52. SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS

52. SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS

Revelation 1:12. Seven Golden Lampstands (RSV):“I saw seven golden candlesticks,” (KJV).

This passage shows how the symbols of the Book of Revelation are to be understood. The symbolism of the stars is no mere literary device but is an integral part of the purpose and message of the Book. The starry heavens are interpreted as representing the Heavenly Pattern of earthly realities, both of which agree as witnesses of a higher spiritual truth. Many Scriptures may serve as referents to show that heaven and earth are witnesses to God.[i] The seven-starred constellation of Ursa Major was sometimes known as the Menorah, and is here used as a visual analogy of the seven golden lampstands of the Temple.
We saw in a previous lesson how that John was on the isle of Patmos facing Jerusalem, which from Patmos would have been in a southerly direction. But as he prayed he heard a voice behind him and "being turned" to see the voice he would have been facing north. It was then that he saw the "Seven Golden Candlesticks" which would have been the starry constellation which at that time was referred to as the "seven golden candlesticks" of the Menorah. So this is used here symbolically. 
This constellation, then, represented to John the heavenly Jerusalem, the original Heavenly Pattern, the universal Church, the Body of Jesus Christ. It was the heavenly New Jerusalem that formed the Pattern for the holy city on earth. This heavenly Jerusalem remains pure, steadfast and perfect in beauty, even though the earthly copy had become vile, disordered and defiled.

The Yoke of Heaven and Earth

The Hosts of Heaven and the Hosts on Earth are united in Hebrew by the word tsabah.[ii]  This unity is expressed by the use of zeugma.  Zeugma is the use of a word to modify or govern two or more words, usually in a manner that it applies to each in a different sense or makes sense with only one. Literally, it means “joining, to join,” as for example, “a yoke.”

The usage of zeugma applies in Biblical Hebrew to the relationship of the heavenly hosts and the inhabitants or whatever fills the earth, even the plants being included. The concept of zeugma may help to clarify the particular type of analogy used in the Book of Revelation, but which is also well attested in Old Testament Scriptures. The following discussion follows Gesinius’ Lexicon p. 699.

Genesis 2:1: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.”  This zeugma of the yoke between the hosts of heaven and the hosts of earth is resolved in Nehemiah 9:6 where the two are separated and each is described separately:

Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.

The word translated host is tsabah, meaning: “(1), an army, or host and is used equally of the sacred host of Levites, Numbers 4:2-3, 35, 39, 43.” The order of the Levitical services was instituted specifically according to the Pattern of the Heavens as Moses was commanded to do. They served in rotating order or courses, as did the circling constellations of stars in the heavens, and the “order” was changed every month, as were the constellations of the heavens.

The word tsabah also means: “…specially …the host of heaven: (a) the angels round the throne of God, Psalms 148:2; compare also Psalm 103:21; and Joshua 5:14-15; (b). Used of the sun, moon, and stars.  Isaiah 34:4; 40:26; 45:12; Jeremiah 33:22; Daniel 8:10; also used when the worship of the stars is mentioned, Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 21:3, 5; Zephaniah 1:5.”

The word is used also more comprehensively as including all the heavenly bodies, sometimes seeming to indicate the so-called “deities” of the heavenlies, Job 38:7, where angels and stars are mentioned together, and Isaiah 24:21, where the host of heaven is in opposition to the hosts of the kings of the earth: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.”

Jehovah is very often called “Lord God of Hosts,” and “Jehovah God of the heavenly Hosts.” This is most frequent in the prophetic books: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Malachi, but is not found in the Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Ezekiel, Job, or Solomon.

Isaiah 34:4-8 shows how the armies of the earth are to be slain, “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse to judgment,” (verses 4-5). This shows the connection, yoke, of the heavenly hosts with the hosts of the earth.

In Joshua 5:14 we see the “Captain (or Prince) of the host of the Lord” appearing to Joshua. He was shâr, Prince, of all the hosts of the Lord whereas each of the shâr of Daniel 10:13, 20 represented only a particular nation. This passage sets a precedent for referring to the hoped for Messiah as the Prince Who is the Leader or Head of all God’s hosts in heaven and in earth. It is appropriate, therefore, to make His symbol that star around which the apparent marching of all heaven and earth revolve, the pole star. That star is the apparent great bond between heaven and earth and by it all earth is mapped in reference to the heavens.

