5th Vision, Israel will be light to the World 5

Zechariah 4:1-14

Israel will be light to the World.

Zechariah 4:1-14, Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. ³ Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” ⁴ So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. 7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ” ⁸ Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. ¹⁰ For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see

The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.” ¹¹ Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” ¹² And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” ¹³ Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” ¹⁴ So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”

Since the creation, God has always spoken to man. Before the fall of Adam, God walked and talked with him in the cool of the day. Man had a perfect knowledge of God’s truth and perfect fellowship with God’s presence. Then sin came, and the consequence of sin was that man lost the knowledge of God and became ignorant.

One of the effects of the fall was that conversation and communion with God was hindered. Man was now in lonely isolation lost all the fellowship and communion with God. But God did not give up with fall and He doesn’t want that back into some kind of silence.

To this ignorant world which had become a sinful world, God then began to speak, and He sent His revelation to redeem sinners. God, from the very first time that Adam sinned, began to speak. The first thing that He said was, “Adam, where are you? I want to talk to you.”

God has always talked. God has always spoken. God has always communicated. In the Old Testament time God used the nation of Israel as the main communication tool. Isreal become the communication channel and revelation of God.

When apostle Paul pens this letter, he says in that everyone is sinner. Romans chapter 2 is that both Jew and the Gentiles are sinners then what is the advantage of being a Jew?

Romans 3:1-2, What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? ² Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God.

Romans 9:4-5, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and

from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. Israel was God’s vehicle for the transmission of His revelation. God has always spoken to man.

Isaiah 43:21, This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.

Deuteronomy 4:5-6, “Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. ⁶ Therefore be careful to observe them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes, and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’

God wanted Israel to speak His truth so that the nations would know wisdom and endeavor to ascertain the source which would bring them to Him.

1 Chronicles 16:23, Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Psalm 18:49, Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

Israel has the responsibility of proclaiming God in the midst of the world.

Psalm 96:3, Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples.

Ezekiel 5:5-6, “Thus says the Lord God: ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. ⁶ She has rebelled against My judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they have not walked in My statutes.’

God had said to the nation of Israel that you are My people. You are to proclaim My truth. You are to tell people what I am and who I am and what My will is. But instead, they violated God’s principles. They disobeyed His ordinances.

They kept closed mouth about His commandments and failed in the thing that God had called them to do. When God chose Israel in the Old Testament, it was to be a witnessing people.

They were to witness in two ways

➢ By their lifestyle, and ➢ By their by their proclamation. ➢ By their fruitful life, and ➢ By the preaching. Their lifestyle must be dramatically different that it was to be a testimony to God. They were to verbalize the things that God revealed to them.

The tragedy is they failed. They just failed, and God had to set them aside. Israel today is not God’s witnessing nation, and they haven’t been since the time Jesus was on the earth. Theis is the reason why the Lord Jesus had to find a new witnessing people. That new witnessing people is the Church, we, and all those who have been a part of the body of Christ.

We are His witnessing people. We are His witnessing community. As we come to Zechariah 4, we find a most marvelous prophesy that tells us that in the future, Israel will be reinstated as God’s witnessing nation. This is so exciting.

There is coming a new day for Israel.

There will be a hope realized in that all that God had originally intended for them is going to come to pass in the future. A quick brief review. The chronology of this vision is in perfect sequence with the others. Zechariah has eight visions, all eight of which refer to the restoration of Israel both historically and prophetically.

They will be a part of God’s wonderful coming kingdom. The first vision: Presented the outward promise of the kingdom. Second vision: Enemies will be judged. Third vision: The restoration of the city and the temple. ➢ The people will be restored.

➢ The enemies will be judged. ➢ The city will be built. After the outward restoration, the visions moved to the inward. Fourth vision: Saving of Israel and the figure of the cleansing of Joshua the high priest. Joshua was a picture of the nation, and as Joshua was cleansed and purified, so Israel is to be cleansed and purified.

So, there is an outward presentation of the kingdom, but the outward kingdom will never come until the inward salvation occurs. Next in the sequence, we find that this vision deals with the usefulness of Israel, in the outward kingdom.

