In the beginning, scripture tells us, God created the heavens and the earth — that is, he created the unformed raw materials he was going to use for the rest of his creation project. 

Then, as we discussed briefly last week, he spoke and created a house-like structure: the surface of the earth was like the floor, with mountains acting as pillars and walls, and a vaulted roof over all. 

And the ancient people of Israel, as they read Moses’ account of God’s creative work in Genesis, would have recognised right away that this structure God was building was actually meant to be a kind of ark, a box, a container designed to protect biological life from the wilderness that is the rest of the universe. Those readers would have understood that God was shaping the earth to act as a temple where he would be able to come and live and connect with his creation — especially his human creation. 

And when God continued his creation by separating the seas from the land, and then when God commanded the land to produce all kinds of seed-bearing plants, the people of Israel would have said, “Oh, of course! If God is going to connect with his creation inside this temple we call the earth, then he is going to need to eat with his creation. Not that God needs to eat; but his creation does! Which means God would need to provide a table with food on it. The dry ground is God’s table; the plants are the food he provides; this makes perfect sense!” 

And then, when God went on to say, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky” to govern the day and the night, and to give light on the earth, the people of Israel would have said, “Oh, yeah! This also makes sense: every temple needs some kind of lighting system. Not that God needs light in order to see, but his creatures do!” 

And then, when the ancient Israelites read on into Chapter 2 of Genesis, they would have seen the same creation pattern being followed a second time — but more zoomed in, more personalised:  

In Chapter 1, the universe is the unformed wilderness, with the earth acting as the central ark of order and safety. In Chapter 2 the earth itself is described as an unformed wilderness, with the garden of Eden set up as one central ark of order and safety. And just as God told the dry ground to produce food in Chapter 1, so also in Chapter 2 the Lord God made the garden of Eden produce all kinds of trees that were good for food — the same creation pattern repeated. 

And so the ancient people of Israel would have recognised that the garden of Eden was also a kind of temple where God would come and connect and eat with his creation — especially his human creation. 

Now, if you were not here last week, you are probably wondering why we are talking about creation when our scripture passage today is from the middle of Exodus. How are these things related? 

But if you have been worshiping with us over the last few weeks, then you will remember that, at this point in Exodus, God is commissioning Moses to build a new creation. Moses is supposed to build a miniature model of the universe, a miniature model of the earth, a miniature model of Mount Sinai. God wants Moses to build a house for him — a tent for him — that can be set up and taken down and moved from place to place. 

Why? 

Because the people of Israel still have a journey ahead of them, a journey across an unformed wilderness full of dangers. God has promised to travel with them. So he needs a tent to live in, just as the Israelites are living in tents at this time. 

Not that God actually needs a tent! God does not need protection from the elements like human beings do. Really, God’s tent — God’s tabernacle — is for the protection of God’s people. If God lived among his people with his glory unveiled, his people would not survive the experience. So this tent — this mobile temple — is really designed to protect the people from God and also to provide a place where the people can come and connect with God. 

And over the last couple of weeks we have seen that this new creation process echoes God’s original creation process. First there were instructions about the collecting of raw materials — just like the original creation. Then, last week, instructions for the shaping of the central ark that is a model of the ark that is the earth — just like the original creation. 

And now, this week, as we read on, we find that God tells Moses to [23] “make a table of acacia wood—two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high. [24] Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it. [25] Also make around it a rim a handbreadth wide and put a gold molding on the rim. [26] Make four gold rings for the table and fasten them to the four corners, where the four legs are. [27] The rings are to be close to the rim to hold the poles used in carrying the table. [28] Make the poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold and carry the table with them. [29] And make its plates and dishes of pure gold, as well as its pitchers and bowls for the pouring out of offerings. [30] Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.” 

So what we are seeing here is yet another echo of God’s original creation process. Just as the earth itself was to be a temple, with the dry ground as a table covered with seed-bearing plants, so also the tabernacle is to be a temple, with a table inside it covered with bread — since bread is a food that comes from seed-bearing plants. 

And these instructions resolve a problem we first noticed a couple of weeks ago: 

Back in Chapter 24 we saw how the 70 elders of Israel climbed half-way up Mount Sinai and ate dinner with God in God’s dining room. They ate at God’s table. But soon after we realized that God’s dining room on Mount Sinai is not exactly portable — mountains do not travel very easily. We realized that, if God’s people are going to continue to eat with God, God was going to have to somehow provide a portable dining room and a portable table. 

Well, here it is: God’s portable table, the fulfillment of the promise that he is going to keep on eating with his people even as they travel through the wilderness to the home he has prepared for them. 

