Leviticus 24 PURE - IMPURE The Tabernacle was a place where God dwelt with His people and the evidence of that when Israel was in the wilderness was the pillar of cloud by day and the Shekinah light of God's presence in the pillar of fire by night. Inside the Tabernacle behind the veil there was the continual, shadow-less light of the presence of God known by that same source of light - God Himself was the light. In the Holy Place where the altar of incense was continually sending up a sweet scent, and the bread of testimony, and the lampstand with seven flames of perfection was burning constantly, the light had to be tended. The oil that produced the light had to be "pure." There was nothing to be in that oil that would cause smoke. The Holy Spirit of whom the pure oil speaks is absolutely pure in every way. His love is that perfect attitude and evaluation of love, because "God is love." The fruit of the Spirit has nothing in it that defiles or clouds anything. The pure grace of the Holy Spirit was put into the lamps on each of the seven candlesticks that are made out of one piece of pure beaten gold. These formed a "pure" candlestick. The light of the Spirit and the grace that reveals God to us is based on the sacrifice and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
No matter how dark things were around outside, the light burned inside that Holy Place continually. Day and night were alike inside that room. The high-priestly ministry of our Lord continues without deviation in spite of the circumstances that surround us in life. That light is maintained by the priest whose work it was to keep that pure oil in that pure candlestick continually burning without anything that defiles in it. He is constantly ministering on our behalf before the holy throne of God.
By maintaining that light, it was easy to see the altar of gold so the incense could continually send out its sweet scent before God. The "pure" table on which sat the twelve loaves of bread that had "pure" frankincense put on them, could also easily be seen. It was a continual reminder of God's intention to have a unified fellowship among His people. Even when there was times of disunity and dissension among the people, the testimony remained before God. The memorial of that was there constantly in spite of their state. The standing was sure. The shadows that are seen in the Tabernacle in the wilderness typify the reality that we have today. The patterns teach us there is a real substance.
By faith we see the light and grace of the Holy Spirit shining and working in this dark world today. We know the worship of God's people sends "a sweet savor of Christ" to the Father when we meet together. The testimony to the fellowship and oneness of God's people remains even though there seems to be division and dissension that will not quit. So in spite of all there is to discourage and dishearten God's people when we look around at the world, and even the state of the Church, when we look within the Holy Place and see things from God's eyes, we take heart and press ahead with our "high calling in Christ Jesus."
By contrast, we can learn the seriousness of that which is impure. We do not realize how bad sin is until we stop to think. That which is impure morally, is tarnished, dirty, foul, polluted, filthy, indecent, coarse, unclean and to use a word popular today - "gross." The cursing of the unbeliever, even though he was associated with God's people, could not be overlooked. God takes our relationship with Him seriously and expects us to do the same. Men have lowered the standards of life that were once expected of us all, to suit the demeaning habits that have become popular today. Now people think cursing God is not a serious offense alt all. In fact, some even laugh at that disgusting habit.
God has established guidelines of punishment that suit the crime but do not go beyond what is suitable. If a person deliberately puts out the eye of another, he loses his own eye. The same is truth with a tooth. We have become used to laws that go way too far, or not far enough. In many places today the punishment is way out of proportion to the deed done that was wrong. This is the same as was done in ancient pagan societies. The law given to Israel was that retaliatory punishment must be suitable to the crime. That is true justice. Who can decide when a person is rehabilitated? People can appear to change, but when we even change established laws, true justice avoids us. A person who bears in their body evidence of their correction, is far less inclined to do the same thing again. A person with one eye won't forget what he did to another person. One who has been beaten won't forget the pain his crime caused him.
The contrast between what is pure and what is impure cannot be mistaken. Life lived as God intended is exemplified by the purity inside the Holy Place. The oil, the candlestick, the table and the frankincense were all clear, unmixed, unadulterated, real, genuine, unspotted, unpolluted and untarnished in contrast to that which was going on outside that was impure. The lesson is plain - when we belong to God, we are to be different from all that goes on around us. We are to be "unspotted by the world." God has an established standard to live by. Everything else falls short of His intention and the potential for our life.