No. 1.
Leviticus 24:1-4; Revelation 1 – 3; Zechariah 4.
Christ is presented to us by the Spirit of God in these Scriptures in offices and ministry in which He secures the will and pleasure of God. In the first Scripture we see in type the Lord Jesus procuring in divine grace His own precious features in the lives of His saints. The second Scripture deals with divine government in the assembly, in relation to its place of responsibility as a light-bearer before the world. The third Scripture unfolds the display of divine glory in Christ as King and Priest in the world to come.
The olive oil, which God commanded the children of Israel to bring to Moses, to cause the lamps to burn continually, is a well-known symbol of the Spirit of God. There would be nothing in this world for God at the present time if the Holy Spirit was not here; and every bit of light that shines in the lives of the saints, both for the pleasure of God, and for testimony to the world, is the fruit of the Spirit's work in the hearts of the saints of God.
The Holy Spirit has come from the exalted Son of God in heaven to maintain in the lives of God's people the same blessed features of divine life that were manifested in their perfection in Jesus as Man here below. This holy, heavenly life, in which God finds pleasure, is the light that shines for the glory of God. In His closing testimony to the world, recorded for us in John 12, the Lord Jesus said, "While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the sons of light" (John 12:36). Only the sons of light can live for God's pleasure in the midst of a world that knows Him not.
Even as the children of Israel had to beat the olives to procure the oil for the light, so have the saints of God now to be in exercise of soul before God, so that they might by the Spirit produce in their lives the features of Christ. Spiritual exercises are the fruit of the Spirit's work, but they bring out in the saints of God the traits of beauty that belong to Jesus, those of which we read in Galatians 5:22-23, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."
Three times over in these verses we find that God would have the light of the lamps to shine continually. A spasmodic testimony will not do for God: it must not be interrupted. He must have constantly before Him the beautiful features of Christ that gave Him unbroken pleasures when His Son was here.
The seven lamps which rested on the seven branches of the beautiful candlestick, or lampstand, shed their light upon the lampstand within the Holy Place. Those without never saw the light of the lamps strike upon the varied features of the lampstand. It was not to attract Israel, or any of the nations that might be near at hand, that the lamps shone; nor was it to illumine the path of any through the darkness of the world. The priests who ministered within the Holy Place would indeed walk in the light of the lamps, but the object of the shining was God Himself. It was for God's pleasure that the lamps shone: the light was to be maintained "Before Jehovah continually."
God's people are a testimony to the world, even as it is written in Philippians 2:15, "That ye may be harmless and simple, irreproachable children of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation; among whom ye appear as lights in the world." But it is not this aspect of the truth that is brought out in the light shining within the Holy Place. In this aspect we are to learn of the pleasure of God in securing through the present ministry of Christ the expression of the heavenly life in His saints while passing through the world.
In each branch of the lampstand there were formed in its construction the characteristic features of an almond tree, namely, its buds, flowers and fruit (see Exodus 37:17-22). These no doubt remind us of the varied expressions of life; the evidences of it in the buds, its beauty and fragrance in the blossom, and its mature results in the fruit. The pure light of the lamps brought out all these features as it fell upon the beautiful lamp-stand. There was not a single feature on the lampstand that did not bring out something of Christ.
Do we not see in Christ's own life these varied expressions? When only twelve years old, there was the evidence of a life that was only concerned with the will of God when He said, "Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" At the waters of baptism the Father's voice from heaven proclaimed the beauty and fragrance that were for Himself in the secret life of Jesus, when He said, "Thou art my beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased." And did not His holy life bring forth fruit for the glory of God? There is coming the day that will display the fruit of His life of service for God's pleasure, and also the fruit of His great work upon the cross.
And how delightful it is to the Father to view in His people that which His own Spirit produces, the same lovely traits that were displayed in all their perfection and profusion in the Man Christ Jesus. The sweet fragrance of constant obedience and unswerving fidelity to His will, ascended to the Father from every inward and outward movement of His Son in this world. Some-thing of this same fragrance is produced in those who "through sanctification of the Spirit" are called to walk in the same path of obedience, the obedience of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:2). But not only is there fragrance for God in the lives of His people, there is also fruit, even as the Lord said, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:8).