When the inward cleansing has taken place then God is going to restore them to a place of wonderful usefulness. That was always the way God planned it. God has a plan in the world. God has a design to accomplish. But the people who accomplish it will be the people who are saved, and then they will be useful to God within the framework of His plan.

• The nation is saved in chapter 3, prophetically.
• The nation is used as God’s witnessing in chapter 4. 1. Vision.

V 1, Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. We are with good old faithful interpreter angel, who’s leading Zechariah and us all through these visions.

Zechariah sees a vision, the thing is so astounding, dramatic, provocative, and so profound that the natural response is to slump in a state of meditation. He falls into state of exhaustion from which the interpreting angel comes and wakens him.

Daniel had a similar experience in the Daniel 10:9. V 2, And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

Outside of the Knesset in Israel, which is the parliament, the government, there is a huge menorah. It has a base that goes straight up, and then it has those candelabra-like things coming out of it.

V 3, Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” The lamp is lit by oil. The oil is flowing to each of the seven lamps on the one big lampstand from seven pipes coming from a big bowl of oil.

The bowl of oil is getting its oil from the olive trees. This is an automatic lamp. As automatic as you get in Zechariah’s time itself. We have here the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle, and the temple. However, there are three variations.

Number one is the bowl of oil. In the temple the oil had to be supplied by the priests. So, it was not automatic, but this is an automatic lamp. In the holy place, they were filled by the priest, and they had to go in and trim the lamp all the time. Keep the oil in there because it would burn it up.

The second distinction is the seven pipes. Incidentally, the Hebrew grammar and the Hebrew construction of the term here indicates that there were 49, 7

going to each one. So, there would be seven little pipes coming down to each lamp. We see the two olive trees on the right and on the left and flowing out of those is the oil going into the bowl and then trickling down. There are two big, giant golden tubes coming out of the olive tree.

V 12, And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” Two great big olive trees, living, flowing olive trees.

An olive tree can last a long time. Some of the olive trees that are still producing oil were there as saplings when Jesus lived. They last a long time. Olive wood takes 40 years to cure before it can be carved, because the oil stays in it so long. It is an oily tree.

There are these two olive trees. The oil flows down golden channels into this bowl and then into multiples of sevens into the lamps. This shows that it has no human effort or agency. Strictly automatic.

God is producing the life in the tree. Out of that the light is being lit without any human involvement. There are no priests to trim the lamp. There is no need for anyone to put oil in it. An operation by God. 2. Purpose of the vision.

V 4-5, So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

Jewish interpretation and Christian interpretation are almost unanimous on this that the lampstand represents the combined testimony of Israel as a nation under God. The lampstand is Israel lit again to be the light of the world that God had intended originally for her to be.

Zechariah is seeing visions. The visions begin with ➢ Restoration of the people, ➢ Rebuilding of the temple, ➢ Rebuilding of the city, ➢ Salvation of the nation, and ➢ Witnessing ministry of the nation.

A restored, revived, regenerated nation is now again God’s witnessing people. They are the light. On the lampstand we see a symbol of the one who is truly the light of the world.

Who is that? The Messiah Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 49:5-6, “And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him (For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength), ⁶ Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ” Here it is referring to the Messiah.

God is saying through Isaiah, “I will restore the nation. I will make the Messiah the light. You may be known My salvation to the end of the earth.” The ultimate light is none other than Jesus Christ.

Luke 1:78-79, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;

⁷⁹ To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.” The light refers to the Messiah.

Luke 2:32, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

John 8:12, Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

When Jesus stood up in the midst of the Court of the Women, the temple Treasury, and said, “I am the light of the world.” A dramatic moment, because right in the middles of that was this huge candelabra that was used during the feast time, and they lit it every night to sparkle its light out the open top. It will be like a diamond in the sky.

They were celebrating the glory of God in the wilderness. They lit that candelabra every night. Now the feast was over. The candle was out, but the big candelabra was still sitting there. Jesus walks up and says, “You may have your candle, but I am the light of the world.”

