Eternal Flame

Leviticus 24: 1-9

Nine verses, but not a lot of content. The Israelites are commanded to bring another couple of things.

First, olive oil- to be used as fuel for the lamps on the pure gold lamp stand in the tent of meeting outside of the curtain of testimony. These lamps are to be always lit from evening to morning. Aaron is in charge of making sure they stay that way. I'm not sure why they need to be constantly lit. The most obvious metaphor that comes to mind deals with letting your light shine before men- but maybe this is more like an open sign- an indication to the Israelites that there isn't a time that they can't come before Aaron (or God) with their testimony- or prayer- or whatever. Maybe God is saying, Look- Aaron's going to be up keeping the lamp lit anyhow- don't worry about bugging him- you are always welcome here.

Second, bread. Lots of bread. Twelve loaves each Sabbath (total, not per person) to be put on the golden table. This is part of Aaron's family's share- though they are to eat it in a holy place. There is also supposed to be incense placed on the table to represent the bread. The bread apparently gets eaten, the incense offered to God.

Open all night- dispersion of bread- seems like an Isreali Krystal. That's some pretty serious clashing of cultures.