THE CANDLESTICK.
Exo_25:31-40; Lev_24:1-4; Rev_1:12-20.
The candlestick would be more properly called the "lampstand," as on the top of each branch a lamp stood. It is most suggestive to notice that a distinction is made between the lampstand and its branches. The central or upright part was the candlestick, the other parts were simply the branches of it. This is the same precious thought that we have in John 15, "I am the Vine, ye are the branches." Notice the-
I. Formation. It was made of "pure gold of beaten work." There was no wood here; but still, like all the other vessels, it had a twofold character, "Its shaft and its branches." It is supposed that this candlestick was made out of one solid piece of gold, and that it was brought into the desired form by the process of beating. We are here brought within sight of some very deep New Testament truth in connection with Christ and His Church. All of one piece to begin with. In the purpose of God the Lamb was slain, and we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1 4). All of one piece, before the world began. Oh, the depths of the wisdom of God! But the candlestick did not appear in reality till the beating had been accomplished. The beating is an emphatic symbol of suffering It was through the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ The candlestick was not made in the holy place. The hard, wearisome process of beating was done outside. Christ had to come out from His Father’s presence and go outside the gate of Jerusalem. He only knows all the depth of meaning that lay in this word "beating." It was that we might become partakers of His divine nature He suffered for us, the Just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
II. Size. The candlestick, like the laver-the type of the Holy Spirit-was given without measure. It is to be wondered at that those two vessels, which represent the two great mysteries of the Church and the Holy Ghost, should be mentioned without any definite measurement. The Church was a mystery hid in the ages of old. Who can measure the mystical body of Christ? Its presence cannot be understood by the carnally minded. It is a great mystery. There are three unions that are all alike mysterious:
1. The union between the Father, Son, and Spirit.
2. The union between the Son and man.
3. The union between the believer and Christ.
III. Position. The laver stood in the centre of the holy place, the table of shewbread on the right side, and the candlestick on the left. All those vessels which stood in a straight line show the provision God has made for our coming near unto Himself. Those which stood by the way represent the privileges and responsibilities of the saved ones. The only light in the holy place was from the golden lampstand. There were no windows, no natural light. In this light only did the priest offer incense and renew the bread on the table. In the light of His presence must all holy work be done. "Thou art my lamp, O Lord" (2Sa_22:29). It is when we walk and work in the light of the sparks of our own kindling that we blunder and stumble and fail. The Church, like the candlestick, is in the purpose of God a separate thing. In the world, but not of it. "For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified in truth" (Joh_17:19). The branches are not of the world, because the shaft is not of the world (Joh_17:16-18).
IV. Shaft and Branches. The shaft, or centre part, was called the candlestick. The shaft is Christ, the branches on either side are His people. Jesus in the midst. In all things He has the pre-eminence. The branches were beaten out of it. Eve, the type of the Church, was taken out of the side of Adam, "Members of His flesh, and of His bones" (Eph_5:30). The shaft with its branches were all of pure gold. The branches were made partakers of the same nature as the candlestick. This we, as believers, have through the operation of the Holy Spirit. Observe further that the strength of the branch lay in the shaft. Apart from the shaft the branch had no power to stand. "Without me ye can do nothing" (Joh_15:5). "I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me" (Php_4:13). The beauty of the shaft was put upon each branch. The knobs, bowls, and flowers which adorn the centre lamp-stead was to be wrought upon each individual branch. Is not this beautiful? Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. It is the will of God that the same spirit which wrought in Jesus should work in us, changing us into the same image (2Co_3:18). Let us "put on the new man, which is after the image of Him that created him" (Col_3:10; Joh_17:22).
The same position and privileges which belonged to the shaft belonged also to the branches. Risen with Him and seated together with Him "in heavenly places" (Eph_1:3). "Where I am there shall ye be also" (Joh_14:3). Perhaps the three branches on either side may also indicate the three great gifts in the Church-evangelists, pastors, teachers. This is the true order. The outside branch was the longest. The first duty of the Church is to evangelise. The second branch is the pastor, who gathers together the evangelised ones, and cares for them as a flock. The third branch is the teacher. This one dwelt nearest to the shaft. Nearness to Christ is indispensable to profitable teaching. They sit at His feet and learn of Him. Although the offices are different they all belong to, live by, and exalt the same Lord-"all one in Christ."
