The golden lampstand also signifies the Triune God. In the golden lampstand there is the number three. It has a shaft with six branches going out from its sides, three branches on the right side and three branches on the left side. Three signifies the Triune God. In addition, on the shaft and the branches of the lampstand there are three layers—the cups, the knobs, and the blossoming buds—which also signify the Triune God. Besides these, there are other features which show us that the golden lampstand signifies the Triune God.
The golden lampstand is of pure gold, without any impurities. In biblical typology, gold denotes the divine nature. Just as the substance of a table is wood and the substance of a book is paper, so the substance of the golden lampstand is gold. Gold signifies the nature of God. With the exception of gold, every kind of metal is alterable. God’s nature is like gold, which is unique, pure, rustproof, and unalterable. Therefore, the lampstand in its substance signifies God the Father; in the golden lampstand we see the substance, the nature, of God the Father.
The golden lampstand is a stand with a form, and this form signifies Christ. Christ is the embodiment of God, and in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). Therefore, in the lampstand we see not only the substance, the nature, but also the form. A fragment, pile, piece, or lump of gold has no definite form. The one talent of gold in the golden lampstand, however, is not a pile of gold; it has a solid form, which signifies the incarnated Christ. In the incarnated Christ, the embodiment of God, all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily. Here, therefore, we have the nature of God the Father and the form of God the Son.
The golden lampstand has seven lamps. What are these seven lamps? We cannot find the full explanation in the Old Testament; there is a partial answer in the book of Zechariah, but it is not clear enough. Zechariah 4 says that the seven lamps on the lampstand are the seven eyes of God. Today in His administration and operation, God has seven eyes. Many Christians like to use pictures to express spiritual things, but I have never seen a picture that shows God as having seven eyes. According to our concept, how many eyes does God have? To be sure, we may say that He has two eyes, yet the Bible says that God has seven eyes. We cannot separate the seven eyes from God and “suspend them in the air.” Therefore, because the seven lamps are the seven eyes of God, the seven lamps are God Himself. We must see that the golden lampstands are God.
The Bible is not so simple. When we come to Revelation, we see that the seven lamps are not only the seven eyes but also the seven Spirits of God. The seven lamps are the seven eyes, the seven eyes are the seven Spirits of God, and the seven Spirits of God are the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is one. Why, then, does Revelation speak of seven Spirits? This may be likened to a light bulb with a brightness that can be adjusted and strengthened onefold, twofold, or threefold. If we do not need a very bright light, onefold is enough; if we need brighter light, we can increase the brightness to the second or third intensity. The Spirit of God is the lamp of God. In the severest darkness, there is the need to intensify the light sevenfold. The time in which John wrote the book of Revelation was the darkest time. Today, do we need the one Spirit or the seven Spirits? It is too dark today! We need the sevenfold intensified Spirit. How much light do we have in the local churches today? The light is sevenfold! Many can testify that since they came to the church, they have been under the constant shining of this light. This light is not a negligible light like the light of a firefly, a match, or a candle. Today, the light in the local churches is a sevenfold intensified light.
Formerly, as a “churchgoer,” a brother could strike his wife after coming home from a Sunday worship service and have no problem. But now after coming home from a meeting of the church and finding that his wife has done something wrong, as he is about to rebuke her, the light strongly shines on him. The light is so strong that his anger is dissipated. Sometimes a husband may speak a harsh word, but as the wife is about to talk back, the light shines strongly on her. It is for this reason that many of us can testify that since we came into the church, there is not much quarreling in our homes. This does not mean that we do not have opinions. Sometimes I have an opinion on the tip of my tongue concerning a certain person, but the light comes, and I say, “O Lord, I praise You! All things, even this misbehaving one, are mine. I thank and praise You, Lord, that all things work together for good to those who love God.” In this way we do not quarrel.
In contrast, in many of the board meetings and meetings of the responsible ones in Christianity, there are frequent quarrels, sometimes openly and other times secretly. However, many of us can testify that it is not this way in the local churches. We thank the Lord for this! This is because in the churches the light is very strong. When we are about to quarrel, the light shines not only on our lips but also in the depths of our being. This sevenfold intensified light is stronger than any kind of x-ray. This is true not only in quarreling but also in many other matters. In the local churches the light is strong because there is the sevenfold intensified Spirit!
