Good evening, everyone. Go ahead
and turn with me in your Bible, if you would, to Exodus chapter
25. Exodus chapter 25. Tonight, we'll direct our attention
to yet another one of the furnishings in the tabernacle, which is the
golden candlestick. Arthur Peake, in his book entitled
Gleanings and Exodus, proposed this question. He asked, why
term this a candlestick when no candles were burned on it? And I suppose that's a fair question.
The word candlestick is probably not the best translation of the
original Hebrew word. The Hebrew word translated candlestick
is pronounced mineral, and it may have been better translated
light bearer or lampstand. Now the fact that this lampstand
had seven lamps, as we'll see, that were filled with oil instead
of candles is sufficient reason to justify the questioning of
the translation but nothing to argue or separate over. And let
me say before we get into the study how much I personally enjoyed
this subject. It's just so full of Christ. And I pray that the Lord bless
it to your heart as he did mine. Now the golden candlestick was
in the holy place in which none but the priestly family were
to enter in before God. And in the holy place, there
were three furnishings. The incense altar, picturing
our Lord Jesus, who is the sweet-smelling savor of life unto life. Also
was the table of showbread with its twelve loaves, which pictures
and typifies Christ as the substance of our fellowship with God, Himself
being the very presence of God, as we saw last time. And now
we have the golden candlestick, or lampstand, which pictures
Christ as the light. Not the light of the whole world.
You see, it was the world that hated our Lord without a cause.
It was the world that put Him to death. But He rose again,
and He ascended on high, and it is now in the holy place of
God's presence on the throne of God. that this light dwells
and descends to His elect people in the world. It's important
to know that in the holy place, this candlestick was the one
and only source of light. That's very important. So we
immediately see that the candlestick, like every other furnishing in
the tabernacle, along with the tabernacle itself, all picture,
point to, and typify the Lord Jesus Christ. We say it all the
time, and I love to say it. This is a hymn book. It's all
about him. He is truly the one and only
true light in this dark world in which we live. Christ is that
light from heaven, that light from God's throne that shines
bright to give us the revelation and knowledge of Himself. And
as I thought about the golden candlestick being the only light
that shined and revealed the other items in the holy place,
which, as we've already established, also picture, reveal, and typify
Christ, we see that Christ is the very light that reveals Christ.
So in that sense, without the light of Christ, you'll never
see Christ. He is the light that reveals
Himself to His people. Isn't that a glorious thought?
Before us tonight is one of those passages, like many in the Old
Testament, that folks who endeavor to read through the Bible in
a year just hardly read through without any thought. It's to
do nothing but read. Without seeing Christ on its
pages, the Old Testament is nothing but words on a page. Nothing
but a recording of biblical history, biblical law, and even poetry. But it's much, much more than
that. So let's begin reading here in verse 31, Exodus chapter
25. And thou shalt make a candlestick
of pure gold. Of beaten work shall the candlestick
be made. His shaft, and his branches,
his bows, his knops, and his flowers shall be of the same."
Now I know you noticed the use of the word His in verse 31. The golden candlestick was made
to the pattern of God. This was His. This was God's
golden candlestick. And the writer of Hebrews says
in chapter 8, verse 5, that these furnishings that were in the
tabernacle, in the holy place, were a shadow of heavenly things,
as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the
tabernacle. For see, saith he, that thou
make all things according to the pattern showed to thee in
the mount. And that's what Moses did. And
here in verse 31, we see that this golden candlestick was made
of one material, and that was pure gold. Now unlike the Ark
of the Covenant and the Table of Showbread, no wood was used
in the composition of the candlestick. Of course, the pure gold speaks
of the divine side of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Only
the God-man was pure in the eyes of God. It was Christ's deity
that sustained His humanity. You know, that was the only thing
that enabled our Lord to suffer and appease God's wrath and His
judgment and His justice that we should have suffered. He was
the God-Man. Man couldn't save, and God couldn't
die, so it took the God-man to save us. But I would have you
notice one word here that's been overlooked by so many of the
commentators and Bible scholars, and that is that word beaten. Did you notice that little word?
And that phrase again, verse 31, tells us that the candlestick
was made of pure gold. Of beaten work shall the candlestick
be made. Now that simply means that the
gold from which the lampstand was made was wrought or worked
upon by the hammers of a skilled workman. It took great skill
and ability to shape this candlestick into this beautiful and symmetrical
form that it was. The golden candlestick was the
only vessel in the Tabernacle which was made of a beaten work. What a contrast it is from the
golden calf that Aaron made. That calf was formed from a cast
in a mold. It was a molten calf, meaning
melted gold liquefied by heat to a high melting point and then
poured into a mold and formed. But not the golden candlestick.