But God is not finished. He goes on: [31] “Make a lampstand of pure gold. Hammer out its base and shaft, and make its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms of one piece with them. [32] Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand—three on one side and three on the other. [33] Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. [34] And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. [35] One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair—six branches in all. [36] The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.” 

[37] “Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. [38] Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. [39] A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. [40] See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 

So these instructions also follow the pattern of the original creation: just as God installed lights in the temple that is the earth, so also here Moses is to install lights in the tabernacle. 

And the fact that there are supposed to be seven lamps actually adds weight to this interpretation: when ancient people studied the night sky, they noticed that, in addition to the stars, they could see seven planets. At least one ancient Jewish writer made this connection explicit: he said that the seven lamps symbolised the seven planets that God had created to govern the day and the night. 

But it is clear from the description that this lampstand is more than just a simple holder for lamps that symbolise the stars: this lampstand is supposed to look like a tree with a central trunk, six major branches, and lots of smaller buds and blossoms branching off from those. Specifically, Moses is told to cover the lampstand with almond flowers. And if we were to do the math and add up all the different buds and blossoms that are supposed to be installed here, we would find that the total is 69, which is a lot of flowers. 

So, apparently, this lampstand is supposed to look something like an almond tree, covered in flowers, carrying seven lamps on its trunk and branches — lamps that symbolize the lights of heaven. 

And so of course we have to ask: why? Is there something special about the almond tree? And is there supposed to be some kind of connection between almond trees and stars? 

Well, the almond tree was special to the ancient Israelites. 

For one thing, in that part of the world the almond is the first tree to produce flowers every spring. In fact, it covers itself in white flowers even before it produces leaves. So right away we can see how the almond tree would symbolise hope and the promise of the coming harvest every year. 

For another thing, the leaves and the nut of the almond tree were seen as medicinal to the people of that time. So the almond tree also symbolised healing. 

In addition to all this, later on in the Book of Numbers we find out that Aaron’s staff is made of almond wood. Aaron is Moses’ older brother; he is also destined to become the first High Priest of Israel. So in the minds of the ancient Israelites the almond tree is also associated with the priesthood; and the priesthood of ancient Israel was also associated with healing: it was their job to keep reconciling the relationship between God and his people. 

But that’s not all. The Hebrew word for “almond” is related to the Hebrew word for “watch”. So in the Hebrew language, the “almond” tree is also the “watching” tree. 

And we find this particular play on words in the Book of Jeremiah, when God first calls Jeremiah to become his prophet. 

This is what Jeremiah wrote about his experience: The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” 

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied. 

The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.” 

This idea is repeated again in the Book of Zechariah, when that prophet sees a vision of a solid gold lampstand with seven lamps on it. And during that vision God describes the seven lamps as “the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth” watching for God’s Messiah to come and complete God’s eternal earthly temple. So: 

For the ancient Israelites the almond tree was God’s watching tree: it symbolized God’s watchful presence with his people, overseeing the table of the earth just as this lampstand in the tabernacle oversees the table with the bread on it. And of course God’s watchful presence is also a healing presence, a hopeful presence, full of the promise of reconciliation. 

All this is why the almond tree is special enough to be a featured piece of furniture in God’s house. 

But now: what is the connection between almond trees and stars? Is there a connection between trees and stars? 

Well…yes, for many ancient people, there was a connection between trees and stars. 

See, just like the ancient Israelites, various cultures in that region believed the sky was a solid roof over the earth. It was common for people to see certain very high mountains as pillars that held up that roof, just like stone pillars in a temple. 

But some of those cultures also believed that the middle of the earth’s floor contained one great central supporting pillar that was actually a massive tree. 

We actually catch a glimpse of this belief in the Book of Daniel, when the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about it. In his dream, he says, “I looked, and there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land — in the middle of the earth. Its height was enormous. The tree grew large and strong and its top touched the sky — and he means that literally: it was touching the roof over the earth. Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all; from it every creature was fed.” 

In those cultures, that central tree actually supported the sky, it held the stars in place with its branches, it gave food and shelter to all creatures. Basically, for them, that central tree was the Tree of Life that connected heaven and earth and sustained creation. Now: 

If you recall, the people of Israel believed in a tree of life which had been planted in the middle of the garden. Genesis does not tell us that the tree of life touched the sky; it certainly does not say that the tree of life held up the sky, because in Genesis it is God’s Word alone that holds up the sky. But still, this idea of a central tree with its roots in the earth and its branches among the stars — this idea would have been in the average Israelite’s mind when they heard these instructions to make a lampstand like a blossoming almond tree with seven lights shining among its branches. 

