The Golden Candlestick
Exodus 25:31-40
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/GoldenCandlestick.html
Look to your left as you enter the Holy Place and you see this beautiful lampstand, the Menorah, with 7 flames illuminating the room. It is described in minute detail, the most striking detail perhaps being that it is made of one solid piece of gold. It wasn’t made in sections and then put together. By today’s standards it would be worth more than a million dollars.
The central shaft divided on both sides into 3 limbs, each like an almond branch, with intricate handiwork. Pure olive oil is in each bowl and a wick inside is lit. On each branch are ‘knops’ which is likely a fruit like shape. And the likeness of a flower is carved in each one.
The purpose is to illuminate the Holy Place. There are no windows and no natural light. Each morning and evening the priest would enter and would trim away the burnt part of the wick and adjust it. This is the place of the glory of God, and this light was like a supernatural source, not a natural one.
Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
These things, philosophy, science, logic, and human reasoning are natural light, but the supernatural light is Jesus, the light of the world!
John 1:9
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
The golden lampstand dispelled the darkness so the priest could do his job.
1. The Formation of the lamp stand.
It is probably the most perfect picture of Jesus of all the tabernacle furnishings. For God is light.
God is physical light. He was that pillar of fire that led them by night. And in heaven there’s no need for artificial light. Jesus is the light of heaven.
God is intellectual light. Any knowledge man gains is only because God has allowed ‘the light to come on’. Technology today has exploded and man is so proud of himself, but God is that light.
God is moral light. People live and walk in moral darkness.
John 1:5
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Why is government and politics so opposed to common sense? Because of moral darkness.
We are to be the light of the world, and dispel the darkness so people can find their way.
If you are not saved and you don’t receive the light of God and walk into that light, the Bible says you will one day be cast into a place which although it is of fire, has no light, and is described as outer darkness, chains of darkness. That is a thick black existence that you can feel, and feel too well.
Jesus is God, and Jesus is also light...
John 8:12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
A man named Saul was traveling a road of life one day when he saw a great light and it was Jesus. He was blinded by what he saw physically, but spiritually that day he saw the light and was converted. That made all the difference. It turned a wicked man into a believer. He used to be against Christ and now he’s for Him. Now he’s the apostle Paul!
Do you remember the day when you saw the light?
Do you see Jesus in this lampstand?
The knops like pomegranates speak of His fruitfulness.
The flowers remind us He’s the Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon.
The bowls like almonds with olive oil speak of the resurrection. Remember when the authority of Aaron the High Priest was at stake? God took Aaron’s rod, a dead branch, and it budded like an olive branch, and we’ll see it next week inside the Ark of the Covenant.
This didn’t establish his priestly authority, it just confirmed it. And when Jesus rose from the dead it didn’t establish Him as the Son of God, He already IS that, it merely confirmed the fact.
v. 31 The lampstand was a beaten work of solid gold. The word beaten could be translated ‘hammered’, another picture of Christ and His cross.
The branches of this candlestick represent both the church and the individual Christian.
God gave John a remarkable vision...
Revelation 1:12-13
12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
Revelation 1:20
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
The church and the believers in it are supposed to be cities set upon hills, shining like lighthouses in this dark, storm tossed world.
Jesus charged the church that they need to repent or God will take away their candlestick. It’s a sad day when a church’s light begins to flicker and fade...they dim in their purpose, and God eventually moves out of that church. May we hold fast our power and our influence and never hesitate to take the opportunity to be a light!
As individuals, we need to be a light in darkness. At school, at work, in the home...you may be the only light around, so don’t hide it under a bushel, don’t let Satan snuff it out...let it shine! Keep burning brightly, never to burn out!
The branches of this candlestick are part of the same piece...they weren’t an afterthought...and neither were you! You are a part of the big picture...God’s grand plan. You are in union with Him and we are in unity with one another in Him!
The formation...
2. The Fuel for the lamp stand.
Nothing of power runs without fuel of some kind. The fuel is valuable...more today than ever! It’s liquid gold! It’s what powers anything and everything that has energy or motion. The wind is a fuel, so is gravity and light, etc. But what about the oil?
Zechariah 4:1-6
1 And the angel that talked with me 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, 3 And two olive trees by it, ... Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD ... saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
The oil is the Holy Spirit of God. What’s the fuel that keeps this church afire? The Holy Spirit! What’s the fuel that will ignite you a burning beacon for God? The Holy Spirit! Our divine power source.
Not by might, programs, or man made devices, but by God’s Holy Spirit things are accomplished.
We can try to have a great service, and put so much effort into it, but it will be a big flop--not if the weather turns bad, not if the crowd is down, not if the economy is weak, not if people are depressed...but if we don’t seek God and ask Him to anoint our service with His Holy Spirit of power! If we do it in our own strength then we will see how utterly weak we are. If we depend on Him, we’ll see just how big and bright things can become!
Would you pray for that? For God’s power to be upon us? For the right people to be present and attentive? For souls to be saved? For hearts to be ignited? For families to be reunited? For lives to be discipled and changed? For this place to be set ablaze for God’s glory and to light the darkness?!
Ill.—Elisha came across a widow in debt, about to be hauled off to prison. All she had was a little cruse of oil. But the man of God told her to gather all the vessels she could find and start pouring oil into them. It never ran out, and every pot they had faith to bring was filled. She could now sell it and retire! And it all started with just a little oil...we have the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God available to us if we’ll just have the faith to ask for Him to fill us and use us...He wants to and He will! Are you available to be a vessel for Him to fill?
The formation, the fuel...
3. The Flame of the lamp stand.
The three questions on the minds of all people: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going?
Ask a non-illumined person these questions and they have no clue. Ask them the first question and they will say something like this:
“I was a tadpole when I began to begin, then I was a frog with my tail tucked in, then I was a monkey in a coconut tree, now I’m a man with a PhD!”
Why are you here? “To make as much money as possible for my kids to fight over someday.”
Where are you going? “I don’t know and I don’t care.”
John 3:19
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Light was deposited into Jesus, and they rejected Him.
Light was deposited into the Bible [Thy Word is a lamp...] and they reject it.
Light is deposited in you, and you may be the only light your world ever sees!
There were tongs and snuffdishes by the candle stick. Why? So the priest can pour in the oil and trim the wicks.
It’s not pleasant when God has to do some trimming and adjusting in your life. But if you endure then when He’s finished you can burn brightly as a shining light for Jesus!
They saved all the trimmings in the bowls. Do you get that? Nothing that was burnt for God was ever thrown away. It all had a purpose and importance of its own. Let’s let Jesus adjust our flame!
See the light, and be the light.
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/GoldenCandlestick.html