Faithful Witness in the Heavens

The promises to David were of a cosmic and ideal nature. The ideal model is forever established in heaven regardless of the corruption suffered by the earthly images. The Revelation of Jesus Christ deals with this ideal model. That dominion is described in Psalm 89:27: “And I will make my firstborn, [Light], higher than the kings of the earth,” (also vv. 35-37):

Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie to David. His seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

These promises clearly indicate their cosmic nature. To find a suitable heavenly symbol for this promised throne and witness which is as conspicuous in its own way as the sun or moon, we need only consider the pole star. No other heavenly body has served so well as a “faithful witness” for orientation for it is forever established and unmovable from its place.

Psalm 89:2-6: Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant, “Thy seed [singular] will I establish for ever and build up thy throne to all generations.” Selah. And the heavens shall praise Thy wonders, O Lord: Thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints…For who in the heavens can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?

Psalm 89: 11:12 show the value of the heavens for orientation north and south:

The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine; as for the world and the fullness thereof, thou hast founded them.The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon, [the north and south mountains] shall rejoice in thy name.

---

[i] For example: Deut. 4:26; 30:19; 31:28; 32:1; Psalm 19:1; 50:4-6; 89:5; 97:6; 104:19; 148:3-5; Isaiah 1:2.Hosea 2:21.

[ii] Strong’s # 6635. 
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 .

51. LIGHT WAS CONCEIVED IN CREATION

51. LIGHT WAS CONCEIVED IN CREATION

Let us paraphrase Genesis 1:1-3:

When God began to create [the duality][i] heaven, and earth, the earth was [materially] formlessness, [spatially wandering, rationally mad, intellectually without order, spiritually and visually totally dark] and [virgin] emptiness. Darkness [was the veil that] covered the surface of the [boundless] chaos. And the Spirit, [Breath, Wind], proceeded to heal her.  [In lifting the veil of darkness from her], God said [of this union]: “Let Light begin to be.” And Light [was conceived in her and thus] began to be.

Of this portion of Genesis Milton writes in Paradise Lost as he addressed Christ:

Hail, holy Light, offspring of Heaven first-born,

Or of the Eternal Coeternal beam,

May I express thee unblam'd? Since God is Light,

And never but in unapproached Light

Dwelt from eternity, dwelt then in thee

Bright effluence of bright essence increate

Or hear'st thou rather pure ethereal stream,

Whose fountain, who shall tell? before the sun...."[ii]

Duality: There has been considerable discussion over the supposed duality in Christian religion. Many have declared that the duality did not exist in the Old Testament and that it was totally foreign to the true religion of the Jews. It did not need, however, to be imported as some would have it, from Babylon, or Greece, or Zoroastrianism. Although the duality is not apparent in our English translations, it is apparent in the dual forms of the Biblical Hebrew, even of the first verse of the Bible.

The duality, then, is the source of the possibility of the chaotic conditions of the earth and therefore of evil. 

It is the reconciliation of earth and heaven and their reunion that brings about the blessings of order and peace. This perfect unity is the source of, as well as the result of, Light.  Earth and Heaven are reunited in earth's conception of Light. In the fullness of time that Light that was conceived in the beginning comes to full maturity in the Perfection of Light, Jesus.

The prophet Isaiah saw this beautiful truth:

The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.... And now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, ....he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:1b, 5-6) 

As Light, Christ is the “Everlasting Father” of Isaiah 9:6. The Hebrew is ’âbiy-‘âd, translated by Gesinius as “perpetual father.” Since the word ‘âd means “time,” a possible translation would be “Father of Time.” Christ was both Abraham’s progenitor and his Seed, as also He was of David. [The Seed is only activated by Light.] As Abraham’s seed produced the fleshly Israel, and also Christ according to the flesh, so Christ is the progenitor of the spiritual Israel for it is His bloodline that survived the destruction of the Jews in the first century. No other Jewish or Israeli bloodline or official genealogy survived. As Christ raised and ascended and is alive forevermore, He perpetuates the bloodline of Abraham forever and is the source of the Holy Seed that produces the new birth, bringing sons and daughters into the kingdom and producing, perpetuating and increasing the spiritual Israel, the Light of the world, Jesus. (Matthew 5:14)

Revelation means “Perfection of Light.” While God is unapproachable Light, (1Timothy 6:16), Christ is revealed Light. The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, then, is the written manifestation (that which makes manifest is light), of Jesus Christ and shows Him as the "Perfection of Light."