… 

So all that is very interesting, very beautiful, very symbolic. But now we have to ask the question we like to ask every week: what does this symbolism have to do with us? How are we supposed to apply God’s ancient instructions to our lives in modern Malaysia? Are we supposed to install a golden table here and put bread on it? Are we supposed to have only seven lights in our sanctuary? 

Well, if you have been worshiping with us over the last few weeks, then you know that we Christians are called to help build a earthly house for God. That house is no longer a tent, or even a temple; God’s house in this age is the Church. Us. 

So, two weeks back, when God began by telling the Israelites to bring him an offering of raw materials that they would use to build the tabernacle, we realized that in this age we are the offering that we bring; we are the living stones that God is shaping and fitting into the walls of his living temple. 

Then, last week, when God went on to tell the Israelites to build an ark, a central, foundational strongbox that would contain the stone covenant documents binding them to God, we realized that Jesus Christ is the ark at the center of the ark that is his Church. So the way we are to build an ark for God in this age is by making sure our worship and our lives are centered around Jesus, who is the living covenant document binding us to God. 

So by this point, today, as we look at the table with its bread, and the lampstand with its seven lights, we are going to assume that God is not commanding us to install a physical golden table or lampstand in our worship space. Instead we are going to ask: how did these two pieces of furniture continue to develop throughout scripture? And what form have they taken now? 

Let’s start with the table. 

We have already noticed that the table is a model looking back to the dry land on the third day of creation, back when God provided every seed-bearing plant as food for his creatures. It is also meant to be a model looking forward to the land the Lord is about to give to Israel. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses describes it as “a land where bread will not be scarce”. 

But even as Moses wrote those words about bread, he warned the people that, after they inherit the land, they must be careful not to forget where all that bread really comes from. Yes, wheat and barley grow out of the ground, but the ground and the plants all came from God in the first place. So Moses told the people to keep looking back to how God once fed them with bread directly from heaven while they were in the wilderness. If they can remember that God fed them before when times were hard, then they will be able to believe that he will do it again when times get hard. 

But even as Moses wrote those words, he also pointed out that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Physical bread is not enough for life; people also need spiritual bread, which is the Word of God. If the people can remember that God fed them before with his Word when times were hard, then they will be able to believe that he will feed them again with his Word when times get hard. So: 

The table and its bread pointed back to creation and pointed forward to the promised land; it pointed back to how God once fed his people with bread from heaven in the wilderness, and pointed forward to when God would once again feed his people with bread from heaven in the wilderness, some kind of living divine Word. 

Well, in the New Testament Gospel of John, Jesus shows up and declares that he is the bread from heaven that the table in the tabernacle was pointing forward to. 

Here is the background story: Jesus starts by feeding about 5000 people with just three small barley loaves and two fish. And when the people experience this miracle, they figure Jesus must be the final Messiah, and they try to make him king of Israel. They are thinking that, with Jesus in charge, they will never go hungry again! They are thinking that, with this king, they will get a National Health Service and a National Food Service! 

But Jesus tells them to stop thinking just about physical bread for physical bodies. He says, “The true bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” He reminds them that true bread is spiritual bread; true bread is the Word of God. And that is when he says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” 

So, we were wondering what final form the table and the bread have taken? Well, Jesus says that he is the bread, the living Word of God. Jesus fulfills the symbolism of the bread, just as he fulfilled the symbolism of the ark last week. 

Which means that the table is…the earth where the Word of God continues to grow, feeding the nations? Or is the table the Church where the Word of God is offered fresh every week to whoever comes and listens and believes…? 

Whoa. It seems that, just like last week, we have just plunged once again into layer after layer of meaning! Just like last week, where Jesus is the ark that contains the Word of God, but the Church is also the ark that contains Jesus, and the earth is also the ark that contains the Church that contains Jesus…so here today we are finding that Jesus is the table that contains the Bread from Heaven that is the Word of God, but the Church is also the table that contains Jesus, the Bread from Heaven, and the earth is also the table that contains the Church that contains the Bread from Heaven… 

Let’s stop and simplify before we get a headache: 

We were wondering how we are supposed to apply these instructions about the table to our own lives. Well, according to our text, this is our Father’s command regarding the table: “Put the bread of the Presence on this table before me at all times.” What does that command mean for us today? Since the bread is Jesus, the living Word of God, and the Church is the table that contains the bread, as a Christian church our Father is commanding us to continually provide the living Word of God to all who long to eat with God. 

