Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3)
Message Four
The Intrinsic Significance, Subjective Experience, and Organic Maintenance of the Golden Lampstand for a New Revival
Scripture Reading: Exo. 25:31-40; Zech 4:1-14; Rev. 1:10-13, 20; 2:1, 7
I. In order to enter into a new revival, we need to see the supereminent Christ according to the highest peak of the divine revelation, know the all-inclusive Christ for a Godman living, and minister the unsearchably rich Christ to others in shepherding them for the building up of the Body of Christ to consummate the city of God, the wife of the Lamb—Phil. 3:8, 10; Eph. 3:8-11; Rev. 21:2, 9-10.
II. We need a spirit of wisdom and revelation to understand the intrinsic significance of the golden lampstand (the highest peak of the divine revelation), which was designed by God Himself and portrays the goal of His eternal economy—Eph. 1:17; Zech. 4:1-6; Rev. 1:2, 9-12:
A. The golden lampstand signifies the Triune God:
1. The pure gold substance signifies God the Father in His divine nature—Exo. 25:31.
2. The form of the lampstand signifies God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father—2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; 2:9.
3. The lamps signify God the Spirit as the seven Spirits of God for the expression of the Father in the Son—Exo. 25:37; Rev. 4:5.
B. The golden lampstands signify the local churches as the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit:
1. The lampstand in Exodus 25 signifies Christ as the embodiment of God—vv. 31-40.
2. The lampstand in Zechariah 4 signifies the sevenfold intensified life-giving Spirit as the reality of Christ—vv. 2, 6, 10; Rev. 5:6.
3. The lampstands in Revelation 1 are the reprint, the reproduction, of this Spirit-Christ—vv. 11-12, 20.
III. We need to subjectively experience the detailed aspects of the golden lampstand (the God-man living) so that we can become the reproduction of the lampstand, the expression of the Triune God:
A. The lampstand is of pure gold, signifying the eternal, incorruptible, divine nature of God—Exo. 25:31:
1. We need to pay the price to gain more gold, more of God in His divine nature—2 Pet. 1:4; Rev. 3:18; Zech. 4:12-14; Matt. 25:8-9.
2. Mixture in our Christian life brings in darkness, but when our Christian life is purified through the divine nature, we have light—cf. Deut. 22:9.
B. The lampstand is of beaten work, signifying sufferings—Exo. 25:31:
1. To be beaten is to participate in Christ's sufferings for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ—1 Pet. 4:1; Phil. 3:10; Col. 1:24; Acts 16:6-7.
2. We must be beaten together with others into one entity, blended together through the cross and by the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:24), to shine forth the light of God for His corporate testimony.
C. The lampstand being without measurement signifies that the divinity of Christ and the light He shines are immeasurable—John 3:34; cf. 7:18; 1 Cor. 2:13.
D. The lampstand's base for stability and its shaft for strength signify that the Lord Jesus was always stable and strong—Matt. 8:24; cf. 2 Cor. 1:18; Rev. 1:9.
E. The lampstand's having cups shaped like almond blossoms with calyxes and blossom buds signifies that the Triune God is a living, golden tree, growing, budding, and blossoming in resurrection—Exo. 25:31:
1. The cups shaped like almond blossoms signify the resurrection life blossoming—Num. 17:8; Jer. 1:11-12:
a. The blossoming of resurrection life is the shining light, the expression of the life of God, the fruit of the Spirit and the fruit of the light—John 1:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9.
b. If we would shine forth the light of life, we must be in resurrection, not in our natural life—Phil. 3:10; S. S. 2:8-9, 14; cf. Psa. 73:16-17.
c. Christ as the resurrection life is growing, branching, budding, and blossoming in us, by us, and with us to shine the light—Col. 2:19.
d. How much light there can be in the church depends on the extent to which Christ has a way to grow in us and through us.
2. As those who believe in Christ, we are a part of this wonderful golden tree in resurrection and with the divine nature, the divine life, the Spirit, and the shining light.
