Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1187

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LVIII. Of the doors of the inner Temple.

1. Besides the veil, there was a door to the inner temple, and that door was made of olive tree; and for the entering of the oracle, he made doors of olive tree. The two doors also of olive tree, and he carved upon them—cherubims, and palm trees, and open flowers, and overlaid them with gold, and spread gold upon the cherubims, and upon the palm trees' (1 Kings 6:31).

2. These doors were a type of the gate of heaven, even of that which lets into the eternal mansion-house that is beyond that veil. I told you before that the veil was a type of the visible heavens, which God has spread out as a curtain, and through which Christ went when he ascended to the right hand of the Father.

3. Now, beyond this veil, as I said, I find a door, a gate opening with two leaves, as afore we found at the door of the outward temple. These are they which the Psalmist calls to, when he saith, 'Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in' (Psa 24:7,9).

4. The doors of the temple were made of fire, but these, as you see, were made of olive; to show us by that fat tree, that rich type, with what glory we shall be met, who shall be counted worthy to enter at these gates. The olive tree has its name from the oil and fatness of its nature, and the doors that let into the holiest were made of this olive tree (Rom 11:16-18).

5. Cherubims were also carved upon these doors to show that as the angels met us at the temple door, and as they wait upon us in the temple, and stand also ready at the veil, so even at the gate of the mansion-house, they will be also ready to give us a welcome thither, and to attend us into the presence chamber.

6. Palm trees also, as they were carved upon the temple doors, so we also find them here before the oracle, upon the doors that let in thither; to show, that as Christ gave us the victory at our first entering into faith, so he will finish that victory, by giving of us eternal salvation. Thus is he the author and finisher of our faith. For as surely as we first received the palm branch by faith, so surely shall we wear it in our hands as a token of his faithfulness in the heaven of heavens, for ever (Rev 7:9).

7. Open flowers are also carved here, to show that Christ, who is the door to glory, as well as the door to grace, will be precious to us at our entering in thither, as well as at the first step we took thitherward in a sinful and miserable world. Christ will never lose his sweet scent in his church's nostrils. He is most sweet now, will be so at death, and sweetest of all when we enter that mansion-house prepared for us in heaven by him.

8. The palm trees and open flowers may also be a type of the precious ones of God, who shall be counted worthy of his kingdom; the one, of the uprightness of their hearts; the other, of the good favor of their lives. 'The upright shall dwell in thy presence; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, I will show the salvation of God' (Psa 140:13).

9. Thus sweet on earth, sweet in heaven; and he that yields the fruit of the gospel here, shall find it for himself, and his eternal comfort, at the gates of glory.

10. All these were overlaid with gold, as you may say, and so they were at the door of the first house. True, but observe here we have an addition. Here is gold upon gold. Gold laid on them, and then gold spread upon that. He overlaid them with gold, and then spread gold upon them. The Lord gives grace and glory (Psa 84:11). Gold and gold. Gold spread upon gold. Grace is gold in the leaf, and glory is gold in plates. Grace is thin gold; glory is thick gold. Here is gold laid on, and gold spread upon that: and that both upon the palm trees and the cherubims. Gold upon the palm trees, that is, on the saints; gold upon the cherubims, that is, upon the angels. For I doubt not that the angels themselves shall receive additional glory for the service they have rendered to Christ and his church on earth.

11. The angels are God's harvest men, and doubtless he will give them good wages, even glory upon their glory then (Matt 13:38,39, 24:31; John 4:36).

12. You know harvest men used to be paid well for gathering in the corn, and I doubt not but so shall these, when the great ingathering is over. But what an entrance into life is here! Here is gold upon gold at the door, at our first step into the kingdom.

LIX. Of the golden nails of the inner Temple.

I shall not concern myself with all the nails of the temple, as of those made of iron, &c. (1 Chron 22:3). But only with the golden ones, of which you read, where he saith, 'And the weight of the nails was fifty shekels of gold' (2 Chron 3:9). These nails, as I conceive, were all fastened to the place most holy, and of form most apt to that of which they were a figure.

1. Some of them represented Christ Jesus our Lord as fixed in his mediatory office in the heavens; wherefore in one place, when the Holy Ghost speaks of Christ, as he sprang from Judah to be a mediator, saith, 'Out of him came the corner,' the corner stone, 'out of him the nail' (Zech 10:4). Now, since he is compared to a nail, a golden nail, it is to show, that as a nail, by driving, is fixed in his place; so Christ, by God's oath, is made an everlasting priest (Heb 7:25). Therefore, as he saith again, the nail, the Aaronical priesthood, that was fastened in a sure place, should be removed, be cut down, and fall; so he who has the key of David, which is Christ (Rev 3:7), shall by God, as a nail, be fastened in a sure place, and abide; therefore he says again, 'And he shall be for a glorious throne,' or mercy-seat, 'to his Father's house.' And moreover, that 'they shall hang upon him,' as on a nail, 'all the glory of his Father's house, the offspring, and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons' (Isa 22:20-25). According to that which is written, 'And they sang a new song' to the Lamb that was slain, 'saying, Thou art worthy,' &c. (Rev 5:9-12).

And therefore it is again that Christ, under the similitude of a nail, is accounted by saints indeed their great pledge or hope, as he is in heaven, of their certain coming thither. Hence they said of old, God has given us 'a nail in his holy place'; a nail, says the line, 'a pin, a constant and sure abode,' says the margin (Ezra 9:8). Now, this nail in his holy place, as was shown before, is Christ; Christ, as possessed of heaven, and as abiding, and ever living therein for us. Hence he is called, as there, our head, our life, and our salvation; and also we are said there to be set down together in him (Eph 1; Col 3:3; Eph 2:5,6).

2. Some of these nails were types of the holy words of God, which for ever are settled in heaven. Types, I say, of their 'yea and amen.' Hence Solomon, in another place, compares the words of the wise God, 'to goads and nails, fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd' (Eccl 12:11).

They are called goads, because, as such prick the oxen on in their drawing, so God's words prick Christians on in their holy duties. They are called nails, to show that, as nails, when fastened well in a sure place, are not easily removed; so God's words, by his will, stand firm for ever. The masters of the assemblies are first, the apostles. The one shepherd is Jesus Christ. Hence the gospel of Christ is said to be everlasting, to abide for ever, and to be more stedfast than heaven and earth (Isa 40:6-8; 1 Peter 1:24,25; Heb 13:20; Rev 14:6; Matt 24:35). The Lord Jesus then, and his holy words, are the golden nails of the temple, and the fixing of thess nails in the temple, was to show that Christ is the same today, yesterday, and for ever; and that his words abide, and remain the same for ever and ever. He who has Christ has a nail in the holiest; he who has a promise of salvation has also a nail in heaven, a golden nail in heaven!

