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Exo. 25:31-40; Zech. 3:9; 4:2-10; Rev. 1:11-12, 20b; 4:5; 5:6; Col. 2:9; 1:15; Gen. 1:26; 1 John 5:11-12; Rev. 21:18b, 23; 22:1, 5
I. The golden lampstands typifying Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God
А. Gold signifying the Father’s divine nature, the divine substance, essence
B. The form signifying the Son as the embodiment of the Godhead in His humanity
C. The seven lamps signifying the Spirit as the expression
II. The golden lampstands signifying Israel as God’s testimony in the Old Testament and in the millennium
А. Shining through the Seven Eyes (Spirits) of Jehovah
B. As the Seven Eyes of Christ (the Stone-Savior for God’s Building)
III. The golden lampstands signifying the seven local churches as God’s testimony in the New Testament
А. Shining in the dark age as in the night, bearing the testimony of Jesus
1. With the Father’s divine essence
2. In the Son’s human form
3. Through the Spirit’s expression
B. To be consummated in the New Jerusalem
C. Expressing the processed Triune God in eternity
In this lesson we shall consider the final aspect of the status of the church — the church as the golden lampstands.
[One of the crucial symbols in the Bible is that of the lampstands. Revelation 1:12 says, “I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands.’’ Revelation 1:20b explains that “the seven lampstands are seven churches.’’ The church, therefore, is signified by a golden lampstand.]
[The revelation concerning the golden lampstand is found in Exodus, Zechariah, and Revelation. In Exodus the lampstand signifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. In Zechariah the lampstand signifies the nation of Israel as God’s testimony. In Revelation the lampstands signify the church as God’s living embodiment for the testimony of Jesus. Hence, the lampstand is a symbol of Christ, the nation of Israel, and the church. Furthermore, as we shall see, the lampstand signifies the embodiment of the Triune God. With Christ, with Israel, and with the church the golden lampstand is a portrayal of the embodiment of the Triune God.]
[The lampstand in Exodus 25 typifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God. As a type of Christ, the lampstand portrays Christ as the resurrection life growing, branching, budding, and blossoming to shine the light. Jesus Christ is the embodiment of the Triune God. God is in Him, and apart from Him no one can find God.]
[With the lampstand as a type of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, there are three important things: the gold, the stand, and the lamps. These three matters imply the significance of the Triune God. Gold is the substance with which the lampstand is made, the stand is the embodiment of the gold, and the lamps are the expression of the stand.
According to Exodus 25:31, the lampstand was made of pure gold. Gold was the substance, the element of the lampstand in its entirety. In typology, gold signifies the divine nature, the nature of God the Father. If we consider this substance, this element of the lampstand, we shall see that it signifies the divine nature. Therefore, by this we can see God the Father, the One whose nature is the substance of the lampstand. The golden lampstand exists in the nature of God the Father.]
[God the Father is signified by the gold with which the lampstand was made. Hence, with the gold we see the first of the divine Trinity, the Father.]
[In Exodus 25 the lampstand made of pure gold had a definite form or shape. The form of the golden lampstand signifies the Son as the embodiment of the Godhead in His humanity (Col. 2:9). Hence, the form, the shape, of the lampstand signifies the second of the Trinity, the Son.
God the Father is invisible and abstract. God the Son is the embodiment of this invisible One. The stand is a form signifying God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father. This solid form of the lampstand is the embodiment of the gold. According to the New Testament, God the Father is embodied in God the Son. Therefore, in the lampstand we have the substance signifying the Father, and the solid form signifying the Son.
The gold of the lampstand was made into a prescribed form, which indicated its function. This form is Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15). When God created man, He created him in His image (Gen. 1:26). Since Christ is God’s image, man was created according to Christ. God does not have a physical form, but He does have an expression of His image. Christ, the beloved Son, is the image of the invisible God. The function of this image, this form, is to express God. “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him’’ (John 1:18).]
