Revelations Chapter One (Part V)

By Odon Bulamba (23 February 2001)

Revelation 1:12-13, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands; and in the middle of the lamp stands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden lash.

When John was called to see everything that was promised, John didn’t see it with his physical body but with his spirit. When we have spiritual eyes we can see what the world cannot. The world can only see what they have in front of them, but with spiritual eyes you can see what will happen in a thousand years. So with spiritual eyes John saw seven lamp stands. Once again the number seven comes to mind. What do the seven lamp stands represent? Let’s go back to the book of Exodus 25:37.

“Then you shall make its lamps seven in number: and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it.

God commanded Moses to build a sanctuary. The sanctuary is not the first part of the church, but the second. This was built in advance. To see this lamp you must reach a certain level, a level a spiritual baby cannot see. God told Moses that the lamp must be placed in the sanctuary and the reason for this lamp was to give light. These lamps had to be of gold.

When we go back to Revelation we read that John saw seven golden candlesticks. These seven lamps represent the seven ages of the church. Each lamp has its own meaning and are the churches we read about in Revelation. Each church has a meaning to teach us Christians today to see who we are. We see that you can find seven different types of Christians. Church is not the building but people.

When John saw the seven golden lamps he didn’t see a torch or a match, but he saw that the lamps were alight all the time. In Exodus 25 you can read about how these lamps where lit and I tell you it is something extraordinary. When he would light the first lamp the fire would reach the second lamp and so on until the seventh. It would go from one lamp to another. The Bible says that, “this fire is eternal”. A lamp without a wick and fuel cannot work, as we know it. As we know a lamp gives us light during the night.

This means that the time we now live in is a dark time. A time where the world needs light but to have this light we need to know what is in our tank? What is in your tank? Petrol? Water? When John saw the lamps he thought, “this must be a lesson for the future”. God talked with Moses and Zechariah along time ago. Zechariah 4:1-2.

Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampsatnd all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it:

We can see how these lamps were well controlled and fed by petrol tanks. When John saw this he remembered what was in the past. He thought that if there is a lamp, there has to be a tank full of petrol, but if you have petrol in the tank you will have smoke. If you use diesel instead of petrol the lamp might explode, but if you use carousal it will be safe.

From this point God wanted to show the churches what different kinds of fuel they use to make it work. In the Old Testament in Zechariah’s time, olive oil was used to fuel the lights. The olive tree can last a long time and has many characteristics. God wanted to use this picture for us today. When the olive tree first starts to grow you cannot see the trunk, but when you pluck its green leaves only then can you see it. The leaves on an olive tree don’t grow side ways but upwards because the olive tree doesn’t have branches like other trees. From here God wanted to teach us something about light.

What kind of lamp have we got? If I light a candle it will not last forever. God asked Moses to make a lamp that would give light all the time. So what kind of light do I use to light my lamp? Is it a fire from God? In Zechariah it is said that, beside the lamp you can find olive trees on its left and right, this represents the Old and New testaments.

Zechariah asked the Lord, “What’s that?” If you carry on reading you’ll find the answer that God gave him. Jesus is the tree of life and we are His branches. Jesus said that, “He is the true vine, and you are the branches”. We know that the trunk feeds branches. Today the church of God has changed its face by using the system of grafting. We take a sample of a lemon tree and put it on the trunk of an orange tree. When this tree grows people will say, “Is this a lemon tree or an orange tree? Only when the tree bears fruit will they know exactly what kind of tree it is. If you take a branch from a lemon tree and put it on an orange tree, the branch from the orange tree will gladly feed on the soil from the lemon tree. It will use it to grow but the fruit will always be different.

The Bible is there to feed us. Each denomination or Christian has his own point of view about the Word of God and each Christian can interpret the Bible his own way. This can be useful to help grow what is in us, but it’s by the fruit we’ll see if it is an orange tree or a lemon tree.

Those who are in Jesus Christ must be careful, the seven lamp stands that John saw are very important for Christians because they tell us what spiritual state we are in. Jesus said that, “we are the light of the world”. So if we are the light of the world how can we enlighten others? How do we know when to turn our light on so others can see? We as Christians must know the time we are living in so that our light can shine. We must not be like the five foolish virgins that used their lamps during the day and when night came they ran out of oil. We must know what time we live in and practice what we have learnt. We can all see stars during the night. Science tells us that the sun lightens the stars, so even though the sun is not seen during the night, its projection during the day gives the stars its power to shine at night. As Christians we must project the light that we have received from the Lord.

Jesus is not among us as a man but He gave us His light to enlighten others. So what are we doing with it? What is the product of our light? Why do we have to stay as a star? If you have this light in you and this light is not shining, why don’t you do something so your light can shine? In Exodus it says that this light must project forward, it means that your light will show pagans the way to heaven. If you have a torch during the night you are able to help those who need guidance. It means that when you have light you can help others know the way. However, if you keep your torch to yourself you are a selfish Christian.

We as Christians need oil in our lamp to keep the light shinning in the world. We can see among the seven lamp stands that there is someone similar to a man. In Genesis 1 we see that God created man in His image. Jesus Himself is among the seven churches. He is clothed with garments from head to toe.

There are many churches in this world but only seven are chosen and it is only among that seven that Jesus will manifest Himself. He doesn’t come as a king but a judge. When I did some research on how the belt can be worn around the chest instead of the waist, I found out that most judges in this world wear a belt around their chest. This is a sign of judgement.

What is a belt? The Bible says the belt is the truth and this truth is the word of God. This truth will be on Jesus’ chest and these seven truths will help people know if they are true or not. When Jesus will wear the seven truths on His chest He will visit each church to look for the truth. Only then will people know if they are true or not.

Revelation 1:14, His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow: and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

Jesus had a robe. A robe is used to cover nakedness; a robe is to cover up what is shameful before God. When Jesus Christ was arrested the Bible says He had a robe that everybody wanted. The robe was taken from Him and He was crucified with no clothes on because He bore all the sins of the world. It means that Christian or sinner, we are all naked before God.

In Revelation 3 Jesus says, “come to me and I will cover your nakedness”. He was wearing a robe to say He was holy and that no sin was found in Him. He also had white hair. Jesus lived to the age of 32 on earth. The Bible says that in heaven there is no old age and everything is always the same. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. When He was born it doesn’t say that He was born with white hair. So where did His white hair come from?

It was a sign that could teach the world something. Everything that is happening in this world has a teaching in the Bible. What is happening in Court today? You can find judge’s wearing white wigs, which shows you the supreme authority they have. It’s the same thing with God, God is teaching us and this white hair shows God’s supreme authority as judge of this world.

His eyes were like a flame of fire. It means that nothing is hidden from Jesus. The Bible says at judgement day everything will be exposed. If you are a sinner your sins will be exposed and you won’t be able to take a robe and cover up because judgement will be there