The Local Churches in the Book of Revelation

The Seven Lampstands as Symbols of the Local Churches (Revelation 1:20)

The fact that the golden lampstands symbolize the local churches implies that the local churches should be identical to one another in nature, shape, and purpose. Witness Lee comments:

In Revelation the churches, signified by the golden lampstands, are the testimony of Jesus (1:2, 9) in the divine nature, shining in the dark night locally, yet collectively. The churches should be of the divine nature—golden. They should be the stands, even the lampstands, that bear the lamp with the oil (Christ as the life-giving Spirit), shining in the darkness respectively and collectively. They are individual lampstands locally, yet at the same time they are a group, a collection, of lampstands universally. They are not only shining locally, but also bearing universally the same testimony both to the localities and to the universe. They are of the same nature and in the same shape. They bear the same lamp for the same purpose and are fully identified with one another, not having any individual distinctiveness. The differences of the local churches recorded in chapters two and three are all of a negative nature, not of a positive nature. Negatively, in their failures, they are different and separate one from another; but positively, in their nature, shape, and purpose, they are absolutely identical and connected one to another.

(Witness Lee, Genuine Ground, 133)

Elsewhere, Witness Lee reiterates:

All the golden lampstands are identical in nature, in shape, and in function to be the one expression of Christ. If the seven lampstands were put before us, we would not be able to distinguish them, because they are identical. Without numbering them, no one could discern which lampstand is which. They all are identical in their golden nature, the divine nature, in their shape, the form of Christ, and in their function, the shining of the Spirit. The Father is the nature, the Son is the shape, the form, and the Spirit is the shining power. All the local churches should be identical in the same nature of God, form of Christ, and function of the Spirit.

(Witness Lee, Critical “Ones”, 60)

1. The Seven Lampstands Being Seven Churches—Only One in a City

The significance of the seven lampstands being seven local churches in seven cities, respectively, indicates that there is only one lampstand in a city. Witness Lee remarks:

John was in spirit and he saw the golden lampstands—one lampstand for one city (1:10-12). He did not see thousands of believers. He saw only one lampstand for one city. This is so simple. The many believers in a city should be just one lampstand in one accord, without disputation, different opinions, or different concepts and divisions. Thank the Lord that we are here today standing in oneness, but in our hearts we may still hold on to something of ourselves and something other than Christ. In God’s eyes, a local church must be so simple. It should be a lampstand of pure gold without mixture—so simple, single, and pure.

(Witness Lee, History of the Church, 131)

Moreover, in elaborating on the fact that there is only one lampstand in a city, Watchman Nee comments on the need for the local administration of each lampstand:

Verses 12 and 13 say, “And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me; and when I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands One like the Son of Man.”

The seven lampstands that John saw were the seven churches. These seven churches depict the conditions of seven local churches on the earth. The seven lampstands are not joined as one, but they are seven separate lampstands, each being responsible for shining in its own locality. The church is one in life; it is one Body. However, in their outward appearance on earth, the churches have separate administrations; each church is responsible to the Lord alone as one of the seven lampstands. In reading Revelation 2 and 3, the condition, work, circumstance, responsibility, failure, reward, and punishment of each of the seven churches are different.

(Watchman Nee, Collected Works, Set 2, Vol. 34, 166-167)

Witness Lee explains that in the book of Revelation, local churches are symbolized as golden lampstands. The significance of this, he maintains, is that all local churches should be identical in the nature of God and in the shape of Christ, and that they should all function identically to shine out the Spirit as the testimony of Jesus. The many believers in a city are thus just one lampstand, one local church, responsible directly to the Lord. Each local church has its own distinct administration, yet is intrinsically connected in the divine life to all the other local churches as the golden lampstands. May the Lord purify our thinking concerning His church and enlighten us concerning the local churches as her simple, single, pure expression.

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