[Exodus 25:37 says, “Thou shalt make its lamps, seven.’’ These seven lamps signify God the Spirit being the seven Spirits of God for His expression (Rev. 4:5; 5:6). The shining of the lamps denotes expression.]
[Substantially the lampstand is one, but expressively it is seven, because it is one lampstand with seven lamps. In substance the lampstand is one piece of gold, but it holds seven lamps. This indicates that, mysteriously, in substance the Triune God is one but in expression He is the seven Spirits. The Father as the substance is embodied in the Son as the form, and the Son is expressed as the seven Spirits.
We can prove from the Scriptures that the seven lamps of the golden lampstand signify the Spirit expressing Christ. If we had only the record in Exodus, it would be difficult to realize that these seven lamps are the Spirit. But as we proceed from Exodus to Zechariah, we see that the seven lamps are the seven eyes of Christ, the seven eyes of Jehovah (Zech. 3:9; 4:10). As we continue to Revelation, we see that the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven eyes which are the intensified Spirit of God (Rev. 5:6). Hence, we have a strong basis for saying that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits, that is, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, as the expression of Christ.]
Thus, the seven lamps are the expression of God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father. The gold signifies the Father as the substance, the stand signifies the Son as the embodiment of the Father, and the lamps signify the Spirit as the expression of the Father in the Son. Thus, the significance of the Triune God is implied in the lampstand.
[The lampstand is first mentioned in Exodus 25. Near the end of the Old Testament, the lampstand is mentioned again in Zechariah 4:2. “What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof’’ (Heb.). Here the lampstand signifies Israel as God’s testimony in the Old Testament and in the millennium. In Old Testament times, whenever the nation of Israel was in a normal condition, it was God’s testimony. In the coming millennium, the restored nation of Israel will once again be God’s testimony symbolized by a golden lampstand.
In Exodus 25 we only have the lampstand with the seven lamps; there is no mention of what the seven lamps refer to. In Zechariah, however, we are given a definite interpretation of the seven lamps, for in this book we are told that the seven lamps are the seven eyes of Jehovah (4:10) and the seven eyes of the stone (3:9).]
[In Zechariah we have the seven eyes and the seven lamps but not the seven Spirits. But in Revelation the seven lamps are developed into the seven Spirits. “Out of the throne come forth lightening and voices and thunders; and seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God’’ (Rev. 4:5). Here we have a new and further development of the seven lamps as the seven Spirits, for we are told clearly that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God. Since the seven lamps are the seven eyes and also the seven Spirits, then the seven eyes in Zechariah 4:10 are the seven Spirits. This gives us the ground to say that the lampstand in Zechariah 4 shines through the seven eyes, the seven Spirits, of Jehovah.]
[The seven eyes, the seven Spirits, of Jehovah are the seven eyes of Christ, who is the Stone-Savior for God’s building. Zechariah 3:9 says, “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.’’ The reference to engraving the stone indicates that this stone is Christ. The Lord Jesus as the building stone, was engraved, dealt with, by God on the cross for the iniquity of God’s people. In one day, by that engraving on the cross, the Lord Jesus took away all the sins of God’s people (John 1:29). Hence, the stone with the seven eyes is Christ, the Stone-Savior.
We know that Christ is the Stone-Savior by the fact that the seven eyes of the stone in Zechariah 3:9 become the seven eyes of the Lamb in Revelation 5:6. “I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.’’ The Lamb here has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. In Revelation 4:5 the seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God, and in 5:6 the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God. Here we have a further development over Zechariah, for the seven eyes are not only the seven eyes of the stone but also the seven eyes of the Lamb. These seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. This is a reference to Zechariah 4:10, where we are told that the seven eyes of Jehovah run to and fro through the whole earth. In Zechariah 3 and 4 we have the seven eyes of the stone, the seven lamps of the lampstand, and the seven eyes of Jehovah, all of which are the seven Spirits of God.]