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1186

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LVI. Of the holiest or inner Temple.

The most holy place was, as I said, a figure of heaven itself, consequently a type of that where the most special presence of God is, and where his face is most clearly seen, and the gladness of his countenance most enjoyed (Heb 9:23,24; Exo 25:22; Num 7:89).

The most holy place was dark; it had no windows in it, though there were such round the chambers; the more special presence of God, too, on Mount Sinai, was in the thick darkness there (1 Kings 8:12; 2 Chron 7:1; Exo 19:9, 20:21).

1. This holiest, therefore, being thus made, was to show that God, as in heaven, to us on earth is altogether invisible, and not to be reached otherwise than by faith. For, I say, in that this house had no windows, nothing therein could be seen by the highest light of this world. Things there were only seen by the light of the fire of the altar, which was a type of the shinings of the Holy Ghost (1 Cor 2). And hence it is said, notwithstanding this darkness, 'He dwelleth in the light, which no man can approach unto'; none but the high-priest, Christ (1 Tim 6:16; 1 Peter 3:21,22).

2. The holiest, therefore, was thus built, to show how different our state in heaven will be from this our state on earth. We walk here by one light, by the light of a written word; for that is now a light to our feet, and a lantern to our path. But that place, where there will be no written word, nor ordinances as here, will yet shine more light and clear to us than if all the lights in the world were put together to light one man. 'For God is light, and in him is no darkness at all' (1 John 1:5). And in his light, and in the light of the Lamb immediately, we shall live, and walk, and rejoice all the days of eternity.

3. This also was ordained thus, to show that we, while in the first temple, should live by faith, as to what there was, or as to what was done in the second. Hence it is said, as to that, 'we walk by faith, not by sight' (2 Cor 5:9). The things that are there we are told of, even of the ark of the testimony, and mercy-seat, and the cherubims of glory, and the presence of Christ, and of God: we are, I say, told of them by the word, and believe, and are taken therewith, and hope to go to them hereafter; but otherwise we see them not. Therefore we are said to 'look, not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal' (2 Cor 4:18).

4. The people of old were not to look into the holiest, lest they died, save only their high-priest, he might go into it (Num 17:13). To show that we, while here, must have a care of vain speculations, for there is nothing to be seen by us while here, in heaven, otherwise than by faith in God's eternal testament. True, we may now come to the holiest, even as nigh as the first temple will admit us to come; but it must be by blood and faith, not by vain imagination, sense, or carnal reason (Heb 10:19).

5. This holiest of all was four square every way, both as to height, length, and breadth. To be thus is a note of perfection, as I have showed elsewhere; wherefore it was on purpose thus built, to show us that all fulness of blessedness is there, both as to the nature, degree, and duration. So 'when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away' (1 Cor 13:8-10; Heb 10:19-22).

LVII. Of the veil of the Temple.

The veil of the temple was a hanging made of 'blue and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen,' and there were cherubims wrought thereon (Exo 26:31).

1. This veil was one partition, betwixt the holy and most holy place; and I take it, it was to keep from the sight of the worshippers the things most holy, when the high-priest went in thither, to accomplish the service of God (Exo 26:33; 2 Chron 3:14; Heb 9:8).

2. The veil was a type of two things.

(1.) Of these visible heavens through which Christ passed when he went to make intercession for us. And as by the veil the priest went out of the sight of the people when he went into the holiest of all, so Jesus Christ, when he ascended, was by the heavens, that great and stretched-out curtain, received out of the sight of his people here. Also by the same curtain, since it is become as a tent for him to dwell in, he is still received, and still kept out of our sight; for now we see him not, nor shall, until these heavens be rolled together as a scroll, and pass away like a thing rolled together (Isa 40:22; Acts 1:9-11, 3:19-21; 1 Peter 1:8).

(2.) This is that veil through which the apostle saith, Jesus is, as a forerunner for us, entered into the presence of God. For by veil here also must be meant the heavens, or outspread firmament thereof; as both Mark and Peter say, He 'is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God' (Mark 16:19; 1 Peter 3:22).

3. The veil of the temple was made of blue, the very color of the heaven. Of purple and crimson, and scarlet also, which are the colors of many of the clouds, because of the sun's reflections. But again,

4. The veil was also a type of the body of Christ. For as the veil of the temple, when whole, kept the view of the things of the holiest from us, but when rent, gave place to man to look in unto them; even so the body of Christ, while whole, kept the things of the holiest from that view, we, since he was pierced, have of them. Hence we are said to enter into the holiest, by faith, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (Heb 10:19-22). But yet, I say, all is by faith; and, indeed, the rending of the veil that day that Christ was crucified loudly preached this to us. For no sooner was the body of Christ pierced than the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and so a way was made for a clearer sight of what was there beyond it, both in the type and antitype (Matt 27:50-53; Heb 10:19,20).

Thus you see that the veil of the temple was a type of these visible heavens, and also of the body of Christ; of the first, because he passed through it unto the Father; of the second, because we by it have boldness to come to the Father.

I read also of two other veils, as of that spread over the face of Moses, to the end that the children of Israel should not stedfastly behold; and of the first veil of the tabernacle. But of these I shall not speak in this place.

Upon the veil of the temple there were also the figures of cherubims wrought, that is, of angels; to show, that as the angels are with us here, and wait upon us all the days of our pilgrimage in this world; so when we die, they stand ready, even at the veil, at the door of these heavens, to come when bid, to fetch us, and carry us away into Abraham's bosom (Luke 16:22).

The veil, then, thus understood, teaches us first where Jesus is, namely, not here, but gone into heaven, from whence we should wait for him. It also teaches us that if we would even now discern the glories that are in the holiest of all, we must look through Jesus to them, even through the veil, 'that is to say, his flesh.' Yea, it teaches us that we may, by faith through him, attain to a kind of presence, at least of the beauty and sweetness of them.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1185

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched Out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let Us More Easily Into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

1. They are said to be the redeemed who sinned. 2. The songs that they sing are said to be the 'songs of their redemption' (Rev 5:9,10). 3. They were and are songs that no man can learn but they.

But let us run a little in the parallel.

1. They were of old appointed to sin, that were cunning and skillful in songs. And answerable to that it is said, that no man could learn our New Testament songs, but the hundred and forty and four thousand which were redeemed from the earth (1 Chron 15:22; Rev 14:3).

2. These songs were sung with harps, psalteries, cymbals, and trumpets; a type of our singing with spiritual joy, from grace in our hearts (1 Chron 25:6; 2 Chron 29:26-28; Col 3:16).

