Outline
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The organic maintenance of the golden lampstand is Christ's heavenly ministry to cherish the churches in His humanity and nourish the churches in His divinity to produce the overcomers through His organic shepherding—Rev. 1:13; 2:7; John 10:11, 14; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4; Heb. 13:20:
A
The Son of Man is in His humanity, the golden girdle signifies His divinity, and the breasts are a sign of love:
１
Christ was girded at the loins, strengthened for the divine work (Exo. 28:4; Dan. 10:5) to produce the churches, but now He is girded about at the breasts, caring for the churches that He has produced by His love (Rev. 1:13).
２
The golden girdle signifies Christ's divinity as His divine energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by and with His love to nourish the churches.
B
Christ takes care of the churches in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them—v. 13a:
１
He dresses the lamps of the lampstands to make them proper, cherishing us that we may be happy, pleasant, and comfortable—Exo. 30:7; cf. Psa. 42:5, 11:
ａ
The Lord's presence provides an atmosphere of tenderness and warmth to cherish our being, giving us rest, comfort, healing, cleansing, and encouragement.
ｂ
We can enjoy the cherishing atmosphere of the Lord's presence in the church to receive the nourishing supply of life—Eph. 5:29; cf. 1 Tim. 4:6; Eph. 4:11.
Morning Nourishment
Rev. 1:12-13 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle.Christ today is in the midst of the churches. On the one hand, as the High Priest, He is interceding in the heavens for the churches (Heb. 9:24; 7:25-26; Rom. 8:34), and on the other hand, He is walking in the midst of the churches to care for them. If we would participate in His move and enjoy His care, we must be in the churches. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 95)
Christ as the Son of Man is not only for the accomplishing of redemption but also for the church life, because the church is composed of human beings. That the Lord is still the Son of Man after His ascension indicates that He has not put off His human nature after resurrection…In His humanity He was altogether victorious and successful in bearing the testimony of God. The churches also, being in humanity, surely can be victorious and successful in bearing the testimony of God. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4135)
Today’s Reading
Christ is the best model of cherishing and nourishing as seen in Revelation 1…[Verses 12 and 13 show] that Christ is taking care of the lampstands by being the Son of Man with a long garment. This garment is the priestly robe (Exo. 28:33-35), which shows that Christ is our great High Priest.He is also girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle. This girdle is a long piece of gold…The golden girdle is one piece of gold to become a belt. The Son of Man is in His humanity, and the golden girdle signifies His divinity. This golden girdle is on His breasts, and the breasts are a sign of love.
The priests in the Old Testament were girded at the loins for their ministry (Exo. 28:4). In Daniel 10:5 Christ also was girded at His loins, with fine gold. To be girded at the loins is to be strengthened for the work. Christ has finished His divine work in producing the churches. Now by His love He is caring for the churches that He has produced…Today Christ is our High Priest taking care of His churches established by His labor. But now He takes care of the churches with the girdle not on His loins but on His breasts, signifying love.
The golden girdle is a sign, signifying Christ’s divinity becoming His energy…The totality of Christ in His divinity has become a girdle. The golden girdle signifies Christ’s divinity becoming His energy, and the breasts signify that this golden energy is exercised and motivated by His love. His divine energy is exercised by and with His love to nourish the churches.
Christ takes care of the churches as the lampstands in His humanity as the Son of Man to cherish them (Rev. 1:13a). Christ as our High Priest takes care of the churches that He has established first in His humanity to cherish the churches, to make the churches happy, pleasant, and comfortable.
The high priest in the Old Testament dressed the lamps of the lampstands every morning (Exo. 30:7). To dress the lamps is to make them proper. Christ cares for the lampstands by trimming the wicks of the lamps of the lampstand, just as the priest did according to the type in the Old Testament (Exo. 25:38). When the wick was burned out, it became charred and black, so the priest had to come to cut off the black part of the wick. This is what it means to snuff the wick so that the lamp may shine better. The charred part of the wick, the snuff, signifies things that are not according to God’s purpose which need to be cut off, such as our flesh, our natural man, our self, and our old creation. All the lampstands are organic. They are living lampstands. Since each church is a living lampstand, each church has much feeling. A church with charred wicks will not feel comfortable. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” pp. 154-156)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 5, “The Vital Groups,” ch. 11