And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
Behold, a candlestick - or chandelier with seven lights: borrowed from the candlestick of the Mosaic tabernacle (Ezek. 25:31 , etc.), symbolizing the Jewish theocracy, and ultimately the Church, of which the Jewish portion is to be the head: the light-bearer (so the original [foosteeres] is of "lights," Philippians 2:15, "among whom ye shine as lights in the world;" cf. Matthew 5:14; Matthew 5:16) to the world.
All of gold - all pure in doctrine and practice, precious and indestructible; such is the true ideal of the Church; such she shall be (Psalms 45:13).
With a bowl upon the top of it - in the candlestick of the tabernacle the plural is used, bowls (Exodus 25:31). The Hebrew х gulaah (H1543), Song of Solomon 4:12] implies that it was the fountain of supply of oil to the lamps. 'A candlestick, with its bowl' or 'spring' for supply. Christ at the head ("upon the top") of the Church is the true fountain, of whose fullness of the Spirit all we receive grace (John 1:16).
And his seven lamps thereon - united in one stem; so in Exodus 25:32. But in Revelation 1:12 the seven candlesticks are separate. The Gentile churches will not realize their unity until the Jewish Church, as the stem, unites all the lamps in one candlestick (Romans 11:16-24). The "seven lamps" in Revelation 4:5 are the "seven Spirits of God" - i:e., the Holy Spirit, in His infinite fullness and perfection.
And seven pipes to the seven lamps - feeding tubes, seven a-piece from the "bowl" to each lamp (see margin, Maurer and Calvin) х shib`aah (H7651) wªshib`aah (H7651)]; literally, seven and seven: 49 in all. The greater the number of oil-feeding pipes the brighter the light of the lamps. The explanation in Zechariah 4:6 is, that man's power by itself can neither retard nor advance God's work, that the real motive-power is God's Spirit. The seven times seven imply the manifold modes by which the Spirit's grace is imparted to the Church in her manifold work of enlightening the world. The seven pipes here answer to "the seven eyes" of Yahweh in the vision (Zechariah 3:9). The seven-fold supply of oil implies the full and perfect supply of the Holy Spirit granted to Zerubbabel (the representative of the Jewish Church), enabling him to overcome all obstacles: so that as his "hands laid the foundation. of the house," so "his hands should also finish" (Zechariah 4:9). Messiah alone, the antitype to Zerubbabel, has the Spirit in infinite fullness; "for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto Him" (John 3:34).