The Light of the Spirit

Series on Exodus

VIII. The Covering of God’s People

C. Pattern of the Tabernacle

4. The Lampstand, Text: 25:31-40, 27:20,21, 37:17-24

Title: The Light of the Spirit

Introduction

This particular piece of furniture is the last in the holy place of the tabernacle. It was a seven branched candelabra made of a talent of pure gold. There was a main trunk terminating in one lamp and then three branches on either side. It was made with cuplike representations of almond flowers with buds and blossoms. The precise description of how many of each of these decorations there was to be on each part reminds us of the importance of doing this according to the pattern given by God. 75 pounds of gold made this, undoubtedly, the most valuable piece of furniture. Make a lampstand of pure gold and hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds and blossoms shall be of one piece with it. Six branches are to extend from the sides of the lampstand, three on one side and three on the other. Three cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there are to be four cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms. One bud shall be under the first pair of branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and a third bud under the third pair, six branches in all. The buds and branches shall all be of one piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold. Then make its seven lamps and set them up on it so that they light the space in front of it. Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure gold. A talent of pure gold is to be used for the lampstand and all these accessories. See that you make them according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. In the original tabernacle it was kept burning from night until morning according to Exodus 27:20,21, Command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for the light so that the lamps may be kept burning. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the curtain that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to keep the lamps burning before the LORD from evening till morning. This is to be a lasting ordinance among the Israelites for the generations to come. You might think that the Jewish menorah used at the Hanukkah festival in December is a copy of this, but it isn’t. The menorah has eight lamps, four on each side of the lamp pedestal. the number is determined by the celebration of the festival which continues for eight days. One candle is lit the first night, two the second, three the third and so on. However, the lighting of the menorah does recall a story from the talmud which says that during the time of the Maccabees in the second century B.C. when the temple was desecrated by Antiochus, a small one day supply of undesecrated oil miraculously burned for eight full days until new oil could be obtained. The oil burned of course in the lampstand of the temple. Josephus remarks that in his day the lamp was kept burning day and night. If he is right this is an accretion which was instituted at a later date in the temple service, but in the tabernacle the lamp was lit only during the night hours. This implies that during the day the curtain was pulled aside to allow light to come in from the outside for the purposes of those who ministered within. Let us look at the light tonight as personal, powerful and perpetual.

I Personal

I remind you again that the holy place in the tabernacle was part of the worship of Israel. It was not to be regarded as having significance only for us today who see its fulfillment in Christ. For them it was a means of grace. The Bible says, God is light and in him is no darkness at all. The children of God are called children of light. Light and truth are closely allied. Where the light of God comes men know the truth about themselves and the world and God. Indeed John says, If we say we have no sin we lie and do not the truth, in I John 1. John also writes in his gospel in 3:19 that the true light came into the world in Jesus Christ, This is the verdict: light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light! I have said before that we might see in these three pieces of furniture, the altar of incense, the table and the lampstand, the means of grace for the worship of Israel: prayer, the sacraments and the preaching of the Word. But, above all, this lamp keeping the holy place lighted when there was no other light available, teaches us that the light of God, the light of truth must ever go out. The worship of the true God always involves correct knowledge of Him. Revelation 21:23 says, The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Without this there can be no worship. This lamp is a symbol of Jesus, the light of the world, and of the gospel which lights our way. It speaks of a God who is personally revealed to us in our darkness. But, if we look at some other Scriptures we get further insight.

II Powerful

Turning to the book of Revelation we see plain allusions to this lampstand. In Chapter 1 Jesus is pictured in John’s vision as being in the midst of seven golden lampstands. Now that this refers to the seven branched candelabra of the tabernacle is plain, but here we have seven lampstands, not seven lamps, not seven lights on one lampstand but seven lampstands. The Greek is very clear. Fairbairn argues that this is referring to one lamp with seven branches but i do not think this is possible. This is the same word used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to the one lampstand with seven branches. I therefore conclude that each church, each congregation is represented by a complete lampstand and that this is the meaning of Revelation 1:20, The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. In Chapter 4 of Revelation we see a description of the one seated on the throne in heaven in verses 2-5, At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. The seven lamps or seven spirits represent the Holy Spirit. He is the one who brings life from the dead and light into our darkness by applying Christ’s redemption to us. Remember it is the Holy Spirit who inspired the Bible and it is the Holy Spirit who illumines our minds so that we can understand the Bible. The natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God but the spiritual man judges all things, according to Paul in I Corinthians 2:14 and 15. The image in Revelation leads us to conclude that each congregation here, like Israel of old in the tabernacle in the wilderness, has the lamp of God’s light exactly as Israel had it. As God’s light shown for them and in their worship so it shines for us, but it is the lamp of truth. David says in Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light upon my path. It is the power of the Holy Spirit to bring us the Word so that we can be the light of the world. As Jesus says, a man does not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a candle stick so that it may give light to all. Isaiah 9:2 prophesies, The people walking in darkness have seen a great light, on those living in the land of the shadow of death the light has dawned.

III Perpetual

The truth that the lampstand represents the power of God through his Spirit is confirmed by a passage in Zechariah. In chapter 4 of this prophecy we have a vision of the gold lampstand, and this is the very passage in which we find that well known and beloved verse, Not by might nor by power but by my spirit says the Lord almighty. However Zechariah’s vision adds, for us, an additional dimension. In 4:1-6 the prophet sees the lampstand of the tabernacle or temple, Then the angel who talked with me returned and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights.Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied. So he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty.’” Notice it is solid gold and it has seven lights but it’s hooked up to two olive trees which continuously feed the oil it needs to be kept burning. Here there is no daily ministration, and no replacement of the oil. There are no priests attending to light it by night, for here it burns continually and without help. The trees and lampstand are designated for us. They are the Word of the Lord to Zerubabel, not by might nor by power but by my spirit. Now Zechariah prophesied in the time of the restoration and return of Israel. He prophesied in the time of the rebuilding of the city and the temple of the Lord. The point of the vision is that there is a great high priest named Jesus who makes the ministrations of the Levitical priests unnecessary. Because of what Jesus did in dying for our sins there is no need of further sacrifice and therefore also, there is no need of caring for the lampstand. Jesus now keeps it burning forever by his Spirit whom he has sent from heaven. So we have a personal, powerful, perpetual supply of the Spirit through Christ. The light of the truth will not go out in us or in his people until the Lamb is the light of the city.