Aaron, Jehovah's priest, was to dress the lampstand, from the evening to morning, before Jehovah continually. This surely typifies the priestly office and service of the Lord Jesus who, as the Minister of the Sanctuary, has various functions in His present service on high. As our Great High Priest, with our names upon His shoulders and upon His breast, He ministers succour and comfort to His saints, bringing relief in grace and mercy as they pass through the wilderness. He saves to the uttermost those who come to God by Him, and He leads His own as a worshipping company into the presence of God, and sings praises to God in the midst of the assembly. There is also the service for Israel, for He maintains their place before God, as signified by the twelve loaves on the table of showbread.
Added to the services mentioned there is the maintenance of the light on the lampstand. The dressing of the lamps would involve the use of the snuffers of pure gold, for the removal of anything that obscured the clear shining of the light or that impeded the flow of the olive oil to sustain the light. We have but a feeble apprehension of the watchful, gracious ministry of Christ, as He deals so gently, yet firmly with His own, for the removal of all in us and about us that is inconsistent with His own character, with all that belongs to the flesh, so that God might have pleasure in our walk and ways.
Throughout the night, from "evening to morning," this ministry continued. So has it been during the long night of the Lord's absence from this world, and it will continue until He comes to take His own to be forever with Him. During the "Dark Ages," there may have been little of Christ discernible to the eye of man, for the professing church was steeped in ignorance and superstition. But we may rest assured that in spite of all human failure that the faithful Minister of the Sanctuary maintained the light in the Holy Place for the eye and heart of God. Simple hymns that remain from the church's darkest days, in which there is the evidence of deep devotion to Christ, is the clearest witness to the untiring service of Him who has dressed the lamps from the evening of His leaving this world.
Christ's present ministry is "before Jehovah." The men of this world know not that the One they crucified and slew is alive in heaven, carrying on a great work before God for His glory in relation to those who, like their Master, are rejected and despised. The Son has set Himself apart to glorify the Father in His present work even as He did while on the earth.
Not only had Aaron to dress the lamps; he had to "arrange the lamps" upon the pure candlestick, before Jehovah continually. Each lamp would be placed by Aaron on the branch, and in the position, where it would best shine upon the lovely workmanship of the candlestick. And how perfect is the wisdom that arranges all the circumstances and conditions of our life, so that we might display before God the character of Christ. We naturally desire to choose our own circumstances, thinking, even if we would refrain from saying so, that we could choose what is best. We may even deceive ourselves in thinking that we are choosing what will best serve God's will for us, and all the while have self as the motive of the heart.
We may view the lamps as symbolizing Christians in their individual lives, or as little gatherings of the saints which act according to the truth of the assembly, though they would not claim in days of brokenness and failure to be the local assembly. The Lord in His wisdom and grace orders the lives of His own, and deals with them, even as the priest of old both dressed and arranged the lamps in the presence of God. It is God's will and pleasure that actuates Christ in all His ways with us; but we may rest assured that what secures the Father's pleasure will be for our greatest good and abiding blessing.
Christ may choose for us some place that is not naturally attractive or congenial, some place in which to live or to work that we would never have chosen for ourselves; but if Christ has made the choice for us we can rest content that His choice is infinitely better than ours could ever have been. It is in that town or place in the country, and in that position, that He knows we can best serve the will and pleasure of God. So it is too in relation to the assembly. We have no hand in choosing those who are to be with us in the local assembly: we may not have much to do with the trials and exercises of the assembly, and yet have to share in the sorrows as well as the benefits these exercises produce. Our hearts may ever rest content if we realise that all is ordered and watched over by One who loves us, and who is ever concerned with bringing out in the saints the lovely features that He manifested while walking for God's pleasure as Man on earth.
This was given to Israel as "an everlasting statute" throughout their generations: it was to be an unfailing service to God. Alas! in the days of Eli, it is recorded, "the lamp of God went out" (1 Samuel 3:3); evincing Israel's failure. But there is no failure with our Great High Priest. So long as He waits in patience the day of His coming to take His own to be for ever with Him, so long will He maintain the shining of the lamps for the pleasure of His God and Father.
