The Daily Word of Righteousness

The Two Lampstands, continued

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. (Revelation 11:3—NIV)

The witness will be "clothed in sackcloth" meaning that the message will be one of repentance. "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

The two witnesses of Revelation Eleven will reveal in themselves the new age that is at hand, the Kingdom Age. They will demonstrate the powers of the coming age, the rule of the rod of iron. It also is true that the new age will proceed from the witnesses.

The Kingdom Age will enter the earth through Jesus Christ and His saints. The saints then will be the judges of those who persecuted them during the period that they were bearing the Divine testimony.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. (Revelation 11:4—NIV)

The end-time witness is symbolized by two lampstands and two olive trees.

The reference is to the fourth chapter of the Book of Zechariah. There we see one lampstand and the two olive trees.

The meaning of the one lampstand and the two olive trees is as follows:

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6—NIV)

"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit."

God was saying the restored Temple of God, of the time of Zechariah, would be completed by the Lord Himself and not by the efforts of the flesh.

So it is that the Church, the eternal house of God, will be completed by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, not by the ambitions, plans, and talents of the flesh of man.

Unlike the Lampstand of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, the Lampstand of Zechariah does not need to be filled every day at evening in order to burn through the night. There is a continual source of olive oil from the two olive trees, representing the Holy Spirit, flowing directly into the Lampstand.

The Lampstand of the Tabernacle symbolizes Christ Himself. It was hammered into shape from a talent of refined gold. There was no wood in it, indicating that it symbolizes Deity. Wood speaks of the flesh of man.

Christ is the Light of the world—of the world! "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

In the Book of Revelation the seven golden lampstands are the Christian churches. Jesus said we Christians are the light of the world and our light is our good works, the good works caused by the fact that Christ has been born in us and is being formed in us.

The reason there are not eight lampstands, Christ and the seven churches, is that there is only one Body of Christ. The Body of Christ comprises the overcomers, the Church within the churches.

When the Bible says "I will give (there is no Greek noun following the word "give") to my two witnesses," it is referring to those who have been prepared. They will be empowered to prophesy concerning "many peoples, nations, languages and kings."

To be continued.