It was beaten, formed by a work of hammers and tools to shape
it into this beautiful, beautiful thing. I was thinking that which
is imagined in the mind of fallen men and women can just be easily
cast and molded into shape and presented as truth. That's exactly
what modern-day religion has done. They've made and molded
that which they imagined to be so. They've endeavored to mold
God to be one like unto themselves. But clearly, here, the beaten
gold speaks of a suffering Christ who's glorified by his perfect
but painful work. Earlier today, I sent each of
you a few pictures of this golden candlestick found in the holy
place. I actually sent it a couple times
by mistake. But I've always heard that a
picture paints a thousand words, so I hope that seeing this golden
candlestick helps you and I better to see what the following verses
are describing. Again, verse 31. Let's read a
few verses here together in Exodus 25. and thou shalt make a candlestick
of pure gold of beaten work shall the candlestick be made his shaft
and his branches his bows and his knops and his flowers shall
be of the same." Verse 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 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, and in the candlestick shall be four
bowls made like unto almonds. Those were the little bowls at
the top which held the oil, and they with their knops and their
flowers, 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. Now, verse 36, their knops and
their branches shall be of the same, and it shall be one beaten
work of pure gold. So we see that this golden candlestick
had a center shaft with six branches making seven almond-shaped places
for the oil to be burned. A couple of interesting tidbits
here. The number six in the scriptures, as you might know, is the number
for man. It's also the symbol for sin
and the symbol of works. But the number seven is the number
of completion and perfection. So in the golden candlestick,
we see Christ in that center shaft and His church, His elect,
in its branches. In the golden candlestick, we
see that Christ and His people, His church, they're one by virtue
of their union. This golden candlestick is just
one piece. I love what our Lord Jesus said
in John 17, verse 23. He's speaking to His Heavenly
Father concerning His people. He said, I in them, and thou
in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the
world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them
as thou hast loved me. Oh, friends, I can't get over
that. You think about that. If you
and I are in Christ, if we're trusting in Him alone to put
away our sin, God loves you and God loves me the same as He loves
His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no difference
because Christ and His people are one. Oh, the center shaft
of the candlestick and the branches were one. The golden candlestick
was made up of seven lamps. What a picture that in Christ
we are complete. In Christ we are perfect. There's
nothing to be added by us. There's nothing to be taken away.
We are complete in Him. Every believer is perfect in
Christ Jesus. So we clearly see that Christ
is our light, and He's the only light. He is the complete light. He is the perfect light. And
it's by this light that we see the perfections of the Lord Jesus. The psalmist wrote, it's in His
light alone that we see light. What did the light of the candlestick
shine upon? Well, it shined upon the incense
altar, which is Christ. It shined upon the table. It shined upon the showbread,
both picturing the Lord Jesus Christ. And the seven lamps shined
upon itself. Christ is the light that shines
upon himself. But that's not all that the lamp
pictures. We too are the lamps that Christ
has lit. Turn with me to Matthew chapter
5 and look at verse 14. I think we'll see that. Matthew
chapter 5 verse 14. I'll give you a moment to get
there. The Lord Jesus said, Ye are the light of the world. A
city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 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. Let your light
so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and
glorify your Father which is in heaven. Now, what does it
mean to let our light so shine before men that they may see
your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven? Well,
it might not mean what you think it does. The religion of the
world teaches that a Christian should live a holy life so that
others might see Christ in you. And if I believed in luck, I'd
say good luck with that. But I don't, so I won't say it. I'll simply say this, that men
and women didn't see Christ in Christ Himself. Why, they hated
Him without a cause. They crucified Him on a cross.
So if folks didn't see the mercy and the grace and the forgiveness
and the salvation of God in Christ, how are they going to see those
things in me? Only one way. By the light of divine revelation
through the light of the gospel that we preach. That's the only
way. By preaching Christ and Him crucified. You see, it pleased the Lord
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 1
Corinthians 121. True preaching never draws attention
to self. It points sinners to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why, He is God's Ark of the Covenant. He is the Ark of Promise. Jesus Christ is the Mercy Seat
of God. He is the Table of God's Presence,
and He's God's Bread from Heaven. And there's no doubt in my mind
that Christ pictures and typifies the candlestick of Christ's light
to His elect. Paul wrote in Philippians 2,
verse 16, he said, That's what preaching is. It's
holding forth the Word of life and light. In Isaiah chapter
60 verse 1, we're told that this is not our light, this is Christ's
light. Isaiah the prophet said, Now
let me give you an illustration. If you're standing in the pitch
dark and no one can see you, but if someone shines a spotlight
on you, then you're seen. You've been illuminated. But
that light is not coming from you. It's not your light that
enlightens or illuminates you. It's the light of another. It's
the light of the one who shines the light. And friends, Christ
is the light. We shine forth Christ's light
in our preaching of the gospel. But it's His light. He gets the
honor. He gets the glory. For God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4. I'd like for
you to turn with me now, if you would, to the Old Testament book
of Leviticus chapter 24. Leviticus chapter 24, verse one. Leviticus chapter 24, beginning
in verse one. Leviticus 24, verse one. And the Lord spake unto Moses
saying, command the children of Israel that they bring unto
thee pure oil olive beaten." There's that word again. Beaten
for the light to cause the lamps to burn continually. Without
the veil of the testimony and the tabernacle of the congregation
shall Aaron order it from the evening into the morning before
the Lord continually. It shall be a statute for ever
in your generations. You shall order the lamps upon
the pure candlestick before the Lord continually." Now this light
of the golden candlestick was to be kept burning by the high
priest, Aaron and his sons, and it was to be done so continually. It was ordered by Aaron, the
high priest, that the people were to come to him with pure
olive oil that had been beaten from the olives. And Aaron took
that oil and it was put in those almond-shaped bowls on top to
be burned continually and perpetually. Now what does that picture? I
bet you know. Remember that the Lord Jesus
is our great high priest. God sends the Holy Spirit, pictured
by oil in the Scriptures. And God's people are made to
come to Christ, our High Priest, with the oil of the Holy Spirit. And it's then that He gives us
light. And we can illuminate or regenerate
ourselves. The work of salvation is all
of Christ through the Holy Spirit. You know, that was the very thing
that had Nicodemus all perplexed. He asked, how can a man be born
when he's old? How can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb to be born again? Well, he can't. No more than we can save ourselves. You see, we have to die with
Christ to be born of Him. We have to die to self to live
unto God. We have to be crucified with
Christ to live in newness of life with Him. We have to die
to sin. We have to be made new creatures
in Christ as we saw Sunday. And this is the work of God.
