3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps….8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’
“Above all - get oil.”
That is the phrase I have heard the Father speak to my heart, beginning many years ago. I have racked my brain trying to remember where I was exactly when I first heard the Lord whisper it to me, but I cannot recall the time and place.
“Above all – get oil.”
It is a phrase that I have so often heard whispered again and again throughout my walk with Him, that it is difficult to pinpoint when it first began. I have vivid memories of hearing it echo in my heart at different moments: while walking down the hall at work, while meditating on a passage of scripture, while faced with small choices, while faced with big ones; it seems it is a statement that has naturally become a part of my discipleship.
“Above all – get oil.”
As someone who has journaled her prayers and dialogue with God for years, I went through many old entries trying to find that original source. I could not. Yet time and time again, the concept is central in those journals: get oil – more than a growing ministry, more than a growing bank account, more than your own happiness and success – above all, get oil.
I have a faint memory of hearing Him first speak this phrase to me and my mind being drawn to Proverbs 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Still, here I was hearing, “above all, get oil” not “above all, guard your heart.” Yet the Lord wasn’t contradicting His word in that moment: he was purposely drawing my attention to Proverbs 4:23 and to the connection the heart has with oil. He was really teaching me this simple truth: If you guard the one, you will gain the other.
We will discuss guarding the heart as this book unfolds, but for now, let us ask this question: what does the oil represent? We understand that we need it to shine and make our lamps useful, but what does the oil represent and how is it connected to the heart/wellspring of life? In our last chapter, we discussed how the lamps metaphorically represent at least 2 things:
1) Our Witness in this World
2) Our Ability to See in the Darkness
Oil is what keeps that lamp shining. It may seem obvious, but without electricity, lightbulbs are pointless. The very thing they are created to do – shine – is dependent upon the electrical current hitting the filament. I can have dozens of lamps filled with light bulbs in my house, but if I fail to pay the electric bill, those bulbs serve no purpose. They do me no good. In Jesus’ time, the same would be said about oil in lanterns and lamps. Oil, to them, would be like electricity for us today. A lamp’s purpose was useless apart from the oil that caused the fire to burn. So, when Jesus shared this parable to his audience, this necessity would not have been lost on them. They clearly would have understood the significance: oil keeps the lamps burning.
What The Oil Represents
Much like the childhood song taught us, the only way to stay ‘burning until the break of Day,” is by having plenty of oil to sustain our pure, true witness in this world and plenty of oil to help us not stumble in the darkest hour of history. But back to the original question: what does oil represent and how is it tied to the heart? If you are a long-time church attender, you may be quick to answer that oil represents ‘the Holy Spirit’ or ‘the anointing’ (a word we use a lot but do not truly understand!). But scripture requires us to look deeper than this cursory answer. Contextually, we must understand this parable is about preparation, diligence, and intentionality from the wise. There is a part these women played to attain the oil of the Spirit and that is what I believe this specific oil represents: our personal intentional heart connection & obedience to the Spirit of God. Another way of saying it is this: the sustaining oil in our lamps comes from, not a mere ‘yes’ to Jesus at an altar call – but a continual, purposeful yielding to Him; it’s a determined choice to obey, a single-minded focus to know Him and love Him more and more, no matter the cost. Attaining this kind of oil doesn’t happen in a one-time event. No conference or prayer meeting alone will do it. It is developed over time by yielding again and again to His Lordship. Without this, our lamps will grow dim. The Spirit is calling us in this hour to get oil, beloveds, and in so doing, is calling us to greater submission to Him as servants of the Bridegroom King. But this isn’t a call to works or legalism – it is a call to true discipleship and maturity, and we must set our heart to grow in these graces. So, how do we go about setting our heart in this fashion? Where do we begin? Let us look deeper at what Jesus says about the oil in Matthew 25:
True Wisdom
3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps
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First, we see that the wise had plenty of oil on reserve. So, wisdom and excess oil go hand in hand. The wisest believers will have more than enough to sustain them. In fact, Proverbs teaches us that increase naturally follows the wise…but not just any type of increase, like more money or power- but true increase of the eternal kind. The wisest believers will increase in wisdom because they have set their hearts to receive it. Proverbs opens by saying the wise seek:
2 To know wisdom and instruction,To perceive the words of understanding,3 To receive the instruction (discipline, warning, correction) of wisdom,Justice, judgment, and equity…
These verses teach that the wise will learn to be instructed. The underlined words - Knowing, Perceiving, andReceiving - are all active words that require a purposed heart. They require action on our part. Greater still, in the original language, instructed does not simply mean ‘taught’, but ‘corrected, disciplined and warned’. So, the wise will receive, not just enjoyable teaching, but warning and discipline in order that they may grow wiser still! This is no small task. The wise seek out discipline and correction. They will submit themselves to Godly leaders who will instruct them in the ways of God, while also digging into God’s word for themselves. They will grapple with the difficult truths of justice and judgment, not just the flowery truths of mercy and love. This isn’t automatic – to be willing to receive this type of instruction takes time and must be learned. To receive instruction, yes - to receive warnings, requires a heart of humility and submission. Wisdom begins here in that posture: humility and submission.
