Jesus and the Seven Candles Sticks
Rev 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 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.
Rev 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.
Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne
Our family is studying through the book of Revelation together for our morning worship. The other day we were studying about Jesus in the midst of the Seven Candlesticks and how the Seven Candlesticks represent the seven churches.
As we were studying I recalled a little dilemma I had in my mind 14 or 15 years ago when studying these passages. I was wondering how Jesus could be in heaven interceding for us and be walking amongst the Seven Candlesticks or in essence his church on earth.
I understood that Jesus is represented to us via the Holy Spirit but with my Trinitarian mindset I could not see this coming out in the symbolism of Revelation. The depiction of Jesus walking amongst the Candlesticks connected me to Him as a person and then I became confused by where Jesus was, whether in earth of heaven.
If the Bible had illustrated that the Holy Spirit was “walking” amongst the Candlesticks or his Church by showing that when John turned around he saw tongues of fire or a dove or wind, I would have been satisfied. But the Bible states:
Rev 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 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.
He saw the Son of man in his intercessory garments amongst the candlesticks or more particularly – in His people, the church.
After reading Gary Hullquist’s article on the Table of Shewbread and the two crowns and the Father and Son sitting on the throne, it suddenly clicked with me the meaning of Rev 1:4 and the seven Spirits before the throne of God. The candlesticks are before the Table of shewbread and the oil in those candlesticks is the Spirit of Jesus that flows into the hearts of His people.
Gal 4:6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
John 14:18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Seeing the Spirit as the Spirit of Jesus makes complete sense of when John turned to hear the voice he actually saw Jesus amongst the candlesticks which represented the churches on earth.
Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5) and as His Spirit flows into our hearts we become the light of the world.(Matt 5:14)
The seven churches are the seven church periods of the Christian Church and the light of each lamp is the Spirit of Jesus in the hearts of His people. Surely Jesus has kept His promise to be with us always even unto the end of the world and He was walked with us through the valley of the shadow of death (Thyatira) What a blessing that Jesus walks with us!
If it is Jesus who walks amongst the candlesticks and the Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of Jesus, then would it make sense that when Ellen White says that the Holy Spirit is walking on these grounds (7 MR 299) that it could connect to Jesus walking amongst the candlesticks (His church)?