How rich the character He bears,
And all the form of love He wears,
Exalted on the throne;
In songs of sweet untiring praise,
We e'er would sing His perfect ways,
And make His glories known.
We are not left in any doubt as to what the seven lampstands of Revelation represent, for we read in Rev. 1:20, "the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." These seven Asiatic gatherings had been highly favoured, being enriched with the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and being watched over by him. Bereft of the care of the apostle, who was now at home with Christ, the Lord reveals that He still cares for them, and is jealous of their affections.
No spiritually-minded saint of God can fail to discern that the addresses to the seven churches of Asia give a prophetic history of the church in its responsible witness for Christ, from the time it left its first love until it is spued as nauseous out of the mouth of Christ. The church is viewed here in quite a different way from that which we have considered in Leviticus 24. We are not contemplating now companies of true believers, manifesting by the Spirit of God the life of Jesus for the pleasure of God under the gracious ministry of Christ, our Great High Priest; but we are beholding the Lord Jesus scrutinizing the professing church in its responsibility to represent Him before the world.
Since the church is viewed in its responsibility, it is not difficult to understand why Christ is presented in His judicial character as "like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet," with His affections restrained in divine righteousness, His eyes searching, in penetrating judgment, to discover and deal with all that is inconsistent with the holiness of God, and testing all according to God's righteous requirements from man set up in responsibility before Him in this world.
Nor are we left in any doubt as to the glory of the Person who watches governmentally over the state and activities of the professing church. He is seen as Daniel saw Him, the Ancient of Days, with "His head and His hairs white like wool, as white as snow … and His countenance was as the sun, shineth in his strength" (Rev. 1:14-16). It is little wonder that His glorious appearance, and the sound of His mighty voice of power, brought the disciple, who once lay in His bosom, as dead at His feet.
In chapters 2 and 3 the Lord is seen walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, surveying all, nothing hidden from His searching gaze, noticing what is worthy of His approbation, and laying His finger upon that which is inconsistent with the moral attributes of Him who has set the assembly to be a light-bearer in the world. The angel, that is the responsible element in the church, is first addressed, the Lord presenting Him-self in His official character, moral excellence or in His Personal glory; each presentation being apposite to the state or characteristics of the particular assembly to which He speaks.
To Ephesus the Lord introduces Himself as the One who holds the seven responsible witnesses in His right hand of power. All the stars are His; the power of His right hand is available to sustain them in their place of testimony; and He can dispose of them at His pleasure. As He walks in the midst of the assemblies He views all in relation to the glory of God, assessing with accurate knowledge and divine wisdom, and describing with precision every feature to which He draws attention.
In divine righteousness He commends what is worthy of approbation, and there was much at Ephesus that He approved; yet to the anointed ear some of the things of which the Lord takes cognisance are spoken of in such a way as to disclose inherent weakness in what is commended. He speaks of knowing their "works": but He does not say they were works "of faith," as were those of the saints at Thessalonica. The works were in evidence, but they did not spring from the faith that was so strong and fresh in the young assembly at Thessalonica.
Of their "labour," and their "endurance," the Lord also is aware; but the springs of "love" and " hope" that were at the source of the labour and the endurance of the Thessalonian saints are not found here (see 1 Thess. 1:3). The searching gaze of the Lord penetrates right down to the inner springs of the soul that give character and energy to every action, and He faithfully exposes in love, yet firmly, when the action is divorced from the spring that can alone give spiritual vigour and tone to our activities.
There were other things at Ephesus that the Lord commended, things that are sadly lacking in other assemblies: indeed, it might be difficult for us to discover any deficiency in the outward marks of watchfulness, zeal and energy. But the searcher of hearts saw what others could not see, that in spite of all the remark-able features that evinced fidelity to an absent Lover, there had been departure from the pristine affection that had given Him a dwelling-place in the heart of the assembly.
All that is done for the Lord He greatly values, and nothing escapes His eye, and nothing will go unrewarded; but what He values above all is to be enshrined in the affections of His own. What proceeds from first-love gives unqualified pleasure to the heart of the blessed Lord; and first-love is that single-hearted devotion that refuses to share Christ's place in the heart with any other.