3. The singers of old were to be clothed in fine linen, which fine linen was a type of innocence and an upright conversation. Hence the singers under the New Testament are said to be virgins, such in whose mouth was no guile, and that were without 'fault before the throne of God' (1 Chron 15:27; Rev 14:1-5. See also 7:9-16; Psa 33:1).

4. The songs sung in the temple were new, or such as were compiled after the manner of repeated mercies that the church of God had received, or were to receive. And answerable to this, is the church to sing now new songs, with new hearts, for new mercies (Psa 33:3, 40:3, 96, 144:9; Rev 14:3). New songs, I say, are grounded on new matter, new occasions, new mercies, new deliverances, new discoveries of God to the soul, or for new frames of heart; and are such as are most taking, most pleasing, and most refreshing to the soul.

5. These songs of old, to distinguish them from heathenish ones, were called God's songs, the Lord's songs: because taught by him, and learned of him, and enjoined to them, to be sung to his praise. Hence David said, God had put a new song in his mouth, 'even praise unto our God' (1 Chron 25:7; Psa 47:6,7, 137:4, 40:3).

6. These songs also were called 'the songs of Zion,' and 'the songs of the temple' (Psa 137:3; Amos 8:3). And they are so called as they were theirs to sing there; I say, of them of Zion, and the worshippers in the temple. I say, to sing in the church, by the church, to him who is the God of the church, for the mercies, benefits, and blessings which she has received from him. Sion-songs, temple-songs, must be sung by Sion's sons, and temple-worshippers.

The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness; and sorrow and sighing shall fly away. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height, or upon the mountain of Zion; and shall flow together thither, to the goodness of the Lord. 'Break forth into singing, ye mountains,' and let the inhabitants of the rock sing (Isa 44:23, 42:11, 51:11).

To sing to God is the highest worship we are capable of performing in heaven; and it is much if sinners on earth, without grace, should be capable of performing it, according to his institution, acceptably. I pray God it be done by all those that now-a-days get into churches, in spirit and with understanding.

LV. Of the union of the holy and most holy Temple.

That commonly called the temple of God at Jerusalem, considered as standing of two parts, was called the outward and inward temple, or, the holy and most holy place. They were built upon one and the same foundation; neither could one go into the holiest, but as through the holy place (1 Kings 3:1, 6:1; 2 Chron 5:1,13, 7:2).

The first house, namely, that which we have been speaking of, was a type of the church-militant, and the place most holy a type of the church-triumphant; I say, of the church-triumphant, as it now is.

So, then, the house standing of these two parts was a shadow of the church both in heaven and earth. And for that they are joined together by one and the same foundation, it was to show, that they above, and we below, are yet one and the self-same house of God. Hence they, and we together, are called, 'The whole family in heaven and earth' (Eph 3:14,15).

And hence it is said again, that we who believe on earth 'are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel' (Heb 12:22-24).

The difference, then, betwixt us and them is, not that we are really two, but one body in Christ, in divers places. True, we are below stairs, and they above; they in their holiday, and we in our working-day clothes; they in harbor, but we in the storm; they at rest, and we in the wilderness; they singing, as crowned with joy; we crying, as crowned with thorns. But, I say, we are all of one house, one family, and are all the children of one Father. This, therefore, we must not forget, lest we debar ourselves of much of that which otherwise, while here, we have a right unto. Let us, therefore, I say, remember, that the temple of God is but one, though divided, as one may say into kitchen and hall, above stairs and below; or holy and most holy place. For it stands upon the same foundation, and is called but one, the temple of God; which is built upon the Lord our Savior.

I told you before, that none of old could go into the most holy, but by the holy place, even by the veil that made the partition between (Exo 26:33; Lev 16:2,12,15; Heb 9:7,8, 10:19). Wherefore, they are deceived that think to go into the holiest, which is heaven, when they die, who yet abandon and hate the holy place, while they live. Nay, Sirs, the way into the holiest is through the holy place; the way into heaven is through the church on earth; for Christ is there by his word to be received by faith, before he can be received by us in person in the beatical vision. The church on earth is as the house of the women, spoken of in the book of Esther, where we must be dieted, perfumed, and made fit to go into the bridegroom's chamber, or as Paul says, 'made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light' (Esth 2; Col 1:12).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1184

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LIII. Of the goings out of the Temple.

As to the comings into the temple, of them we have spoken already; namely, of the outer and inner court, as also of the doors of the porch and temple. The coming in was but one strait course, and that a type of Jesus Christ; but the goings out were many (John 10:9, 14:6).

Now, as I said, it is insinuated that the goings out are many, answerable to the many ways which the children of men have invented to apostatize from God. Christ is the way in; but sin the way out of the temple of God. True, I read not of a description of the goings out of this house, as I read of the comings in. Only when they had Athaliah out thence, she is said to go out by the way by which the horses come into the king's stables, and there she was slain, as it were upon the horse dung-hill (2 Kings 11:16; 2 Chron 23:15). When Uzziah also went out of this house for his transgression, he was cast out of all society, and made to dwell in a kind of a pest-house, even to the day of his death (2 Chron 26:21).

Thus, therefore, though these goings out are not particularly described, the judgments that followed them that have for their transgressions been thrust out thence, have been both remarkable and tremendous: for to die upon a dung-hill, or in a pest-house, and that for wicked actions, is a shameful, a disgraceful thing. And God will still be spreading dung upon the faces of such; no greatness shall prevent it (Mal 2:3). Yea, and will take them away with it. 'I will drive them out of my house,' says he, 'I will love them no more' (Hosea 9:15).

But what are we to understand in gospel days, by going out of the house of the Lord, for or by sin? I answer, if it be done voluntarily, then sin leads you out: if it be done by the holy compulsion of the church, then it is done by the judicial judgment of God; that is, they are cut off, and cast out from thence, as a just reward for their transgressions (Lev 20, 21:3; Eze 14:8; 1 Cor 5:13).

Well, but whither do they go, that are thus gone out of the temple or church of God? I answer, not to the dunghill with Athaliah, nor to the pest-house with Uzziah, but to the devil, that is the first step, and so to hell, without repentance. But if their sin be not unpardonable, they may by repentance be recovered, and in mercy tread these courts again. Now the way to this recovery is to think seriously what they have done, or by what way they went out from the house of God. Hence the prophet is bid to show to the rebellious house, first the goings out of the house, and then the comings in. But, I say, first he bids show them the goings out thereof (Eze 43:10,11). This is absolutely necessary for the recovering of the sinner. For until he that has sinned himself out of God's house shall see what danger he has incurred to himself by this his wicked going out, he will not unfeignedly desire to come in thither again.