Proverbs continues by showing us the connection of wisdom and increase:
5 A wise man will hear and increase learning,And a man of understanding will attain (possess, purchase) wise counsel…
Verse 5 says that the wise man increases learning. Here we see that increase follows the wise, but once again - not automatically; but because the wise have learned to value the instruction they receive so much, they seek out more, even if it is difficult and costly. In fact, in the original language, verse 5 says that a wise person will ‘purchase’ wise counsel. They didn’t just stumble upon it. No - the wisest believer will purposefully and prayerfully pay a price to have true instruction in their life. The wisest person will, in fact, pay a price to be warned and disciplined! This means the wise will look for and expect correction when they read God’s word. They will look for and expect correction from the Godly leaders in their lives. They will look for it, expect it, and love it, because they know it is producing life.
Fear of the Lord
Then, in verse 7, Proverbs intertwines the fear of the Lord with such a heart of wisdom:
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,But fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:2-7)
This is a subject so poorly taught today, that I want to park here for a while. This chapter/post may be lenghty, but I encourage you to stick with it. When we have a reverent heart that truly fears the Lord, we live in a way that keeps us humble and submissive. So, not only does wisdom begin in the posture of humility and submission – it stays there by receiving the fear of the Lord. And what is the fear of the Lord? At the basic level, there is reason to be afraid of an All-Consuming, Omniscient, Omnipresent God! Jesus himself tells us in Matthew 10:28, “Fear Him who has the power to destroy body and soul in hell.” So, on one hand, the fear of the Lord is just good old fashioned, healthy fear! But on the other hand, we see plainly in scripture that God never intended for us to simply be afraid of Him, but He made the way for us to boldly approach Him (Heb. 4:16), despite that natural fear. So, then – the fear of the Lord moves beyond the natural fear that any person should have to a deeper one built upon worship of who God is. The Fear of the Lord exalts God to his rightful place as God. This is why scripture teaches us that the wicked have no fear of God (Ps. 36:1) because they fail to exalt Him as such. The Fear of the Lord will move you to press in through natural fear in order that you may know this beautiful, burning firey God who is seated above creation. No where is this better displayed than in Exodus 19.
In Exodus 19 we see an amazing story where God comes down from heaven to visit Moses and the people of Israel on the Sinai Mountain. Moses tells the people that in 3 days, God is going to meet them at the mountain. Then God descends:
16 On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightning flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. 17 Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply.
Okay, put yourself in these people’s shoes. How incredibly scary is this? It is only natural for the people to be trembling in outrageous fear! Then the terrifying story continues in Exodus 20:18 –
18 When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear.19 And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”
Can you blame them? What did the people have in that moment? The healthy, natural fear of the Lord. Yet Moses later recounts the event in Deuteronomy from the heart of someone who had been moved past natural fear into holy wonder. In Deuteronomy 5:1-5,23-27:
And Moses called all Israel, and said to them: "Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them and be careful to observe them. 2 The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb…The Lord talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire. 5 I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to declare to you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and you did not go up the mountain…. 23 "So it was, when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me…24 And you said: 'Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man; yet he still lives. 25 Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, then we shall die. 26 For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27 You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all that the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it.'
