“What do you see? …there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on the top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.” Zechariah 4:2
In the book of Revelation at the very beginning of the book we find mentioned in the vision that God gave to John on the Isle of Patmos, first and foremost, a glimpse of the glorified, risen, and exalted Christ. This Christ, which was the same Jesus who walked the dusty roads of Galilee, and climbed the ascent of Golgotha, now is unveiled to John in the measure that he can receive it. The declaration by Christ of who He now was, the “Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” (1:8) certainly arrested and moved John. However, by His glorified appearance, “…His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters,” was certainly great enough to overwhelm John, this beloved disciple who was the closest to Him when He walked this earth. But it seems that in the final description of Christ having “in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength,” (1:16) was that which brought John, not only to his knees, but certainly falling at Jesus’ feet as if he were dead. Why does God give to John such a vision of Himself, and this by bringing John apparently to his physical limits of being able to survive it? It is in part because of a message that the Lord Jesus has for the church, His living body, represented by seven churches scattered throughout Asia Minor. The vision was not to create an emotional reaction in John, though it did have this effect, but to put within him a knowledge of the truth concerning just WHO Christ was, and is, and forever shall be. The vision would be essential to faith, the faith of John, but also to the believers of that time, and today. Just as the Apostle Paul would have written before concerning the preaching of the word of God in “demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” the purpose being that “…your faith should NOT be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God,” (1 Cor. 2:4) so the revelation of the glorified Christ in His Sovereign power, purity, and might, was intended to create faith, great faith in a great God, a faith that was founded, and rested upon, the power of God. Only by the vision of such power can the church, the living body of Christ, created at Pentecost when the Spirit of God was poured out upon all flesh, rise and fulfill her calling to be the “salt of the earth,” and the “light of the world.” To succeed she must know something of this power of the resurrection of Christ, the Christ who is not only risen from the dead, but who now lives in the heart of every believer, there to anoint, fill and empower, enabling that one to believe God for Christ’s fulness, the full outworking of His will, and the accomplishment of His purposes for His glory.
It has often been said that a “picture is worth a thousand words.” So is the case of a golden lampstand that is revealed to Zechariah the prophet in the Old Testament. Like the seven lampstands of Revelation, each one made of gold, there is a purpose and design. In Zechariah’s vision there is but one lampstand, but seven lamps upon it. Golden oil is put into a bowl on top of that lampstand. Seven pipes bring the oil to the lamps, where the oil burns, and gives light. God’s purpose for Israel, as that lampstand, was to give light to the world. Likewise, the living church’s purpose is to give Christ’s saving light to a lost world.
Dear Father, Fill us with light. In Jesus’ name, Amen.