There is another thing to take notice of on this point. God also departs from this house by sin as the occasion. The sin of a man will thrust him out, and the sin of men will drive God out of his own house. You read this in Ezekiel 11:22, 23. For this, he saith, 'I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage, I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies' (Jer 12:7). And this also is dreadful. The great sentence of Christ upon the Jews lay much in these words, 'Your house is left unto you desolate'; that is, God has left you to bare walls, and to lifeless traditions. Consider, therefore, this going out also. Alas! a church, a true church, is but a poor thing if God leaves, if God forsakes it. By a true church I mean one that is congregated according to outward rule, that has sinned God away, as she had almost quite done that was of Laodicea (Rev 3).

He that sins himself out, can find no good in the world; and they that have sinned God out, can find no good in the church. A church that has sinned God away from it is a sad lump indeed. You therefore that are in God's church, take heed of sinning yourselves out of it; also take heed that, while you keep in, you sin not God away, for thenceforth no good is there. 'Yea, woe to them when I depart from them!' saith God (Hosea 9:12).

LIV. Of the singers belonging to the Temple.

Having thus far passed through the temple, I now come to the singers there. The singers were many, but all of the church, either Jews or proselytes; nor was there any, as I know of, under the Old Testament worship, admitted to sing the songs of the church, and to celebrate that part of worship with the saints, but they who, at least in appearance, were so. The song of Moses, of Deborah, and of those that danced before David, with others that you read of, they were all performed, either by Jews by nature, or by such as were proselyted to their religion (Exo 15:1; Jude 5:1,2; 1 Sam 18:6). And such worship then was occasioned by God's great appearance for them, against the power of the Gentiles their enemies.

But we are confined to the songs of the temple, a more distinct type of ours in the church under the gospel. 1. The singers then were many, but the chief of them, in the days of David, were David himself, Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, and their sons. 2. In David's time the chief of these singers were two hundred fourscore and eight (1 Chron 25). These singers of old were to sing their songs over the burnt-offering, which were types of the sacrificed body of Christ; a memorial of which offering we have at the Lord's table, the consummation of which Christ and his disciples celebrated with a hymn (Matt 26:30). And as of old they were the church that did sing in the temple, according to institution, to God, so also they are by God's appointment to be sung in the church by the new. Hence,

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1183

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

LI. Of the flagons and cups of the Temple.

The next thing to be considered is the flagons and cups of the temple; of these we read, 1 Chronicles 28:17; Jeremiah 52:19; Isaiah 22:24. These were of great use among the Jews, especially on their feasting days; as of their sabbaths, new-moons, and the like (Lev 23:13; Num 28:7; 1 Chron 16:3; Isa 25:6, 62:8,9).

For instance, the day that David danced before the ark, 'he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine' (2 Sam 6:19; 1 Chron 16:3). 'In this mountain,' that is, in the temple typically, saith the prophet, 'shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the less well refined' (Isa 25:6).

These are feasting times; the times in which our Lord used to have his spouse into his wine-cellar, and in which he used to display with delight his banner over her head in love (Cant 2:4,5). The church of Christ, alas! is of herself a very sickly puely thing; a woman; a weaker vessel; but how much more must she needs be so weak, when the custom of women is upon her, or when she is sick of love? Then she indeed has need of a draught, for she now sinks, and will not else be supported. 'Stay me with flagons,' saith she, 'and comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love' (Can 2:5).

These flagons, therefore, were types of those feastings, and of those large draughts of Divine love, that the Lord Jesus draweth for and giveth to his spouse in those days that he feasteth with them. For then he saith, 'Drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved.' He does this to cheer her up in her hours of sadness and dejection; for now new 'corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids' (Prov 31:6,7; Psa 116:13; Jer 16:7; Cant 5; Zech 9:17).

As there were flagons, so there were cups; and they are called cups of consolation, and cups of salvation, because, as I said, they were they by which God at his feastings with his people, or when he suppeth with them, giveth out the more large draughts of his love unto his saints, to revive the spirits of the humble, and to revive the hearts of the contrite ones. At these times God made David's cup run over. For we are now admitted, if our faith will bear it, to drink freely into this grace, and to be merry with him (Psa 23:5; Luke 15:22-24; Cant 5:1, 7:11,12; John 14:23; Rev 3:20). This is that to which the apostle alludeth, when he saith, 'Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart unto the Lord' (Eph 5:18,19).

For the cups, as to their use in general, understand them as the bowls mentioned before. For assurances are the blooms and flowers of faith, not always on it, though usually on feasting days it is so. So the degree of the one is still according to the measure of the other (James 5; Rom 15:13).

LII. Of the chargers of the Temple.

In the tabernacle they had but twelve, and they were made of silver; but in the temple they had in all a thousand and thirty. The thirty were made of gold, the rest were made of silver (Ezra 1:9; Num 7:84). These chargers were not for uses common or profane, but, as I take it, they were those in which the passover, and other meat-offerings, were dressed up, when the people came to eat before God in his holy temple. The meat, you know, I told you, was opposite to milk; and so are these chargers to the bowls, and cups, and flagons of the temple.

The meat was of two sorts, roast or boiled. Of that which was roasted was the passover, and of that which was boiled were the trespass-offerings. Wherefore, concerning the passover, he saith, 'Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof' (Exo 12:9). This roast meat was a type of the body of Christ as suffering for our sins, which, when it was roasted, was, and is, as dressed up in chargers, and set before the congregations of the saints.

But what were the chargers a type of? I also ask, in what charger our gospel passover is now dressed up and set before the people? Is it not in the four evangelists, the prophets, and epistles of the apostles? They therefore are the chargers and the ordinance of the supper; in these also are the trespass-offerings, with what is fried in pans, mystically prepared for the children of the Highest.

And why might they not be a type of gospel sermons?

I answer, I think not so fitly; for, alas! the best sermons in the world are but thin slices cut from those large dishes. Our ministers are the carvers, good doctrine is the meat, and the charger in which this meat is found is the holy canonical Scriptures, &c., though, as I said, most properly the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In these is Christ most truly, lively, and amply set before us as crucified, or roasted at the fire of God's law for our sins, that we might live by him through faith, feeding upon him (2 Cor 3:12; Gal 3:12; Acts 3:18-22, 13:2-5, 26:22; 1 Peter 1:10; Acts 7:52, 15:15, 28:23; Rom 16:26; Rev 10:7).

These chargers contain not only meat, but sauce, if you like it, to eat the meat withal; for the passover there are bitter herbs, or sound repentance; and for other, as the thank-offerings, there is holy cheerfulness and prayers to God for grace. All these are set forth before in the holy Scriptures, and presented to us thereby, as in the gold chargers of the temple. He that will scoff at this, let him scoff. The chargers were a type of something; and he that can show a fitter antitype than is here proposed to consideration, let him do it, and I will be thankful to him.

