08-CHAPTER EIGHT THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK

CHAPTER EIGHT
THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK
Christ, “The True Light” and His “Children of Light”

Exodus 25:31-40; Exodus 27:20-21; Exodus 37:17-24; Exodus 39:37; Exodus 40:24-25
Leviticus 24:14; Numbers 4:5, Numbers 4:9-10, Numbers 4:15; Numbers 8:14 AS THE priests entered the Holy Place of the Jewish tabernacle, they beheld three beautiful articles of furniture, all lighted by the golden candlestick. Indeed, there was no other source of light in this sacred dwelling place of God “in the midst” of His people, Israel.

There was no window in the sanctuary, for all natural light was excluded. But as the seven lamps of the golden candlestick burned, at the left of the priest as he entered the door, they shone not only upon this beautiful article of pure gold, but also upon the golden-covered table of shewbread just opposite the candlestick on the north, and upon the golden-covered altar of incense in front of the door and before the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
As we remember that these three pieces of furniture in the Holy Place, as well as the other three, were given their positions by the Lord Himself; and that they formed important links in “the shadow of the cross,” outlined by the God-given arrangement of the six articles which made the furniture of this tent of the congregation; then their typical significance becomes overwhelming proof that they foreshadowed “The Glories of Christ As Seen in the Jewish Tabernacle.”
Not only did the light from the golden candlestick reveal the beauty of this seven branched Lampstand and that of the table and the altar; but it also cast its rays upon the beautiful gold-covered boards which formed the walls, and upon the hangings and curtains of fine twined linen embroidered with cherubim of blue, purple, and scarlet.

We hardly need to repeat here the symbolism of these precious things; but let us try to imagine for a moment the impression they must have made upon the minds and hearts of the priests as they entered this holy place to minister before the Lord.

Everything in that sacred room foreshadowed the glory and the beauty of Him who was to come.

- The gold was symbolic of His eternal deity;
- The fine white linen, of His righteousness;
- The blue, of His heavenly character;
- The purple, of His royalty;
- The scarlet, of His sacrifice.
- The candlestick typified Him as “The True Light,” “The Light and Life of Men.”
- The table of shewbread suggested that He was “The Bread of Life.”
- The blood-sprinkled, golden altar, upon which sweet incense was burned, was a picture of His intercessory work for His own before “the throne of grace.”

Above the priests and upon the door and veil were the outstretched wings of the cherubim, reminding Aaron and his sons of the majesty and power of the God who sends His angels to execute His holy will. There was nothing in the Holy Place to mar its beauty. Everything spoke of the glories of the promised Messiah and Saviour of the world, and of His relationship to His own.

It was a high privilege which the priests enjoyed, for no one else could enter there. It is a glorious privilege which born again souls enjoy now and will enjoy throughout eternity; for “none but his loved ones” can know His beauty, His glory, and His grace!

We must enter now by faith into heaven itself by the way of His cross, if we would behold His matchless Person and know the power of His ministry for His own. And this we would do today, in the reading of His Word, as it is applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,” praising God for His “great salvation.”

Human reason is but as a natural light; it does not reflect His glory. We must walk in the light of the golden candlestick, as it were, if we would know the Lord. But we who have been born again are believer-priests; we may walk in the light that shines from Jesus, “The Light of the World.”

Would to God apostate Christendom would go to the cross and be saved!

- Then countless, blinded souls could behold the blood-sprinkled altar, the wings of the cherubim, the gold of our Lord’s deity.
- Then they could know the light of His love, the food for their souls, and the mighty intercession of the Son of God!
- Then they would be “children of light,” walking before Him, reflecting His glory; “lights in the world,” shining for Him, that sin-darkened souls might let “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” shine in their hearts. (See 2 Corinthians 4:6).

May the Holy Spirit help us who love the Lord to let this, His purpose and will for us, be fully realized as we “walk in the light” with Him!

Now, my friend, if you will turn to all the Scripture verses listed at the beginning of this lesson, and read them prayerfully, you will better understand our detailed study today.

As you read, you will note that the first two of these passages describe the “pattern” which God gave to Moses in the mount.

