However, according to the record of the Old Testament, there are at least two other things in the Holy Place: the showbread table and the lampstand. What kind of relationship do these have with our contacting God? In the last chapter we saw clearly that if we burn the incense, we cannot burn it in darkness. In the outer court there is the sunshine in the day time and the moonlight at night. This is the natural light. But within the Holy Place there is no natural light. There is no window, or even a door—just a covered entrance. Therefore, the lampstand is needed.
The burning of the incense requires the lighting of the lamps to give the light. Then it is possible to burn the incense. The burning of the incense depends very much on the lampstand. We have seen this clearly in the previous chapter, and we have seen its spiritual significance. We must have the light from the Word, through the Spirit, that we might know how to pray. Otherwise, we will simply pray in darkness. Whatever we say without the light will be in darkness. It will be a kind of nonsense, a foolish talking to the Lord. We must pray in light and with light. Our prayer will then issue out of the light.
The light comes from the Word, through the Spirit. The Word and the Spirit are not two separate things, but two sides of one thing. They are two aspects of one thing just as the children of Israel had the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. This was one pillar with two aspects. In the daytime it was the pillar of cloud, and in the nighttime it was the pillar of fire. The cloud is the type of the Holy Spirit, and the fire is the type of the holy Bible. When our sky is clear, we have the Holy Spirit. But when our sky is cloudy, we need the holy Bible to enlighten us and give us light.
So the Spirit and the Word are two aspects of one thing for our enlightenment. It is in this enlightenment that we know how to pray and how to utter something of Christ unto God as the sweet incense. This is the expression of something of Christ from within us in the light. Without the light, we would pray foolishly.
But what does the showbread table have to do with the lampstand and the incense altar? In Exodus 37 we can see an order or sequence in the making of these utensils. First of all, they made the showbread table, then the lampstand, and then the incense altar. This shows us clearly that the table comes first, then the lampstand, followed by the incense altar. This means that the showbread table is for the lampstand, and the lampstand is for the incense altar.
The showbread table is for the lampstand because the table is for life and the lampstand is for light. John 1:4 says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The life is the light. At the showbread table there is the life supply, and from this life the light is produced. The light comes from life. The more life supply we enjoy, the more light we are in. Life produces light. If we do not partake of and enjoy Christ as our life supply, we will be in darkness. When we are filled with the life supply of Christ, we will have the light. The enjoyment of the life supply will give the light.
Some people receive light when they read the Bible, but this receiving of light depends to a certain extent on the enjoyment of life. The more life we have, the more light we will receive from the Bible. The more we grow and mature in life, the more light we will receive. Light depends on the growth of life. The more we enjoy Christ as our life supply, the more light we will have.
To burn the incense requires the light, and to have light requires the life supply. In order for us to burn the incense in a proper way, we need the light, but to get the light, we need the life. We must learn to feed on Christ as the showbread, the life supply. It is not simply to receive Him once for all; we must feed on Him continually, day by day. We can never graduate from feeding on Christ. We must eat continually to receive the life supply. The supply of life we receive will become the light. The life is the light, and this light is necessary in order to burn the incense unto God. The burning of incense depends on the light, and the light depends on the life supply.