F. The pure gold tongs and firepans for trimming the charred wicks signify the dealing with the old and charred natural life by the divine nature so that the shining of the resurrection life may be bright and pure—Exo. 25:38.
G. The lampstand with all its utensils was one talent of pure gold (approximately one hundred pounds), signifying that Christ as the divine lampstand shining the divine light in resurrection is perfectly and completely weighty—v. 39; John 7:45-46; 18:37-38; cf. 1 Tim. 2:2; Titus 2:7.
H. The seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven Spirits of God as the seven eyes of Jehovah (Zech. 4:10), the seven eyes of the redeeming Lamb (Rev. 5:6), and the seven eyes of the building stone (Zech 3:9) for the full expression of the Triune God:
1. "No Spirit, no church. More Spirit, more church" (The Church—the Reprint of the Spirit, p. 18)—cf. Zech. 4:6.
2. The seven eyes of the Lamb infuse us with Christ as the judicial Redeemer, and the seven eyes of the stone infuse us with Christ as the organic Savior for God's economical move on earth through His redemption and by His organic salvation for the goal of His building—John 1:29; Acts 4:11-12; Rom. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:12.
3. The Lord's seven eyes are as a flame of fire for watching, observing, searching, and judging by enlightening and infusing—Rev. 1:14; 5:6; Dan. 10:6.
4. Within us we have two lamps—the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God within our spirit—Prov. 20:27; Rev. 4:5; 1 Cor. 6:17:
a. In order for us to be transformed, we must fully open to the Lord in prayer to allow the lamp of the Lord with the seven lamps of fire to search all the chambers of our soul, shining on and enlightening our inward parts to supply them with life—2:11a; Eph. 6:18.
b. The one who experiences the greatest transformation is the one who is fully open to the Lord.
5. The more we experience the detailed aspects of the Triune God depicted in the lampstand, the more we will see the reproduction of the lampstand, which will pave the way for the Lord's coming back to possess the whole earth.
IV. The organic maintenance of the golden lampstand is Christ's heavenly ministry to cherish the churches in His humanity and nourish the churches in His divinity to produce the overcomers through His organic shepherding—Rev. 1:13; 2:1, 7; John 10:11, 14; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4; Heb. 13:20:
A. Christ as the Son of Man is in His humanity, the golden girdle signifies His divinity, and the breasts are a sign of love:
1. Christ was girded at the loins, strengthened for the divine work (Exo. 28:4; Dan. 10:5) to produce the churches, but now He is girded about at the breasts, caring for the churches, which He has produced by His love.
2. The golden girdle signifies Christ's divinity as His divine energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by and with His love to nourish the churches.
B. Christ takes care of the churches in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them—Rev. 1:13a:
1. He dresses the lamps of the lampstands to make them proper, cherishing us that we may be happy, pleasant, and comfortable—Exo. 30:7; cf. Psa. 42:5, 11:
a. The Lord's presence provides an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth to cherish our being, giving us rest, comfort, healing, cleansing, and encouragement.
b. We can enjoy the cherishing atmosphere of the Lord's presence in the church to receive the nourishing supply of life—Eph. 5:29; cf. 1 Tim. 4:6; Eph. 4:11.
2. He trims the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, cutting off all the negative things that frustrate our shining—Exo. 25:38:
a. The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God's purpose and need to becut off, such as our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our old creation.
b. He trims away all the differences among the churches (the wrongdoings, shortages, failures, and defects) so that they may be the same in essence, appearance, and expression—cf. 1 Cor. 1:10; 2 Cor. 12:18; Phil. 2:2.
C. Christ takes care of the churches in His divinity with His divine love, signified by the golden girdle on His breasts, to nourish the churches—Rev. 1:13b:
1. He nourishes us with Himself as the all-inclusive Christ in His full ministry of three stages so that we may grow and mature in the divine life to be His overcomers to accomplish His eternal economy.
2. As the walking Christ, He gets to know the condition of each church, and as the speaking Spirit, He trims and fills the lampstands with fresh oil, the supply of the Spirit—2:1, 7.
3. To participate in His move and enjoy His care, we must be in the churches.