The purpose of Light, or Revelation, is to show, (cause to see), and this purpose is the one given for the Book in its title sentence: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass."  This is parallel to the passage from 1 Timothy 6:14b-16, "The appearing [revelation] of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in His [referring to God in verse 13] times He [God] shall shew [reveal]."

The Light that God commanded to be conceived or begun in the beginning waxed brighter and brighter throughout the revealed Scriptures until, at last, it reached its perfection in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The whole Bible could rightly be named "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." But while this Light was conceived in Genesis, it was at that time hidden, but in the incarnation it was revealed, and in the Spirit it is perfected. Taking this title sentence as the key to the interpretation of the Book, we are required to interpret its symbols as symbols of Light.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” LIGHT!

---

[i] The duality is indicated by the dual form for waters, mayim, and the double-dual form of heavens, shâmayim. We see in verse 6 that there were waters both above and below the firmament. The waters above the firmament were in the heavens. The alphabetic letter mêm in its oldest form indicates “waters” and appears as a representation of the waves of the sea. The form of the word mayim may be the reduplication of the mêm in order to represent the double-waters of both heaven and earth.

   The early forms of the alphabetic letter shin is thought to represent two teeth, and the meaning perhaps represents the two sets of teeth, the upper and the lower, as the idea of essential apposition. The shin could therefore have been added to represent the upper realm of waters, shâmayim, as opposed to the lower waters, mayim.

[ii] Marjorie Nicholson, Milton, John, A Reader's Guide to His Poetry, (New York, Octagon Books, 1971).

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 .

50. SYMBOLS OF LIGHT AS LITERARY CONVENTIONS

50. Symbols of Light as Literary Conventions

There are several ways in which symbols of light are used in the Book of Revelation to reveal Christ. These symbols are used according to the literary conventions already established in the canonical literature including both Old and New Testaments. The Book of Beginnings, Genesis, starts with the revelation of the Secret of Light:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be Light: and there was Light, (Genesis 1:1-3).

The Gospel of John starts from this same beginning point:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life: and the Life was the Light of men. And the Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through Him might believe.He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on His name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us, (And we beheld His glory, [beautiful Light], the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth, (John 1:1-14).

Then Jesus said unto them. Yet a little while is the Light with you. Walk while ye have the Light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have Light, believe in the Light, that ye may be the children of Light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide Himself from them," (John 12:35-6).

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of Life;(For the Life was manifested, [revealed, brought to light], and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that Eternal Life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us:)...This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all."  (1John 1:1, 2, 5)

Until the appearing [revelation] of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in His times He shall shew [reveal], Who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the Light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to Whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. (1Tim. 6:14b-16)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (James 1:17)

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 .

49. OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD IN LIGHT

49. OTHER MANIFESTATIONS OF GOD IN LIGHT

In two other glorious manifestations of light, God revealed Himself in the Old Testament to Israel: namely, the Shekinah glory and that mysterious oracle called Urim ve Thummim.

The Shekinah

At Sinai when Moses had gone up into the Mount to receive the Law, the people departed from the will of God by creating for themselves a visual image to worship to which they attributed the miracle of their deliverance from Egypt. God was so displeased with their idolatrous act that He proposed to Moses that He should destroy them and make Moses and his seed the heirs of the promises. But Moses interceded for the people and begged forgiveness.  In granting this forgiveness, God gave them a visible manifestation of Himself to go with them. This was not a concrete image such as an idol could have; not the works of men's hands, but an image of light, the pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. This manifestation was called the Shekinah and offered tangible proof of God's presence while providing physical guidance for the nation. But this presence was necessarily also a spiritual presence, for when Israel strayed from God morally, His visible presence would remove from their midst until they were again so oriented as to behold the revelation of His glory.

In the time of Christ the faithful in Israel had longed for the return of the Shekinah which had been missing since the days of the destruction of the first temple. The literal interpretation of Shekinah is "He dwells with us." When Christ became manifest in Light, the event represents the return of the Shekinah glory. The message to the faithful is: "Behold Him! The Shekinah glory," thereby reversing the curse of Ichabod which literally means "the glory is departed." Christ as Immanuel is “God-with-us”; the glory has returned.

