2018 WT Message Nine – Prophesying Reference

Crystallization-Study of Numbers

Opening Word of the Prophesying Meeting

Message Nine

Lighting the Lamps

Reading the verses in each day.

Reading the main points in the outlines.

Pray-reading the verses:

Numbers 8：2-3 Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in front of the lampstand. And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

Revelation 4：5 And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;

Word of Appetizer

Although many details regarding the Tent of Meeting were omitted in Numbers 8, God specifically instructed Aaron to light the lamps of the lampstand.

After the offering of the twelve tribes of Israel and the speaking of God in Numbers 7, God instructed Moses to light the lamps; The unique purpose of lighting the lamps was for offering, fighting, and moving; offering, fighting, and moving all require light.

If God’s people consecrate something to God, He will shine among them, and they will have light; in order for God’s people to become His army, they must have light in order to fight, walk, and serve.

Spiritual Burden

The unique purpose of lighting the lamps was for offering, fighting, and moving; offering, fighting, and moving all require light. In order for God’s people to become His army, they must have light in order to fight, walk, and serve.

To experience the genuine lighting of the lamps in the church meetings, we must have Christ, the embodiment of the Triune God, as the lampstand, the divine nature as the gold, the uplifted humanity of Christ as the wick, and the Spirit of Christ as the oil with all the steps of Christ’s process, and we must be holy people as the priests, clothed with the expression of Christ as the priestly garments.

Concluding Word of the Prophesying Meeting

The Revelation of the Truth

Although many details regarding the Tent of Meeting were omitted in Numbers 8, God specifically instructed Aaron to light the lamps of the lampstand.

The light of the lampstand is based on the strength of the priests’ service:

“You shall command the children of Israel to bring to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall maintain it in order from evening to morning before Jehovah; it shall be a perpetual statute to be observed throughout their generations by the children of Israel”.

The seven lamps of the golden lampstand are the seven Spirits before God’s throne, the seven lamps of fire burning before God’s throne.

To know God’s administration and economy we must have the light of the golden lampstand from the seven shining and illuminating lamps: According to Revelation 4, the emphasis with the seven burning lamps of fire is on the move of God’s administration:

The Experience of Life

“Until I came into the church, then I understood.” Very often we face problems, and we remain perplexed after much pondering over them. Nevertheless, once we come to the meetings, immediately we understand.

Why is this? It is because in the Holy Place there is the shining of the seven lamps.

In God’s sanctuary (in our spirit and in the church) we receive divine revelation and obtain the explanation to all our problems.

Practice and Application

Everything we do in the meeting—our speaking, singing, praising, calling, shouting, pray-reading—must cause the holy light to ascend. This is to light the lamps in God’s sanctuary so that the light may swallow up the darkness.

Using Key Verses to Have a Bird’s-Eye View over the Whole Outline

Key Verses (1)

Num.8:2-3 Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in front of the lampstand. And Aaron did so; he set up its lamps to give light in front of the lampstand, as Jehovah had commanded Moses.

1Sam.3:2-3 And at that time Eli lay in his place, and his eyesight had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see. And the lamp of God had not yet gone out. And Samuel lay in the temple of Jehovah, where the Ark of God was.

Ⅰ　Although many details regarding the Tent of Meeting were omitted in Numbers 8,

God specifically instructed Aaron to light the lamps of the lampstand.

Ⅱ　The light of the lampstand is based on the strength of the priests’ service:

After the offering of the twelve tribes of Israel and the speaking of God in Numbers 7, God instructed Moses to light the lamps; Numbers 8:1-2 says, “Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, … When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in front of the lampstand”
Without the shining of the light, the children of Israel could not move, much less fight for God.
If God’s people consecrate something to God, He will shine among them, and they will have light; in order for God’s people to become His army, they must have light in order to fight, walk, and serve.
In 1 Samuel the lamp of God was about to go out because Eli the priest was weak and degraded.
The light in a local church cannot be bright unless we fulfill our priestly duty to burn the incense and light the lamps.
Numbers 7 ends with God speaking in the Tent of Meeting, and chapter 8 begins with God’s continued speaking concerning the lighting of the lamps for light. The seven lamps giving light in the same direction signifies that even though each person has a distinct ministry in the Body, their direction is the same and their ministries are still one ministry.

Key Verses (2)

Exo.27:20-21 And you shall command the children of Israel to bring to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil which is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning before Jehovah; it shall be a perpetual statute to be observed throughout their generations by the children of Israel.

Rev.1:6 And made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

Exo.28:2 And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.

