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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