56. SEVEN STARS AS GOD'S HANDWRITING

56.SEVEN STARS AS GOD'S HANDWRITING AND THE SEED SOWER

            Revelation 1:12: The beautiful Seven Golden Candlesticks of the starry heavens also are symbolic of God's Handwriting.[i]  Psalm 8:3: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained..." It is therefore appropriate that the scenes of the Book of Revelation are portrayed symbolically in the constellations of the night sky.

All of the plans for the Tabernacle and later the Temple were those given by God:

All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the Lord concerning it, [even] all the work to be done according to the plan, (1Chronicles 28:19 RSV, emphasis mine).

The "Writing from the hand of the Lord" was that of the starry heavens, the "work of His fingers."
The Menorah, or seven-branched candlestick that was in the tabernacle and the Temple, was made according to the original pattern given to Moses while he was upon Mt. Sinai, (Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-20 and Number 8:2-4).  Also later, David gave to Solomon the plan for the lampstands, candlesticks, along with the other plans for the Temple, 1Chronicles. 28:11-19.

Seven Stars as the Seed Sower

The seven stars were also sometimes called the “Seed Sower.” They were pictured as the hand-carried container for the seed, which the sower carried, and from which the seed were broadcast throughout the fields. This is an apt picture of the Church as the Sower of the Good Seed of the Word. Since the Word is Light, Psalms 119:105, 130; Proverbs 6:23; Hosea 6:5, the preaching of the word is the sowing of Light. Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.”

The Hebrew Menorah later became known as the Nebrashta, in the Aramaic of Daniel 5:5. The root of this word is bərê’shîyth, which is the first word of the Bible, “in the beginning.”[ii] Then, Genesis 1:3: "And God said Let there be Light: and there was Light." Christ is Light and the Word: John 1:4-9. The pictorial representation of Christ at the pole star position speaks of Him as the Sower of Light, the Good Seed of the Word, the beginning of Creation. 

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context. My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com  or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .

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[i] For more on this subject see article:"Alpha and Omega," in my Commentary on Revelation 1:8.

[ii] See also my Commentary at 1:3: "Christ as Light and Time," and at Revelation 1:11-20 "Visions of God," and at 1:9 "Tribulation," and at 12:10-12 "Satan Cast Down."