Seeing a Vision of the Golden Lampstand, a Type of the Triune God and the Church

In the Bible there is a very comprehensive picture which shows us that God is our life, that we are God’s living out, that God lives in us, and that for us to live is God. This picture is the golden lampstand, firstly revealed in Exodus 25, then mentioned in 1 Kings (in the temple), in Zechariah 4, and finally in the book of Revelation.

If we study the Bible with a proper view and attitude, with “God’s economy glasses” on, we will see that the golden lampstand typifies the Triune God, Israel as the people of God, and the church as the reproduction of God.

The “seed” of the golden lampstand is in Exodus, the development is throughout the Scriptures (including Zechariah 4), and the harvest is in the book of Revelation (firstly the local churches and then the New Jerusalem).

We need to have a spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph. 1:17) that we may see a vision of the golden lampstand. This lampstand was designed by God Himself, and it portrays the goal of His economy. This type shows us that God is our life, that we are the living of God, that He lives within us, and that for us to live is God.

Lord, grant us a spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may see the vision of the golden lampstand. Save us from any natural and outward understanding. We want to see and enter into the reality of the golden lampstand as it is revealed throughout the Bible. Thank You for becoming our life that we may be Your living, Your expression, Your testimony!

The Golden Lampstand is for God’s Building

First of all, the golden lampstand today is a symbol of Judaism, the emblem or coat of arms of the present reformed state of Israel – they see themselves as the lampstand of God (which they are, according to Zech. 4).

Spiritually speaking, the emblem of the church should be a lampstand – not a physical one but a real spiritual one. Before the world, the nations, people, Satan, and even before God we as the church are a lampstand, God’s testimony.

A lampstand shines forth light, and in its usage is to enlighten God’s move in the tabernacle. If there’s no light, people don’t know where they are going and what they are doing. But when the lampstand shines, man sees and God has a move. The move of God is actually the building of God – it is not just some activities or things He does.

The lampstand is for God’s building, for God’s move – it is associated with the tabernacle and the temple, and it has to do everything with God’s move on earth.

Even the seven lamps, a number for completion in God’s move and operation, show us that the lampstand has to do with God’s move, His operation in His administration – which is God’s building.

The Golden Lampstand Typifies the Triune God

What does the golden lampstand typify? First of all, God designed the lampstand, and its shape and elements are most meaningful.

The element of the lampstand is pure gold, which is a type of God’s divine nature. Gold doesn’t decay or change – God is unchanging, never decaying or getting old (Exo. 25:31).

The shape of the lampstand, the stand, the form, signifies God the Son as the image and embodiment of God the Father (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15; 2:9). No one has ever seen God, but Christ has declared Him, expressed Him, and in Him all the fullness of the Godhead was pleased to dwell.

The lamps of the lampstand are seven – and they typify the seven Spirits of God (Exo. 25:37; Rev. 4:5). The seven Spirits of God are for the expression of the Father in the Son, and they enlighten, burn, purge, search, infuse, and carry out God’s administration in God’s move, God’s building.

When you prayerfully study the type of the lampstand you will be amazed to see how the Triune God is typified by it – the Father is signified by gold (the element), the Son is signified by the form (the shape), and the Spirit is signified by the seven lamps.

The Father is the source, the element; the Son is the image and form; and the Spirit is the expression of the Triune God. All this we see in spirit with our enlightened heart in Exo. 25 in the type of the lampstand!

The Golden Lampstand Typifies the Church

If we read the book of Revelation, especially the first two chapters, we see that the golden lampstands typify the local churches.

In Exodus 25 the golden lampstand typifies the unique Triune God; in Zechariah 4 there’s a development – the golden lampstand typifies the Spirit; and in Revelation we have a harvest, the many golden lampstands as the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit. These are three stages of the truth concerning the lampstand.

How can we as human beings become the same as God is in life and nature to express Him as a pure golden lampstand?

We are men of clay, men of dust, but when we are regenerated God’s life comes into us and we have the nature of God (2 Pet. 1:4). Inside of us we have the divine nature, which is daily growing and expanding in our being as we grow in the divine life. There’s gold in us – there’s God in us!

Also, this gold is being formed – Christ is being formed in us (Gal. 4:19). Christ is revealed in us (Gal. 1:16), Christ lives in us (Gal. 2:20), and eventually Christ is being formed in us so that others may see the shape, the form, the image of Christ in us.

The more we set our mind on the spirit (Rom. 8:6) and live by the spirit (Rom. 8:13; Gal. 5:25), our expression will also be the life-giving Spirit, and everything we do will be by the Spirit, imparting life into others.

And this all is not by, in, or for ourselves – it is corporate, collective, as the church! The church’s element is God the Father (the gold), the church’s image is Christ the Son (the form, the shape), and the church’s expression is the Spirit (the sevenfold intensified Spirit in the churches).

Christ has become the Spirit, and the Spirit with Christ produce the churches to be the reproduction of the Triune God, expressing God as His testimony on the earth.

Thank You Lord for unveiling us to see something concerning the golden lampstand as a type of the Triune God, of the Spirit, and of the church. Thank You Father God for coming into us with Your divine life and nature. Thank You Christ the Son for being revealed in us, living in us, and being formed in us. Thank You God the Spirit for giving life to us and transforming us that we may express God by the Spirit in our spirit. Lord, make us God’s expression by growing in us and shining in us – and through us!

References and Further Reading

• Sharing inspired from brother Minoru Chen’s sharing in this message and portions in, Life Messages (vol. 2, msg. 69),  and, The Church—the Reprint of the Spirit (p. 9), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on Crystallization-Study of Daniel and Zechariah, week 9 (entitled, The Vision of the Golden Lampstand and the Two Olive Trees).
• Hymns on this topic:
  # The Church the lampstand is to Christ, / Christ is the lamp with God as light; / The light divine from Christ doth shine, / The Church upholds its glory bright.
  # The churches are the Body / Of Christ on earth today. / They are His testimony, / That He may have a way. / They are the golden lampstands / In cities far and wide.
  # There are seven golden lampstands in the nature all divine— / Nothing natural does the Body life allow / When we’re one and share God’s nature, / how the lampstand then does shine— / Hallelujah, it is brightly shining now!
• Picture credit: inspired from, The Golden Lampstand (on flickr).