Appreciating the rich symbolism of Old Covenant metaphors and their fulfilment in Jesus – and in us.
At Christmas time especially, we all have an enhanced appreciation of light and its capacity to decorate and illuminate, brightening up the gloom. As our Editor-in-Chief expands on elsewhere in this final 2018 issue of Prophecy Today UK, the scriptures emphasise that God is light, and in that light we find life (1 John 1:5; John 1:4).
That we might learn this lesson, the Lord has written it into the DNA of Creation. Life on this planet is completely dependent upon light: for energy, warmth and food. It is from light that Earth gets its vibrant colours, its daily and seasonal rhythms and its water cycle. Since the dawn of civilisation, light has been central to human culture and communication, giving comfort, guidance and security – whether warming fires or the gentle glow of evening lamps.
Put simply, in light is our life: and this physical and social lesson points us towards a greater spiritual reality.
The Bible reminds us that the world’s physical light originated in the spoken, creative word of God. The immortal words of Genesis 1: “Let there be light!” spoke light into darkness and life into a lifeless void. Revelation reminds us that at the end of history, physical light sources will be replaced by God himself (Rev 21:23, 22:5). Intentionally, the Bible is book-ended with references to God as the eternal and true source of Light.
In light is our life: and this physical and social lesson points us towards a greater spiritual reality.
But not just the Light – God is our light, personally as well as universally. We see this most clearly in Exodus, where God’s presence leads the Children of Israel through the wilderness towards the Promised Land, appearing as a pillar of fire by night “to give them light on the way they were to take” (Neh 9:12).
It is here that we learn that God desires to lead his children in the way they should go, illuminating their path. This idea was built into the communal life and worship of Israel through the rich symbolism of the menorah. Though this is celebrated most prominently at Hanukkah, it is worth meditating on again as we approach Christmas and celebrate the coming of Messiah, the True Light, into the world.
The emblem of the State of Israel.God with Us
The distinctive seven-branched candleholder is apparently the oldest continuously used religious symbol in the Western world (perhaps the entire world) and serves as the main symbol on the official emblem of the State of Israel, referencing the miraculous endurance of the Jewish people. Scripturally, it first appears in Exodus 25, where God instructs Moses on how to make this elaborate lamp to light the Tabernacle, the community’s place of worship and meeting with God.
Shining continuously in the centre of the Israelite encampment, the menorah signified the presence of God dwelling in the midst of his people. It was David who later sang: “You are my lamp, O Lord, the Lord shall enlighten my darkness” (2 Sam 22:29).
Known in rabbinic culture as the ‘light of the world’, the menorah was a constant reminder to Israel of their God-given mandate to display his glory, truth and faithfulness to the nations. And it was close to the menorah in the Temple courts in Jerusalem that the Son of God later dared to declare “I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
Beautiful Detail
But there is more meaning within God’s instructions for the menorah that often gets missed. Made of pure gold and all of one piece despite its ornate details, the menorah speaks of God’s majesty, purity and his all-sufficiency. We have no need to attach anything to the Lord; he is more than enough.
Beaten and hammered into shape, the menorah speaks of God the Son: sinless and pure, but afflicted and stricken – made perfect through suffering (Heb 2:10). Similarly, the menorah’s light was fuelled by pure olive oil, the crushed fruit of the ‘eternal’ olive tree, just as Jesus was “crushed for our iniquities” (Isa 53:5). The oil also speaks of his anointing as our King and Great High Priest.
Shining continuously in the centre of the Israelite encampment, the menorah signified the presence of God dwelling in the midst of his people.
The unique, distinctive shape of the menorah - three branches on one side, three on the other and one in the middle – is also full of meaning. The six branches, biblically the number of fallenness, symbolise imperfect humanity while the seventh represents Yeshua, dwelling in our midst, making us perfect. The six branches are traditionally dependent on the central candle, the shamash or ‘servant’, from which the others are lit, just as Yeshua, the Servant of Isaiah 42, humbled himself to become “a light to the Gentiles”.
So, hidden in the branches of the menorah is a picture of our Servant King, and a picture of us, his people, together living in the pattern of our Master: children of the light (Eph 5:8). This new community of faith shines forth light in the darkness, as God always intended. Indeed, some see in the menorah a picture of the olive tree of Romans 11, in which Jew and Gentile are joined together in Yeshua, or the vine of John 15, symbolising Yeshua as the source of life and love for all believers.
The menorah is quite obviously shaped like a tree – which in Scripture connotes both life and wisdom (e.g. Prov 3:18). The ornate almond blossoms are reminders of our authority as a priesthood of believers, just as Aaron’s staff budded with almond blossoms to symbolise God’s approval for the Levitical priesthood. Some see the buds and blossoms on the menorah as a symbol of believers being the ‘first fruits’ of a greater harvest to come, since almond trees blossom early, heralding the spring.
In the menorah we also see a tree that is continuously ablaze but not consumed: a vivid reminder of the burning bush where God met Moses so powerfully, as well as the Day of Pentecost when tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the disciples. We are reminded that as living sacrifices, God desires to indwell us with his glory - not consuming us but shining out through our lives to the rest of the world. We are also reminded of the need to be filled continuously with the oil of the Holy Spirit, that we might be prepared for his return (Matt 25).
Children of Light
The menorah is a beautiful Old Covenant picture of God dwelling with/in man and man dwelling in/with God: a picture fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and also in us, “sons of light and sons of the day” (1 Thess 5:5). “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness’, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ” (2 Cor 4:6).
As we receive the light and life of Yeshua within our souls and become part of his Living Menorah, so we ought naturally to shine in the midst of a dark world, radiating his light to the lost. Just like the nation of Israel was and is called to be a light to all other nations, so we are called to “let our light shine before men, so they will see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matt 5:14-16).
The menorah is a beautiful Old Covenant picture of God dwelling with/in man and man dwelling in/with God: a picture fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and also in us.
Christmas affords us all opportunity in this respect, that through us others might be drawn to “the true Light which gives light to every man” (John 1:9).
What an incredible gift: that our God, who “dwells in unapproachable light” (1 Tim 6:16), laid aside his garments of light (Ps 104:2) and took on human flesh, that we might become “children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as stars in the universe, holding fast the word of life” (Phil 2:15-16). Glory! This is what Christmas should celebrate – and it is what the world desperately needs.