The Lord has nothing wherewith to reproach the assembly at Smyrna, but much to say to them by way of encouragement. They were passing through tribulation, which no doubt kept them close to the side of Christ, and purged them from the dross of this poor world. Poor in this world's good, they were rich in things spiritual and eternal; for has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith. They were railed at by the religious men of this world, and some were about to be faced with the rage of Satan, appearing as a roaring lion. All is seen and foreseen by the Lord who can exhort them to be faithful, and who encourages them with the promise of "the crown of life."
When the church was freed from tribulation and from the fires of persecution, it was seduced by the patronage of the world. This is seen in Pergamos, to which the Lord presents Himself as having "the sharp two-edged sword"; that which penetrates to the separating of soul and spirit, and which discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. There were things to commend at Pergamos even though the church was in the world, and the world in the church. There were those the Lord could take account of as holding fast His Name, and not denying His faith, in the face of the determined onslaught of the enemy. But the Lord had against them that there were those in the bosom of the assembly who taught evil doctrines, which counselled association with an evil world, and which set aside the life of holiness consistent with the reception of divine grace.
How searching is the gaze, and how firm the tread of Him who looks upon Thyatira. He announces to this assembly that He is the Son of God, the One whose glory is not to be given to others. There was much to commend, but His eye rested with disapprobation on "the woman Jezebel," whose presence and teaching was permitted in their midst. The false teachings, idolatry and corruption of the Papacy are not hid from His eye; and in stern tones He pronounces His judgment on this false and wicked system that has so grossly misrepresented Him to the world. Yet His eye takes account of the little, faithful remnant, that seeks to be loyal to Him amidst the general departure, and He encourages them to "hold fast" what they had, and gives them the promise of His coming.
The assembly at Sardis shows us the state of the church after the energy and faithfulness that marked the Reformers had given place to dead formality. To this assembly the Lord shows Himself as the One "that has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars." There is not much to commend, but the Lord notices their works. Protestantism had stood against the evils of the Papacy, and had destroyed much of the idolatry and corruption connected with that wicked system. But their early faithfulness was gone, it lived only in name, for the system was characterised by the lack of spiritual life and energy. How appropriate that the Lord should sneak of Himself as having the "seven Spirits of God," for in Protestantism, as in Romanism, there is little room for the Spirit of God. The Lord calls for repentance, and threatens to come upon the church as upon the world," as a thief." But there were those who walked for Christ's pleasure, "A few names in Sardis which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy."
As with Smyrna, the Lord has no word of reproach for the church at Philadelphia. There was not the persecution to drive them to the side of Christ, but there was the attraction of the Person of "The Holy, the True; He that has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one shall open." They had only a little power, yet as kept near to Christ, they had kept His Word and had not denied His Name. Unrecognised by the great religious profession, they waited for the coming of the Lord, when it would be manifested that they were loved by Him. They were content to share the reproach of Christ, having respect for the recompense of the reward.
If the church has grievously failed in its testimony for Christ in this world, the testimony of God is secure in Him who presented Himself to the church at Laodicea as "The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the beginning of the creation of God." There is nothing in this boasting, self-sufficient church to commend. Its condition is so distasteful to Christ that He is about to spue it out of His mouth. It is so self-complacent in its false confidence, and so occupied with its imagined riches, that it has no place for Christ; He is outside its door, and knocking. This is the professing church as we see it today Occupied with the things of the present world, it has no room for Christ. There is boasting of their traditions, philosophy, rich music, grand buildings, and much beside; but they are utterly insensible as to their spiritual blindness and poverty.
How very solemn it is to contemplate this prophetic history of the church in responsibility; and more especially as we trace the accurate fulfilment of it down the ages. Yet how blessed it is to know that however great may be the church's failure, the Lord will assuredly carry out the purposes and counsels of God for the blessing of His own, securing, in spite of all the failure, the glory and pleasure of God. In the midst of all the ruin, down the ages, God has been working in new creation for His own satisfaction; and until the Lord comes we can seek to be faithful, walking in the light of that which can never break down, and seeking in confessed weakness to keep His Word and not deny His Name.