Christians, here is your meat before you, and get your carvers to slice it out for you, and know this: the deeper you dip it in the sauce, the better it will relish. But let not unbelief teach you manners that make you leave the best bits behind. For your liberty is to eat freely of the best, of the fat, and of the sweet.

More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1182

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us
More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

10. Sometimes they cry for nothing, yea, and count them for their foes which rebuke their childish toys and ways. All which the church must bear, because they are God's babes; yea, they must feed them too: for if he has found them milk and spoons, it is that they may be fed therewith, and live: yea, grown ministers are God's nurses, wherefore they must have a lap to lay them in, and knees to dandle them upon, and spoons to feed them with.

11. Nor are the babes but of use in the church of God; for he commands that they may be brought to cry with the congregation before the Lord for mercy for the land (Joel 2:16).

12. Incense, I told you, was a type of prayers, and the spoons, in the time of Moses, were presented at the temple full of it. Perhaps to show that God will, with the milk which he has provided for them, give it to them as a return for their crying to him, even as the nurse gives the child the teat and milk.

13. You know the milk is called for when the child is crying, as we say, to stop its mouth with it. O babes! If you cry soundly, God will give you yet more milk.

14. But what were these golden spoons a type of? I answer, if the milk is the juice and consolations of the Word, then the spoons must be those soft sentences and golden conclusions with which the ministers feed their souls. 'I have fed you,' saith Paul, 'with the milk of the Word'; saith Peter, 'even as you have been able to bear it.' Compare these two or three texts—1 Peter 2:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:2; 1 Thessalonians 2:7.

15. And this is the way to strengthen the weak hands, and to confirm the feeble knees. This is the way to make them grow to be men who now are but as infants of days. 'Thus a little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation.' Yea, thus in time you may make a little child to jostle it with a leopard; yea, to take a lion by the beard; yea, thus you may embolden him to put his hand to the hole of the asp, and to play before the den of the cockatrice (Isa 11:6-8, 60:22).

Who is most stout was once a babe; he that can now eat meat was sometimes glad of milk, and to be fed with the spoon. Babes in Christ, therefore, must not be despised nor overlooked; God has provided them milk and spoons to eat it with, that they may grow up to be men before him.

L. Of the bowls and basins belonging to the Temple.

As there were spoons, so there were bowls and basins belonging to the temple. Some of these were of gold, and some of silver; and when they were put together, their number was four hundred and forty. These you read of, Ezra 1:10. The bowls or basins were not to wash in, as was the sea and lavers of the temple; rather, they were to hold the messes in, which the priests at their holy feasts used to set before the people. This being so, they were types of that proportion of faith by which, or by the measure of which, every man received of the holy food for the nourishment of his soul. 

For, as a man, had he a thousand messes set before him, he eating for his health, cannot go beyond what his stomach will bear; so neither can the child of God, when he comes to worship in the temple of God, receive of the good things that are there, beyond the 'proportion of his faith' (Rom 12:6). Or, as it is in another place, according to 'the ability which God giveth' (1 Peter 4:11). And hence it is, at the self-same ordinance, some receive three times as much as others do; for that their bowl, I mean their faith, is able to receive it. Yea, Benjamin's mess was five times as big as was the mess of any of his brethren; and so it is with some saints while they eat with their brother Joseph in the house of the living God.

There are three who go to the same ordinance, and are all of them believers; who, when they come home, and compare notes, do find their receivings are not of the same quantity. One says, I got but little; the other says, It was a pretty good ordinance to me; the third says, I was exceeding well there. Why, to be sure, he that had but little there, had there but little faith; for great faith in him would have received more. He had it then according to the largeness of his bowl, even according to his faith, 'as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith' (Rom 12:3). Mark, faith is a certain measure, and that not only as to its degree, but for that it can receive, retain, or hold what is put into it.

So then, here it is: no matter how much milk or holy broth there is, how big is thy bowl, thy faith. Little bowls hold but little, nor canst thou receive but as thy faith will bear; I speak now of God's ordinary dealing with his people, for so he saith in his Word, 'According to your faith be it unto you' (Matt 9:29). If a man goeth to the ocean sea for water, let him carry but an egg-shell with him, and with that he shall not bring a gallon home. I know, indeed, that our little pots have a promise of being made like the bowls of the altar; but still our mess must be according to our measure, be that small, or be it great. The same prophet saith again, the saints shall be 'filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar'; which, though it supposes an enlargement, yet it must be confined to that measure of faith which is provided for its reception (Zech 9:15, 14:20). And suppose these bowls should signify the promises, though the saints, not the promises, are compared to them, because they, not promises, are the subjects of faith; yet it is the promise by our measure of faith in that, that is nourishing to our souls.

When Ahasuerus made a feast to his subjects, they drank their wine in bowls. They did not drink it by the largeness of the vessel whence they drew it, but according to their health, and as their stomachs would so receive it (Esth 1:7,8). Thy faith, then, is one of the bowls or basins of the temple, by, or according to which, thou receivest thy mess, when thou sittest feasting at the table of God. And observe, not all bowls were made of gold, as not all faith is of a saving sort. The golden faith is right; the silver bowls were of an inferior sort (Rev 3:18).

Some, I say, have golden faith; all faith is not so. Wherefore look to it, soul, that thy bowl, thy faith, be golden faith, or of the best kind. Look, I say, after a good faith, and great, for a great faith receives a great mess. Of old, beggars did use to carry their bowls in their laps, when they went to a door for an alms.

Consequently, if their bowls were but little, they oft times came off by the loss, though the giver's charity was large. Yea, the greater the charity, the larger the loss, because the beggar's bowl was too little. Mark it well, it is oft times thus in the matters of our God. Art thou a beggar, a beggar at God's door, be sure thou gettest a great bowl; for as thy bowl is, so will be thy mess. 'According to your faith,' saith he, 'be it unto you' (Matt 9:29).

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1181

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us
More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

XLVIII. Of the golden censers belonging to the Temple.

There were also golden censers belonging to the temple, and they were either such as belonged to the sons of Levi in general, or that were for Aaron and his sons in special (Num 16:6,17,18). The censers of the Levites were a type of ours; but the censer of Aaron was a type of Christ's. The censers, as hinted before, were for this use in the temple: to hold the holy fire, on which incense was to be burned before the Lord (Lev 10:1,2).

These censers then were types of hearts. Aaron's golden one was a type of Christ's golden heart, and the Levites' censers were types of other worshippers' hearts. The fire also which was put therein was a type of that Spirit by which we pray, and the incense that burnt thereon, a type of our desires. Of Christ's censer we read, Revelation the eighth, which is always filled with much incense; that is, with continual intercessions, which he offereth to God for us; and from whence also there always goes a cloud of sweet savor, covering the mercy-seat (Lev 16:13; Heb 7:25; Rev 8:3,4).

