Revelation 22:5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle¹, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Demonstration lab:
For safety sake, it should be done by an adult, to demonstrate to a student !

PROBLEM:

To learn how to light a candle, from several inches above the candle. And to find out how this is possible.

MATERIALS: 1 Candle, Matches, Gallon plastic bottle, with top removed but handle intact to serve as a mini bucket, filled with water, for safety; Safety goggles, when striking the match. An old plate, or a candle holder. Caution: only to be done in the presents of an adult!

PROCEDURE:

1. Find a safe area to work in. Kitchen sink, would be my suggestion.

2. Obtain a small candle, standard size.

3. Light the candle, allow it to burn for a minute, over the plate, in an upright position, allow a drop of wax to drip on to the old plate. Then quickly place the candle on to the drop. This will secure the candle to the plate.

4. Now, you are ready to proceed. Allow the candle to burn for another minute. Have a match ready, then blow out the candle ! Watch the smoke rise, try not to have any drafts around. Quickly strike a match, and try to place it, about an inch above the wick, into the stream of smoke, that is rising from the wick of the candle.

5. Observe what happens ! You should see the candle relight, with out touching it, if you had the flame of the match in the stream of the rising smoke. If that was not, what you observed, then practice some more.

6. Now, that you can relight the candle from an inch above the candle see if you can go higher! Practice, with out the student being present, until you become the expert, then invite the student to observe your demonstration.

OBSERVATION:

1. With out telling the student, what you are doing, demonstrate this lab several times, and have the student observe, what is really happening.

2. Do not tell the student, that in order for this to work, you have to be in the steam of the rising smoke, which is really a stream of paraffin wax vapor, which is extremely flammable, or has a very low kindling temperature.

3. You know from previous notes, that when observe heat and light, you have a chemical reaction.

To have a fire, you must meet three conditions:

I. Source of fuel

II. Source of oxygen

III. Kindling temperature ² of the fuel must be reached.

a. Kindling temperature can be reduced, by making the fuel, smaller in size, this allows more oxygen to surround the fuel source. It is much harder to get a block of wood to ignite, then it is a piece of thin splint.

b. The paraffin vapor is molecular in size, just like the gas from the stove. There all that is needed is just a spark, for the gas from the stove to ignite.

c. This is why, one must never store gasoline near a gas hot water heater or any other volatile solvents. Besides being extremely combustible, these gas fumes are heavier then air, thus they will travel near the floor and will ignite by the flame that is present in the hot water heater.

d. This is why a grain storage silos occasionally will explode, because from moving all that grain, it produces a very fine dust, and one spark, usually from static discharge is all that it takes.

NOTES IN BRIEF:

It should be pointed out, that linen is used to make wicks, because of the superior property of capillary action of the fiber, and linen is made from flax. The best linen was made in Egypt, and the Hebrews had access to linen, cotton, and wool, it was also forbidden to mix the two fibers of linen and wool in garments for the priest. It is a shame, that my living source of linen information is no longer available. Concerning the different types of flax plants, how the fibers were soaked in water, so there could be a decaying process taking place, so the fiber could be separated from the rest of the plant. And how you had to use, a wooden grooved instrument, with a wooden handle, to crush the fibers, when dry, so the fibers could be set free. Then you would spin them into thread. For a long time I never understood the process of crushing the linen fiber, until I saw the instrument at the Smithsonian museum. If you have read some of the devotionals, you may remember that my sister ended up with the cast iron frying pan as well as all the home made linen cloth. In the KJV Bible the word " tow " refers to linen thread or rope, probably of inferior quality of linen ( I suspect ) , which would contain some of the material that was not removed during the crushing of the fiber.

The medicinal health properties of Flax seed oil, is now understood by most people, who are aware of good health. Now to extract the oil from the tiny flax seed, you would have to heat them in a pan, say that cast iron frying pan. But the secret would be, that you had to add a small quantity of water, to start the process, and lower the temperature. This would prevent the overheating of the seeds and keep them from charring.

You can have the student do a report on the uses of Flax seed oil.

Discuss the importance of following verses with the student, as it deals with candles.

Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.

Isaiah 42:3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.

Luke 11:36 If thy whole body therefore [be] full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Now you know the rest of the story, why it is so difficult for children to blow out birthday candles on a birthday cake, because they keep reigniting from those paraffin vapors.

¹ Candle - in the Bible refers to an oil lamp, oil from the olive tree fruit, and a flax wick, usually in a small bowel.

² Kindling temperature - the lowest temperature at which a substance will start to burn.

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