250. The Seven Golden Lampstands

The seven lampstands are seven churches. Rev. 1:20. The lampstand was made of pure gold and of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers were of one piece.

Six branches issued from its sides, and it was decorated with bowls made like almond blossoms with knobs and flowers.

The entire lampstand was to be a hammered work of one piece and of pure gold.

Seven lamps were placed on the lampstand, and they were to burn continuously. Exod. 25:31, ff.

Every lampstand represented a church, and the seven lampstands represented seven churches.

Each of the children of Israel of twenty years of age or older was to give money to the Lord to redeem his soul.

They had to give half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary. The rich were not to give more than the poor, and the poor nothing less than the rich. Everyone was to give half a shekel. Exod. 30:11, ff.

The golden lampstand consists of people. The poor person is just as valuable as the rich, and the rich as the poor.

All of them are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. They are reconciled to God through the death of His Son, and now, after this reconciliation, they are to be saved by His life. Rom. 5:10. The lampstand was made of “driven” [Norw.] gold. As many as are driven [Norw.] by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God: they are a “driven” work. The entire lampstand is decorated with flowers and knobs from the almond tree.

This tree is also called the watchful tree [Jer. 1:11, Norw.] as it flowers and buds before all other trees. “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

“‘Jeremiah what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a branch of an almond tree.’”

“Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.’” Jer. 1:11-12.

By this we understand that the golden lampstand is adorned with watchful people, for flowers and knobs of the watchful tree adorned the entire lampstand. It is also evident from Revelation 2:5 that if the angel of the church in Ephesus would not repent and become watchful and do the first works, then Jesus—He who walked in the midst of the seven golden lampstands—would remove his lampstand from its place.

How many churches have begun with a watchful and spiritual man? Many flowers and knobs of the watchful tree followed after him, but as the years passed, a worldly spirit crept into the assembly. People became apathetic, and the lampstand was removed. The carnal elements became the majority, and the flowers and knobs of the watchful tree disappeared. God was forced to raise up new churches worthy of His presence, while the old, dying churches dreamed about their long-lost “glorious memories” of what their watchful forefathers had achieved.

“And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light to cause the lamp to burn continually.” Exod. 27:20.

“Aaron and his sons shall tend the lamps from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel.”

Pressed olives means crushed self-will, crushed self-love, crushed stinginess, crushed pride, crushed unchastity, crushed selfish ambitions, and so on.

The olives had to be crushed before the oil could burn. This is the fire Jesus came to cast upon the earth, and how He wished it had already been kindled. This is the fire that burns in the presence of God from the lamps of the seven golden lampstands. If no one provides crushed olives to light the lamp, the lampstand will not be able to remain before the Son of Man, who offered all His olives in order to make the light burn. While He was in the world, He was the light of the world. It has also been made clear to us that no one who wants to preserve his own life receives light, but unto the upright there arises light in the darkness. Psalm 112:4.

“And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold.” Exod. 25:38.

The wick can be likened to the body of sin that is to be destroyed. Rom. 6:6.

The more the lamp burns, the more the wick has to be trimmed. The scissors were of pure gold and a skilled hand was required to trim the wick. Everything was to be done in purity and with wisdom. Therefore Aaron and his sons were to tend the lamps. Exod. 27:20-21.

All of the oil has to pass through the wick and be consumed by the flame in the lampstand. We must provide our own oil for the lamp and for the vessel if we are to be among the wise virgins. If we want to preserve our olives rather than to sacrifice and crush them, there will be no oil and thus no light for the lamps, and we will end up among the foolish virgins. If we are not obedient, grace will be in vain, and the doctrine will be of no help to us.

“For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Rom. 8:29.

Since the lampstand was made of pure gold and is a hammered work, we must be worked on in the same way, to be conformed to the image of the Son. Now is the time for this work to take place, and it comes about by obedience to the faith and by God’s grace and power. Rom. 1:5, 15:18 and 16:26.