But to speak of the censers, and fire, and incense of the worshippers; for albeit they were all put under one rule, that is, to be according to law, yet oftentimes, as were the worshippers, such were the censers, fire, and incense. 1. Hence the two hundred and fifty censers with which Korah and his company offered are called the censers of sinners; for they came with wicked hearts then to burn incense before the Lord (Num 16:17,37). 2. Again, as the censers of these men were called the censers of sinners, showing they came at that time to God with naughty hearts, so the fire that was in Nadab and Abihu's censers is called strange fire, which the Lord commanded them not (Lev 10:1). 3. This strange fire was a type of that strange spirit opposed to the Spirit of God, in and by which, notwithstanding, some adventure to perform worship to God. 4. Again, as these censers are called the censers of sinners, and this fire called strange fire, so the incense of such is also called strange, and is said to be an abomination unto God (Exo 30:9; Isa 1:13, 66:3).

Thus you see that both the censers, fire, and incense of some are rejected, even as the heart, spirit, and prayer of sinners are an abomination unto God (Hosea 7:14, 4:12, 5:4; Prov 28:9).

But there were besides these true censers, holy fire and sweet incense among the worshippers in the temple, and their service was accepted by Aaron their high-priest; for that was through the faith of Christ, and these were a type of our true gospel worshippers, who come with holy hearts, the holy spirit, and holy desires before their God, by their Redeemer. These are a perfume in his nose. 'The prayer of the upright is his delight' (Prov 15:8). Their prayers went up like 'incense, and the lifting up of their hands as the evening sacrifice' (Psa 141:2).

Let them then that pretend to worship before God in his holy temple look to it, that both their censers, fire, and incense, heart, spirit, and desires, be such as the word requires; lest, instead of receiving of gracious returns from the God of heaven, their censers be laid up against them; lest the fire of God devour them, and their incense become an abomination to him, as it happened to those made mention of before.

But it is said the censers of Korah and his company were hallowed.

Answ. So is God's worship, which is so his by his ordination, yet even that very worship may be spoiled by man's transgression. Prayer is God's ordinance, but all prayer is not accepted of God. We must then distinguish between the thing commanded, and our using of that thing. The temple was God's house, but was abused by the irreverence of those that worshipped there, even to the demolishing of it.

A golden censer is a gracious heart, heavenly fire is the Holy
Ghost, and sweet incense the effectual fervent prayer of faith.
Have you these? These God expects, and these you must have if ever
your persons or performances be of God accepted.

XLIX. Of the golden spoons of the Temple.

1. The golden spoons belonging to the temple were in number, according to Moses, twelve; answering to the twelve tribes (Num 7:86). But when the temple was built, I suppose they were more, because of the number of the basins.

2. The spoons, as I suppose, were for the worshippers in the temple to eat that broth withal, wherein the trespass-offerings were boiled: for which purpose there were several cauldrons hanged in the corners of that court called the priest's to boil them in (1 Sam 2:13,14; Eze 46:19,20).

3. Now, in that he saith here were spoons, what is it but that there are also babes in the temple of the Lord. There was broth for babes as well as meat for men, and spoons to eat the broth withal.

4. True, the gospel being more excellent than the law, doth change the term, and instead of broth, saith, There is milk for babes. But in that he saith milk, he insinuates there are spoons for children in the church.

5. 'I could not,' saith Paul to them at Corinth, 'speak to you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able' (1 Cor 3:1,2).

6. See, here were need of spoons, milk is spoon meat; for here were those which could not feed themselves with milk, let them then that are men eat the strong meat. 'For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who, by reason of use, have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil' (Heb 5:13,14).

7. Spoons, you know, are to feed us with weak and thin food, even with that which best suiteth with weak stomachs, or with a babyish temper. Hence, as the strong man is opposed to the weak, so the milk is opposed to the strong meat.

8. So then, though the babe in Christ is weaker than the man in Christ, yet is he not by Christ left unprovided for; for here is milk for babes, and spoons to eat it with. All this is taught us by the spoons; for what need is there of spoons where there is nothing to eat but strong meat?

9. Babes, you know, have not only babyish stomachs, but also babyish tricks, and must be dealt with as babes; their childish talk and pampered carriages must be borne withal.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1180

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us
More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

XLVII. Of the altar of incense in the Temple.

The altar of incense was made first for the tabernacle, and that of shittim wood; but it was made for the temple of cedar, and it was to be set before the veil, that is, by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy-seat; that is, at the entering of the holiest, but not within. And the priest was to approach it every morning, which, as to the holiest, he might not do. Besides, when he went in to make an atonement, he was to take fire from off that altar to burn his incense within the holy place (Exo 30:1-10; Lev 16:18).

1. It was called the golden altar, because it was overlaid with pure gold. This altar was not for burnt-offering, as the brazen altar was; nor for the meat-offering, nor the drink-offering, but to burn incense thereon (Exo 30:7). Which sweet incense was a type of grace and prayer (Psa 112:2).

2. Incense, or that called incense here, was not a simple but a compound, made up of sweet spices called stacte, onycha, and galbanum; and these three may answer to these three parts of this duty, to wit, prayer, supplication, and intercession (Exo 30:34-37, 37:29; 1 Tim 2:1).

3. This incense was to be burned upon the altar every morning; upon that altar which was called the altar of incense, which was before the veil; to show that it is our duty every morning to make our prayer to God by Jesus Christ before the veil; that is, before the door of heaven, and there to seek, knock, and ask for what we need, according to the word (Luke 11:9-13).

4. This incense was to be kindled every morning, to show how HE continueth interceding for us, and also that all true praise of men to God is by the work, the renewed work, of the Holy Ghost upon our hearts (Rom 8:26).

5. Incense, as you see, was made of sweet spices, such as were gummy, and so apt to burn with a smoke, to show that not cold and flat, but hot and fervent, is the prayer that flows from the spirit of faith and grace (Zech 12:10; Jer 5:16).

6. The smoke of this incense was very sweet and savory, like pleasant perfume, to show how delightful and acceptable the very sound and noise of right prayer is unto the nostrils of the living God, because it comes from a broken heart (Psa 51:17; Cant 2:14).

7. This incense was to be offered upon the golden altar, to show us that no prayer is accepted but what is directed to God in the name of his holy and blessed Son, our Savior (1 Peter 2:5; Heb 13:15).

8. They were commanded to burn incense every morning upon this altar, to show that God is never weary of the godly prayers of his people. It also shows that we need to go to God every day for fresh supplies of grace to carry us through this evil world.

