THANK YOU LORD FOR TRUTH Amen glory to GOD ! THE LIGHT OF THE CANDLESTICKS “The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20). Candlesticks are for light! In the opening verses of the Bible we read, “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also” (Gen. 1:14,16). I would draw your reverent attention to the words used here for light. The Hebrew text of Genesis 1:3 says, “Ye hi or: wa ye hi or.” The nearest to a literal translation our language will permit is to say, “Light be, and light was;” or even better, “Exist light, then exists light.” Our English word, light, appears again in the English translation of the Bible in the plural form in the fourteenth verse, “God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens.” There is, however, a vast difference between the word for light, the substance, in verse three, and the one translated lights in verse fourteen. In verse three the Hebrew word is or, while in verse fourteen the word is ma-or. This latter word is best translated as “luminary, light container, or light holder,” and these light holders are placed about throughout His universe like street lights in a big city. We have the same distinction in the Greek where phos appears as light, the essence, and phoster as the word for a light container. The ma-or, then, are the great luminaries such as the flaming suns, and even their reflecting satellites called moons, the meteors, and the nebulae; but or is the very substance and essence of light. In the Old Testament symbology the Hebrew word used for light, when speaking of God as light, is or, that is, light substance; and in the New Testament the Greek word for light, when speaking of Christ as light, is phos, that is, light substance. The significance of this is noted when we see that the characteristic word for the body of Christ as light in the New Testament is phoster, or light holder. Jesus Christ then is The Light and we, as His body, are the luminaries which contain or shine forth the light. THUS WE ARE THE CANDLESTICK! The most significant appearance of this word in connection with the body of Christ is in Philippians 2:15, “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights (phoster – light holders, luminaries) in the world.” This word is comparable to the luminaries of the Old Testament. The ma-or, or light containers. In Revelation 21:10-11 we find, “And He showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, having the glory of God: and her light (phoster) was…clear as crystal.” The candlestick realm, when purged, cleansed, purified and matured becomes the holy city, the New Jerusalem shining with the plenitude of the glory of God! So beautifully is the truth unveiled, in the New Testament writings, that Jesus Christ is the Head of His body, and that His body is the church! (Eph. 5:22-33; II Cor. 11:2). It is a beautiful thing to contemplate, a precious thing, a wonderful thing. Jesus is the Head, and the body, though being many, is one body. Everything of its life and interests and doings originates from the Head. The Christ within is the life of each member. In the book of Revelation the churches are the lamps in which HE burns and shines by His Spirit, and the light which shines is His own life. As lamps, or candlesticks, the churches are the forms into which His Spirit flows as oil. In them His word burns as light. The members of the body of Christ are the forms by which the Christ of God appears as light in the world! It is not the forms themselves which are to appear, but the light that burns and shines in them. In Him, then, the forms become lights or luminaries. “YE are the light of the world.” God’s first concern has always been for His people. You ask, Is He not equally concerned about the world? Of course He is — and that is why He has placed the candlesticks in the world, to be the Light of the world! Some say to me, “Don’t bother me with those deep revelations — my burden is to reach the world for Christ.” Those who speak thus have missed the whole point! The candlesticks are just dim lights in a world of darkness, and when the candlestick flickers and goes out, as it has in so many churches, then darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people. God is after something greater than the candlesticks! The light of the candlesticks is seen in the opening chapters of the Revelation, but when you come to the closing chapters there are no more candlesticks, just the holy Jerusalem coming down from God out heaven, having the glory of God! Then it is that the nations walk in the light of that city, and the kings of the earth bring their glory into it. The “deep revelation” found in the visions of John between the candlestick and the New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, is the revelation of God by which we are changed and transformed and brought from the candlestick to the throne! The Lord wants to walk in our midst with ever-increasing Light. If you want to forget the “deep revelation” and just remain a flickering candlestick in the world, then go ahead! You can do some good, you can affect some souls and bring blessing to some people. We can all be a blessing! But if you really, truly desire to reach the world for Christ, you must give yourself to becoming the overcomer who shall be a son of God, who shall inherit all things, and in whose light the nations and kings of the earth shall walk! The path of the just is just that way — it shineth more and more unto the perfect Day!
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 17:53:49 +0000
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