Zechariah: Odd Visions, Puzzling Statements, Messiah Peeks Out, God Wins Chapter 4 – The Lampstand and the Trees (The Messiah, the Spirit, and the Two Sons)

Introduction : Now we come to the fifth vision. There is a structure to the grammatical text of this vision:

The Introduction verse 1 The Vision verses 2-3 The First Question verse 4 Do you not know? verse 5 The Answer verse 6-7 A Companion Message to verses 8-10 The Second and Third Questions verses 11-12 Do you not know? verse 13 The Answer verse 14

Unlike the chiastic structures we saw in lessons 1 and 3, here the structure is clear parallelism.

The Vision (vs. 2-3): There is a golden menorah (the Hebrew word) with a bowl on top (literally its “head”) with seven lamps and seven pipes to the lamps. And there are two olive trees, one on its right and one on its left. To get a picture of this vision, the bowl is equal to or above the lights and would be filled with oil. The oil would flow from this golden bowl through the golden pipes to the golden lamps. The bowl itself, as we find from verse 12, is apparently fed by golden pipes that have receptacles which collect golden olive oil from the two trees. But what does this all mean?

The Interpretation (vs. 6-7): The angel answers Zechariah's inquiry as to the meaning with these words: “Not with strength of resources and not with strength of vigor, but with My Spirit, says Yahweh of the armies. Who are you great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And the head stone shall be brought forth with shoutings: “Grace, Grace to it!”

The background to this message is as follows. Seventeen years previously, Zerubbabel had left his home in Babylon and led a ragtag group of Jews back to (Ezra 2:1). Two years later he made an attempt to build the temple (Ezra 3:8) but opposition arose (Ezra 4:1-2), his opponents sent a letter to the king (Ezra 4:11-22), and the project was forcefully stopped (Ezra 4:23-24). This was not a pleasant experience for Zerubbabel. Now, at the instruction of Haggai and Zechariah he began to build again (Ezra 5:1-2). Again opposition arises (Ezra 5:3) and another letter is written to the king identifying by name those building the temple, undoubtedly including himself as the ringleader (Ezra 5:8-17). Zerubbabel was discouraged. The angel gets right to the point. We might expect the angel to tell Zechariah that the menorah is “x” and the trees are “y” and this means “z.” But the angel jumps directly to “z” and only later fills in “x” and “y.” The meaning is this: The work of God is not dependent on resources nor vigor. The Hebrew words used here for “might” and “power” as the verse is generally translated, are two close Hebrew synonyms; but to the extent they shade in different directions, the two shades reference strength as it relates first to resources and then to vigor. So what happens when our resources are spent and our vigor is gone? What does this mean for the work of God. The answer is surprising. Our lack or resources and our lack of vigor does not diminish God's ability to accomplish His work. To the contrary, our inability creates 2 the pathway for His ability. God's work is not begun with our resources or our vigor, it is not sustained by our resources or our vigor, and it is not completed by our resources or our vigor. It is begun, sustained, and completed solely by the Spirit of God working through willing people. And any work not begun, sustained, or completed by the Spirit is not God's work. This is the message to Zerubbabel. The presence of the Spirit is critical to the work of God. When God gave instructions to build the tabernacle in the wilderness, we find that He filled individuals with His Spirit to accomplish the work (Exodus 28:3; 31:3). When desired to build the first temple, it was the Spirit of God who provided the plans (1 Chronicles 28:11-12). When God needed a man to lead His people out of bondage, He placed His Spirit on Moses (Numbers 11:17, 25). When God needed a man to lead His people into the promised land, He filled Joshua with His Spirit (Numbers 27:18; Deuteronomy 34:9). When God set about to rescue His people from their enemies, He sent His Spirit to the judges and to king Saul (Judges 3:10; 6:34; 11:29; 13:25; 14:6, 19; 15:14; 1 Samuel 11:6). When God found a man after His own heart, He placed His Spirit upon David to rule His people (1 Samuel 16:13). The work of Jesus began only after the Spirit came on Him (Luke 4:14-15). And, when Jesus went away, He gave express instructions to His followers to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:8). These are not mere coincidences in Scripture. If the Master waited for the Spirit to begin His work, relied on the Spirit to do His work, and completed His work by the Spirit (Hebrews 9:14), how much more do we need to learn lives of dependency on the Spirit of God? God's Spirit is God's key to God's work. Thus, the meaning of the menorah and the trees is that the work of God relies on the Spirit. Four months earlier, Zerubbabel specifically had been told to take courage because “My Spirit stands in your midst” (:5). Though the Jews had no resources and they had no vigor (they were discouraged and worn out), they had the Spirit of the living God, and He is sufficient for His people to perform His work. The mountain, almost all commentators agree, represents opposition or difficulties, or perhaps Gentile powers (Jeremiah 51:25; Amos 6:1). Mountains becoming plains is a Messianic idea (Isaiah 40:3-5). Jesus tied the idea of moveable mountains to faith (Matthew 17:20; 21;21). Implicit in this entire passage, and perhaps more explicit in Ezra and Haggai, Zerubbabel was a man of faith. Though previously thwarted, at the word of God Zerubbabel by faith again began the task of building the temple. And the mountain become a plain. The letter from Zerubbabel's adversaries reached king Darius. Darius sent a letter back to the adversaries commanding them to provide the resources that were needed to build the temple and to maintain Jewish worship (Ezra 6:1-12). And they did so (Ezra 6:13-15). The mountain truly had become a plain! But there is more. Zerubbabel would finish the temple and place the capstone (literally in Hebrew the “chief stone”). Only one other place in the do we find the word “chief” modifying “stone.” David spoke of a stone that would become chief in Psalm 118:22: We generally translate this as “chief cornerstone,” and this may be right. It is certainly true that the word “corner” in Psalm 118:22 is elsewhere also used of Christ in Isaiah 28:16 in reference to a cornerstone in a foundation. But translating the Hebrew word “corner” as a “cornerstone” is not the only possible meaning of that Hebrew word. The word translated “corner” can also mean stones up high (Zephaniah 1:16 --“high towers”; Exodus 27:2 – fastening places for the horns of the altar). Thus, it is equally possible to translate Psalm 118:22 to represent the top corner piece of a structure, a capstone. The Psalm 118:22 passage is quoted in Matthew 21:42. The Greek word used in Matthew 21:42 is as ambiguous as the Hebrew word, and can be translated either as 3

