Exodus Chapter 25 Verses 31-40

:31 “And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:

33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.”

In Rev. 1:20 the Lord informs us that the candlestick is a symbol of the Lord’s church: “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.” When looking at what the scriptures teach us about the candlestick we are looking for parallels about what the Lord teaches us about His church.

The candlestick had a main stem and six branches coming out of the sides of the main stem. By counting the main stem with the six branches we come to a total of seven stems out of the candlestick. Seven is the bible number associated with completion. This teaches us that the church the Lord has given us is complete. It needs nothing more than what the Lord has given us in his word. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” Since the scripture is complete, then nothing needs to be added nor should be added to it. The scripture being a thorough furnisher unto all good works teaches us that that the Lord has given us everything we need for the church. We should not add to that which the Lord has given us nor should we take away from what the Lord has given us. We do not need unscriptural auxiliaries, nor man instituted schools to train ministers that are also unscriptural. To add to the Lord’s church above what we are taught in the scriptures says that we believe the Lord did not have a perfect design and that we know better than the Lord what is needed in the church. That is gross hypocrisy.

The candlestick was made of pure gold. The word, “pure,” in the scriptures indicates that which is without mixture. By nature each member of the Lord’s church is a sinner. However, there is purity in God’s eyes of all that have been born of the Spirit of God. Christ has redeemed them from their sins and now there is no charge that can be laid to one of God’s elect for he has justified them. Thus, in the courtroom of God we stand before him as being without sin and therefore pure.

The word, “gold,” is used throughout the scriptures in connection with kings and kingdoms. Those who make up the Lord’s church are kings for we read in Rev. 1:5, 6: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” The Lord’s children who are reigning with Christ in His church are kings according to the scriptures. Our dominion is not over other people, but our dominion is over our own bodies as we are to bring our bodies into subjection and to mortify the deeds of the flesh. We are to implement the laws of the king of kings in our dominion.

The candlestick was molded out of “beaten” gold. The word, “beaten,” speaks to us of tribulations, testings, temptations, and afflictions. According to 1 Pet. 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” It is the trying of our faith that helps mold us into what we need to be as the servants of Christ. James told us in James 1:2 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Each of the branches, had a knop, and a flower, and three bowls like unto almonds in each branch. The use of the “knop” in this context is indicative of a bud. The growth process would be a bud, then a flower, then an almond. This teaches me that we are to grow spiritually in the Lord’s church. Peter taught us this in 2 Pet. 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The bowls were made like unto almonds. The almond is a nut that is a fruit of the almond plant and also a nut that provides nutrition. Thus, it is both a fruit and supplier of nutrition. While the bowls were not almonds, but made like unto almonds, the almonds, bring in focus the utility of the bowls. Each branch had three bowls. The main stem had four bowls. The total number of bowls in the candlestick was 22 bowls. Twenty two is associated with the subject of the word of God or scriptures. The scriptures can be divided into three parts: the law; the prophets, and the letters. The first 22 books are about the law and its development. The next twenty books are about the prophets and their fulfillment. The last twenty two books are the letters. The 119th Psalm has 22 divisions marked by the twenty two letters of the Hebrew alphabet and is all about the word of God. We conclude that the bowls in the candlestick were typical of the word of God.

The prophet Zechariah was permitted to see a vision of the Lord: Zec 4:2 “And 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, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:” In this vision, the bowl contained the oil which through the seven pipes provided the oil for the seven lamps. Thus the scriptural example of the bowls utility is to provide the oil for the lamps. The word of God is the oil for the lamps of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The lamps are obviously for the light of the church. There are seven lamps so this is suggestive of a complete light as seven is the number of completion. Christ said he is the light of the world. Obviously he is talking about spiritual light of the spiritual world. Light is for manifesting things. Christ is the manifestation of God unto his people: 1 Tim. 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

In addition, Christ is the source of light that is the children of God: John 1:9 “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” This world is a spiritual world and Christ lighteth every man that comes into this spiritual world. They are lit by Christ when they are born of the Spirit of God.

Furthermore, the written word of God is a light to God’s people: Ps. 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” The scriptures show us where we are and give us light to direct our way (path). Notice that the oil from the bowls supplies the fuel for the lamps. The bowls, as we have seen, are a figure of the scriptures. This also explains for us the meaning of the oil to the five wise virgins and the five foolish virgins in Matt. Chapter 25: 2 “And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.”

`Moreover, the Lord called the disciples “the light of the world:” Matt. 5:14 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The disciples are individually a light in which we are to let so shine before men, that they may see our good works and glorify the Father. The light of the disciples is the good works that they do. This is a light to men (who have spiritual eyes) that they may see the light and glorify the Father. Moreover, when the disciples collectively let their light shine, then it is as a city that cannot be hid. Collectively, when all the disciples in the church are letting their light shine, it will be a manifestation to the community that the Lord is there.

The gospel is also a light to manifest the works of the Lord: 2 Tim. 1:10 “But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:” The gospel does not give life and immortality, but it brings that work of Christ in giving life and immortality to light.