The Holy Spirit

[Mephibosheth2]

Originally Posted by aron

John sees seven lampstands, but he doesn't see 49 flames. He doesn't see seven Menorahs. He just sees the top of the Menorah: seven vertical, hollow, golden tubes (lampstands), each of which supports one lamp and one flame. And the flames are spirits, angels, stars, and messengers to the churches. They are all the same thing. It is simple; it is not so crowded in front of the throne as we might presume. That is why Rev. 8:2 is so important, conceptually, to me. To me that suggests that it's all the same.

The tubes that feed into the lamps of the Menora are not called 'lampstands'; they are, according to all Jewish descriptions, termed 'branches' because they branch out from the lampstand. These are two different aspects of the same thing. The lampstand itself is made up of the base and the stem, which issue into the branches that hold the lamps. So, for your theory to work seamlessly, John needs to have described the seven churches as 'seven branches' and not 'seven lampstands'.

There are two different kinds of Menora: there is the Menora we are discussing: the Menora to do with the temple; and it is described as a 'seven-branched lampstand'. And then there is the Menora (hannukah), described as a 'nine-branched candelabrum' lit on the Jewish holiday of Hannukah.