the world.
Now from [the] sixth hour there was darkness over the whole land until [the] ninth hour Matt. 25:35. When He was on the cross, the light of the world was extinguished. Lights out! For 3 hours it was completely dark.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, the light of the world now is two pronged. It is the Christ-followers and the local assembly, the church. What kept the lights lit at night in the darkness? The crushed olive oil. The lamp stand had to be refueled daily. In the morning, when the fuel ran out, the lights went out.
What keeps the believer and/or the local assembly as lights in a darkened world? The Holy Spirit. How often does the fuel of the holy spirit need refilling? Let me suggest daily. What happens when we do not refuel daily? Lights out. maybe permanently. Jesus told John to write the following to the angel at Ephesus: ...but I have against thee, that thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works: but if not, I am coming to thee, and I will remove thy lamp out of its place, except thou shalt repent. Rev. 2:4-5.
Need a light? How is the light of your local assembly? Burning brightly? Dimmed? or maybe gone out completely? Then remember, repent and do the first works. You know, the three things you had no problem doing before you left thy first love.
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine
This little light of mine
I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine...
