Seder 66: Exodus 27:20-21---Keep the Lamps Lit

 After giving descriptions of the bronze altar and the tabernacles courtyard, Exodus 27 concludes by specifying that the priests would use olive oil to keep the menorah lit every night (vv 20-21).  

On July 31, 2021, Kyle Kettering talked about the symbolic significance of a continually burning light in a sermon at Church of the Messiah.  

He noted that God began the creation week by proclaiming, "Let there be light" (Gen 1:3).  In Hebrew, this sentence is literally, "Be light!", which we can read as instruction for the humans he created in his image.   

Being light means doing good works, as guided by God's word (Matt 5:14-16).  God's word is itself described as a lamp that will guide our steps (Ps 119:105; Prov 6:23).  The Talmud (b Sotah 21a) says that each biblical commandment is a small lamp.

Keeping our lamps lit means following God each day, so that we will be ready when Jesus returns.  In one parable about this Jesus instructed, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning" (Luke 12:35-48).  

Seder 53: MIdnight Deliverance---Exod 12-13; 2 Kings 19:35-37; Ps 119:57-64; Acts 12

 In the middle of the night on the first Passover, the firstborn of the Egyptians died (Exod 12:29).  Egypt was the leading nation in the region at that point, and the death toll was significant.  In a sermonette at Church of the Messiah on April 24, 2021, Frank Fenton noted the great cost of Israel's redemption and asked us to reflect on the cost of our own redemption.  

That first Passover night begins a motif of "midnight deliverance" that runs through Scripture.  Another example is God's deliverance of the kingdom of Judah from the attack of the Assyrians under Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35-37).  One midrash (Exodus Rabbah 18) associates the rescues of Hezekiah; Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego (Dan 3) and Daniel (Dan 6) with Passover night.

This theme continues in the New Testament.   A notable example is the deliverance of Peter from prison at the time of Passover (Acts 12:1-19).

Another biblical passage associated with Passover vigils and midnight deliverance is Ps 119:57-64.  Kyle Kettering addressed this passage in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on April 24, 2021.    

The Jewish midrashic tradition says that while most kings caroused at night, David rose at night to commune with God.  According to tradition he had a sort of alarm clock set up.  He hung a harp over his bed, and the wind came through at midnight and plucked the strings, 

Kyle asked us to consider Ps 119:57-64 from several perspectives.  First, we can imagine an Israelite speaking these words on the first Passover.  From this perspective verse 63 ("I am a companion of those who fear you, of those who keep your precepts") is a reference to the "mixed multitude" of Exod 12:38.

He also asked us to think of Jesus saying these words at Gethsemane on the eve of his crucifixion.  Jesus was committed at that time to doing God's will. 

Then he asked to read these verses in light of our own faith journeys. We can think of ourselves as being on a night vigil, being prepared for the end of the age (Mark 13:32-37).