a cornerstone or a keystone. You will find translations going both ways on the meaning of these words. Here, given that the foundation had already been laid (Haggai 2:18), it seems most appropriate to read this chief stone as the capstone. Such also ties in well with verse 9 where Yahweh says that Zerubbabel will finish the temple. And there would be great celebration. The word used for “grace” is the Hebrew word we find most often in Scripture when it appears in the phrase “found favor in the eyes of ...” (47 out of 69 usages of the word). Though the first temple was completed with an extravagant celebration that could never be matched with the resources available to the Jews in 516 B.C. (2 Chronicles 5), the second temple would have its own celebration. This was the promise given by God to the builder. Nevertheless, the grammar employed here is most interesting. If I read the passage correctly, the shouts of grace are not to the temple as a whole, but to “it,” a reference back to the capstone. Now, we can understand the celebration on completing the temple, but it is very unusual to have such an outpouring focused on a single stone, unless... The idea of a stone elsewhere in Scripture is linked to the Messiah (Psalm 118:22; Isaiah 28:16). And in Daniel 2:34, 35, 45, a cognate Aramaic word references the coming Messiah. Is it possible that the Spirit wanted the capstone of the second temple to remind us of the Messiah to come? Tertullian, the earliest of the Latin church fathers, writing at the end of the second century A.D. Stated his view that the capstone is Christ (“Against Marcion,” Book 3, Chapter 7). I think he may be right.