III And you shall command the children of Israel to bring to you pure oil of beaten olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. ……Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning before Jehovah; it shall be a perpetual statute to be observed throughout their generations by the children of Israel.

The olive tree signifies Christ, and the oil of beaten olives signifies the Spirit of Christ produced through Christ’s process of incarnation, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection.
To make the lamps burn continually means literally “to cause the light of a lamp to ascend”: The wicks signify the uplifted humanity of Christ, which burns with the divine oil to shine out the divine light.
The tabernacle as the Tent of Meeting, the place where God met with His redeemed people and spoke to them (Lev. 1:1), typifies the meeting of the church.
The holy task of lighting the lamps was a service of holy persons, the priests, not of the common people: we must be holy people as the priests, clothed with the expression of Christ as the priestly garments.
The light in the Holy Place was not a natural light or a man-made light; it was a light that came from the golden lampstand, that is, from the divine nature of Christ.
The priests were to maintain the lamps from evening to morning before Jehovah:

Key Verses (3)

Rev.4:5 And out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Psal.73:16-17 When I considered this in order to understand it, It was a troublesome task in my sight, Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I perceived their end.

IV. The seven lamps of the golden lampstand are the seven Spirits before God’s throne, the seven lamps of fire burning before God’s throne.

V. To know God’s administration and economy we must have the light of the golden lampstand from the seven shining and illuminating lamps:

VI. According to Revelation 4, the emphasis with the seven burning lamps of fire is on the move of God’s administration.

In the universe God has a center of administration, which is His throne. The seven lamps of fire burning before God’s throne signifies that the seven lamps are absolutely related to God’s administration, economy, and move.
Natural light cannot help us to know God’s economy, administration, and eternal purpose. In God’s sanctuary (in our spirit and in the church) we receive divine revelation and obtain the explanation to all our problems.
The burning of the fiery lamps is not only for shining and burning but also for motivating us to rise up and take action for the carrying out of God’s economy.

Prophesying Topics—Twelve Topics per Week

T1 The unique purpose of lighting the lamps was for offering, fighting, and moving(Num.8:1-4)

(Why although many details regarding the Tent of Meeting were omitted in Numbers 8, God specifically instructed Aaron to light the lamps of the lampstand?)

T2 Not only should the light shine brightly, but the direction of the light should also be proper. (Num.8:1-2)

(Please illustrate the spiritual significance of that the seven lamps will give light in front of the lampstand.)

T1 The light of the lampstand is based on the strength of the priests’ service.(1Sam.3:2-3)

(Please illustrate that in 1 Samuel the lamp of God was about to go out because Eli the priest was weak and degraded.)

T2 Only when there is God’s speaking in the church can light shine brightly among God’s people. (1Sam.3:1-3)

(Please illustrate that during the age of Eli the priest, when the word of Jehovah was rare, the lamps in the Holy Place were about to go out.)

T1 The light in the Holy Place was a light that came from the golden lampstand (Exo.27:20-21)

(Please illustrate that the light in the Holy Place was not a natural light or a man-made light; it was a light that came from the golden lampstand)

T2 The light of the lampstand comes from the burning of the wick. (Exo.27:20-21)

(Please illustrate the spiritual significance of that it is necessary to saturate the wicks with oil in order to have light.)

T1 The lighting of the lamps points to the proper way to meet. (Exo.27:21 footnote1)

(Please illustrate that everything done in the church meetings, whether praying, singing, praising, or prophesying, should cause the lamps to shine.)

T2 The light from the lamps enables us to see the items of furniture in the Holy Place, and also the way leading into the Holy of Holies. (Exo.27:21)

(Please illustrate the spiritual significance of the two reason of that the lighting of the lamps in the Holy Place.)

T1 The one who lights the lamps is a holy person, a priest(Exo.28:2;Rev.1:6)

(According to the entire Bible, what kind of person should a priest be?)

T2 In our gatherings we should cause the divine light to shine so that the darkness may vanish.(1John1:5)

(Please illustrate what the certain elements which must be involved whenever we experience the genuine lighting of the lamps in the meetings)

T1 In the universe God has a center of administration, which is His throne.（Rev. 4:5)

（According to Revelation 4, the emphasis with the seven burning lamps of fire is on the move of God’s administration）

T2 “Until I came into the church, then I understood.”(Psa.73:16-17)

(Why is this that very often we face problems, and we remain perplexed after much pondering over them. Nevertheless, once we come to the meetings, immediately we understand.)