V. Light. The light of the candlestick was something different from the candlestick itself. You may have a lampstand without a lamp, or a lamp without a light, just as you may have the form of godliness without the power. But the candlestick was made for the very purpose of bearing the light. Its light was the gift of God. "The Life was the Light" (Joh_1:4). The light then is a beautiful type of life. The life we have in Christ is life from God, it is the life of God. Ere we can shine before God we must, like the candlestick, be lit with the holy fire of life from God. This light was never to go out. No. The life we get is "eternal life," it shall never go out. The secret of a steady, powerful testimony lies not in having abundance of knowledge, but in having abundance of life. Let us remember that the life is the light. Letting our light shine simply means letting the life of the Christ who dwells within us be seen. This light, like the fire on the altar, was to be used and kept, but not made. Eternal life is not the product of men, it is "the gift of God" (Rom_6:23). "Ye must be born from above" (Joh_3:3).
Note further the great purpose of this light. It was to-
1. Shine "before the Lord." Our first great business as Christians is to live before God." One is your Master, even Christ" (Mat_23:8). Walk before Me, said God to Abraham. It is possible to shine in the eyes of men and yet not be shining before God. To this end we need the devoted heart and the single eye "Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your bodies and your spirits which are His" (1Co_6:20).
While the candlestick was shining "before the Lord" it was also-
2. Shining upon the Table. When we are living only to please God, then are we revealing Christ as the bread of life to others. Men see in Christ the bread they need for their poor, perishing souls by the bright joyful light of the consecrated life. In shining before God we best commend the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no room here for men-pleasing.
In shining "before the Lord" it also-
3. Shone upon the Altar. The power of prayer will be seen and felt through the life that’s lived before God. The God that answers prayer is the God that answers by the fire of a holy, God-glorifying life. It also-
4. Shone upon Itself. In shining before God we are manifesting to others the beauty the Lord our God hath put upon us. "They, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in Heaven" (Mat_5:16). Only that which He hath wrought in us can be seen when we live and labour in the presence of "Jesus only."
VI. Oil. The power of the candlestick was in the light that it bore. But the light needed to be fed. The new life given us of God needs sustenance Pure olive oil was provided for the light. Oil is a striking emblem of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost was the pouring in of the oil upon the flickering lives of the early disciples. We may have life, but we cannot have life abundantly unless we have a plentiful supply of the spirit of grace. A dry wick testimony is a poor one. How is this oil applied? The Spirit takes the things of Christ and shows them to us, so when these precious things are seen and accepted, faith is strengthened and the life made brighter. The holy oil is a prime necessity if the lamp of testimony is to be kept brightly burning. There is no escape from this. If our Christian life is dull, hazy, and fitful, that is evidence enough that we lack the oil of the spirit of liberty. Education and earnestness are no substitutes for the pure life-inspiring oil of the Holy Spirit. The oil cannot shine of itself, neither can it make a dead lamp shine. It can only manifest its mighty power through the fire of a living soul. It is said of the Spirit that "He shall not speak of Himself," but He can make the life which we have received through Christ shine so brightly that Christ our Lord shall be magnified in us. "He shall glorify Me," Jesus said. He does thus glorify Him in us. The priest supplied the oil for the lamps. He trimmed them with his own hands. How much more will He give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? To be filled with the Spirit means to be filled with faith, with love, with wisdom, and power, so that our lives will be Christ-like and honouring to God. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord" (Zec_4:1-6).
VII. Tongs and Snuffers. These were small but indispensable things. The lamps needed trimming, the ashes must be removed from the wick. Oh, yes, there are ashes even here. There is something betimes in the best of men that could do better without. But note that the ashes which mar the testimony of the light do not come from the holy oil, but from the body of the wick. The hindrance is never in the Holy Spirit, but in ourselves. It may be a little rising of the self-will, some duty neglected, some sin unconfessed. But it is a blessed consolation that although our Great High Priest may need to use the snuffers of trial and affliction to purify, He never uses the extinguisher. When Peter denied Him He did not extinguish him, but applied the trimming tongs of gracious intercession. We have not an high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities. The snuffers were of pure gold. The fiery trials through which we may be brought will not be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless they work for us an eternal weight of glory. The trial of your faith is "more precious than gold" (1Pe_1:7). The snuffers are not used for pain, but for profit, that the lamp should shine all the brighter. Golden trials in the hands of a merciful high priest who looks to the "afterwards." "Thy will be done" (Mat_26:42). Work then in us both to will and to do of Thy good pleasure. Beloved fellow-believer, in the day of trouble consider the golden snuffers.
Autor: James Smith