1. The Oil To Be Offered For The Lamp
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
BOOK THREE
1. THE OIL TO BE OFFERED FOR THE LAMP
[93] 27:20-1 Command the children of Israel to offer you purest oil from olive trees beaten with a pestle, so that a lamp may always burn in the tabernacle of the testimony, outside the curtain that hangs in front of the testimony. And Aaron and his sons shall tend it. The layout of the tabernacle is suitably furnished with every adornment, including the light of a lamp, so thatjust as its remarkable beauty is illuminated during the day by the light of the sun, so is it also at night by flaming lamps, lest any place in the house of God should be dark, or any hour be in shadow. In the gospel, the Lord declares what the light of the lamp signifies according to the mystical sense, for when he had spoken through a parable, 'No one lights a lamp andputs it under a bushel [basket], but on a lampstand, that it may give light to all who are in the house, ' immediately he aptly added, 'In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good w o r k J Consequently, the lamp shining in the house of God is the good works of the righteous; by their examples, they illuminate the minds of those who obseIve them.
But we should pay very close attention to the fact that it is the chldren of Israel who are ordered to offer oil so that the lamp may always be able to bum in the tabernacle of God, but it is Aaron and his sons who are ordered to tend thc lamp itself. What, then, is [the significance ofl this distinction, that to supply light in the Lord's house the people offer oil and the priests tend the lamp, unless figuratively it is being strongly enjoined t h t the faithful and religious hearers are to offer hearts made ready for obedience to the faith, and that by preaching to them the teachers are to administer the fire of the heavenly word, by which they will be both illumined to know
God and inflamed to love him? For surely oil designates the fatness which is used both to revive limbs that are weary and frail, and to maintain the grace of light within-these arc frcquently [understood as refcmng to] the works of mercy and the love in one's mind. Hence the psalmist [says], But I, like a fruitjiul olive tree in the house of the Lord, have trusted in God's mercy toward me forever and forever tnore, as if to say openly, 'Because
I have provided the fruit of mercy to those in need, I have trusted that God will also render the grace of mercy to me forever.' Therefore, let the children of Israel offer oil, and let Aaron and his sons bring fire to tend the lamp that
1 Matt. 5:15-16 2 Ps. 52:8 (51:lO)
BOOK THREE
bums in the tabernacle of God. [That is to say,] let the humble hearers offer the devotion of a pious mind, and let the ministers of the word teach them the secrets of heavenly knowledge. Regularly instructed in these [secrets], let them bum in the sight of their Creator with the fire of charity, and show forth the light of good action to those who are outside.
(941 Now we should note that the children of Israel are commanded to offer not just oil in general, but specifically oil from olive trees; moreover, it is to be the purest [oil from olives] beaten with a pestle. For oil is sometimes made from the myrtle, sometimes from the radish plant, and sometimes from linseed or nuts, and there are other types from different kinds of things,' but in the tabernacle of God no [oil] is to be offered except that which is prepared from [the fruit of] olive trees, just as no fire is to burn in the holy lamps or to be kindled on God's altar other than that which comes down from heaven. For the Holy Spirit ofdiscipline will fleefvotn deceit.
Consequently, let the children of Isracl offer oil for God's lamp; not just any kind [of oil], but oil [from the fruit] ofolive trees, and let it be the purest
[oil from olives] beaten with a pestle. [That is to say,] let the honest hearers offer their spiritual teachers a pure conscience that is rich with the grace of charity and thoroughly cleansed from evey admixture of vileness by the pestle of a meticulous examination, which is [a conscience] that delights to hear the words of the Lord with the sole intention of pleasing and serving him. Let Aaron and his sons offer not some illicit fire,3 but rather the fire that was sent from above to kindle the lamp, and also to consume the holocausts and to diffuse the fragrance of the incense. [That is to say,] let the teachers preach not their own word but the Lord's, that thcy may declare wilh confidence, For we do not adulterate the word of God as so many do, but in Christ we speak with sincerity, as frotn God and in the presence OJ
God.4 This fire they use to enlighten the hearts of their hearers with the knowledge of faith, to complete the holocausts of their own good works and consecrate them to God, and to bum the incense of holy prayers.
Now it is properly said, so that a lamp may burn always in the tabernacle of the testimony, because the Holy Church should never lack either the light of preaching or the pure humility of hearers to receive it gladly, or, what is even better, eagerly to seek it out.
And there is properly added, outside the curtain that hangs in front of the testimony. Inside heaven's curtain we have no need of the lamp of the 1 Pliny, Naf. hrsr. 15, 7, 24-32 (LCL 4: 304-10).
2 Wisd. 1 5 3 Lev. 10: 1-2 4 2 Cor. 2: 17
BEDE: ON THE TABERNACLE
Scriptures, for the ark of the Lord is there, and the cherubim overshadow the propitiatory of glory, that is to say, the multitude of the heavenly hosts preach with harmonious voice the glory of the incarnate Son of God, whom
God has appointed as a propitiation for our sins.
There properly follows, And Aaron and his sons shall tend it, because not everyone is intended to preach the sacraments of faith in the midst of the people, but only those who have proved by the purity of their faith and the performance of good works that they belong among the sons of the High
Priest, namely, our Lord and Saviour. But even though someone may seem to be distinguished by the name or the status of a priest, if he either strays from the purity of the faith by perverse teaching or defiles the integrity of the acknowledged and preserved faith with the depravity of vile deeds, such a one will surely hear from the Lord, 'Why do you declare myjud ements, and take my covenant in your mouth, when you hate discipline?' and so forth. James also restrains such people from tending the lamp of God (that is, from the word of preaching), when he gives some friendly advice, Not many ofyou should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that you receive a stricter j~dgement;~ he means that judgement to which we have just refcrred, the one pronounced long ago by the voice of the psalmist. Now
(951 there is properly added:
27:21 That it may give light before the Lord until the morning. For when the night of this world is over, the morning of the world to come will begin to shine; concerning it the prophet says, 'In the morning I will stand before you and watch. Then we shall no longer have any need of light from books, for the true Light of the world will appear and enlighten us; concerning him the prophet says, 'But for you who@ar my name the Sun of righteousness shall rise.
27:2 1 It shall be a perpetual observance among the children of Israel throughout their successive [generations]. Th~s concluding injunction, like those previously declared concerning the tabernacle and its vessels and utensils, must be understood and expounded in a spiritual rather than a c a d sense. For how can the observance of the sacerdotal duties be perpetual according to the letter, when the priesthood itself, as well as the tabernacle in which it conducted its duties and the people on whose behalf they were conducted, have all long since ceased to be? Hence it is obvious
1 1 John4:IO 2Ps. SO:16-17(49:16) 3 Jas. 3.1
5 Mal. 4.2
4 Ps. 5:3 ( 5 5 )