9. This altar, though it stood without the veil, to teach us to live by faith, and to make use of the name of Christ, as we find it recorded in the first temple, yet was placed so nigh unto the holiest, that the smell of the smoke might go in thither; to show that it is not distance of place that can keep the voice of true prayer from our God, the God of heaven; but that he will be taken with what we ask for according to his word. It stood, I say, nigh the veil, nigh the holiest; and he that burnt incense there, did make his approach to God. Hence the Psalmist, when he spake of praying, saith, 'It is good for me to draw near to God' (Psa 73:28; Heb 10:22).

10. This altar thus placed did front the ark within the veil; to put us in mind that the law is kept therein from hurting us; to let us know also that the mercy-seat is above, upon the ark, and that God doth sit thereon, with his pardon in his hand to save us. O! what speaking things are types, shadows, and parables, had we but eyes to see, had we but ears to hear! He that did approach the altar with incense of old aright—and then he did so when he approached it by Aaron, his high-priest—pleased God; how much more shall we have both person and prayers accepted, and a grant of what we need, if indeed we come as we should to God by Jesus Christ. But take heed you approach not to a wrong altar; take heed also that you come not with strange fire; for they are dangerous things, and cause the worshippers to miss of what they would enjoy. But more of this in the next particular.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1179

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us
More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

XLV. Of the snuff-dishes that were with the snuffers in the Temple.

As there were snuffers, so there were also snuff-dishes in the temple; 'and they were also made of gold' (Exo 25:38; 37:23; Num 4:9). The snuff-dishes were those in which the snuffs were put when snuffed off, and by which they were carried forth of the temple. They therefore, as the snuffers are, are of great use in the temple of God. 1. By them the golden floor of the temple is kept from being daubed by the snuffs. 2. By them also the clean hands of those that worship there are kept from being defiled. 3. By them also the stinks of the snuffs are soonest suppressed in the temple; and consequently the tender noses of them that worship there are preserved from being offended.

Snuffs, you know, are daubing things, stinking things, nauseous things; therefore we must take heed that they touch not this floor on which we walk, nor defile the hands which we lift up to God, when we come to worship him. But how must this be done, but as we take them off with the snuffers, and put them in these snuff-dishes? Some are for being at the snuffs with their fingers, and will also cast them at their feet, and daub the floor of God's holy house; but usually such do burn as well as defile themselves. But is it not a shame for a man to defile himself with that vice which he rebuketh in another? Let us then, while we are taking away the snuffs of others, hate even the garment spotted by the flesh, and labor to carry such stink with the snuff-dishes out of the temple of God.

Snuff-dishes, you may say, what are they?

I answer, If sins are the snuffs, and rebukes and admonitions the snuffers; then, methinks, repentance, or, in case that be wanting, the censures of the church, should be the snuff-dishes. Hence, repentance is called a church-cleansing grace, and the censures of the church a purging out of the old leaven, and making it a new lump (1 Cor 5:2; 2 Cor 7:11).

Ah! were these snuff-dishes more of use in the churches, we should not have this man's snuff defile that man's fingers as it doth. Nor would the temple of God be so besmeared with these snuffs, and be daubed as it is.

Ah! snuffs pulled off, lie still in the temple-floor, and there stink, and defile both feet and fingers, both the callings and conversations of temple-worshippers, to the disparaging of religion, and the making of religious worship but of low esteem with men; and all, I say, for want of the due use of these snuffers, and these snuff-dishes, there. Nay, are not whole churches now defiled with those very snuffs, that long since were plucked off, and all for want of the use of these snuff-dishes, according to the Lord's commandment. For you must know that reproof and admonitions are of little use where repentance, or church-censures, are not thereto annexed. When ministers use the snuffers, the people should hold the snuff-dishes.

Round reproofs for sin, when they light upon penitent hearts, then brave work is in the church: then the snuff is not only pulled away, but carried out of the temple of God aright, &c. And now the worship and worshippers shine like gold. 'As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear' (Prov 25:12).

Ministers, it appertains to you to use the snuffers, and to teach the people to hold the snuff-dishes right (Acts 20:20,21; 2 Tim 4:2). We must often be snuffed with these snuffers, or our light will burn dimly, and our candle will also waste. Pray, therefore, O men of God, look diligently to your people. Snuff them as you see there is need; but touch not their snuff with your white fingers; a little smutch on YOU will be seen a great way. Remember also that you leave them nowhere, but with these snuff-dishes, that the temple may be cleared of them. Do with the snuff as the neat housewife doth with the toad which she finds in her garden. She takes the fork, or a pair of tongs, and therewith doth throw it over the pales. Cast them away, I say, with fear, zeal, care, revenge, and with great indignation, and then your church, your conversation, your fingers, and all, will be kept white and clean (2 Cor 7:11).

XLVI. Of the golden tongs belonging to the Temple.

There were also golden tongs used in the temple of old (1 Kings 7:49). 1. These tongs were used about the altar, to order the fire there. 2. They were used also about the candlestick, and are therefore called HIS tongs. 3. Perhaps there were tongs for both these services; but of that the word is silent.

But what were they used for about the candlestick?

Answ. To take holy fire from off the altar to light the lamps withal. For the fire of the temple was holy fire, such as at first was kindled from heaven, and when kindled, maintained by the priests, and of that the lamps were lighted (Lev 9:24; 2 Chron 7:1). Nor was there, upon pain of death, any other fire to be used there (Lev 10:1,2). These tongs, therefore, were used to take fire from off the altar to light the lamps and candlesticks withal. For to trim the lights, and to dress the lamps, was Aaron's work day by day. He shall light and order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord, and Aaron did so. He lighted the seven lamps thereof, as the Lord commanded Moses (Exo 10:24,25; Lev 24:2,3; Num 8:3). What is a lamp or candlestick to us, if there be not light thereon; and how lighted without fire, and how shall we take up coals to light the lamps withal, if we have not tongs prepared for that purpose? With these tongs fire also was taken from off the altar, and put into the censers to burn sweet incense with, before the Lord. The tongs then were of great use in the temple of the Lord.

But what were the tongs a type of?

The altar was a type of Christ; the fire of the Holy Ghost; and these tongs were a type of that holy hand of God's grace, by which the coals, or several dispensations and gifts of the Holy Ghost, are taken and given to the church, and to her members, for her work and profit in this world.

Tongs, we know, are used instead of fingers; wherefore Aaron's golden tongs were a type of Christ's golden fingers (Can 5:14). Isaiah saith that one of the seraphims flew to him with 'a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar.' Here the type and antitype, to wit, tongs and hand, are put together (Isa 6:6). But the prophet Ezekiel, treating of like matters, quite waives the type, the tongs, and speaketh only of this holy land; 'And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels under the cherub'—where the mercy-seat stood, where God dwelt (Exo 25; Psa 80:1)—' and fill thy hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims' (Eze 10:2).