Okay. But now what about the lampstand, with its seven lights? 

Well…this is interesting. 

See, today is quite a special Sunday in the Christian calendar, because this is the last Sunday before Easter. Traditionally, we call this Palm Sunday, because this is the day when the people of Israel welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem as their king, using palm branches as banners. For the ancient Israelites, the palm tree was associated with victory and righteousness and cleansing from corruption. 

Here is the background story: almost 2000 years ago on this day, Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem for the last time, riding on a donkey. And the crowd cut palm tree branches and willow tree branches and branches from other leafy, shady trees, and they started marching with Jesus into the city, singing Psalm 118 — the same psalm that we read for our Call to Worship today. 

Now, the reason they sang that psalm and did this thing with the tree branches is because they thought Jesus had come as a warrior Messiah to cleanse the temple and the city of all foreign influences. Psalm 118 is a psalm about a victorious warrior messiah coming home to Jerusalem. And at least two times in the generations before Jesus arrived, other warrior messiahs had come and cleansed the temple and the city from foreign influences, and those warrior messiahs had used palms and other leafy tree branches in their cleansing rituals. And that is why, for the people of Jesus’ time, palm trees were associated with victory and righteousness and cleansing. 

But the crowd misunderstood Jesus’ mission. Jesus had come to cleanse the temple and the city. He had come to cleanse the whole world, actually! But not with the palm tree, or the willow tree, or the myrtle or any other “righteous” tree like that. He had come to cleanse God’s people with the tree of the curse: the Roman cross, the weapon of execution reserved for rebels against the government. But instead of crucifying all the people — which they deserved, for rebelling against God — instead of doing that, Jesus allowed himself to be crucified. And the bible tells us that when he was hung on that tree of the curse, he became a curse for us so that we would not have to be cursed by God for our sins. 

And so the tree of death for Jesus became the Tree of Life for all who belong to him. 

Basically, every year on this Sunday, we pause to remember how the people misunderstood what Jesus’ had come to do. They were focused on the tree of life that is the tree of victory. But Jesus was focused on the tree of life that was his tree of death. 

We were wondering what final form the lampstand has taken, the lampstand that was a model of the original Tree of Life. Well, the cross of Christ is the lampstand, the true Tree of Life that gives food and shelter and cleansing to all who come and believe. Jesus has fulfilled the symbolism of the lampstand, just as he has fulfilled the symbolism of the table and the bread and the ark at the center of all things. 

But — hang on: what about the seven lights? Those seven lamps pointed backward to the stars on the fourth day of creation; but they also somehow symbolised the seven watching eyes of the Lord that are looking forward to the day when the Messiah will complete God’s eternal earthly temple. Where is all that imagery fulfilled? 

Well, friends, get ready for one more layer of meaning: 

The last book in our bible, the Book of Revelation, begins with a vision in which the apostle John finds himself standing in the front doorway of God’s heavenly house. He is looking into God’s reception room, God’s dining room. And the first thing John sees are seven golden lampstands. Then he sees Jesus lighting the lampstands with seven flaming stars that he holds in his right hand. And as the vision goes on, Jesus explains to John that “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” 

Whew. Okay. Let’s try to keep all this straight: 

The cross of Christ is the final fulfillment of the original Tree of Life which was symbolised by the original lampstand. At the same time, the seven churches — which symbolize the whole Church — are also the final fulfillment of the original Tree of Life. Jesus’ Church is also the tree in the middle of the garden with its roots in the earth and its branches among the stars. And the stars held up by the seven branches of the Church are seven angels, which — later on in the Book of Revelation — turn out to be the seven watching eyes of the Lamb who is Jesus, which are also the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth…! 

How are we supposed to make sense of all that? 

Brothers and sisters, in order to grasp how the Tree of Life can be the cross and the Church, we need to understand this: as we come to believe that Jesus is our Tree of Life, we are grafted into him like branches cut from other trees. We become united with him so closely that, past a certain point, we become one flesh with him: he is our Bridegroom, the Church is his bride; he is our Head, the Church is his body. So of course he is the Tree of Life and we are also the Tree of Life! 

And in order to grasp how the seven lights can be seven stars and “the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth”, we need to understand this: it is the Holy Spirit who grafts us into the Tree that is Jesus Christ and his Church. 2000 years ago the Father and the Son together poured out the Holy Spirit upon Jesus’ disciples, and that day the Tree of Life that is the Church began to burst out of the seed that was the old Jewish religion. On that day the Holy Spirit breathed his life into Jesus’ Church, and Jesus’ Church became a living being. And as the Church began to grow, and branch out into all nations, the Church extended upon its branches the fruit that is the Holy Spirit, available to everyone who comes and listens and believes… 

So now, how are we supposed to apply these instructions about the lampstand to our own lives? 