We have observed in the service of Aaron within the Holy Place of the Tabernacle that which typifies the present ministry of Christ in the presence of God. In his dressing and arranging the lamps on the pure lampstand we learn of His maintaining that which is for God's pleasure in the lives of His own. In Revelation the scene is quite different, for there the Lord as Son of Man walks in the midst of the assemblies set up in responsible witness for God in this world, and He watches over all that is transpiring, dealing in faithfulness and righteousness with what is inconsistent with the nature and character of God. This vision of Zechariah, though given for the benefit of the remnant of Israel in his day, looks forward to the time when Christ will be seen in His glory in this world.
When Zechariah saw the golden lampstand with its seven lamps he must have been reminded of the lamp-stands in the Tabernacle and in Solomon's Temple.
Although the glory had long since departed from the dwelling place of God on earth, and the light of the lamps had been put out, God had not given up His people, nor was it His intention to allow the present conditions to continue for ever: the day would assuredly come when the light of God would again shine out, even as it was still maintained before His eye, as is seen by the prophet in the vision.
In Leviticus 24, Jehovah had instructed Israel to provide oil for the lamps, but in this vision the golden oil is not procured through the efforts of God's people; it flows directly from the two olive trees through the two golden tubes into the golden howl of the lampstand, and the seven pipes carry the precious oil from the bowl to the seven lamps. There is no thought of the responsibility of man, as in Revelation; nor is there any indication that man is used as an instrument to provide the light for the pleasure of God, as in Leviticus 24. It is the sovereign action of God in every part.
The vision is given in Zechariah 4:2 and 3, and the explanation in the closing verses, and between these sections the prophet discloses Jehovah's reason for giving the vision to him. The prophet has to confess that he has no knowledge of what the vision meant, but the angel answered that it was "The word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of hosts."
Long before Cyrus, the king of Persia, had been born, it had been written by the prophet, "Thus saith Jehovah … that saith Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid. Thus saith Jehovah to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him" (Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:1). When the time came, according to the word of the prophet, "Jehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, and he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom. and also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus, king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth has Jehovah the God of the heavens given to me, and He has charged me to build Him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whosoever there is among you of all His people, Jehovah his God be with him, and let him go up" (2 Chr. 36:22-23).
About fifty thousand answered the call of Cyrus, and returned to the land under the leadership of Zerubbabel, and in the second year of their return they laid the foundation of the House of Jehovah. For some time the work continued, in spite of considerable opposition from those around, but in the reign of Artaxerxes the work, by order of the king, ceased altogether. There seems little doubt that it was not only the opposition that caused the work to cease: the builders had lost sight of God, whose work they were doing, and they had their eyes upon the obstacles rather than upon Jehovah their God.
It was for this reason the vision had been given to Zechariah. In it there was a message of God for Zerubbabel and the returned remnant. God would have them to understand that for the accomplishment of His will He did not require the might of armies, or the power of man: all would he carried to a successful end by His Spirit. In the vision the whole process of sustaining the divine light on the golden candlestick was entirely independent of man; it depended only on the Spirit of God. What an important message it was for the returned remnant; and it is just as important for us today. There is an aspect of the truth in which God uses human instruments for the carrying out of His will: but He would have us to realise that whatever divine work is to be done can only be done for His pleasure by the working of His Holy Spirit.
The king of Persia, who had commanded the work to cease, might appear as a great mountain, an insurmountable obstacle before God's people, but He says to them for their encouragement. "Who art thou. O great mountain? before Zerubbabel (thou dost become) a plain." Later, when on earth, the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, "Have faith in God; for verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and he thou cast into the sea: and shall not doubt in his heart … he shall have whatsoever he saith" (Mark 11:22-23). When faith rests its eye on God, the great mountain becomes a plain.
Already the foundations of the temple had been laid, but Zerubbabel had not yet set up the headstone; Jehovah had determined that he would do this, and encourages him and His people by sending this message. The bringing forth of the headstone was to be an occasion of rejoicing, which they would celebrate with the cry, "Grace, grace unto it!" It was not the headstone of a material building that was before the mind of the Spirit of God in the writing of this Scripture, but rather the Stone that was set at naught of Israel's builders, when He came as Man into the world, and who has become in Jehovah's building the Head of the Corner.
