Exodus 25: 6; 27: 20; 30: 22-38
It is in mind, as the Spirit helps, to say something about spiritual refinement. I have been very struck that in our prayer meetings we hear mention of the generations among the saints, from very small children, to children at school, to young people in their teens, to younger men and women, to older ones including parents, grandparents and great grandparents. They are mentioned, in some cases, because they are suffering. That brings out body feelings. But it is intended, too, to produce in us spiritual refinement. Such suffering is not needless, and it is not punitive. It is God’s way of producing what is pleasing to Himself. The sufferings are sore ones and are not to be overlooked or taken lightly, but they are in the ways of God and under the hand of God, and are intended to produce refinement in the souls of the saints and increase in the service of God.
Where we read in Exodus 25, there is reference to certain basic elements. “Oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil, and for the incense of fragrant drugs”. As we go on in the scriptures we have read, we see certain refinement as to these things, certain details and distinctions brought out which are intended for our instruction. One of the effects of suffering, I believe, is to bring out features of Christ. We sang in our hymn,
That Name encircles every grace
That God as Man could show;
Thus only could we fully trace
A life divine below.
(Hymn 6).
We have also considered recently the coat of many colours that Joseph had from his father. It does not tell us there (Gen 37: 3) what these colours were, but it leaves us to search the Scriptures, and particularly the gospels, to find out more about these colours: their variety, their perfectly balanced pattern, and the way in which they merge together in perfect oneness to produce what was pleasing to the heart of God distinctively and uniquely in Christ. But this variety is meant also to be seen in the saints, although none of us individually, or even as we are together collectively, could reach to what Christ fully was,
Thus only could we fully trace
A life divine below.
And so these refinements come in, first speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit. “That they bring thee olive oil” - it is not now simply “oil”, but it is a particular kind of oil - “pure, beaten”. There is a certain element of exercise goes into bringing this oil. There is activity - the footnote says that it is ’beaten in a mortar, not pressed’. Some of the circumstances we have spoken of involve pressure, but this exercise here involves activity, having in view that first of all in the tabernacle system there might be light. God has in mind that the system in which He operates is characterised by light. So it says: “But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”, 1 John 1: 7. He has suitable circumstances in which to operate, and suitable persons in whom to display His mind. But it is all imbued by the power of the Holy Spirit. I know that in the tabernacle system the ark was in darkness, but that is not the case now. “Whom God has set forth a mercy-seat, through faith in his blood”, Rom 3: 25. The ark is no longer in a place of darkness; God is not dwelling in thick darkness: He is dwelling in light and indeed Scripture speaks of “his wonderful light”, 1 Pet 2: 9. That is what He would bring us into.
But we must remember the Person of the Holy Spirit. Olive oil has a particular and distinctive character. The Spirit’s day has a particular and distinctive character. It is pure. There is absolutely no adulteration in the work of the Holy Spirit. It is distinctive, and unique. But then it requires exercise to maintain what is suitable to God; so the oil is beaten. It speaks about “using diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit”, Eph 4: 3. Where we read it says “to light the lamp continually”. There is continual light in God’s dwelling place; there is no doubt about that. But this light involves causing to ascend (Exod 25: 37, note), so that as we depend on the Holy Spirit there is what ascends to God as a result of all that He has done, and as a result of what the activities of the Spirit have produced for His glory.
In chapter 30, we come to distinctions and to proportions. Spiritual refinement involves what is proportionate. Ought there to be more emphasis on one aspect of the truth or another? The Spirit emphasises certain aspects of the truth at certain times, but the truth is to be held in proportion. Ought there to be more emphasis on the glad tidings? There ought to be emphasis on the glad tidings. But it is not everything. Does that mean then that it is all about ministry? No, it is not all about ministry. Is everything centred on the service of God? Everything begins there, but each aspect of the truth - and I do not have the capacity or the time to go over them all - is to be held in balance. Spiritual refinement would have that in view. “Best spices” - nothing but the best will do for God. It also says “of olive oil a hin”. Everything, as it were, is invigorated by the presence of the Holy Spirit. I leave the brethren to go into the detail of these ingredients - the myrrh, the sweet cinnamon, the cassia - all is according to the shekel of the sanctuary. Nothing falls below the divine standard here. And this all flows from what the people brought. The basics of it are described in chapter 25, but the detail of it is given in chapter 30 so that we might see that from the heart of a willing people God secured that which was marked by variety, refinement and proportion, and it was for His glory.
