Zechariah 3:9 says, “For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” The reference to engraving the stone indicates that this stone is Christ. It is difficult to understand this matter of engraving the stone. In brief, it means that the Lord Jesus, as the building stone, was engraved, dealt with, by God on the cross for the iniquity of God’s people. In one day, by that engraving on the cross, the Lord Jesus took away all the sins of God’s people. This is the equivalent of John 1:29, which says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” By the latter half of Zechariah 3:9 we know that the stone with the seven eyes is Christ.
Zechariah 4:2 says, “What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a lampstand 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” (Heb.). In Zechariah 3:9 the building stone has seven eyes, and in this verse the lampstand has seven lamps. If we exercise our spirit in this matter, we shall surely understand that the lampstand equals the stone. Both the stone and the lampstand are Christ. Obviously, the stone is for the building, and the lampstand is for light, for enlightening. On the stone there are seven eyes, and on the lampstand there are seven lamps. Hence, the seven lamps of the lampstand must be the seven eyes on the stone.
Proceeding to Zechariah 4:10, we read, “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” This verse begins with a reference to “the day of small things.” In the eyes of men, the recovery of the building was not a great thing. Nevertheless, no one should despise it. Likewise, the recovery of the church life today is not a great thing in the eyes of men. Rather, it is a small thing. But no one should despise it. This verse also speaks of “those seven,” which refers to the seven lamps in verse 2. Then we are told that “those seven” are “the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.” This proves that the building stone with the seven eyes is simply Jehovah, the Lord God Himself.
Having this understanding, we come to the book of Revelation. I say again that most of the symbols and other crucial points found in Revelation are not new; they are further developments of items found in the Old Testament. In Revelation chapters four and five, we have a new and further development of the seven eyes and the seven lamps. Revelation 4:5 says, “And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders; and seven lamps of fire are burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Notice that the seven lamps here are not on the lampstand, but are burning before the throne. The seven lamps that are burning before the throne are the seven Spirits of God. In Zechariah 3 and 4 we have the seven eyes and the seven lamps but not the seven Spirits. In Revelation, however, the seven lamps have developed into the seven Spirits. Here we have a new and further development of the seven lamps as the seven Spirits. In 4:5 we are told clearly that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God.
Revelation 5:6 says, “And 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 Lamb here has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. In 4:5 the seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God, and in 5:6 the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God. Here we have a further development over Zechariah, for the seven eyes are not only the seven eyes on the stone, but also the seven eyes of the Lamb. These seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. This is a reference to Zechariah 4:10, where we are told that the seven eyes of the Lord “run to and fro through the whole earth.” In Zechariah 3 and 4 we see the seven eyes of the stone, the seven lamps of the lampstand, and the seven eyes of the Lord. Thus, the Lord is the stone, and the stone is also the lampstand. The stone is both the lampstand and the Lord God Himself. These three—the Lord, the lampstand, and the stone—are one. In Zechariah, we see that the seven eyes are the seven lamps. But as we come to the further development in Revelation, the seven lamps are no longer just on the lampstand, but are also burning before the throne. These seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God. Eventually, these seven Spirits are the seven eyes of the Lamb who is in the very center of God’s administration. May we all be deeply impressed with this picture.