[Both in Exodus and Zechariah the lampstand is uniquely one. But in Revelation, the book of consummation, there are seven lampstands signifying seven local churches (Rev. 1:12, 20b). This indicates that Christ as signified by the lampstand in Exodus and the Spirit of God as signified by the seven lamps of the lampstand in Zechariah are for the reproduction of the local churches. One lampstand is reproduced in the seven lampstands. Actually, there were more than seven local churches on earth at the time of Revelation. Hence, the number seven in Revelation 1 is a representative number. All the local churches as the many lampstands are the reproduction of Christ and the Spirit as the one lampstand. This reproduction is actually a multiplication of the wonderful expression of Christ as the life-giving Spirit in a practical way.
In Exodus 25 the emphasis is on the stand — on Christ. In Zechariah the emphasis is on the lamps — on the Spirit. Eventually, in Revelation both the stand and the lamps, that is, both Christ and the Spirit, are reproduced as the local churches. The lampstands with their lamps in Revelation are the reproduction of Christ and the Spirit.]
[As golden lampstands, the churches shine in the darkness. The word lampstand enables us to understand much about the church and its function. The church is not the lamp; it is the lampstand, the stand which holds the lamp. Without the lamp, the lampstand is vain and means nothing. But the lampstand holds the shining lamp. Christ is the lamp (Rev. 21:23), and the church is the lampstand holding the lamp. God is in Christ, and Christ as the lamp is held by the stand to shine out God’s glory. This is the testimony of the church.
The churches as golden lampstands bear the testimony of Jesus. “The testimony of Jesus’’ (Rev. 1:2, 9; 20:4) is an all-inclusive expression. The testimony of Jesus is the testimony of the Son coming with the Father by the Spirit to live on earth, to die on the cross to clear up the universe, to release the divine life, and to resurrect from the dead to become the life-giving Spirit, who then comes as the Son with the Father compounded with divinity, humanity, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection, including all the divine attributes and the human virtues. Such a compound testimony is the testimony of Jesus. This testimony has a symbol — the golden lampstand. The golden lampstand is the testimony of Jesus.
The lampstands shine in the darkness. If there were no darkness, there would be no need for the shining of the light of the lamp. The shining of the lamp is quite particular. In order for the lamp to shine, it must have oil burning within it. If the oil burns within the lamp, the light will shine out through all the darkness. This is the function of the church. The function of the church is not simply to preach or to teach doctrine. In the dark night of this age, the church must shine out the glory of God.]
[As the testimony of Jesus, the golden lampstands are the embodiment of the Triune God. In the golden lampstand there are three main factors: the substance, the shape or form, and the expression. The substance, the material, of the lampstand is gold, which signifies the Father’s divine essence.
There was no dross in the lampstand, for it was made of pure gold. In typology, dross signifies something other than God brought in to cause a mixture. The fact that the church is a golden lampstand indicates that we should not bring anything other than God into the church life. Even good things such as ethics, culture, education, and proper religion are dross, because they are not God Himself. Only God, the divine Being, is the gold which is the substance of the lampstand. No doubt Paul had this realization when he told us in 1 Corinthians 3 that upon Christ, the unique foundation of the church, we should build not with wood, hay, or stubble but with gold, silver, and precious stones.
As the local churches, the lampstands are golden in nature. In typology, gold signifies divinity, the divine nature of God. All the local churches are divine in nature; they are constituted of the divine essence. These stands are not built of clay, wood, or any inferior substance; they are constructed out of pure gold. This means that all the local churches must be divine. Without divinity, there can be no church. Although the church is composed of humanity with divinity, humanity should not be the basic nature of the local churches. The basic nature of the local churches must be divinity.]
[The golden lampstand is not a lump of gold but gold in a definite form and purposeful shape. The form, the shape, of the lampstand signifies the Son’s human form. Christ, the Son, is the embodiment of the Godhead, the embodiment of the Father’s nature (Col. 2:9). Therefore, the church should have not only the Father’s divine essence but also the Son’s human form.