Of the Stone, Jehovah had said to Joshua, the high priest, and to his fellows, through the prophet, "For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua — upon one stone are seven eyes; behold I will engrave the graving thereof, saith Jehovah of hosts" (Zech. 3:9). In this divine Stone there is the perfection of discernment and wisdom; and there is engraved on it all the mind and will of God. This is the Stone in which there is every grace. the One in whom there is the perfection of beauty, every feature for the pleasure of God, and to attract and hold the eyes and hearts of His saints. Christ already is seen as the Chief Corner Stone in relation to the Assembly: He will soon be displayed as the Head and Centre of all God's schemes for earth and heaven.
God also decreed that "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; and his hands shall finish it." No amount of opposition by the great of this world can frustrate what God has set Himself to do. It may be a "day of small things," which God's people are inclined to despise; but the faithful will discern that the outward appearance does not manifest the true value of the work of God. The faithful remnant of that day would rejoice to see the building instruments afresh in the hands of Zerubbabel, even as the saints of God in this day see by faith the Lord Jesus building that against which no power of man or Satan can prevail.
Nothing is hidden from the eyes of God, for "the eyes of Jehovah run to and fro in the whole earth," and it should be of immense comfort to His people that He is constantly watching over all that is taking place in this world, and orders all for His own glory and the prosperity of His people. The faithful remnant is here identified in their rejoicing with the seven eyes of Jehovah, the activities of His Spirit, in relation to the accomplishing of His will.
What seems specially to interest the prophet is the identity of "these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left," for he asks the second time, "What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden tubes that empty the gold out of them-selves?" When the prophet confesses that he does not know the answer to his question, the angel says, "These are the two sons of oil, that stand before the Lord of the whole earth:" the two branches have the same character as the two olive trees.
All God's thoughts for the blessing of His earthly people will be secured by the "two sons of oil," by the One who is Anointed Priest and Anointed King. Alas! in the days of the prophet there was much to discourage. Zerubbabel was the direct heir from David to the throne of Israel, but he was not the anointed king. Joshua was the high priest of Israel, but how miserable was his state as depicted in chapter 3. But the day is surely coming when the kingdom and the priesthood will be taken up by Him in whom there is no failure, and when through Him the light of the glory of God will shine from the holy city, Jerusalem, for the blessing of Israel and the illumination of the world.
Christ's two offices are typified in Zerubbabel and Joshua, but in chapter 6 the Spirit of God reveals to the prophet that Christ in the day to come "shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne; and the counsel of peace shall be between them both" (Zech 6:13). No other but Jesus is worthy to bear the glory of the coming kingdom, and only by the work of His cross could there be the counsel of peace between Jehovah and the Priest upon His throne.
In vision the prophet saw the golden tubes convey the gold from the olive trees to the golden bowl. What a wonderful day is in prospect for the nation of Israel, when the divine glory shines out from the shrine into which the Lord Jesus as the True Son of David has entered. There will be the fulfilment of the words of Isaiah, who wrote, "Behold a King shall reign in righteousness" (Isa. 32:1). The gold, the divine righteousness, will outpour from Christ, both as King and Priest, "and the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance for ever" (Isa. 32:17).
All the gold from the olive trees was emptied first into the golden bowl at the top of the lampstand, thus directing our eyes to the vessel of the divine glory, to Him who in His own Person is the expression of divine righteousness and divine glory. So that we are not only privileged to behold the Lord Jesus in the offices He fills for the accomplishment of God's will, but to gaze upon Him in the glory of His Person as the Son of God.
In Revelation 4:5 we read of "seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God," and these speak of the activities and operations of the Holy Spirit in His varied characters in the coming day. So here it would seem that the seven pipes and the seven lamps bring out the work of the Spirit of God, as bringing from the glorified Christ that which displays the glory of His kingdom in the Millennium, when Jesus as "the two sons of oil" stands as the admired object of His own "before the Lord of the whole earth."
Wm. C. Reid.