Numbers
8:1 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him,
When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light over against the
candlestick. 3 And Aaron did so; he
lighted the lamps thereof over against the candlestick, as the LORD commanded
Moses. 4 And this work of the
candlestick was of beaten gold, unto the shaft thereof, unto the flowers
thereof, was beaten work: according unto the pattern which the LORD had
shewed Moses, so he made the candlestick.
Candlestick is a word that meant in
1611 an instrument bearing a candle which was differentiated by sometimes being
called a wax candle but always referred to a light or a lamp. The material that
burned might be a cloth wick or in this case oil.
Exodus
35:14 The candlestick also for the
light, and his furniture, and his lamps, with the oil for the light,
Exodus
39:37 The pure candlestick, with the
lamps thereof, even with the lamps to be set in order, and all the vessels
thereof, and the oil for light,
Zechariah
4:11 ¶ 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?
The word lampstand is not used in English before 1800 and would
not have been used when this Bible was translated. Even now lampstand itself
has changed to mean a device that holds a lightbulb.
Previously, the instructions for the golden candlestick were given
beginning in Exodus 25:31 and Exodus 37:17 based on the pattern Moses was
shown. This is the famed Hebrew Menorah which we see depicted in art and at the
holidays as representing the modern Jewish faith. The most famous Menorah of
the temple in history is found on the Arch of Titus in Rome commemorating the
Emperor, then General and son of the emperor, Titus’s destruction of Jerusalem
in 70AD. Jewish authorities in history have argued about how exactly it was to
have looked. A different looking Menorah was found in the ruins of an ancient
synagogue in 2009. The ruins contained pottery believed to have been left
before the Second Temple was destroyed by Titus’ soldiers. However, the Arch of
Titus may have represented an eyewitness account as the recently found
synagogue was pretty far from Jerusalem in Madgala.
In Revelation, chapter 1, Jesus stands in the midst of the seven
candlesticks which represent the seven churches discussed in Revelation,
chapters 2 and 3. The menorah in Revelation connects to the candlesticks
mentioned here and in Exodus. There is great meaning and significance in the fact
that the church is to be a light to the world as the seven candlesticks here
provide light ordered by God and Jesus stands in their midst. The oil used to
light the lamps represents the Holy Ghost. There are so many analogies and
sermons to be made from this. It is an amazing thing, is it not?
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