The seven lamps of the lampstand signify the seven Spirits of God to express the Triune God. Revelation 4:5b says, “Seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” If we consider Revelation 1:4 and 5, we shall realize that the seven Spirits are undoubtedly the Spirit of God, because they are ranked among the Triune God. As seven is the number for completion in God’s operation, so the seven Spirits must be for God’s move on earth. In substance and existence God’s Spirit is one; in the intensified function and work of God’s operation God’s Spirit is sevenfold.
Essentially the Spirit is one, but economically He is seven. In God’s economy and in His function, He becomes the sevenfold intensified Spirit. In Revelation it is not a matter of essence but a matter of function, of economy. Economically speaking, the Spirit is intensified sevenfold. In substance and existence God’s Spirit is one, but in the intensified function and work of God’s operation, God’s Spirit is sevenfold.
In Revelation 4:5 the seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God, signify the enlightening and searching of the sevenfold intensified Spirit of God. God will touch the earth by the seven lamps, by His seven Spirits, which are for burning, shining, observing, searching, and judging. The seven lamps here refer to the seven lamps of the lampstand in Exodus 25:37 and Zechariah 4:2. In Exodus 25 and Zechariah 4 the seven lamps, signifying the enlightening of the Spirit of God in God’s move, are for God’s building. In Revelation 4:5 the seven lamps are for God’s judgment, which will issue in the building of the New Jerusalem. While God executes His judgment, His sevenfold intensified Spirit will carry out His eternal building by searching, enlightening, and judging.
The enlightening, searching, exposing, judging, and burning of the seven lamps of fire are for the carrying out of God’s administration. Today God is administrating His government by means of this enlightening, searching, exposing, judging, and burning. Anything that does not correspond to God’s nature will be burned by His fire. This burning is the carrying out of God’s administration.
Although the seven enlightening, searching, exposing, judging, and burning lamps will burn all that does not correspond to God, they will refine those things that are truly according to His nature. The dross will go to the lake of fire, but the refined gold will go to the New Jerusalem. Even now the seven Spirits as the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God are burning, refining, and purifying for the carrying out of God’s universal governmental administration.
The seven lamps also signify the Spirit as the seven eyes of the Son to express the Son as the embodiment of the Triune God (Rev. 5:6; 3:1). Revelation 5:6 says, “I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.” The seven lamps in 4:5 are simultaneously the seven eyes of the Lamb in 5:6. The lamps are for enlightening and burning; the eyes are for watching and observing and also for infusing and transfusing. As the redeeming Lamb, Christ has seven watching and observing eyes for the carrying out of God’s administration. These seven eyes are also transfusing all that the Lamb is into our being so that we may become the same as He. This indicates that the way for us to be transformed is to come to Him and be seen by Him. As the Lord enlightens and judges us, He looks at us, and His seven eyes transfuse Himself into us.
Economically speaking, the Spirit of God in God’s administration is the eyes of the administrating Son, the seven Spirits. This is for function, not for existence. In order for us to do anything, we need our eyes. In the divine administration Christ needs the Spirit to be His eyes. Without the seven Spirits, Christ does not have eyes. Christ is the Executor of God’s economy; nevertheless, He needs the seven Spirits as His eyes to carry out God’s economy.
We need to be impressed with the fact that the golden lampstand in Exodus 25 implies the significance of the Triune God; it symbolizes the Triune God embodied and expressed. God the Father as the divine gold is embodied in Christ the Son and then is fully expressed through the Spirit. The expression differs from the embodiment. Because our God is uniquely one, the embodiment also must be uniquely one. Thus, the embodiment must be one stand. The expression, however, must be complete, and complete in God’s move. (Recall that seven is the number for completion in God’s move.) Throughout the centuries, God has been expressed in His move. This is the reason that the seven lamps signify the intensified Spirit as the expression of Christ in God’s complete move.
It is significant that in Revelation 5:6 the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of Christ, the Lamb. A person’s eyes cannot be separated from the person himself, for a person’s eyes are his expression. Our inner being is expressed mainly through our eyes. In like manner, the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of Christ by which Christ expresses Himself. As a person and his eyes are one, so Christ and the Spirit are one. Therefore, it is a mistake to say that the Spirit is separate from Christ. Since the seven Spirits are the Holy Spirit and also the eyes of Christ, then the Holy Spirit, who is the seven Spirits, is not separate from Christ. The Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the expression of the Son. The seven eyes of Christ, which are the seven Spirits of God, are Christ’s expression in God’s move for God’s building. Today Christ’s eyes are upon us so that we can be transformed and conformed to His image for God’s building.
As we consider the substance, the shape, and the expression of the golden lampstand as implying the significance of the Triune God, we gain a practical understanding of the Trinity. The Trinity is for the dispensing of the processed Triune God into humanity for the fulfillment of God’s purpose to have a corporate expression of Himself for eternity. God, the divine Being, is first embodied in Christ and then expressed through the sevenfold intensified Spirit. Now we not only have the Triune God; in the lampstand we have the Triune God substantially and solidly embodied and expressed. The gold has been formed into the solid stand for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Without the stand, there is no way for God’s purpose to be fulfilled. This stand, which is a type of Christ, is expressed through the seven lamps signifying the seven Spirits of God. The golden lampstand, then, signifies the Triune God embodied and expressed. Its essence is the Father, its form is the Son, and its expression is the Spirit. Because we have in the lampstand the element of gold signifying God the Father, the stand signifying God the Son, and the seven lamps signifying God the Spirit, we have the ground to say that the lampstand itself is the embodiment and expression of the Triune God.
Eventually, in the book of Revelation the lampstand becomes the church. If we realize this, our understanding of the church will be deepened and enriched. The church is actually the expression of the processed Triune God. In this expression we see the Father’s nature, the Son’s embodiment, and the Spirit’s expression. In the proper church life, God the Father is the substance, God the Son is the embodiment, and God the Spirit is the expression.
In Exodus 25 the lampstand signifies Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, but in Revelation the golden lampstands signify the churches. This indicates that the unique Christ has been reproduced, that the one lampstand has become seven lampstands. In Exodus 25 we have the masterpiece, but in Revelation 1 we have the masterpiece reproduced and multiplied. At first God’s expression was only in Christ as the lampstand. Now this expression has been reproduced in the churches as golden lampstands. From this we see that Christ has been reproduced. The church is actually the reproduction of Christ. Both Christ and the church are the expression of the Triune God. It is a marvelous fact that in the church as the golden lampstand today we have the nature of the Father, the embodiment of the Son, and the expression of the Spirit.
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