And it's done in Christ and Him alone. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to His mercy He saved us. Oh,
I wish folks could understand that. Now I want you to turn
to one other scripture before I finish, and it's in this passage
of scripture that we have the whole story of the candlestick
found. Turn with me to Zechariah chapter
4. If you find Matthew, the first
book of the New Testament, and go back a book to Malachi, and
then back one more book to Zechariah chapter 4. Zechariah chapter
4. the next to the last book of
the Old Testament. Let me give you a moment to get
there. Zechariah chapter four. Look at verse one. And the angel
that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is
wakened out of his sleep, 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, and two olive trees
by it, one upon the right side of the bow, and the other upon
the left side thereof. So I answered and spake to the
angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? And
the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest
thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Now
look at verse six, then he, that's speaking of the Lord, he answered
and spake unto me saying, this is the word of the Lord unto
Zerubbabel. Now it's important to understand
that at this time, Zerubbabel was a man who was head of the
tribe of Judah, that being the same tribe Christ was from. Remember,
Christ is the lion of the tribe of Judah. Now, Zerubbabel was
recognized as the Prince of Judah. He was called, in one place,
the Prince of Captivity, and even referred to as the Prince. His name actually means joy in
tribulation, so there's no doubt that he pictures Christ. And
this is God's Word to him. This is God's word from Him. This is the message of the seven
lamps. This is the message of the golden
candlestick. This is what the light reveals
to us. Again, verse six, here's the
message. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith
the Lord of hosts. Friends, the revelation of God
is this. Salvation is of the Lord. No sinner can come to Christ
that they might have life. No man can come. Not unless God
drawing. No sinner will come to Christ.
You will not come to me, the Lord said, that you might have
life. Oh, God has to make us able and
then God has to make us willing in the day of His power. And
that is the revelation of the Scriptures. That's Christ's light. In the beginning, the earth was
without form. It was void and darkness was
upon the face of it. It's the same with our souls
before Christ spoke light and life into us. Our souls were
without form. They were void. That word void
means empty, full of darkness. Is there any hope for us? Can
we be perfect? God accepts nothing less. Can
the void, dark soul of man change itself? No, no. God said, let there be light. And there was light. It's God
who says to our dead hearts, let there be light. And there
is light. Look at verse 7 here in Zechariah
chapter 4. He asks, Who art thou, O great
mountain? You know, by nature, we think,
we imagine that we have great power and might, but we don't.
I don't think that's probably ever been more obvious than it
is right now. God sends a virus and shuts down
the whole world. Salvation's not by our power,
and it's not by our might. And those who think themselves
to be great, to be powerful and mighty before Zerubbabel, before
God Almighty, the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 7 says, shall become
a plane. God knows how to level us out,
doesn't He? God knows how to bring us down.
So again, what is the message? Again, verse 7, Zerubbabel, picturing
the Lord Jesus, shall with shouting say, look at it, grace, grace. That's the message. It's nothing
but grace. That's our message. That's the
message of the golden candlestick. Look at verse 8. Moreover, the
word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel
have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish
it, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Speaking of the angel, and that's
none other than the Lord Jesus. The Lord of hosts hath sent me
unto you. I love what John the Beloved
wrote in his epistle. He said, this then is the message
which we've heard of Him and declare unto you, this is it,
that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. That's
what the light of the golden candlestick did. It shined on
everything in the holy place that pictured and typified Christ
our Savior. Friends, Christ is our light.
And this is the condemnation. That light, that Christ, has
come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because
their deeds were evil. John chapter 3 verse 19. So let
me ask you, do you love the Lord Jesus Christ, or are you yet
without Him? If you are, come to the light. Come to Christ, who is the light. In Him is life, and He is life,
and the light of those that He saves. He said, I am the light
of the world. He that followeth Me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. This is the
light that reveals life, and Jesus Christ is that life. He
said, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life, and
no man cometh to the Father, no man cometh to God, but by
me." Will you follow Christ? Those who do shall not walk in
darkness. And those who don't, love darkness
rather than light. Oh, may God enable you and I
to trust in Him.