The fact that the form of the lampstand signifies the Son as the embodiment of the Godhead indicates that the church should not be vague but should have a definite shape. In chapters two and three of Revelation the Lord Jesus, as the embodiment of the invisible God, was clearly standing as He spoke to the churches. All the churches should also stand, having the Son’s shape.]
[Furthermore, the golden lampstands as the testimony of Jesus have the Spirit’s expression. The seven lamps of the lampstand shine for God’s expression. These seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God. Thus, with the lampstand are the Father’s essence, the Son’s human form, and the Spirit’s expression. Since the golden lampstand has these three aspects, we can say that the golden lampstand signifies the embodiment of the Triune God, with the Father as the substance, the Son as the form, and the Spirit as the expression.
To say that the church is the embodiment of the Triune God is not to make the church a part of deity or an object of worship. We mean that the church is an entity born of God (John 1:12-13), possessing God’s life (1 John 5:11-12) and enjoying God’s nature (2 Pet. 1:4). The church has the divine substance, bears the likeness of Christ, and expresses God. Because we have been born of God, we have God’s life and possess His nature. Now we may enjoy this life and nature day by day and learn to live not by our natural life but by the divine life and nature. As we live this way and are transformed, there will be the fullness, the expression, the form, the appearance of Christ. Furthermore, we shall shine by the sevenfold, intensified Spirit.
As symbolized by the golden lampstand, the church is the embodiment of the Triune God to express Him. As members of Christ, we are sons of God born of Him, having His life and possessing His nature. Now we are learning to live by this life and nature that we may be filled and saturated with the processed Triune God to become His corporate expression through the sevenfold, intensified Spirit.]
[The churches as golden lampstands will be consummated in the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem, the holy city, is the aggregate of all the lampstands. If we consider the facts that the New Jerusalem is a golden city (Rev. 21:18b), that it has one street which reaches all twelve gates (Rev. 21:21; 22:2), that the wall of the city is one hundred forty-four cubits high (21:17), and that the city itself is twelve thousand stadia high (21:16), we shall realize that the city proper must be a mountain. On top of this mountain is a throne, from which the street spirals down to the bottom to reach the twelve gates. On top of this golden mountain is the throne as the center. On the throne is Christ as the Lamb with God in Him (22:1). This Lamb is the lamp with God in Him as the light (21:23; 22:5).
This golden mountain is a stand, and upon this stand is a lamp. Therefore, this golden mountain — the New Jerusalem — is a golden lampstand. As a golden lampstand, it has Christ as the lamp with God in Him as the light shining out for eternity. Thus, the New Jerusalem, the aggregate of all the lampstands, the totality of today’s lampstands, is a consummate, universal golden lampstand to shine forth God’s glory in the new heaven and new earth for eternity.]
[As the consummation of the golden lampstands, the New Jerusalem will express the processed Triune God in eternity. The New Jerusalem will be a mountain of gold with pearl gates and with a jasper wall built upon twelve layers of precious stones. Gold expresses God in His nature, pearls express Christ in His death and resurrection, and the precious stones express the Spirit in His work of transformation. Therefore, the New Jerusalem will be the triune expression of the processed Triune God — the expression of the Father as the source, the Son as the embodiment, and the Spirit as the realization and transmission.]
This is the final aspect of the status of the church. This aspect is very exciting because the same symbol was used for the Triune God, the children of Israel, and the church. We will be mingled with Him to such an extent that we will express Him in full. One of the symbols used for Him, the lampstand, is also used for the church. This is wonderful! What else can we say except “Hallelujah! To You, O Lord, be glory forever in the church. Your plan for the church is marvelous. I will give my whole life to You for Your church. I will spend my energy for the building up of Your church. I will dwell in Your church forever and ever. Amen!’’