Then follow those which tell of the finished candlestick, the oil for the light, and instructions as to how this sacred article was to be covered from the gaze of men and carried on the march during the journey from Sinai to Canaan.
In the description given by the Lord to Moses, we find that from one “talent of pure gold” the candlestick was beaten out by hand in delicate and highly ornamental workmanship. The shaft, or base, upheld the one central branch, from which sprang three branches on each side, the one parallel with the other.

In the seven branches were seven lamps. The “bowls, knops, and flowers,” of course, refer to the ornaments on the branches, which were the result of the “beaten work.” The bowls were “made like unto almonds.”

As another has expressed it:

“Each side branch had three sections. Each section had spindles shaped like almonds, a knob at the upper end and a flower. The central shaft had four of these sections,” with “golden lamps . . . on the top of the flowers” (I.M. Haldeman).

What an exquisitely beautiful work of art it must have been! THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK - A TYPE OF CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH

1. “The Light of the World” and His “Lights in the World.”

Our Lord’s own words and the testimony of Zacharias, Simeon, and the inspired apostles leave us in no doubt as to the typical significance of the golden candlestick:

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life . . . The sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world” (John 8:12; Php 2:15).

“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world . . . Ye are the light of the world” (John 9:5; Matthew 5:14).

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all . . . Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning” (1 John 1:5; Luke 12:35).

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men . . . That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world . . . Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light” (John 1:4, John 1:9; Ephesians 5:8).

“The dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace . . . A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel . . . For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (Luke 1:78-79; Luke 2:32; 2 Corinthians 4:6).

“If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
When Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, addressing his own infant son, prophesied concerning “the dayspring from on high,” he was bearing witness to Israel’s long-promised Messiah, and quoting from the Old Testament Scriptures.

When Simeon entered the temple and saw the infant Jesus, with Joseph and Mary, who had taken Him to Jerusalem when He was eight days old, in order to fulfill the Law of Moses, he prophesied concerning the long-expected Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world, also quoting the Old Testament concerning the “light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of . . . Israel.”

When John the Baptist, “a man sent from God,” testified concerning Jesus, “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” he “came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light” (John 1:68, John 2:9).

From Genesis to Revelation, from the first promise of the Redeemer, in Genesis 3:15 to the closing scene of Revelation, with the glorious picture of the Lamb as the Light of heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, is presented to a sin-darkened world. And from Genesis to Revelation His blood-bought children are admonished to live before Him as in the light of His presence. But it is in the New Testament teaching, concerning Christ and His church, that the fulfillment of the symbolism set forth in the golden candlestick of the Jewish tabernacle is most clearly set forth.
As there was no other light in the Holy Place of the sanctuary in the wilderness, even so Christ is the only Light to a groping world in sin. And as He “hath shined in our hearts,” even so He expects us to reveal Him to darkened souls.

The priests walked in the light of the golden candlestick as they ministered before the Lord and worshipped Him. Our service will be futile unless we “walk in the light as he is in the light.” Our worship will not magnify Him and give peace to our own souls unless we reflect His glory. Through His church He manifests His love, bidding us let our “light so shine” that men may see our “good works, and glorify” our “Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
The central branch of the golden candlestick speaks to us of our Lord; the six branches which sprang from it, of His church. United to Him in an eternal bond, we shall reflect and show forth His glory here on earth as we “walk in the light.” Indeed, one significant reason why God told Moses to have Aaron light the lamps of the golden candlestick was that they might “give light over against the candlestick” (Numbers 8:2). The light illuminated the delicately fashioned and marvelously beautiful Lampstand of gold.

May God give each one of us grace to say, with Paul,

“In nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death” (Php 1:20).

2. A Very Costly Candlestick.

The marginal note of “The Scofield Reference Bible” tells us that “a talent of pure gold” (Exodus 25:39), from which the candlestick was fashioned, is valued at $29,085. Add to that the skilful workmanship that formed it of “beaten work”; and you get some idea, my friend, of the very great cost of this light for the Holy Place. The “pure gold” reminds us again of our Lord’s eternal deity; the very great cost, of the price He paid to redeem the souls of men!

