THE MENORAH
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”.
A replica stands today
before the parliament building in Jerusalem
1 Kings 11:36 – The Light of God
36 I will give one tribe to his son so that David
my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem
A first word
- 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.
- 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 it was hollow and the oil from one cup was channeled to the
others. – 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
Zech 4:2 – Solid Gold
Lampstand
2 He asked me, "What do you see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold
lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven
channels to the lights. NIV
Ex 25:31-40- Construct a
lampstand
31 "Make a lampstand of pure gold and
hammer it out, base and shaft; its flowerlike cups, buds
and blossoms shall be of one piece with it.
32 Six branches are to extend from the
sides of the lampstand--three on one side and three on the other.
33 Three cups shaped like almond flowers with
buds and blossoms are to be on one branch, three on the next branch, and
the same for all six branches extending from the lampstand.
34 And on the lampstand there are to be four cups
shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms.
35 One bud shall be under the first pair of
branches extending from the lampstand, a second bud under the second pair, and
a third bud under the third pair--six branches in all.
36 The buds and branches shall all be of one
piece with the lampstand, hammered out of pure gold.
37 "Then make its seven lamps and set them up
on it so that they light the space in front of it.
38 Its wick trimmers and trays are to be of pure
gold.
39 A talent of pure gold is to be used for
the lampstand and all these accessories.
40 See that you make them according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain. NIV
Heb 8:5 – The menorah is a
copy of the original
5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and
shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about
to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according
to the pattern shown you on the mountain." NIV
Col 2:17 – The shadow in
reality is found in Christ
17 These are a shadow of the things that
were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. NIV
Heb 10:1 – The menorah is
only a shadow of what’s in heaven
1 The law is only a shadow of the good things
that are coming - not the realities themselves. NIV
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.
- Most think the
menorah is 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.
- 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
- It represented the seven spirits of God; Wisdom,
Understanding, Council, Power, knowledge, righteous,
and faithfulness.
- It represented the seven church ages of revelation – ( Another word study NYOBS 7)
- 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
Ps 18:28 – A symbol of life
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my
God turns my darkness into light. NIV
2 Kings 8:19 – A symbol of prosperity
19 He had promised to maintain a lamp for
David and his descendants forever. NIV
2 Sam 22:29 – A symbol of understanding
29 You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness
into light.
NIV
Gen 2:9 – Tree of life in
the Garden of Eden
In the middle of the garden were the tree of
life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. NIV
Rev 22:2 – Tree of life in
Heaven
2 On each side of the river stood the tree of
life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. NIV
Zech 4:10 – The lamps are the eyes of God.
10 These seven are the eyes of the LORD,
which range throughout the earth. NIV
Prov 6:23 – God’s word is a lamp; the way to life
23 For these commands are a lamp; this teaching is
a light,
and the corrections of discipline are the way
to life NIV
Rev 4:5 – Seven lamps –
Seven spirits of God
5 Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.
These are the seven spirits of God. NIV
Isa 11:2-5 – The seven Spirits of God
2 The Spirit of the LORD
will rest on him--the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the
Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the LORD—
3 and he will delight in
the fear of the LORD. He will not judge
by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears;
4 but with righteousness
he will judge the needy; with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the
earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of
his lips he will slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness will be
his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. NIV
11 "Write on a scroll
what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus Smyrna Pergamum Sardis Philadelphia Laodicea
Gal 5:22-23 – The nine fruits of the spirit
22 But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control.
Against such things there is no law.
NIV
Here’s where we are
- Except for the work
of Josephus the Jewish
historian, we do not know very much about the menorah. – We take writings
from antiquity, carvings and relief’s to fill in the blanks.
- Candlestand 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.
- 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
represented fruitfulness.
- It was pure solid
gold and extremely ornate.
- Its cups on all seven
branches were inter-connected by internal oil channels.
- It was the sole light
in the tabernacle.
- It was probably made
in three parts for mobility as its total weight was about 94 pounds which
was a talent of gold. – Commentaries have the talent of gold weight at somewhere
between 75 pounds and 114 pounds.
- The seven candles
represented completeness; the all knowing and all seeing eyes of God.
- It revealed the seven
spirits of God – Wisdom, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge
righteousness and faithfulness.
- 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.
- Some commentaries
indicate that the menorah was made of the hard
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.
A Commentary; Critical, Experimental and Practical
- Eerdmans
Baker Commentary on the Bible – Walter A. Elwell
Bible Almanac; The – Packer-Tenny- White
Bible Commentary – F.B. Meyer
Customs and Folkways of Jewish Life – Theodor H. Gaster
Complete Book of Bible Knowledge; The – Mark D. Taylor
Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein
Exposition of Genesis – H.C. Leupold
Harper’s bible Dictionary – Harper & Row
Illustrated Bible Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible Dictionary; The - Tyndale
Illustrated Encyclopedia of Bible Facts – Packer-Tenney-White Illustrated
Manners and Customs of the Bible –
Packer-Tenney
International Dictionary of the Bible; The New – Douglas-Tenney
Matthew Henry’s Commentary - Zondervan
Mysteries of the Bible – Readers Digest
Today’s Dictionary of the Bible - Guidepost
Victory Journey through the Bible; The – Beers
Vincent’s Word Studies of the New Testament – Mac Donald
Who’s Who in the Bible – Paul D. Gardner
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer-Harrison
Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of he Bible; The
- Zondervan
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