A Comparison between the Great Pyramid and the Tabernacle, continued

Having entered through the first vail of the Tabernacle into the “Holy” or spirit begotten condition the first thing we note is that there are three distinctive pieces of furniture located in this chamber, the Golden Lampstand, the Table of Showbread, and the Golden Altar. These three items are indispensable to the child of God in the school of Christ.

In the illustration above we have intentionally placed the Golden Lampstand out of its proper place simply for better clarity; its true position however is directly across from the Table of Showbread as illustrated in the picture below.

“Place the table (of Showbread) outside the inner curtain (that is the second vail) on the north side of the Tabernacle, and place the lampstand across the room on the south side.” (New Living Translation Exod 26:35; see also Exod 40:24)

The first item which we would like to examine is the Golden Lampstand.

“The Golden Lampstand, as a whole represents Christ and the Church giving forth their light. The central candlestick typified Christ Jesus; it had its own foundation, and its course was straight upward from the very start. On the other hand, the branches, representing the true, consecrated church, had no base of their own, their support being the main candlestick; also their course was not straight upward, but at the start they were almost horizontal, parallel to the earth, but gradually their course changed upward until at last they ran parallel to the main candlestick. So with the consecrated: We have no standing in ourselves, our support; our foundation is in Him.”

This Lamp Stand was made of one piece of beaten pure gold, that is to say the Candlestick had to be brought into shape by the process of beating, not by pouring the molten metal into a mold. As the Lamp stand symbolizes our Lord and the Church giving forth their light, so then in the process of its development it must of needs be “beaten” into shape.

“Surely he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isa 53:4, 5)

And as surely as the servant is no greater than his Lord so likewise are we bruised, as was the shaft so are the branches, all of one beaten work. “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus…” (Eph 2:10)

“Human nature rebels against suffering, hardship, and the beating process…The candlestick had to be beaten, beaten until formed into a beautiful and serviceable piece of furniture to give light in the holy place (the Holy). We often hear Christians pray, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection,” but they seemingly neglect to pray the rest of Paul’s prayer, “that I may know him and the fellowship of his suffering.”

“Beloved, think it not  strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye shall be glad also with exceeding joy.” (1 Pet 4:12, 13) Rejoice then, for the candlestick is being made and His glory shall ultimately be revealed. “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” (1 Pet 4:14)

Our only excuse for existence is that we might be to the praise of His glory. So when called on to suffer and endure the beating process, let us be jubilant and say with Peter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.’ (1 Pet 1:3–7)

No warrant gives Christians authority to say, `Why?’ to God’s beating process in their lives. The suffering of the Christian is no mystery, for we have the plain Word of God which says, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18) . . . So beloved, count it not strange concerning the fiery trial. God’s beating process is at work in your life. The candlestick can be made no other way.

The form of the Lamp Stands workmanship was beautiful; picture it if you would, a fruit (a pomegranate) and then a flower, following successively one after another up the main shaft, and likewise out and up the various branches, this represented the True Church as being both beautiful and fruitful from first to last, These branches three on one side and three on the other represent the consecrated, they had no base of their own but rather relied upon the support of the main central shaft for support, just as we have no standing, no foundation of our own but are reliant upon the merit of Christ which supports us or gives us a standing before God.

Herein we have a lesson of encouragement for all the Lord’s children especially for those who are struggling with the frailties and weaknesses of the flesh, who truly love the Lord but feel that they are not making much progress.

As these branches represented the consecrated it would be noted that their course upward was not straight from the start, but rather was parallel to the world, but gradually their course would change upward until they ran parallel to the main central shaft.  What this pictures is that at the beginning of our consecration our course was not so very different from what it had been before; we still followed many earthly things, but as we grew in the grace and in the knowledge of the truth our course bent more and more upward until at last if we are faithful, at the end of the course, we will be going in the same direction as our blessed Master.

Now it will be noticed that some of the branches were longer than that of the others (remember there were three levels of branches extending out from the central shaft), yet even so they all held the same amount of oil in their lamps and all gave out the same light.

So you see pictured first (the top branches) are those who have fewer character flaws and weaknesses to overcome and thus are making quicker progress than others, that is turning from the course of the world upward, likewise those pictured in the second level of branches, would have greater weaknesses to overcome and so their upward journey would take even longer to reach, and lastly those on the bottom, these are they who are heavy laden with sins and weaknesses, these spend a lot more time running parallel with the course of the world before making the turn upward, but the point is, through perseverance, they eventually make that turn, and just as those who’s journey upward is a little more easier and comes sooner, these too can hold just as much of the Lords spirit as the they and can shine just as brightly.

So then Dear Brethren do not allow your failings and weaknesses to dishearten you, stay the course, your turning point upward is just ahead if you will only continue to trust the Lord for assistance.

We will continue in our next post.