That Marvelous Menorah

I’ve been wanting to tell you what I’ve seen in the beautiful and complex design of the Menorah, or Lamptstand for some time. As I go through the notes I’ve scribbled over the last three years, I see many hastily sketched Menorah’s (Menorii? Menoryim?), accompanied by observations or notes, on the pages. I suppose it’s become a bit of an obsession for me. Maybe that’s a good thing.

After taking the dogs outside for their morning routine and closing the windows against the heat of summer that arrives very shortly after sunrise, I wanted to lull myself back to sleep by pondering all the amazing things God has done. I prayed for release of captives and for the protection and deliverance of children worldwide who are trafficked or will become targets of trafficking. And I started to drift off to sleep. I “heard” something in my soul: Scan 37 18.

What the what?

I Googled it. Besides some listing of medical studies and protocols in Sweden, I came up with a big fat nothing. That was annoying.

Eventually I got out of bed and made some coffee, and thought I might “scan” the Bible for books that had 37 chapters, then read the 18^th verse. Genesis yielded the verse describing how Joseph’s brothers knew he was coming to see them and decided to lay in wait so they could kill him. It was an interesting verse and I pondered whether the tribes of Israel waited for Jesus, knowing he was coming, so they could kill him. It would be a good thing to ponder another day, but I didn’t think this verse was what I was looking for. On to Exodus.

This traditional Jewish Menorah
doesn't have a raised Servant branch.
Hmmmm.

Verse 18 was part of the the description of the Menorah. Actually, it’s the second description of the Menorah in scripture, and where this blog post really (finally) starts. 

Maybe what I heard this morning was God was telling me to stop THINKING about the design of this beautiful lampstand, and start WRITING about it.

Disclaimer: You can find a lot of this information in other online sources, so it may not be new to many of you. I don’t take credit for “discovering” any of this, because I think it’s been studied in great detail by people more scholarly than me. But, hopefully it’s a fairly comprehensive set of facts and observations in one convenient place. Maybe you’ll even leave this page with a WOW in your mind. That’s my hope, because I really believe the Lampstand is one of the most prophetic objects in scripture.

Here goes.

Exodus 37:17-24

17 And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same:

18 And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof:

19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:

21 And a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches going out of it.

22 Their knops and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

23 And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, of pure gold.

24 Of a talent of pure gold made he it, and all the vessels thereof.

Before I get too far into the design, I want to share a neat little thing I noticed this morning regarding this verse, which I had overlooked all the other times I’ve looked at it. This is the second time the menorah is described in detail. There’s a third time the lampstand is really the focus of scripture, but we’ll get to that later.

 

I thought I’d count the chapters between these first two mentions. Twelve. In Scripture, 12 is a perfect number, symbolizing God's power and authority, a perfect governmental foundation, anointed service, and the completeness of the nation of Israel. Jesus called 12 apostles to follow him. There were 12 stones both placed in the Jordan by Joshua (of his OWN choosing, hint hint) and 12 removed from the place where the feet of the Levitical priest stood in the Jordan while the people crossed through it. The Scripture's first recording of Jesus' words occurs when he is twelve years old. The number twelve is used 22 times in the book of Revelation.

The gap between the design of the menorah and the actual completion of the menorah is 12 chapters. In 12 chapters, the menorah was completed. Cool. Let’s look at verses.

In chapter 25, there are 9 remaining verses until the beginning of the next chapter. When you count out the verses in each chapter between 25:31 and 37:17, it looks like this:

9+37+21+43+46+38+18+35+23+35+35+38+17 = 395

The numbers 9, 18, and 17 jumped out at me.

The chapter in which the menorah is first described has 9 verses left. Nine symbolizes judgement. Perhaps the number of verses is pointing to the judgement about to take place, since chapter 26 is the one in which Aaron makes a golden calf while Moses is on the mountaintop.

The middle chapter (6th from each end) is 31, which has fewer verses than any of the other chapters at a scant 18. Eighteen is an interesting number, as well, because it typically is used to point to captivity or bondage. Israel was in bondage to Eglon and the Philistines for 18 years (assisted by the Ammonites) after entering the Promised Land, and then God freed them. Jesus healed a woman from a spirit of infirmity that she was under for 18 years. He did this on a Sabbath. I suppose if we’re held in bondage we can really appreciate our freedom, which is represented by the verse number in which the description of the completed menorah starts in chapter 37. If you’ve been following what I’ve written in my blog, you know how fitting it is that such a beautiful and central symbol starts in verse 17. And, you’ll see how beautifully this number is woven into the design of the menorah. Just wait!

I’ve talked about the ways in which the numbers 10 and 7 are used in scripture. It’s my understanding that the complete victory we are striving for in our lives is comprised of 7’s and 10’s. Enoch was the 7^th generation from Adam, and Noah was the 10^th. Ten Commandments are given, and seven churches are specifically addressed in Revelation. Ten represents the letter of the law, and 7 represents the spirit of the law. How does that apply to the menorah? I’m so glad you asked! Take another look at verses 19 and 20.

19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, his knops, and his flowers:

Three bowls/knops/flowers (let’s call them BFKs) are specifically mentioned for the first branch. Three BFKs were specifically mentioned for the second branch, for a total of six sets. The second part of verse 19 implies the rest of the BFKs on the other four branches. Verse 20 specifically lists the bowls/knops/flowers on the center of the lampstand, or trunk, from which all the other branches stem, but the trunk has FOUR sets of BFKs, for a total of 10 sets.

There’s that 10, specifically stated. Look at verse 23.

23 And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, of pure gold.

Seven lamps are at the tops of the seven branches. The center (trunk) is called the Servant Branch of the Menorah, and is to remain lit at all times. It’s taller than all the other branches - at least in the menorahs that are displayed by those of us who believe Jesus is the Messiah - and is used to light all the other lamps. 

But this Menorah with both a Star of
David and the symbols of Christ
DOES have a raised Servant Branch.
More hmmmm.

Remember that the trunk has four BFK sets. Did you already know that the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet is dalet, which is given a numerical value of 4 and symbolizes an open door? Who is the door? None other than Jesus. He’s the light that lights all other lamps, he’s the Servant, he’s the center of it all.

This is a good time to mention that the oil used in the lamps is to be beaten from olives and is to be absolutely pure and free of sediment. It’s only supposed to burn in the lamp for a day and fresh oil is poured in at the beginning of each day. Maybe that’s a representation of God’s mercy being new each day and a reminder that we should start each day with some fresh oil, free of metaphorical sediment that might gunk up the workings of our lamps.

The lamps called out are the 7 that complete the 10 stated BFKs, giving us a perfect seventeen of total victory in which we escape from bondage. That reminds me that I wanted to tell about the warning of bondage in the menorah design, as well.

Ten BFKs were expressly stated, but there are also another 12 that were implied in the second half of verse 19.

19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knop and a flower; and three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knop and a flower: so throughout the six branches going out of the candlestick.

That makes a total of 22 BFK sets. Now that is pretty interesting because that's the total number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet. But if we would dare to leave out the Servant, Jesus, and his four BFK sets, we’d have a total of 18. As mentioned above, 18 represents bondage. We’re in bondage without Jesus. That's a serious warning.

Now we’re cooking with some ultra-pure, holy oil! Are you gleefully clapping your hands over this yet? No? Please don't give up. There’s a lot to share and it gets even more surprising.

But this post is already long enough, so you’ll have to wait for Part Two.

Eyes up!