Leviticus 24:1-9
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. 3 Outside the veil of the Testimony, in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations. 4 He shall be in charge of the lamps on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.
5 “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”
5 “And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. 6 You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. 7 And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the Lord. 8 Every Sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it is most holy to him from the offerings of the Lord made by fire, by a perpetual statute.”
The priests were to always keep up the tabernacle temple of worship to honor God. They were to ensure the light always shone by constantly keeping the oil in the lamps. They were also to ensure that the showbread was set before the Lord as a memorial to remind them He is their sustenance. These ministries were to be perpetually done by the Aaronic priesthood through the generations. The word perpetual here is עוֹלָם ‘ôlâm, meaning eternal or from all time and to all time, yet certainly this does not mean that these earthly priests would be doing this forever. The temple was destroyed in 70 AD and there were times in Israel’s past when the temple was abandoned as well. What then, is the command without fulfillment? No, it is fulfilled by the heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ! He lives and ministers forever (Hebrews 10:11-12) by His one eternal and perpetual sacrifice, and so ministers Himself as the light of men and the bread from heaven (John 1:4, 6:48). The priesthood of Aaron and their ministry came to and end, being imperfect, but His reign and ministry never end. Amen. .
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