Chapter 5.13
The Menorah
Seven Branch Candlestick; the Tree of
Life, the light of God.
The Seven Church Ages; the symbol of Life,
Joy, Prosperity,
Wisdom, Understanding and Guidance
The Triumphal Arch of Titus, in Rome, commemorating the Roman victory over
the Jews depicts soldiers carrying off the Temple Menorah. Most think this is the best idea of what the
Menorah actually looked like - Mysteries
of the Bible – Readers Digest
The Light of God
Menorah is the Hebrew word for
candlestick or lampstand; the “Seven Branch Candlestick”.
It’s a sacred “tree of life” form representing
God’s unseen presence in His earthly shrine.
The central theme is “the One who is the Light of the world”; where
God dwells, there is light. The Menorah
symbolizes the Jewish people and “the Light of God”.[1] A replica stands today before the parliament
building in Jerusalem crafted by the Temple Institute.
The
lampstand was the sole source of
light in the Tabernacle. Moses was told
to make the lampstand according to a pattern of one that was already in heaven,
so it was a copy; a shadow of the good things that are to
come. [2]
The menorahs we see today are very small
and sit on a table, but the Original menorah was a lampstand molded out of pure
Gold that was five feet high and three and a half feet broad and stood on the
floor. Scripture suggest it was made in three
sections to facilitate removal and transportation;
The base, the supporting shaft and the seven ornate branches with
cups. Each section was made in one piece
of pure gold with the total weight of about 94 pounds. It had three curved branches coming from each
side of the stand with one in the middle making it seven lamps.
Scripture seems to suggest that the seven branches had hollow channels
for the oil to flow from center cup channeled to the others;[3] the
cups were very ornate flowerlike buds and blossoms. The cups on each branch were filled with the
purest olive oil every morning; a twisted flax wick floated on the oil.
Every morning the Priest would take fire from the Alter where the burnt offering
took place and would light the right three branches first, then the
left
three and the middle last. If a branch
needed to be relit, it was with the fire from the center branch. The center branch could only be lit from the Alter. The flame burned all day and into a part of
the evening; while there was enough oil to keep the flame burning, the wicks
often needed to be trimmed. King
Solomon made ten gold lampstands that were placed in front of the most Holy
Place of the temple.
Symbolism
There is a lot of symbolism
with the word lamp or
lampstand. Primarily it is a symbol of life,
joy, prosperity, wisdom, understanding and guidance.[4] Most students Belief System
embraces the menorah as representative of the Tree of Life that’s
in heaven and as well as the tree that’s was in the Garden of Eden; the tree of
fruitfulness.[5]
The gold represents the
preciousness of the Church, God’s people
The Oil represents the
Holy Spirit.
The seven flames were an expression
of God’s presence.
Seven is the number of completeness. Their
light represents the
There was also a nine branch MENORAH; the tree of
life, bearing the nine fruits of
the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control.[9]
The
Take Away
Except for the work of
Josephus the Jewish historian, we do not know very much about the
menorah, so we take writings from antiquity, carvings and relief’s to fill in
the blanks. The word Candle stand is a
misnomer; they did not have candles, but only oil lamps. Most simple Christian
lamps were decorated with the sign of the fish, the cross or the words Alpha
and Omega.
The term lamp symbolized Life and represented fruitfulness; it symbolized the Jewish people and “The Light of God”. The menorah was a COPY of the original Tree of Life that’s in heaven and was in the Garden of Eden. It was pure solid gold and extremely ornate
and was the sole light in the tabernacle and was probably made in three parts
for mobility as its total weight was about 94 pounds which was a talent of
gold. Some commentaries have the talent of gold weight at somewhere between
75 pounds and 114 pounds. My BS
embraces that the cups on all seven branches were inter-connected by internal
oil channels.
The seven candles represented completeness; the all-knowing
and all seeing eyes of God. It represented Grace and
mercy,
God waited seven
days after Noah entered the ark for men to come to the light then He
shut the door.
It revealed the seven spirits of God; Wisdom, understanding, counsel, power,
knowledge righteousness and faithfulness.
Some commentaries indicate that the menorah was made of the hard Acadia
wood and overlaid with pure gold like the other temple furniture,
however I do not find this in scripture and seems highly unlikely if the arms
were channels for the oil to flow through.
[1] 1 Kings 11:36 – The Light
of God
[2] Exodus 25:31-40 -
Construct a lampstand like the pattern show to you on the mountain -- Hebrews
8:5 – The menorah is a copy of the original in heaven -- Hebrews 10:1 – The
menorah is only a shadow of what’s in heaven -- Colossians 2:17 – The shadow in
reality is found in Christ
[3] Zechariah 4:2 – Solid
Gold Lampstand with seven channels to the lights
[4] Psalms 18:28 – The lamp
is a symbol of life -- 2 Kings 8:19 – The Lamp
is a symbol of prosperity -- 2 Samuel 22:29 –
The Lamp is a symbol of understanding --
Proverbs 6:23 – God’s word is a lamp; the way to life
[5] Genesis 2:9 – Tree of
life in the Garden of Eden -- Revelation 22:2 – The
tree of life stands in Heaven, bearing fruit
[6] Zechariah 4:10 – These seven lamps are the eyes of God.
[7] Revelation 4:5 – There
are Seven lamps; Seven spirits of God -- Isaiah 11:2-5 – The seven Spirits of God; the
spirit of the Lord, wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, reverence
[8] Revelation 1:11 – The Seven Church ages
[9] Galatians 5:22-23 – The Nine Fruits of the spirit
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