That He was ever eternal God, and that He became “Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us,” we have sought to show in our former lessons. And that the price He paid for our redemption was very costly - far beyond human understanding - we have also tried to make very plain.

Apart from these truths, we have no gospel. If Jesus of Nazareth was not the Son of God, then there is no hope for the sinner; and but for His atoning work on Calvary’s cross, we should still be condemned, “having no hope” in the world (Ephesians 2:12). But thank God! The words of the Apostle Paul have come down to us through the centuries, giving light and life eternal:

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

“Ye are bought with a price . . .” (1 Corinthians 6:20).

We know that the price which the Son of God paid for our salvation cost Him bitter agony in Gethsemane, when, “with strong crying and tears,” He faced the accursed tree; when He “sweat as it were great drops of blood,” so that “there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him”; when He prayed for His Father’s will, even though the fulfillment of that holy will meant separation from the hitherto unbroken fellowship His sinless soul had shared with His Father from all eternity. His forsaken cry from the cross bore witness to the fact that He suffered for us - alone! As our Sin Bearer, He became a curse for us!

What a price to pay!
And we, having received the new birth, are “a new creature [creation]” in Christ Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:1-7), bought with the price of His own blood. Moreover, in Him we are precious to the Father - as gold - “accepted in the beloved” Son!

3. A Candlestick of One Piece.

As the six branches which sprang from the central shaft were one candlestick, even so God sees us identified with His Son - in His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension into “heavenly places.” The church is forever united to Christ by the new birth. From Him she springs, and by Him she is supported, even as the outspreading branches of the golden candlestick were upheld by its central shaft. The church is united to Him and sustained by Him.
To His disciples our Lord said, in His farewell message, just prior to the cross,
“I am the vine, ye are the branches” (John 15:5).
And in His intercessory prayer, uttered shortly afterwards, He spoke those remarkable and reassuring words,

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:20-21).

Each of the seven lamps of the candlestick gave an individual light; yet all were united to the central branch, which was literally “in the midst.” Likewise, we are individual members of the one body, the church, of which Christ is the Head. Each of us has to know Him as a personal Saviour and Lord; yet we are one in Him, and He is “in the midst” of His own. He promised as much, saying,
“Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20).
And John saw the risen Lord, in the Patmos vision, “in the midst of the seven golden candle sticks,” which “are the seven churches” (Revelation 1:13, Revelation 1:20). Of this we shall have more to say later on in this lesson, but just here let us bear in mind that our Lord Jesus never leaves His own!
The central branch of the golden candlestick was chiefest of them all. Likewise, as the Head of His church, Christ must “in all things . . . have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18). He is “the chiefest among ten thousand . . . yea, he is altogether lovely” (Song of Solomon 5:10, Song of Solomon 5:16).

Because the six branches were not artificially joined to the central branch, they could not be severed from it.

As they were beaten out of one talent of pure gold - all of one piece - even so we are eternally secure in our Lord. No man is able to pluck us out of the Father’s hand; nothing can “separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (John 10:29; Romans 8:38-39)! The almond-shaped bowl, with a knop and a flower of gold, suggest to us the resurrection. “The almond tree is the first to show its bud in the spring.” Because Christ is “risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept . . . even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).

- Christ is the eternal Son of God; we are “sons of God” because we believe in Him for salvation.
- He is the Firstborn; we are His brethren. His Father is our Father; His God, our God.
- He is the Head of the body, which is His church; we are members one of another.
- He is the “heir of all things”; we are joint heirs with Him.
- He is the Second Adam; we are His bride.

We have been crucified with Him, buried with Him, are risen with Him, and seated with Him “in heavenly places.”

- He is one with the Spirit; our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
- He is forever glorified, restored to the eternal glory which He had with the Father before the world was; we shall one day behold and share His glory.

All this is our heritage in Him, because we are forever united to Him by faith in His redemptive work.

What a wonderful Saviour!

4. A Candlestick “of Beaten Gold.”

The talent of gold was ever precious in itself; but not until it was “beaten” into the thing of beauty that it became, did it typify the union between Christ and His church. He was, from all eternity, beloved of His Father, coequal and coeternal with Him; but not until He was “wounded for our transgressions . . . bruised for our iniquities,” was the church formed from His wounded side.

