The Lampstands
REVELATION Number 24
The Lampstands
Revelation 1:12 (NASB 2020)
“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands”.
The symbolic use once again of the number seven is something we want to be careful to recognize. Seven is the number of completeness. In verse 20 we will be told explicitly that the lampstands are the seven churches to which the Lord Jesus has addressed the coming letters. These letters then are written to the entire Church of the Lord Jesus. To His body and bride as a complete whole.
The Jewish temple had a golden lampstand with seven individual lights. In Exodus 25:31 and 37 we find God’s instruction for making this lamp. “Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand, its base and its shaft, are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it… …Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it.” (NASB 2020) We see this lampstand represented today in the Jewish menorah which most often appears when Hanukkah is being celebrated around Christmastime.
Zechariah chapter 4 contains a vision similar to this. The prophet is shown a golden lampstand with seven lamps. There are two olive trees standing beside it. When Zechariah asks the angel what these are, he is told in Zechariah 4:6b–7 “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of armies. ‘What are you, you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’” (NASB 2020)
The governor Zerubbabel is an ancestor of Jesus and I see in this a prophesy not only about this governor’s success, but also of the work of the Lord Jesus that is to come.
Notably, the angel speaks of a great mountain becoming a plain, which we can understand as Jesus overcoming the mountain of sin and bondage and the death it yields.
The angel speaks of a stone. Jesus is depicted as a stone in Isaiah 28:16, which is quoted in 1 Peter 2:6 where the Apostle writes, “For this is contained in Scripture: ‘BEHOLD, I AM LAYING IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNERSTONE, AND THE ONE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE PUT TO SHAME.’” (NASB 2020)
Finally, the angel declares that to this stone there will be shouts of Grace! Grace! John 1:14 echoes Zechariah saying, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NASB 2020)
It is fitting then for us to connect these visions and take notice of the similar language and imagery.
A significant difference in the vision in The Revelation, however, is that there are seven lampstands. Verse 20 explains that these are the seven churches. Zechariah tells us that the lampstand and olive trees are the word of the Lord. Lampstands shine light, and we may recall the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:14. Speaking to the Jews, He said, “You are the light of the world.” Later we who are not Jewish are told in Ephesians 5:8 “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (NASB 2020).Finally, in Romans 11:17 we find, “some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree” (NASB 2020).
As I understand this, the olive trees are the Jews and the Gentiles who believe God. The Jews were the light of the world and now we who are gentiles are also light by faith in the Lord Jesus. That there should be seven lampstands is very appropriate. The complete Church, Jews and Gentiles who trust the Jesus Christ is in view.
The entire body of Christ is the light of God’s message of grace to be found in Jesus Christ, the foundation and the mountain mover who makes the path to God straight.
