THE LAMPSTAND

THE LAMPSTAND

I hope you have your Bible with you. I prefer you use the translation that you like, but if you imagesCY1YHJMS lampsranddon’t have one handy right now, I will print Exodus 25: 31-40 from the Holman Christian Standard version.

God told Moses:“You are to make a lampstand out of pure, hammered gold. It is to be made of one piece: its base and shaft, its ornamental cups, and its calyxes and petals. 32 Six branches are to extend from its sides, three branches of the lampstand from one side and three branches of the lampstand from the other side. 33 There are to be three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the first branch, and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a calyx and petals, on the next branch. It is to be this way for the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 34 There are to be four cups shaped like almond blossoms on the lampstand shaft along with its calyxes and petals. 35 For the six branches that extend from the lampstand, a calyx must be under the first pair of branches from it, a calyx under the second pair of branches from it, and a calyx under the third pair of branches from it. 36 Their calyxes and branches are to be of one piece. All of it is to be a single hammered piece of pure gold.

37 “Make seven lamps on it. Its lamps are to be set up so they illuminate the area in front of it. 38 Its snuffers and firepans must be of pure gold. 39 The lampstand[j] with all these utensils is to be made from 75 pounds of pure gold. 40 Be careful to make them according to the pattern you have been shown on the mountain.”

This reminds me of our Ladies Link With God Bible Study when we studied the building of the Tabernacle with Robin Cannon as our facilitator.   She asked each of us to draw a lampstand using these directions!  I laugh now thinking of how each of us girls visualized it in our minds!!  I would love to think you are curious enough to draw your own lampstand from the same directions!  You can cheat a little by looking at the picture, but it really is fun to try it without seeing a picture.

The Lampstand is called menorah, meaning a Jewish candelabrum. It actually means a large candlestick with large branches.  The pattern God gave Moses was similar to a flowering almond tree. It was to be the single source of man made light in the tabernacle.   It was to be maintained by the priests every morning and every evening and was never to go out!  This would point to Christ as the Light of the World to burn continually.

“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” John 1:6-9 NKJV

“ Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 NKJV

The lamp was to be made as a solid piece made with hammered, solid gold. It was to have a central shaft that was beaten out first.  Then from that central stem the three branches on each side were beaten out. It was to be placed on the left side of the Holy Place which would be the South side.  The Showbread Table was on the North side.  No one really knows what the Lampstand looked like, but we do know it had seven branches. Seven is a perfect number to God meaning “completion” and is used many times in the His Word to mean “perfect” and “completion”.  The shape of the Lampstand was like a tree of gold.

The bowls that held the olive oil were to be shaped like almonds in bloom and still made out of the same solid piece of gold as the branches.  There were three almond flower-shaped cups on each branch, but the central shaft was to have four almond flower-shaped cups. At the top of the central shaft and each of the six other branches was a lamp. The Lampstand was taken care of by instructions given to Moses.

And you shall command the children of Israel that they bring you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to cause the lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tabernacle of meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening until morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to their generations on behalf of the children of Israel” Exodus 27: 20-21 NKJV  See also Leviticus 24:1-4

We need the Lord’s light because it is in His Light that we see light. For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. “ Psalm 36:9NKJV    It was when God commanded His light to shine in our hearts that we begin to see what it is like to know Jesus Christ, compared to all other things!  For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ”  2 Corinthians 4:6 NIV . We can also see just how blinded and deceived we had been by the god of the darkness. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2Corinthians 4:4 NIV. 

imagesGG0U6MQO priest w lampstandMay we live in the LIGHT!

 

 

 

 

 

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