The talent of pure gold was beaten by hand till the beautiful candlestick was fashioned; “it pleased the Lord to bruise” His beloved Son, for the Son willingly, gladly came to die! (See Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 53:10).

- But for the beating, there would have been no golden candlestick to light the Holy Place of God’s sanctuary;
- But for the suffering of the cross, there would have been no bride to show forth “by the church the manifold wisdom of God,” to make known the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”

As the cruel nails were driven into the hands and feet of the Son of God, as the spear was thrust into His side, a righteous God was vindicating His holy law, and at the same time magnifying His holy name. On Calvary He was “just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).

It was this eternal verity, concerning our Lord’s suffering for His church, to which He referred when He said,

“Except a com of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24).

He was made for a little time “lower than the angels . . . that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Hebrews 2:9-10).

Ever morally perfect, absolutely holy in His being; yet He became obedient to His Father, a perfect Saviour, because of the sufferings of His cross.

If we love Him, we shall reflect His glory - because of the things which He suffered for us.

5. A Light Never to Go Out.

God was teaching us another lesson concerning our eternal security in Christ when He said to Moses:

“Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations. He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually” (Leviticus 24:2-4).

If we would shine before God, like the candlestick we must be lighted with the holy light from Him. This life which we receive from Him is eternal. “The life,” which is “the light of men,” shall never go out!

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

6. A Light to Shine before the Lord.

Twice in the above passage from Leviticus we read that the candlestick was to shine “before the Lord.” And earlier in this lesson we were reminded that it shone upon the beautiful things in the Holy Place which speaks to us of Christ, the Light of the World, the Bread of Life, the Interceding Priest - in all His deity and glory and beauty.

Beyond the veil, in the Holy of Holies, stood the Shekinah Glory, the very Presence of God “in the midst” of His people.

Verily the light from the golden candlestick did shine “before the Lord.”
Our one purpose in this life should be to live as in the Presence of God. It is possible for us to shine before men, yet not before the Lord. God said to Abraham, “Walk before me”; and He bids us walk before Him, remembering that One is our Master, even Christ. To this end we need the devoted heart and singleness of purpose, that we may say, with Paul, “This one thing I do . . .” (Php 3:13).
The lamps manifested the beauty of the candlestick, even as we would, by our shining, reveal His glory who loved us and gave Himself for us. When Moses came down from Mount Sinai; after having talked with the Lord. “he wist not that the skin of his face shone.” He had to put a veil over his face, in order that the children of Israel might bear to look upon him as he gave them God’s commands.

If we spend much time in His Presence, we shall, unconsciously, be “changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

All the while the table of shewbread was standing in the Holy Place; but if the light had not shone upon it, the priests should never have found it.

Without the light which our Lord sheds abroad in our hearts, we should never know Him as the Bread of Life for our heart-hungry souls.

All the while the golden altar of incense was standing before the veil in the sanctuary, but is required the beams of light from the golden candlestick to show forth its beauty, and to remind the priests of the One who was to come to be the interceding Great High Priest. The power of prayer through the risen and interceding Lord, at the right hand of the Father, will be seen and felt through the life that lives and shines before Him. THE OIL - A SYMBOL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

We have seen that oil, in the Scriptures, is a type of the Holy Spirit of God. The priests were anointed with the holy oil when they were consecrated to their sacred office. David was anointed with oil by the prophet; so were other kings in Israel.

Christ was anointed by the Holy Spirit when He was baptized, although He was ever one with the Father and with the Spirit of God. For His High Priestly work on earth He was anointed with the Spirit; and the Father gave not “the Spirit by measure” unto Him.
In accordance with this symbolism concerning the oil, we find that the “pure oil olive” in the golden candlestick foreshadowed the Holy Spirit of God. In the verses we read a few moments ago from Leviticus, we learn that this oil was “pure,” and that it was “beaten for the light,” not obtained by being pressed from the olive.
Not only was our Lord anointed with the Holy Spirit; but He was born of the Spirit of God. He did His mighty works in the power of the Spirit, lived His sinless life, taught His profound doctrines, and walked among men, always in the power of His own Holy Spirit.

