Thursday, July 23, 2020

Exodus 25:31-40 comments: the candlestick




Exodus 25:31 ¶  And thou 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: 33  Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34  And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35  And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36  Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37  And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38  And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39  Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
Much is made of the word candlestick by skeptics. Modern Bible translators choose to translate the word as lampstand. This is the definition Strong gave it. In the era of the translation of the King James Bible, the Authorized Version, on which we rely, a candlestick was simply, “an instrument to bear a candle,” as in Thomas Wilson’s 1612 A Christian Dictionary.[1] A candle was merely something that burning gives light, in this case using olive oil.
Exodus 27:20  And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.
 Some sources state that the word, lampstand, came in use in English around the mid-1800s. So, it would not have been available to the translators. Candlestick is entirely appropriate if you regard the cross-references and review the Hebrew word, which is in use today, the menorah.
Knop is another word over which people stumble. A knop is a decorative knob at the top of something. It can be the ornamental top or capital of a pillar designed to distribute the weight placed directly on the pillar. Think of the opening at the top of a candle holder where the candle fits in and the part of the menorah just under that cup. If I’m not mistaken this would be the meaning of the knop.
There are six branches from the centerpiece and seven lamps. Candlesticks play an important part in prophecy as this candlestick will represent actual historical churches and types of churches in Christianity.
Zechariah 4:1 ¶  And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2  And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3  And two olive trees by it, one
upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4  So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5  Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6  Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto
Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. 7  Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. 8  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 9  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of
this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. 10  For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

    11 ¶  Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12  And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13  And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said,
No, my lord. 14  Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Revelation 1:9 ¶  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. 12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13  And in the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17  And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18  I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. 19  Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 20  The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

God has shown Moses, visibly, how these things are to be made. He has shown him the pattern.
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.


[1] Ian Lancashire, ed., Lexicons of Early Modern English (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2017), http://leme.library.utoronto.ca/.


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