The Companion Message (vs. 8-10): 1. Zerubbabel would complete the temple: This happened in 516 B.C., only four years after this prophecy (Ezra 6:14-15). And again we have the striking Messianic phrase we first saw in :9 and 11 and should be seen likewise here. The different personages in the Unity of God will be known by the coming to pass of the prophetic word. We too know of the different personages in the Unity of God by the coming to pass of the prophetic Word. The Word sent from God was God. 2. Who has despised the day of small things? This little second temple should not be despised. This temple that seemed so insignificant in comparison to Solomon's temple in fact would last far longer than Solomon's (585 vs. 364 years) and would see the Messiah come to it at His dedication, teach in it when he was twelve, claim it both when He began His ministry and when He ended it, receive the little children in it during the passion week, and tear its veil in two when He died. Who has despised the day of small things? Remember the mustard seed and the yeast. The eyes of faith can see the eternal fruit from the cup of cold water given in His name. The next clause “even these seven shall rejoice in seeing the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel” requires some interpretation. The following sentence explains that these seven are the eyes of Yahweh which go quickly in all the earth. The seven eyes in :9 may or may not be linked to these seven eyes. But in the context of Zechariah 4, I see the seven eyes as being tied to the seven lamps. The seven lamps represent the Spirit of God. This passage then becomes foundational to Revelation 4:5 where we again find seven lamps and are told “the seven lamps...are the seven Spirits of God.” And, if the seven lamps represent the Spirit of God, then this verse is giving us a most remarkable truth. The Spirit rejoices over the small works we do for our God. Not often do we think of our God rejoicing. But He does. And He rejoices over our small works for Him. If we had the eyes of faith, we also would shout. The work is just beginning. Zerubbabel is laying out the walls. The plumb line is in his hand. And the Spirit is rejoicing. Amazing! May we be those who bring rejoicing, and not grief, to the Spirit of God. 4

The Second Set of Questions and Interpretation (vs. 11-14): Zechariah now asks about the two olive trees and their pipes that feed the menorah. He is told that these are the two sons of fresh oil standing besides the Lord of all the earth. We find this phrase “Lord of all the earth” again in :5. In :9, we find that Yahweh will be king over all the earth. The phrase is definitely Messianic. The two olive trees are the two sons of fresh oil (the word is not “anointed”, as some translations state, but rather the idea of vitality or fruitfulness). If the two olive trees represent the sons of fresh oil who stand besides the Lord of all the earth, and given that in the vision the two olive trees stand besides the menorah, then the menorah must represent the Lord of all the earth. This would make the vision of the menorah thoroughly Messianic. He is, after all, the light of the world (John 1:9; 8:12; 12:46). The two sons of fresh oil then must be two individuals who stand before the Messiah. And this is in fact what we find in Revelation 11:4, where Scripture explains this Zechariah passage as referencing the two witnesses who stand before the God of all the earth. It is possible that these witnesses are Moses and Elijah, the two who stood before the Messiah on the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:30-31). This is what Tertullian thought (“Against Marcion,” Book 4, Chapter 22). So we end up with the Messiah being the menorah, the Spirit being the light of the menorah, and the two witnesses being the trees standing besides the menorah. Given the significant Messianic overtones throughout this vision as well as throughout the previous two visions, one begins to wonder if we should be looking at these visions with a different set of eyes. Are they telling us more? We already have seen that the structure of the book is focused on the Messiah. Clearly, the third vision is Messianic, as we have the One sent and the One sending, Yahweh coming to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, and the Gentiles being His people. The fourth vision is Messianic with Joshua and his fellow priests being a wondrous sign of the coming Branch. The fifth vision is Messianic with the menorah representing the Lord of all the earth. Should we be surprised to find the Messiah peeking out of the other visions? In fact, this is precisely what I see. The first vision tells us of Christ's compassion when we were under bondage and in great distress (Ephesians 2:4-5). The second vision tells us of His destruction of our four great adversaries, the world (John 16:33); our sinful flesh (Romans 8:3); the law (Colossians 2:14), and the devil (Hebrews 2:14). I see the four skilled ones as being the four gospel writers whose message is like a great sword that spreads news of the defeat of the enemies. The third vision tells us of His unmeasurable blessings (Ephesians 1:3) and His presence with us (Matthew 1:23; 28:20). The fourth vision tells us of His sacrifice for us and the removal of our sins (1 Peter 3:18). The fifth vision tells us of the temple He is building through His Holy Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22). The sixth vision tells us of the sanctifying power of Christ in our lives with the removal of sinful acts from us (Romans 6:6-7). The seventh vision tells us of His holiness in removing the presence of sin from us (Colossians 1:13). And the eighth vision tells us of His peace that He brings to us and looks forward to the ultimate peace when He reigns (Ephesians 2:13-17). Notice, each vision centers back to the work of Christ (compassion, deliverance, presence, forgiveness, community, sanctification, holiness, and peace). The parallel passage to the vision of the menorah and the two olive trees in the second half of Zechariah is the passage speaking of the God who was pierced (:10). A small event, in a remote area of the mighty Roman Empire, the death of a condemned man, would be the mightiest work this world has ever seen, and His being lifted up leaves us all crying “grace! grace!”