“Through the eternal Spirit” He “offered himself without spot to God” (Hebrews 9:14).

And He was “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

No wonder God told Moses to see that the olive oil for the golden candlestick was “pure,” since it typified our sinless Saviour! And that it was “beaten” out, suggests once more His sufferings as He “offered himself without spot to God.”
But the same oil which filled the central lamp also filled the six other lamps; and the same Holy Spirit is freely bestowed upon Christ’s church. Indeed, we are urged to “be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).

On the Day of Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius the early church was baptized with the Spirit of God; then their flickering lamps grew suddenly bright, sending forth a steady flame. At the cross the disciples forsook the Lord, and fled; but after Pentecost they rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name” (Acts 5:41). During our Lord’s mock trial Peter thrice denied his Lord; but on the Day of Pentecost he boldly stood up in the temple and told the unbelieving Jews that “by wicked hands” they had “crucified and slain” the Lord.

What made the difference? The indwelling Spirit of God! Peter was a new man. He lived a long life of witnessing, through bitter persecution; and was finally crucified for Jesus’ sake. (See John 21:18-19). When the child of God is filled with the Spirit, he loses the fear of men, and becomes bold for Christ, no matter what the cost.
But why are there so many empty pews in our churches today? Why are many churches not winning souls for Christ? Are the wicks in their lamps not dry? There must be the “pure” oil of the Holy Spirit, if a testimony is to be given that will honor the Lord, even as the prophet said many centuries ago,
“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Oil, of itself, does not shine; it must be lighted by the fire. Neither does the Holy Spirit “speak of himself,” but of the Lord. But when the “light and life of men,” even Jesus, enters the heart, through the quickening power of the Spirit and the Word of God then the lamp begins to burn. The Spirit takes the things of Christ, and shows them unto the redeemed of God. (See John 16:12-15). If we but let the blessed third Person of the Holy Trinity take control of these poor, faltering lives, then we shall, indeed, “be filled with the Spirit,” letting our lights so shine before men, that they may glorify our Father which is in heaven.

“Come Holy Spirit, heavenly Dove,
With all Thy quickening powers;
Kindle a flame of sacred love
In these cold hearts of ours.”
THE TRIMMING OF THE LAMPS

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:1-2).

“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [i. e., trial]: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12).

“When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).

These verses and many others like them give the message of the trimming of the lamps of the golden candlestick. Twice each day the high priest, with “tongs . . . and snuff dishes . . . of pure gold,” trimmed the wicks that the lamps might burn more brightly.

Who did the cutting and trimming? None but the high priest. And at the same time he poured in the pure olive oil!
When the aged John saw the risen Lord on the Isle of Patmos, he beheld Him in His long, High Priestly robe, wearing a golden girdle. He was “in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks . . . which . . . are the seven churches” in Asia (Revelation 1:12-20).

These seven local churches, in what we call Asia Minor today, or modern Turkey, represented this entire church age. What John saw was a prophetic picture of the conditions that would prevail in professing Christendom from apostolic times until the church is translated to be with Christ. This history, written by the Holy Spirit, before it came to pass, is recorded in the second and third chapters of Revelation. And just before it is given, we get the picture of the risen Son of Man in glory, standing in the midst of His church.

What is He doing, as, before “the throne of grace,” He intercedes for His own? He is trimming the lamps and pouring in the oil of the Holy Spirit that the gospel may be sent forth through the lamps of testimony from His redeemed. He has no other plan for the saving of souls!

The seven golden candlesticks which John saw were not in heaven, they were in Asia - in a heathen, sin-darkened world. As their Great High Priest in heaven trimmed their lamps, they shed abroad the light of His redemption to a guilty people. For some of his lamps He had praise; for others rebuke; but He was watching over them all. And He was verily “in the midst.”