Urim ve Thummim

The other visible manifestation of God's presence in the Light of wisdom and understanding was the oracle of Urim ve Thummim. Taken separately, the meaning of Urim is “Lights,” and the literal meaning of Thummim is “Perfection.” Taken together they mean “Revelation and Truth.” In the beginning God said: “Let there be Light” and in the last book of God’s revealed Word we find that Light brought to perfection, Revelation, perfection of God’s will, and the inevitable outcome of His Word of power. The most fitting title for this final Book of scripture is Tammim, (a variant form of Thummim), “perfection, completion, and fullness.” The Book itself declares that the Revelation is complete when it pronounces a curse upon anyone adding or taking from the words of the Book, (Revelation 22:19).

In the Old Testament we read that the Urim ve Thummim was given to the High Priest for the purpose of discerning the instruction of God in matters of utmost importance to the nation. This most holy oracle was received by means of a very specific and carefully worked out use of the ephod which was only to be handled by those specifically anointed as Priests of God and instructed in His purposes. We find the instructions for this oracle in Exodus 28:1-30 and the confirmation that these instructions were carried out in Leviticus 8:8.

As this use was so limited it seems probable that the details were not common knowledge but were passed from one generation to the other of the Priests. Although this information may have been considered secret at times, it was not necessarily forbidden, but rather merely specialized knowledge. It was simply irrelevant to the general community as it was neither their right nor duty to handle the ephod. This technical and specialized knowledge would have been incorporated into the Pattern of the Heavens which was given to Moses, (Exodus 25:9, 40), the Pattern for orientation in time and space. The benefits of this special guidance were very important to the community.

These things were for examples and patterns: Hebrews 8:5:

Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, “See,” saith he, “that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”

These things are again mentioned in Hebrews 9:23-24:

It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

The ephod was a part of the prescribed garments of the High Priest. It was the outermost garment worn somewhat as a vest. It consisted of a breastplate which contained twelve precious stones set according to specific directions. These twelve jewels were each engraved with the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The breastplate was held in place by shoulder pieces. These two shoulder pieces each contained an onyx stone engraved with the names of six of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The priest was also to wear a headpiece called the fair mitre, to which was attached a plate of pure gold with the engraving: "Holiness To The Lord." Below the ephod, on the hem, was to be hung "pomegranates of blue" and golden bells. In considering the total effect of these garments, one might imagine the lights reflected by such an arrangement. Aaron's garments were made as a copy of the image of the garments of God which is the starry heavens.

The jewels of the breastplate are named, but as these names are not equivalent to the names presently used to describe precious stones, it is not certain exactly which jewels are meant. From the description and names of these stones, however, it is certain that they were all either transparent or at least translucent. Without doubt they all reflected light in a very special way.

When used according to God's instructions, there were answers received by means of this ephod. These answers were called “Urim ve Thummim.” It has long been a matter of controversy as to the manner in which the Priest received these oracles. Philo suggested that there was a little image in between the folds of the ephod, which is probably why Philo has earned the reputation of being Greek in his thinking, for certainly no one in harmony with the spirit of the Old Testament could ever think that God could be manifest in some little image tucked into the folds of the priest's garment!

Others have suggested that the ephod was used as the base for a lottery upon which was cast something like a "sacred dice," the answer being revealed by the way in which the lot fell. This cannot be completely ruled out on Biblical grounds; however, it is not totally in keeping with the way God reveals Himself in other instances throughout the Bible.

On the basis of the other accounts of the manifestations of God in the Old Testament, we must believe that God's will by Urim ve Thummim was revealed when the precious stones of the breastplate were placed upon the mercy seat, or perhaps even upon the Priest's body in relation to the fair mitre upon his head, in such a way that the reflected light created a visible image, even as light from a prism creates a rainbow of colour. This could only happen when everything was in perfect alignment both literally and spiritually according to the Pattern shown to Moses on the Mount. The moral condition of the Priest as well as the people must be such as God could approve. Then and only then did that "glory" appear which was the answer of Urim ve Thummim, Lights and Revelations. So these manifestations of God were always manifestations of Light, either of physical, visible light or the inner light of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

The Book of Revelation is not so much a message as a manifestation, and that manifestation is the Light of God, the Urim ve Thummim for the direction of His people: "...a Light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of His people, Israel."