Tag Archives: Seed-Sower

Seven Golden Lampstands – Part 3

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Seven Stars as the Menorah:

According to Zondervan, the Menorah should be translated ‘lampstand’ as there were seven olive-oil lamps emanating from one stem. The plan or arrangement of these seven was in the form of a six-point star with the center of it being the seventh lamp.[5]
This six-point star, revolving around a center point could be used to represent, or perhaps to sight, the equinoxes and the solstices of the year. The word Menorah may well be a contraction of a compound word mânâh, meaning “to divide, be divided.” One form of the word (Niphal), means to be numbered, etc, plus the word ’ûr, meaning “light.” The compound would therefore relate to the dividing and numbering of the lights of the heaven for purposes of determining the calendar.[6]

Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

The word translated “declare” (KJV) or “are telling” (RSV) in the original language has the sense of numbering, or tallying. In Old English we have this same sense in the expression: “a tale that is told” which can signify “a story that is related” or “a numerical problem that is solved.” So the heavens, in Psalms 19:1, are not only telling the glory of God but are also numbering it by the cycles of the times.

Zechariah also saw this lampstand:
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: (Zech. 4:2).

The Angel interpreted this for Zechariah:

“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.” (Zech. 4:10)

Here we see that the seven golden candlesticks were a “plummet.” The word ‘with’ is supplied at the translator’s discretion and was not in the original text. That is, it is a builder’s instrument for aligning a building. Builders have used the stars to align buildings since some of the earliest historical records, (for example, the pyramids of Egypt.) Therefore, the “plummet” in the hands of Zerubbabel was, naturally speaking, the seven-branched candelabra, which was spiritually analogous to the Seven-fold, or Covenant Spirit of God. (See Commentary at 1:10 “Being Turned”).

Seven Stars as the Seed Sower:

The seven stars were also sometimes called the “Seed Sower.” They were pictured as the hand-carried container for the seed, which the sower carried, and from which the seed were broadcast throughout the fields. This is an apt picture of the Church as the Sower of the Good Seed of the Word. Since the Word is Light, Psalms 119:105, 130; Proverbs 6:23; Hosea 6:5, the preaching of the word is the sowing of Light.

Psalm 97:11: “Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” Christ is Light and the Word: John 1:4-9. The pictorial representation of Christ at the pole star position speaks of Him as the Sower of Light, the Good Seed of the Word, and the beginning of creation.

The Hebrew Menorah later became known as the “Nebrashta,” in the Aramaic of Daniel 5:5. The root of this word is perhaps bərê’shîyth, which is the first word of the Bible, “in the beginning”, Genesis 1:1.[7]

[5] ZPBD article “Candlesticks.” See the drawing at this place, showing the six-point star arrangement of the Candlestick.

[6] See my Word Study at 1:12 ‘Candlestick.’ See Josephus Antiquities 3.7.7, the seven branched candlestick is said to represent the seven planets. However in Wars 7.5.5, he makes the candlestick an emblem of the seven days of creation. Whiston in a footnote, (p.75 on 3.7.7), says that Josephus’ description of the candlestick as representing the planets is taken from Philo and “is fitted to Gentile philosophical notions.” This is no doubt true, but how else could the idea have been translated for the Greeks without a very large commentary on the subject? Since the days of the week were named for the seven planets, it may have been a matter of semantics rather than philosophy that caused Josephus to describe them as representing the planets in one place and the days of the week in another.

[7] See my Commentary on  Revelation 1:3 “Christ as Light and Time,” and also at 1:12-20 “Visions of God,” 1:9 “Tribulation,” and 12:10-12″Satan Cast Down.”

Seven Golden Candlesticks – Part 2

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What did the analogy of the “Seven Golden Candlesticks” mean to the Churches in the first century AD when the Book of Revelation was first written?

Seven Stars as “The Lesser and Greater Sheepfold”[1]

In that region of the world at that time in history, this constellation, Ursa Major, was known as “The Greater Sheepfold” (Seiss, 20, 126-7, 178). The smaller constellation, Ursa Minor, known as the “Lesser, or former, Sheepfold,” hangs upon the pole star and is in the center of the revolutions of the circumpolar stars known as “The Greater Sheepfold.” The Greater Sheepfold therefore encompasses it. This “Lesser Sheepfold” would have represented the original body of Jewish believers from which the Church began. The seven named churches of Asia, (see also Revelation 1:11),[2] therefore represented the “Greater Sheepfold”, i.e., the entire universe of both Gentile and Jewish Christians, the complete Church.

The Heavenly Pattern

The earthly churches are therefore the spiritual counterpart of The Church in the heavenlies, where the Angel of the Church resides. Just as nations have their “Prince,” (as the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Grecia in Daniel 10:13, 20), so the Church has its “Angel,” or Prince, in the heavenlies, which is Christ. The local, earthly counterpart has its “Angel” which is to represent Christ on earth.

The heavenly “Mount Zion” was in Old Testament times represented on earth by the earthly city of Jerusalem. The Psalmist could say: [3])

“Walk about Zion, and go round about her, tell the towers thereof, mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our God forever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death,” (48:12-14).

Seven Stars as God’s Writing:

In another analogy, the starry heavens are thought of as God’s handwriting.[4] It is therefore appropriate that the scenes of the Book of Revelation are portrayed in the constellations of the night sky.

The Menorah, or seven-branched candlestick that was in the tabernacle and the Temple, was made according to the original pattern given to Moses while he was upon Mt. Sinai, (Exod. 25:31-40; 37:17-20 and Number 8:2-4.). Later David gave to Solomon the plan for the lampstands along with the other plans for the Temple, 1 Chronicles. 28:11-19. All of these plans were those given by God:

“All this he made clear by the writing from the hand of the Lord concerning it, [even] all the work to be done according to the plan.” (1 Chronicles 28:19 RSV).

The “Writing from the hand of the Lord” was that of the starry heavens.

[1] Some Scriptures that show how important this concept was in the Bible are: Isaiah 40:11; Jeremiah 23:3; 31:10-12; Ezek. 34:10-31; chs. 37 & 38; Mic. 3:12; 4:8; Zech. 9:16; Luke 12:32; John 10:1, 16; Acts 20:28-9; 1 Pet. 5:2-3.

[2] Note that “in Asia” is not in the Greek text of 1:11. The Greek text of 1:4 actually reads: “in the Asia.” See Commentary at 1:4 “Asia”.

[3] For discussion of Pole Star as Mount Zion, see “Satan Cast Down,” my Commentary on Revelation 12:10.

[4] See “Alpha and Omega” Commentary on Revelation 1:8.