Seven Golden Lampstands

by G. Prasher, Manchester, England | Category: The Lord Among The Lampstands | Aug 1994

Our glorified Saviour and Lord was deeply interested in the seven churches of God in the Roman province of Asia. The apostle John was instructed by the Lord to write what he saw in a book and send it to the seven churches in that province: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. "Write therefore", the Lord said, "the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter" (Rev. 1:19). What John had seen was the vision of the Lord Jesus, walking among the seven golden lampstands with seven stars in His right hand. "The things which are" refer to what the Lord had to say about the condition of these seven churches, as recorded in the second and third chapters of Revelation. "The things which shall come to pass hereafter" are dealt with from chapter four onward - far-reaching prophecies of a time yet future. This period, described by Daniel as "the time of the end" (11:35), will be after the Church which is Christ's Body has been taken from this world to be with Christ, when iniquity will reach its awful climax.

Our special concern in these articles is to learn from the Lord's messages to the churches concerning their spiritual condition - "the things which are". The coming of Christ to the air for His Church is a great landmark of divine purpose which will bring to a close this age of grace. Each believer should live daily in anticipation of this "blessed hope" being fulfilled. Until that coming we have the opportunity to carry out our Master's command to make disciples, baptizing and teaching them to observe all that He has commanded. In the first century the apostles' obedience to that command brought disciples together to form churches of 00:1 in many areas. Seven of those churches were in the Roman province of Asia in what is now western Turkey. The first three chapters of Revelation show us how much these churches meant to the Lord Jesus; He was deeply concerned for their well being and continuance. Still today the Holy Spirit is stirring disciples of Christ to be together to express His will as they serve in churches of God. From a study of the early part of the hook of Revelation we can learn a great deal about the spiritual dangers which may spoil the effectiveness of our service for Christ. We may take to heart His analysis of the condition of those churches; we can then imitate what He commended and beware of what He condemned. "The things which are", as described in the messages to the seven churches, have special relevance to our present service for Christ; they contain valuable truth for our time.

It is of special interest that each of the seven churches was represented as a lampstand. Several older English versions of Scripture have the word "candlestick" instead of lampstand, but this was an inaccurate translation. The lampstand is a familiar scriptural symbol. For instance, God gave Moses the pattern of the golden lampstand to be used in the Tabernacle. Zechariah the prophet was given a vision of a lampstand all of gold, representing the testimony of God's people when they returned from Babylon to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. Why was each church of God in apostolic times likened to a golden lampstand? It was because each was a unit of divine testimony in its local setting, whether in Ephesus, Smyrna or elsewhere. The gold reminds us that each was of divine origin. Churches of God were not the product of humanly-designed religion. They were the result of divine revelation to the apostles, so that the will of Christ was expressed by His disciples in their principles of gathering, worship and witness. Each church was to function in the energy of the Spirit of God, illustrated by the pure olive oil of the lamps. Personal testimony has its own great value; but the full development of God's purpose in our lives demands that individual lamps should be on the lampstand, shining together for Christ.

Each local church of God has of course its God-given responsibilities, just as each lampstand stood on its own base. Yet New Testament churches of God were not independent of each other, as can be seen from a number of scriptures. The point is confirmed by the fact that John was told to write what he saw in a hook, and send the hook to the seven churches. There were not seven hooks. The one hook included a special message for each church, but all the messages were to be read in every church. They were mutually responsible to consider what the Lord had to say about the state of all seven churches; because they formed a united Fellowship of churches, and what affected one would have its effect upon all. Seven times in chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation the Lord repeated these words: "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches". In this sense they were also addressed as a whole.

The Lord Jesus was seen by John to have seven stars in His right hand. Verse 20 of chapter 1 explains: "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand ... the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches". The Greek word angelos is variously translated as angel or messenger according to the context. In this case it is suggested that the seven stars stood for a faithful representative of each church, upon whom the Lord knew He could rely to speak His word. The seven stars are described as being in the Lord's hand (v.16) and upon His right hand (v.20 RVM), as though He had opened His hand to show them to John. How valuable to our Master when His servants are "in His hand", available to be used by Him as He directs!

An important point emerges in connection with the seven golden lampstands which represented the seven churches in Asia. We know that just a few decades earlier there had been a Church of God in Colossae, which was also in the Roman province of Asia. To the disciples forming that church Paul had written his wonderful epistle which forms part of our New Testament.

In Revelation there is no mention of Colossae; for some reason the Church of God there must have ceased during the intervening years. Perhaps the false teaching of which Paul had warned the Colossians in his letter to them had gained a stronger grip and destroyed the church. Whatever the reason, there was no longer a golden lampstand of divine testimony in Colossae; reminding us that churches of God are vulnerable to Satan's attacks. Only by maintaining the truths of the Faith and serving out of true love to Christ can they continue to enjoy the Lord's recognition. This is one of the clear distinctions between the believer's membership of the Church which is Christ's Body, and the disciple's place in a church of God. It is Christ Himself who baptizes the believer in one Spirit into one Body, and that can never be reverse (1 Cor. 12:13). A believer may, however, be put away from a church of God for immoral conduct, false

doctrine or the like. A church of God may also cease to be recognized by God as a golden lampstand because of its spiritual failure (Rev. 2:5).

G. Prasher, Manchester, England | Aug 1994
The Lord Among The Lampstands