Revelation: The High Priest and the Lampstands

 

Revelation; Justification by Faith

The High Priest and the Lampstands


Revelation 1:13 (ESV):
And in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest;

Revelation 1:20 (ESV):
As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Today we will focus more on the work of Jesus among those seven lampstands. Jesus is described here as wearing a robe reaching to His feet and a golden sash around His chest. This is the attire of someone of high rank. One such rank is that of the high priest in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament temple, there was also a lampstand that the high priest had to maintain. This golden lampstand gave light in the covered temple, reflecting off the golden walls and creating a beautiful effect. The high priest (Aaron in the time of Moses) had to maintain this daily with oil:

Leviticus 24:2-3 (ESV):
"Command the people of Israel to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp, that a light may be kept burning regularly.
Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before the LORD regularly. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations."

This was the earthly tabernacle. But Paul tells us about a heavenly temple with a heavenly High Priest:

Hebrews 8:1-2 (ESV):
Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

The tabernacle here on earth is described as a kind of example of what is in heaven. Oil is often compared to the Holy Spirit in the Bible. We are anointed with it. It keeps the light burning. The Holy Spirit must be continually given to the church, which receives oil as lampstands from Jesus. And this happens on earth. But it happens in a way not only on earth but also in heaven. For we are already counted as if we are in heaven in that heavenly tabernacle. We are reckoned as heavenly citizens. Jesus, as our High Priest, ensures that through His work here on earth, the Holy Spirit is constantly placed on our behalf. Thus, we are counted as if we have the Holy Spirit and are a light in the world. This is because Jesus ensures that His life on earth is credited to us. He stands in our place. He was the true light here on earth. He was full of the Holy Spirit, the oil. And because He is our High Priest, He can credit this to us. This is essential to understand. Do you feel like a flickering lamp that can barely represent light on earth? Do not keep looking at your own weaknesses, but look at how you are counted in heaven through Jesus, your High Priest. In Jesus, you are already a light and a burning lampstand. He has already given the oil to the lampstand. Simply accept it and share in it through faith. Then do not live according to what you are by nature and what your sinful old self tells you, but according to what you already are in Jesus. For legally, you are free to be a light for the world because you are already counted as such in heaven through Jesus' life. Keep your eyes on this, and you will be a true light constantly receiving the Holy Spirit. Thus says the Lord:

Ephesians 5:8-9 (ESV):
For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),

Luke 8:16 (ESV):
"No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light."

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