UPSIDE DOWN KINGDOM Week 7: A CITY ON A HILL

What is it about light?

LIGHT BRINGS SECURITY - Need the hall light on. Why? Because I was afraid of the dark.

LIGHT BRINGS CLARITY - I won’t stumble if I can see the obstacles in front of me.

LIGHT BRINGS GROWTH - Vitamin D, photosynthesis, etc.

LIGHT REVEALS, IT REPELS, IT CAN EVEN DESTROY VIRUSES APPARENTLY (whonu?)

In the OT, the Tabernacle, and then the Temple housed the instruments of worship. There was a table of showbread - 12 loaves, representing the 12 tribes of Israel; and bread reminding the people of how God provided food for them as they came out of Egypt and wandered in the wilderness for 40 years before entering into the Promised Land. There was the altar of incense that represented the prayers of God’s people being lifted up to heaven, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. And there was a lampstand - called the Menorah - with 7 flames that would illuminate the Holy Place where the priests ministered. 

The lampstand had a center column with six branches extending from it on each side, so seven lights in all. These branches were like the branches of an almond tree, with ornamental knobs, ending in an ornate flower at the top. And each of those flower-shaped cups held olive oil and a cloth wick; so it wasn’t so much a candlestick, but more like a many-limbed oil lamp. And the priests were supposed to keep it burning continually.

The purpose of the lampstand wasn’t for mere physical light. It also served to represent a supernatural source of light. You know we are told in Scripture that God is light.