Thus you see our golden tongs are now turned into a golden hand; into the golden hand of the man clothed in linen, which is Jesus Christ, who at his ascension received of God the Father the Spirit in all fulness, to give, as his divine wisdom knew was best, the several coals or dispensations thereof unto his church, for his praise, and her edification (Matt 3:11; Acts 2). By this hand also is this holy fire put into our censers. It is this hand also that takes this coal, therewith to touch the lips of ministers, that their words may warm like fire; and it is by this hand that the Spirit is given to the churches, as a return for their holy prayers (Luke 11:9-13; Rom 8:26; Rev 8:5).

It was convenient that the fire in the temple should be disposed of by golden tongs; but the Holy Ghost, by the golden hand of Christ's grace, for that can wittingly dispose of it, according as men and things are placed, and to do and be done in the churches; wherefore he adds, 'And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims, unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen, who took it and went out' (Eze 10:7).

By this hand, then, by this Man's hand, the coals of the altar are disposed of, both to the lamps, the candlesticks, the censers, and the lips of ministers, according to his own good pleasure. And of all this were the tongs in the temple a type.

Works of John Bunyan: Solomon's Temple Spiritualized:1178

 

Or, Gospel Light Fetched out of the Temple at Jerusalem, to Let us
More Easily into the Glory of New Testament Truths.

XLIII. Of the shew-bread on the golden table in the Temple.

There was also shew-bread set upon a golden table in the temple (1 Kings 7:48). The shew-bread consisted of twelve cakes made of fine flour, two tenth deals were to go to one cake, and they were to be set in order in two rows upon the pure table (Lev 24:5-9).

1. These twelve loaves to me do seem to be a type of the twelve tribes under the law, and of the children of God under the gospel, as they present themselves before God, in and by his ordinances through Christ. Hence the apostle says, 'For we being many are one bread,' &c. (1 Cor 10:17). For so were the twelve cakes, though twelve; and so are the gospel-saints, though many; for 'we, being many, are one body in Christ' (Rom 12:5).

2. But they were a type of the true church, not of the false. For Ephraim, who was the head of the ten tribes in their apostasy, is rejected, as 'a cake not turned.' Indeed he is called a cake, as a false church may be called a church: but he is called 'a cake not turned,' as a false church is not prepared for God, nor fit to be set on the golden table before him (Hosea 7:8).

3. These cakes or shew-bread were to have frankincense strewed upon them, as they stood upon the golden table, which was a type of the sweet perfumes of the sanctifications of the Holy Ghost; to which I think Paul alludes, when he says, 'The offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable' to God, 'being sanctified by the Holy Ghost' (Rom 15:16).

4. They were to be set upon the pure table, new and hot; to show that God delighted in the company of new and warm believers. 'I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth': 'when Israel was a child, then I loved him' (Jer 2:2; Hosea 11:1). Men at first conversion are like a cake well baked, and new taken from the oven; they are warm, and cast forth a very fragrant scent, especially when, as warm, sweet incense is strewed upon them.

5. When the shew-bread was old and stale, it was to be taken away, and new and warm put in its place, to show that God has but little delight in the service of his own people when their duties grow stale and moldy. Therefore he removed his old, stale, moldy church of the Jews from before him, and set in their rooms upon the golden table the warm church of the Gentiles.

6. The shew-bread, by an often remove and renewing, was continually to all them before the Lord in his house, to show us, that always, as long as ordinances shall be of use, God will have a new, warm, and sanctified people to worship him.

7. Aaron and his sons were to eat the old shew-bread, to show that when saints have lived in the world as long as living is good for them, and when they can do no more service for God in the world, they shall yet be accepted of Jesus Christ; and that it shall be as meat and drink to him to save them from all their unworthinesses.

8. The new shew-bread was to be set even on the Sabbath before the Lord, to show with what warmth of love and affections God's servants should approach his presence upon his holy day.

XLIV. Of the snuffers belonging to the candlesticks and lamps of the Temple.

As there were candlesticks and lamps, so there were snuffers also prepared for these in the temple of the Lord. 'And the snuffers were snuffers of gold' (1 Kings 7:50). 1. Snuffers. Snuffers trim the lamps and candles so their lights may shine brighter. 2. Snuffers, you know, are biting, pinching things; but use them well, and they will prove not only beneficial to those within the house, but profitable to the lights.

Snuffers, you may say, of what were they a type?

Answ. If our snuffs are our superfluities of naughtiness, our snuffers then are those righteous reproofs, rebukes, and admonitions, which Christ has ordained to be in his house for good; or, as the apostle hath it, for our edification; and perhaps Paul alludes to these when he bids Titus to rebuke the Cretans sharply, that they might be sound in the faith (Titus 1:12,13). As who should say, they must use the snuffers of the temple to trim their lights withal, if they burn not well. These snuffers therefore are of great use in the temple of God; only, as I said, they must be used wisely. It is not for every fool to handle snuffers at or about the candles, lest perhaps, instead of mending the light, they put the candle out. And therefore Paul bids them that are spiritual do it (Gal 6:1). My reason tells me that if I use these snuffers as I should, I must not only endeavor to take the superfluous snuff away, but so to do it, that the light thereby may be mended; which then is done if, as the apostle saith, I use sharpness to edification, and not for destruction (1 Cor 5:4,5; 2 Cor 13:10).

Are not the seven churches in Asia called by name of candlesticks? And why candlesticks, if they were not to hold the candles? And candles must have snuffers therewith to trim the lights. And Christ, who is our true Aaron, in those rebukes which he gave those churches, alluding to these snuffers, did it that their lights might shine the brighter (Rev 2, 3). Wherefore, as he used them, he did it still with caution to their light, that it might not be impaired. For as he still thus trimmed these lamps, he yet encouraged what he saw would shine if helped. He only nipped the snuff away.

Thus, therefore, he came to them with these snuffers in his hand, and trimmed their lamps and candlesticks (Rev 2:4,20, 3:2,15). This should teach ministers, to whom it belongs under Christ to use the snuffers well. Strike at the snuff, not at the light, in all your rebukes and admonitions; snuff not your lamps out of private revenge, but to nourish grace and gifts in churches. Thus our Lord himself says he did, in his using of these snuffers about these candlesticks. 'As many,' saith he, 'as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent' (Rev 3:19).

To conclude: Watchman, watch, and let not your snuffs be too long, nor pull them off with your fingers, or carnal reasonings, but with godly admonitions, &c. Use your snuffers graciously, curb vice, nourish virtue; so you will use them well, and so your light will shine to the glory of God.