Revelation - Part 3

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne...

Now is a good time to jump ahead because there is a strong valance between the seven Spirits, seven stars, and seven lampstands. It seems that these seven Spirits are exemplified by the "seven stars" held by Jesus:

3:1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. 

The "seven stars" are the seven angels, or messengers to the seven churches. We know from 2:1 that the churches are designated by the "seven golden lampstands".  The seven lampstands are as old as worship itself:

Ex 25:31And thou (Moses) shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:..

The question is why the menorah - Hebrew for the seven lampstands? That one lamp base represents the invisible and universal church in Christian thought. The center "Lamp" is Jesus Christ. (12:20), and obviously one of the seven churches which was most faithful. Many agree that was the Church at Philadelphia. In scripture words means things. "Philadelphia" means "brotherly love". It is no coincidence that both the center lampstand represented Jesus and the church at Philadelphia - both together are the Greatest Commandment - love God and our brothers.

Ironically, the Menorah is the symbol on Israel's coat of arms. The seven churches are the offspring of Israel! The seven lamps of the Menorah are on one base:

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5  One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

There are not two faiths: Christianity and Judaism. John Chapter 1 makes it clear that the Torah (the Law) is all about Jesus! Because Jews for the most part failed to accept the Truth - that the Messiah Is God in the flesh, Paul turned to the Gentiles. Paul wrote in several places of the "mystery of God", and the "mystery of Christ". They are the same, and in the beginning, everyone sinned, grace was for all, it was always by Jesus, and salvation was always by faith! Hence, in the end, Jews will finally see the Light, and complete the Church. The Menorah with it's lampstands represent unity and wholeness.

The Menorah wasn't made of gold without a purpose. That signifies God's kingdom. In John 3:16 the "whosever" are all that "believeth in him". The seven candlesticks represent all the Church/churches who were in the Light!

Because, the apostles were to take the gospel to the nations, the seven candlesticks fulfill this prophecy:

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Christians are called to carry the light in all the lands or peoples (ethnos). The seven churches were to spread throughout the world. It is by no accident that from one land, Eden, that seven lands emerged. Scripture speaks of continental drift long before mankind knew it had drifted! In Genesis 1, the firmament was separated from the waters. There was one land called Eden. (Note: scientists call it "Pangea"). With the deluge came the separation of the nations:

Deut 32:8  When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

Twelve peoples lived in seven lands. The Menorah just may be a reminder than even in the dispersion, God's people are still His.  The Book of the Secrets of Enoch - a pre-apostolic commentary on Genesis, expounds on the Creation:

Secrets of Enoch 28:1 AND then I made firm the heavenly circle, and made that the lower water which is under heaven collect itself together, into one whole, and that the chaos become dry, and it became so. 2 Out of the waves I created rock hard and big, and from the rock I piled up the dry, and the dry I called earth, and the midst of the earth I called abyss, that is to say the bottomless, I collected the sea in one place and bound it together with a yoke. 3 And I said to the sea: 'Behold I give thee thy eternal limits, and thou shalt not break loose from thy component parts. 4 Thus I made fast the firmament. This day I called me the first-created.

There was made in the beginning one circle - dry land, which collected itself together. The land was intended to stay one, and not break off several pieces from the whole. That land was Eden, and on its eastern edge was the Garden. The "midst of the earth" is where the land was piled. Mediterranean means, "middle of the earth", and it's sea there appears to be the abyss.  That land was God's realm of earth, and He ruled it! Now what does that have to do with the seven?

Secrets of Enoch 27:1 AND I commanded that there should be taken from light and darkness, and I said: 'Be thick,' and it became thus and I spread it out with the light, and it became water, and I spread it out over the darkness, below the light, and then I made firm the waters, that is to say the bottomless, and I made foundation of light around the water, and created seven circles from inside, and imaged it (sc. the water) like crystal wet and dry, that is to say like glass, and the circumcession of the waters and the other elements, and I showed each one of them its road, and the seven stars each one of them in its heaven, that they go thus, and I saw that it was good. 2 And I separated between light and between darkness, that is to say in the midst of the water hither and thither, and I said to the light, that it should be the day, and to the darkness, that it should be the night, and there was evening and there was morning the first day.

The seven candlesticks obviously meant Light. In the beginning all the Light which shone was from God! In that Light he created Eden and the seas. The seven circles were part of the one circle mentioned before. These were what we called until modern times - the seven continents of the world. Their "road" was the path of continental drift. As the languages were separated, so were the people. Today, six continents are recognized. Europe and Asia are no longer separate continents but remain two lands.

The "seven" stars guided their path. It would appear that those "seven stars" are the "seven angels" spoke of in Revelation. Thus, as rebellion separated the nations, in the end, Christ brings them together again! You may think this is reading too much into God's Plan, but He is Almighty! I never cease to be amazed at the detail of His Plan. From Genesis to Revelation, God's Plan never changed one time! It has always been about Jesus and his grace!

I stopped short of addressing the Jewish Menorah in full. Little did they know, except for the patriarchs, that their candelabra was all about Jesus just as the tabernacle and the temple were!

In Judaism the candelabra represents the seven days of Creation with the center one the day of rest. It appears to me that the six candlesticks represents life itself, and the seventh the millennial reign of Jesus where he rests from his "work" of forgiving sins. The Menorah sat on the southern side of the temple (Wikipedia; "Menorah").

On the left side of the Holy Place was the golden lampstand. It provided light as the priest approached the Holy of Holies were God was seated on His throne atop the Ark of the Covenant. What "covenant" does one suppose that was? It was one of grace. Emmanuel - God With Us, the One who sat on that Ark was the Word who was "called Jesus" (Luke 2:21).

It was Jesus's golden lampstand back in the tabernacle and temple, and in Revelation, it is still Jesus's Light!

On a personal level, the seven candlesticks represent the Light shown to those born-again. Even though the temple was lit by the candlesticks, peace was not yet forthcoming for the Jews. Even though the Menorah sat in Jerusalem, which means "foundation of peace", the peace was for the seven churches of Asia. The church in Jerusalem became impertinent as the gospel spread unto the world. The candelabra will someday return to Jerusalem! I believe that foundation of peace is where the Garden was - right there in the east of Eden in the middle of the earth", and where New Jerusalem will be.

One can see that the symbolism of the seven candlesticks, seven Spirts, seven angels, seven stars, seven churches, and spreading the gospel to the seven lands is of extreme importance.

Back in 1:4 these "seven spirits" were "before God's throne". It is no coincidence that the golden candlestand back in Deuteronomy had the same design, purpose. and location - before God's throne, as they do in future events. God shed light on His Plan back there in tabernacle days. The priest knew that those seven candlesticks were a representation of the Messiah. They worshiped Jesus before it was cool, so to speak!

Now the Light of God still shines in His temple, but that is in the hearts of mankind! When one sees the light, we look up to the Light of Jesus (John 3), and Jesus lifts us up! Those seven candlesticks mean much, and one meaning is our own relationship to Jesus Christ!