Zachariah

Zechariah Chapter 4

• Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
• 2 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:

Daniel had a similar experience of an angel waking him.

• Daniel 8:16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
• 17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
• 18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.

The candlestick is a lampstand that held seven oil lamps. Olive oil was used. The lamps were under an reservoir bowl containing oil that flowed through it to make sure the lamps stayed full of oil. This represented the infilling of the Holy Spirit to those that believe in God and have received the Messiah, we now know is Jesus, the one God sent to save us from sin. What a wonderful promise to be baptized in the Holy Spirit straight from the throne of God. 

We see a vision of the candlesticks in Revelation 1:12 and in Revelation 4:5 The candle sticks in Revelation represent the 7 churches according to the words of Jesus.

• Revelation 1:12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
• Revelation 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

Next we see the vision of the two olive tress on the right and left side of the bowl containing the oil. The olive trees are mentioned later in the chapter but they do represent two latter day witnesses that help remnant of Israel during the future time of Jacob's trouble or what we call the tribulation period. In Zechariah verse 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

I will repeat that verse again below but I wanted to include the reference to the olive trees in Revelation 11 while I'm on this topic of discussion. 

• Revelation 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
  4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
  5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
  6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
  7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
  8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
  9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
  10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
  11 And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
  12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
  13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

Isn't it great how the bible gives its own interpretation if we look, pray, trust the Holy Spirit and search the scriptures. It is exciting when we stop relying on tradition of men and study ourselves.

• Zechariah 4:3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
• 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
• 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
• 6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Truly the rebuilding of the temple and restoration of Jerusalem was by the power of the Lord. There have always been so many hindrances to the work of God by the enemy that it takes the power of the Spirit to overcome. That is still true today. Just as Israel could not have become a nation again without the power of the Lord, we cannot be victorious in our Christian walk without the power of the Lord. We must depend upon the Holy Spirit to within us in our daily walk. There is no way we can live a victorious Christian life without daily depending upon the Holy Spirit. There is only one stronger than our enemy and that is God. We cannot make it on our own strength, our own power or our own might but by the Spirit of the Lord.

We honor great generals and military leaders when they bring victory in war. The truth is though that it may be a mother's prayer that brought about their victory. No war can be won without the Lord allowing it no matter how great the army is. Look at the way the Lord helped Israel in the days they fought the Canaanites. By faith one could put a thousand to flight. Darius 1 ordered the work on the temple at Jerusalem to stop. That was nothing in the presence of the Holy Spirit. No matter how great evil rulers get upon the earth, they are nothing compared to the Power of God. Who are they to reply against the almighty God?

The two olive trees or two witnesses will go forth in the power of the Holy Spirit just like those God called to rebuild the temple in Zechariah's day.

• Zechariah 4:7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

The mountain was the hindrance to the rebuilding of the temple. Darius 1 represents this great mountain standing in the way of the rebuilding of the temple. Who is he though compared to the power of God? God is greater and mountains can be removed. The headstone or chief cornerstone was and shall be again laid in place and nothing shall hinder.    

Jeremiah refers to another mountain that represented Babylon:

• Jeremiah 51:24 And I will render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the LORD.
• 25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
• 26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.

Of course we don't want to continue without the words of Jesus about mountains:

• Matthew 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

Referring again to verse 7 of Zechariah 4, we will go to Ezra to help us understand about shoutings and the headstone:

• Ezra 3:11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
• 12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
• 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.

Never should we ever make fun of rejoicing and shouting when one worships God. We will see this at the Lord's LITERAL Second Coming.

• Zechariah 8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
• 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.

Here is another reference to this event in Ezra:

• Ezra 6:15 And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

Here is a prophecy that was fulfilled literally and will be fulfilled again in the latter days. The temple in Jerusalem will again be rebuild in the latter days. When the word of God says something will happen, it will. Sometimes we see delays and hindrances but that is just minor details that will be overcome by the power of God.

• Zechariah 4:10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Things may seem small and weak but by the Spirit of God they shall prosper and be powerful. The rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple seemed impossible and an impractical weak idea, yet it did come about by the Spirit of the Lord. The same is still true. Many churches have started as a storefront building in a poor neighborhood with little or no money. Many hindrances sometimes occur when a new work of God is getting started. If the Lord is in the work though and faith is exercised in the Lord for His help and anointing, nothing shall stop the true work of God. The only thing that can stop it is our unbelief. If we believe and trust in God no matter who or what comes against us, it will prosper and come to pass. God is greater than all mountains.

In Proverbs we see a reference to the eyes of the Lord going to and fro part B of Zechariah 4:10

• Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

• Zechariah 4:11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?
• 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
• 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
• 14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Many bible scholars believe that the two olive trees represent two witnesses who were once translated without dying and is in the presence of God now not having gone through physical death. Some believe these are Moses and Elijah.  Still others believe this is in the day of Zechariah and represents Joshua the High Priest and Zerubbabel. However in Revelation chapter 11, we see the correct interpretation would be two future witnesses during the tribulation that existed in Old Testament times. Again scripture interprets scripture.

There are only two recorded men who have been translated that way, although there could have been more. They are Enoch and Elijah. These two olive trees may represent two such men. These very well may be the two witnesses who come in the days of the great tribulation to Israel and help them against the antichrist. They are eventually killed and not buried. After three days they rise again bringing fear upon the earth as the scriptures I posted from Revelation after Zechariah verse 3 above describes. Others say the olive trees are Moses and Elijah as I stated above. Some even say that John the apostle didn't die and one is him.  However, if two olive trees were seen here, John was not yet born. Moses could be one but we know from the Old Testament that Moses literally died a natural death.  Food for thought. We know they are coming, just not sure who at this point.

The part of prophecy of the two witnesses, their death and resurrection is yet future. This has not taken place yet to my knowledge. How would it be possible for many people of different nations and languages to see this happen and rejoice over their dead bodies? In John's day is would have been impossible unless many were gathered in Jerusalem as they were on the day of Pentecost. Now, however, we know that it is possible by way of satellites and television sets and even later computers and Internet service.  By the resurrection of the two witnesses, God gives the world a definite sign of the power of the resurrection so that we are without any excuse for rejecting Jesus Christ.  DC

Zechariah Index