The substance of the golden lampstand is God the Father, its form is God the Son, and its expression is God the Spirit. The Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all here. When the Lord Jesus walked on the earth, He was the golden lampstand; wherever He went, the light shined. Matthew 4 tells us that when He went to Galilee in particular, a great light shined over those sitting in the region and shadow of death (v. 16). Moreover, while He was walking on the earth, He had a bodily form. Jesus Christ was that bodily form. The substance, the nature, within Him was God Himself, and the expression upon Him was the Spirit. The Triune God is the golden lampstand, and the golden lampstand is the Triune God.
Today’s Christianity still holds the traditional doctrine concerning the Trinity, saying that the Father is one entity, the Son is another, and the Spirit is still another. Many would say that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three different, separate entities. This shows that they are short of light. Revelation says that the Spirit of God as the seven Spirits is not only the seven eyes of God but also the seven eyes of the Lamb. The Lamb is Christ, and the seven eyes are the Holy Spirit. Can we say that a person’s eyes and the person himself are two separate, independent entities? The seven Spirits of God as the Holy Spirit are the eyes of Christ as the Lamb. This tells us that the Holy Spirit and Christ cannot be divided, just as our eyes and our person cannot be separated. Likewise, the lamps and the lampstand cannot be divided. The seven lamps are the seven Spirits of God, so these seven Spirits cannot be separated from the lampstand. The Holy Spirit and Christ can never be divided. We must be deeply impressed that the lampstand in reality is the very Triune God, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily in Christ; this Christ has been expressed, and His expression is the sevenfold intensified Spirit.
Is the lampstand one or seven? It is both. According to its substance, the lampstand is one; according to its development, function, and administration, the lampstand is seven. Our God is the Triune God; He is the Father as the substance, the Son as the form, and the Spirit as the expression. The Father as the substance is in the Son as the form, and the Son as the form is expressed as the Spirit. A picture speaks far better than a thousand words. The Triune God is so exceedingly mysterious that we cannot describe Him with our human language. We cannot even describe the human face, so how can we describe the Triune God? Thanks be to God that there is a picture in the Bible! This picture is the lampstand—its substance is gold, its form is the stand, and its expression is the seven lamps. This is the picture of the Triune God.
While He was walking on the earth, the Lord Jesus was the Triune God. We can say this because He was the pure gold. Apparently, He was Jesus the Nazarene; actually, He was one talent of gold. You and I are so many pounds of clay; we may adorn ourselves to look very nice, but when anyone touches us, our clay is exposed. However, while the Lord Jesus was on the earth, no one could touch anything of clay in Him. On the contrary, the more people touched Him, the more shining and precious He was. Certain ones tested Jesus, as if to pour water on Him to see if He was clay, but the more people touched Him, the more shining He was, and the more they “poured water on Him,” the brighter He became. When the Lord Jesus was on the earth, He went through the cities and villages. All kinds of people—Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, rabbis, elders, and scribes—came to touch Him and “pour water on Him,” yet the more they touched Him, the more shining He was, and the more they “poured water,” the brighter He became. He is pure gold. Not only so, as He stood in front of people, He was the light. He was the seven lamps; wherever He went, there was the sevenfold light. He was the golden lampstand, denoting the Triune God. The Father was there, the Son was there, and the Spirit was there; that is, the Father’s substance was there, the Son’s form was there, and the Spirit’s expression and illumination were there. This is what Christ is.
We praise the Lord that this Christ as the one grain of wheat was buried in the ground and died, and He resurrected to become many grains! After His death and resurrection, the church was produced. He is uniquely one, but the churches are many; the church in each locality is an expression of Christ. Hence, one lampstand has become many lampstands. What is the church? The church is the reproduction of Christ. The one Christ has been reproduced through His death and resurrection. As Christ is, so is the church. This is not a doctrine but a subjective experience.