So “an oil of holy ointment” is referred to. Much is said here, but scripture never repeats itself unnecessarily. So if it says, “a perfume of perfumery after the work of the perfumer” that is what it means. There is not a mistake here as to a word being repeated. There is the thought of what ascends in the perfume, imbuing the atmosphere of the place; then there is ‘of perfumery’, that is to say that it has a certain character that is according to the divine standard; then ‘of the work of the perfumer’, that is to say that skill goes into producing it. “It shall be the holy anointing oil”. Then it says, “And thou shalt anoint the tent of meeting with it, and the ark of the testimony ...”. All that is within the tent of meeting is anointed with it. The whole system is drawn together and unified by this anointing oil. The work of refinement has not in mind that we have or create personal distinctions that set us apart but rather has in mind that the whole system of things is drawn together in perfect unity and all is pleasing to God. Everything there is anointed right out as far as the laver, which means that man’s side is brought in. The laver is not anointed with blood, as the brethren will know. The scripture in Hebrews says, “almost all things are purified with blood” (Heb 9: 22), but the laver was not, because that was from man’s side; but everything from God’s side was anointed with blood and everything is anointed with oil. So everything that is for the service of God is brought in under the anointing, so that God might be served in suited conditions.
Then you find that the personnel that have their part in it are similarly anointed. So they are not separate from the system of things that God has established for His own glory. It also says that this anointing oil cannot be put on any strange thing. I just touch on this briefly: spiritual refinement cannot be put on and put off. It says in the note ’a stranger to the priesthood’. I cannot become a priest one day and stop being a priest the next and then take it up again as though it were an optional matter. It requires the character of priesthood to be there so that the anointing can be applied and we can come into the good of it. And when the scripture speaks of priesthood in the Old Testament, that is largely signified by spirituality in the New. What God has in mind is that He should have spiritual persons before Him, anointed and in dignity and consistent with the great system of glory that He has established.
And then finally there is the incense of fragrant drugs. Certain aspects could be referred to in the detail, but I just touch on this: “salted, pure, holy”. This incense of fragrant drugs is not something that is going to decline, because it is salted, it is preserved, and it is preservative. Pure and holy means that it is not adulterated and it is according to God’s standard. But then further activity is required, for as the whole system is brought together and the personnel in it are unified, there is what ascends to God.
Grateful incense this, ascending
Ever to the Father’s throne;
Every knee to Jesus bending,
All the mind in heav’n is one.
(Hymn 14).
I say this for the encouragement of the younger brethren: “And thou shalt beat some of it to powder, and put some of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting”. If you have an impression, perhaps on a Lord’s day morning, and you say ‘It is not all that it might be’ - well, God accepts ‘some of it’. If there is something that speaks to Him of Christ, He delights to hear it. Believe me, beloved brethren, God loves to hear His saints speaking to Him of Christ. It goes on “where I will meet with thee”. He meets with us, as it were, as the grateful incense of the glory of Christ arises to delight Him. “And the incense that thou shalt make, ye shall not make for yourselves”; Christ’s distinctiveness to God is ever maintained, as is brought out particularly in the burnt offering. Nor were they to make it for themselves “according to the proportions of it”. You might say, ‘I know how to make this, I know how to do it in my own power’. No, beloved brethren, spiritual refinement means that spiritual things are communicated by spiritual means, and that is what God would insist on here - “it shall be unto thee holy to Jehovah”. God loves Christ, uniquely and perfectly, but not exclusively, for the Lord says “thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me”, John 17: 23. Spiritual refinement would have in mind that God receives from His saints that which speaks to Him of Christ, in all His glory. May we therefore be encouraged that God is receiving, even through the suffering of the saints, that which is pleasing to Him and which is adding to the aggregate of the glory that will be seen in a day to come. May it be soon, for His Name’s sake.
Grangemouth
9th June 2009