What was God offering them on the mountain? His voice! His friendship! What did they settle for? Someone else to talk to God on their behalf. They said, “Moses, you go have the relationship with God and then come tell us what he wants us to do.” That will work for so long, but eventually this type of heart position causes your light to burnt out. Why did they not want to hear God speak? Fear, to be sure; but I believe they didn’t like the cost of what God was offering them. They didn’t expect the voice of God to come with terror and fire! The cost of true relationship with Him meant embracing the flames that purge away self-pleasure and self-worship. There was a cost to this relationship, even as there is still one today. Even as God called the children of Israel to the mountain, Jesus calls to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Hebrews tells us that, though we have not come to the same burning mountain, we have come to the mountain of the Living God who is still burning with fire, just the same (Heb. 12). The cost of knowing Him deeper is self-denial – and the children of Israel let the fear of that cost stop them from accepting the invitation God offered them to boldly approach Him.
Moses continued his account:
28 "Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the Lord said to me: 'I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken. 29 Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever! 30 Go and say to them, "Return to your tents." 31 But as for you, stand here by Me, and I will speak to you all the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments which you shall teach them, that they may observe them in the land which I am giving them to possess.' (Deut. 5:28-31)
Do you hear the longing heart of God in verse 29? He wanted them all to experience what Moses was experiencing but they could not because their hearts had no fear of Him. They were afraid, but had no fear. Moses & the people of Israel stand in contrast. Exodus says,
21 As the people stood in the distance, Moses approached the dark cloud where God was (Ex. 19:21)
The people stood in the distance...but Moses approached the Lord. Why in the world would Moses risk his life and walk up that mountain burning with fire? Because he had the Fear of the Lord. This is what the fear of the Lord is: knowing that the fire may burn, the journey may hurt, and the cross will cost me my life, but I cannot live without Him - and so, I press on.
More Than Encounter
For Moses, this isn’t the first time he has seen God and fire together, is it? No, he had the burning bush (Ex.3). Do you think that was scary? As scary as a mountain burning? Maybe not, but still scary enough. Before this moment at the burning mountain, Moses had an intimate, personal encounter with God. But what about the children of Israel? Had they had encounters with God before the mountain? Absolutely! From plagues of locusts to the Red Sea parting, the children of Israel had seen God move mightily. In fact, they had been presented with way more than a burning bush! They had an even more dramatic experience than Moses did. So, here we see that it is not enough to have power encounters with God to get the oil in your lamp. Moses & the children of Israel were both presented with encounter with God but only Moses let that fear be turned to awe and hunger. The Children of Israel saw what God was doing but didn’t engage with it themselves. Moses saw what God was doing - and though his heart was pounding - got up close and personal with it. He made the experience his very own; not just ‘what happened to the group in worship;’ not just what happened at the Conference when everyone was getting prayer… No: he sought God one on one on his own. Each man is responsible for his own secret life in God. You can heap up for yourselves teaching and get people to lay hands on you at conferences, but this ‘anointing’ is only good for those who already producing their own oil with God. Most often, “conference prayers” are an activation of what’s already being produced in secret.
When Moses had his burning bush experience, the bible says he ‘turned aside to see it’ (Ex. 3:4). A holy fear of God begins with turning aside from our day to day routine to see what God is doing and to know why He does what He does. In other words to know His ways not just His deeds, as Moses did (Ps. 103:7). God is always burning: He’s just, looking for someone to turn His way and know Him more. You can stand at a distance and God will appear like a blazing fire as He did for the children of Israel. You can experience his activity, his power, his out-workings…OR you can be the one who says, ‘I’ll walk through those flames. I’ll risk my life to get near to the heart of God.’ For those who do this, God is waiting for fellowship with them. You see, scripture tells us what waited for Moses at the top of the mountain. It wasn’t just Moses that went up either. Eventually, he took some leaders with him. Exodus 30:9-11 says:
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel climbed up the mountain. 10 There they saw the God of Israel. Under his feet there seemed to be a surface of brilliant blue saphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 And though these nobles of Israel gazed upon God, he did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal, eating and drinking in his presence!
17 [But] To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire.
What was waiting for Moses and the elders at the center of that fearful experience? A picnic with God. God himself ate with them on the mountain. They drank deeply of His presence; they didn’t just observe his powr: they EXPERIENCED HIS FELLOWSHIP. It’s the same invitation for us today: God comes to us with burning fire and He says, ‘I am HOLY and I want you to know my heart." But the cost to get to that heart, requires that you edure the fire. This means we will have to endure the:
· Fire of purging sin, habits, or just fruitless areas in our lives
· Fire of testing our endurance and faith
· Fires of persecution
· The fire of difficulties of trying to keep your passion alive for God
BUT AT THE CENTER OF THE FLAME….God has a table waiting. And I guarantee, it's worth the cost.
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