Well, according to our text in Exodus, this is our Father’s command regarding the lampstand and its lights: “See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” What does that command mean for us today? Since the lampstand is Jesus and his Church, and since the lamps are the Holy Spirit, then as a Christian church our Father is commanding us to shape our worshiping community after the image described in his Word. Our Lord Jesus Christ has told us clearly what we are supposed to look like. And it is our duty to obey him, our head, our Bridegroom. 

So, practically speaking now: how are we to apply God’s instructions in this text to our lives? 

Well, if you are here today and you are not a Christian, this is what you should do: come, and be grafted into the Tree of Life. 

I do not know the details of your existence, but the Judeo-Christian scriptures tell me that — whether you are rich or poor, male or female, empowered or disempowered, alone in a secular world or bound into a rigid religious community — whoever you are you were born in the wilderness outside God’s garden. You have spent your life trying to scratch food out of the dry ground; with painful labor you have been trying to birth a life beyond yourself. You have spent your day scorched by the merciless sun; now the is night settling about you in darkness and fear and despair. And it may be that you have come to a point where you have recognised the futility of what you are doing. 

But it may be that God has also given you a glimpse of the great Tree rising within the walls of the garden, its fruit shining against the twilight rising up beyond the mountain, a tree that is beyond your reach because the gates of the garden are closed to you. It may be that you are starving, that you are dying, that you are longing for life, and you have just come to realize it. 

If that is you, then do this: approach the gates and call out to Jesus Christ. Tell him that you are hungry, that you are longing for a different kind of life, that you are willing to leave your old world, with all its pleasures and pains, and join his new creation. 

If you do this, then this is what will happen: the gates will open. And Jesus himself will usher you into the garden. He will seat you beside him at his table. You will see God, and you will eat and drink. The Tree of Life will extend to you its fruit that is the Spirit of God. And as you eat you will be grafted into the Tree. You will live forever; you will never go hungry, you will never be thirsty. 

That is what you should do. Do it now, and live! 

But if you are here today and you are a Christian…for those of us who have already been grafted into Christ, what should we be doing right now as the living Tree of Life on this earth? 

Well, looking back over these three pieces of furniture in God’s house — the ark, the table, and the lampstand — we do see a development of a theme. As the ark, Jesus’ Church has been commanded to center herself around the living Word. As the table, Jesus’ Church has been commanded to distribute the living Word to all who are starving in the wilderness. As the lampstand, Jesus’ Church been commanded to display the living Word to all who are lost in the darkness outside the garden walls. 

And we have been commanded to do all this according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. And for us, today — especially during this Easter week — our mountain must be the mountain called Calvary, which means the Place of the Skull. That was the mountain where Jesus was crucified, where the tree of death was planted in soil soaked with the blood of the condemned. 

And this is how the pattern of Mount Calvary should guide our lives today: as we display the shining fruit of the living Word to all who are lost in darkness, we must remember that our Tree of Life is not yet the Tree of Victory — not for us, not yet. We must not make the mistake that God’s people made 2000 years ago on this Sunday: we must not assume that joining King Jesus means endless health and wealth, victory over all our enemies and honour in the eyes of the world. As Christians in this age, our lives are to be lived according to the pattern of the cross. 

Brothers and sisters, death comes before life. As Jesus himself said, “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.” 

So this is what we should be doing right now as the living Tree of Life in this age: we must live humble, quiet, faithful lives. Our Lord has risen victorious; he has been crowned with glory and honor, and everything has been put under his feet. Yet at present we do not yet see everything subject to him. So while we wait, while we look forward to the day when our Messiah will complete his temple and cleanse it thoroughly inside and out, we need to follow our Saviour’s example. Now that he, our Lord and Teacher, has washed our feet, we also should be washing one another’s feet, serving one another humbly in love, not looking to our own interests but to the interests of others. 

Brothers and sisters, if you have a heart for evangelism, then please do not be led astray by the modern marketing techniques that have come to dominate our evangelical world today. This is Jesus’ evangelistic program, this is how Jesus wants us to win the world, these are his words: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 

The apostle Paul said the same thing in his own way. These are his words: Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. 

This is the pattern that was shown to us on the mountain. May we build according to this pattern alone! 

Amen.