Quote:
Originally Posted by UntoHim
not having any individual distinctiveness...but positively, in their nature, shape, and purpose, they are absolutely identical and are connected to one another.
Like I said, this is an argument from silence....and making an argument from silence is a very dangerous thing to be doing when it comes to the bible. "Absolutely identical"? I think not. -
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Argument from silence?..... Well, let us do have a closer look then.
"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands" Revelation 1:12
"As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands.... Revelation 1:20
"‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. Revelation 2:1
So John saw seven golden lampstands and mentions it three times as above....... not 5 lampstands and 2 Birdfeeders... not 4 lampstands, 2 Harley choppers, and 1 Ukelele... I am pretty confident that they are identically shaped as lampstands else John would have called our attention to it. Exodus 25 gives a detailed description of the shape and features of the lampstand.
John recorded that they were all golden .. not some golden and some ceramic... none were made of aluminum foil, tin, tupperware, particle board, rubber, or other such materials... all were golden. I think we can safely say they were identically made of of the same substance ...gold. That is their nature.
Now, we could just infer the purpose of the lampstand... a stand to a hold a lamp and the lamp was to give light by burning oil. But just in case that is perceived as an argument from silence, we can recall Exodus 25 and v37: "And you shall make its lamps, seven; and set up its lamps
to give light to the area in front of it." so I think we can safely add this to what is identical about the lampstands.. their purpose is to give light.
Given those verses and descriptions there is no argument from silence in the footnote for that is what it exactly states.. It is the plain teaching and description from the scripture. In any event, it has absolutely nothing to do with Chinese culture and frankly, to insist on that in the face of clear biblical evidence to the contrary is to fail to recognize or acknowledge that our High Priest is the One who designed the earthly pattern of the tabernacle to mirror the heavenly one. Is there all sorts of variation in the heavenly tabernacle?... none that we can see and any argument for variation in nature (gold) , shape (lampstands) , and purpose (to shine light) of the lampstands in the heavenly tabernacle is a bonfide argument from silence. Furthermore, if there is a danger to be considered, it is the heart that discards the clear testimony of scripture (here regarding the lampstands in Revelation 1:12, 20 and 2:1) in favor of flawed human reasoning. I'm good to go with the scriptural definition myself.
thanks
Drake