Surely Aaron, the high priest in Israel, who alone could trim the lamps of the golden candlestick, was but a picture of Jesus, our Great High Priest, who uses the tongs and snuffers, that our feeble lights may burn all the more brightly. Thank God! There was no extinguisher in Aaron’s hand; and the light of our redemption shall never go out! Our Great High Priest has promised that, and His Word is forever “settled in heaven”!

- He may have to send trials and afflictions, in order to draw us closer to Him, in order that our lamps may send forth a clear, shining light.
- He may have to let sorrow or trouble teach us the sufficiency of His grace, that the world may know, from our testimony, that He is able to give “songs in the night.”

But even as He trims our lamps, He pours in the oil of His own Holy Spirit, to comfort and teach and guide us on our pilgrimage from “Egypt to Canaan,” from the wilderness of this godless world unto the New Jerusalem, which is our home.

It may be some unconfessed sin that needs cutting away; it may be some rising of self-will, some duty neglected. But whatever it is, in His loving hands the tongs and the snuffers will surely trim only the things that would mar the beauty of our shining for His glory. That is why we love to read His Word of comfort and assurance concerning trials:

“I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy” (1 Peter 4:12-13). THE BEAUTY OF THE CANDLESTICK - ONLY FOR THE PRIESTS TO SEE Not only was no one allowed in the Holy Place except the priests; but when Israel was on the march, through the wilderness, the beautiful golden candlestick was carefully protected from the gaze of men. None but the priests could behold its beauty, or walk in its light. When God wanted His people to rest, the Shekinah Glory stood still, and the tabernacle was erected by the Levites; but when He wanted Israel to resume her journey, the pillar of cloud and fire lifted from above and within the Holy of Holies, and moved on before them. Then it was that the priests and the Levites prepared to carry on the march the sacred things of the sanctuary. And this is what God told them to do concerning the golden candlestick:

“And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons . . . And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs, and his snuff dishes, and all of the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it: and they shall put it and all the vessels thereof within a covering of badgers’ skins, and shall put it upon a bar . . . after that, the sons of Kohath [Levites] shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die” (Leviticus 4:5, Leviticus 4:9-10, Leviticus 4:15).
No outsider could see the beauty of this golden lampstand; nor can any but believer-priests today know the beauty of the Lord, or His union with His church.

“The natural man [i. e., the unsaved man] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The outsider saw only the covering of badgers’ skins, possibly like that of the tents of the people. To the unregenerate heart the Lord Jesus was just a good man - not the eternal God who became Man, that He might save sinners. The skeptic sees no beauty in Him. But the believer beholds His uncreated glory - now by faith; one day by sight.

Someone has also suggested that, insofar as the six branches of the golden candlestick represented the church, we are to be covered, as it were, during our earthly pilgrimage, with a “cloth of blue,” remembering that “our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven”; and with the “badgers’ skins,” ever realizing that we must walk humbly with our God.

One day, many centuries ago, the Roman Emperor, Titus, destroyed Jerusalem; and with it, the temple with all its furnishings. His soldiers, in the year 70 A.D., bore away the golden candlestick, which had the same symbolism as did that article in the Jewish tabernacle. God permitted that; for “the law” of Moses was but a shadow “of good things to come” in Christ (Hebrews 10:1). Before Titus bore away the golden candlestick, the glorified Son of Man, crucified and risen from the dead, was walking “in the midst” of the seven golden lampstands, keeping watch over His own. For the lampstand in the temple He had no further use. In Him the symbolism was forever done away!
And when we get to heaven, my Christian friend, we shall see that there they need no light from the sun, moon, or stars; for “the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:23). His face will be the glory of the New Jerusalem for all the endless ages; from Him the glory of God shall shine forth brighter than the noon day; and “there shall be no night there” (Revelation 21:25).
Is your lamp sending forth but a nickering ray of light, as you wait for that coming, eternal day?

Let your Great High Priest trim your wick. Is the trimming bringing tears and sorrow and heartache? Let Him have His way with your lamp that it may shine all the more brightly for His glory. One day you shall be like Him, forever to behold and to share His glory. Then keep on burning brightly for His name’s sake. “Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness” (Psalms 112:4).

“The path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18).

~ end of chapter 8 ~

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