Jesus turns the moment and the scene to Himself. Jesus is the ultimate light. The lampstand pictures Israel in full fellowship with the Messiah. The blessing of God is on the nation. They are restored to the place of usefulness, and they are the testimony to the world. This is going to happen in the future.

Since their light is out now, does God have a light? Yes.

Revelation 1:20, The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

The lampstand on this day is the Church. But there will be a day coming when the Church will be raptured out of the world. The only thing left will be Babylon the whore, the prostitute, the false church. God will not use that church.

God will restore Israel. When the Church is gone, and God has no witness in the world, and Israel will be reborn, regenerated, redeemed, and placed in

the position of being the light that God intended them to be all along.

What about the bowl? Zechariah asks the angel. The angel never gave him much of an answer.

What would the bowl full of oil represent? What does oil symbolize in the New Testament and even in the Old Testament? The Holy Spirit. So, the bowl on top symbolizes the Holy Spirit. This is a rather clearly defined symbol of the Holy Spirit because it’s reiterated repeatedly.

We have this bowl, and out of this bowl, flowing to the nation Israel, in their millennial witness, are 49 channels of the power of the Holy Spirit. The point here is that there will be an unlimited supply of power from the Holy Spirit.

Joel 2:28-29, “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29 And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.

In the millennium, we see the nation Israel as the lampstand. The Spirit of God being poured out in surplus so that the light becomes gloriously brilliant. All of it is a declaration of that Jesus the Messiah the one who is the light.

It is all automatic. There is no human involvement at all. In the kingdom, the witness of Israel will be spontaneous. It will be Spirit generated. There will be no other thing than the operation of the supernatural Holy Spirit.

Everything in the kingdom seems to be just the flow of the power of the Spirit of God through individual lives under the directorship of Christ Himself. The two olive trees.

What are they? V 14, So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”

The two anointed ones, who would that be? In Israel there were two specific people who were anointed. One was the king, and The other one High Priest or the priest.

We have the office of king and priest. This has a historical meaning and then a prophetic meaning. Historically, the man who stood in the place of king was a man named Zerubbabel. He was the civil leader. The man who stood in the place was in chapter 3 is High Priest Joshua.

The responsibility of Joshua and Zerubbabel was to stand beside the Lord and to lead the nation in the proper path. To bring them back to a restored place and they would rebuild the wall, temple, and in a small sense a witness to the power and the truth of God.

Prophetically the Messiah is the ultimate King and Priest. He is the King and Priest.

Zechariah 6:12-13, Then speak to him, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, saying: “Behold, the Man whose name is the BRANCH! From His place He shall branch out, And He shall build the temple of the Lord; ¹³ Yes, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, And shall sit and rule on His throne; So He shall be a priest on His throne, And the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’

If you have a Priest upon a throne, then you got a King Priest. Zechariah recognizes this, and he is seeing Christ here. We have the light of Messiah provided by the golden oil (called golden oil in V 12), poured into the lampstand of Israel.

The actual source of all of it is none other than the Messiah Himself. Israel’s going to have this place in the future. The place of wonderful blessing and usefulness to God. What God had intended for them all along will finally be accomplished.

Isaiah 62:1-2, For Zion’s sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns. ² The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the Lord will name.

God says that He won’t rest till this nation is My light to the world. 3. Power in the vision. V 6, So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

What is the power for the whole thing to come to pass? The Spirit of God. One of the great verses in the Bible. “Not by might” - and in the Hebrew that refers to the strength of many – “and not by power” – and in the Hebrew that refers to the strength of one great one.

Israel’s restoration will not be accomplished due to a collection of strong men, nor by the efforts of one great and strong man. It will only be due to the effort of the Holy Spirit. There is no human agency at all. Human strength, human power of every description physical, mental, moral, whatever combined, or individual will never bring about the salvation of the nation Israel.

It will be accomplished by the Spirit. People would say that this was the work of God. True witnessing, incidentally, is always done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:8, But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

All witnessing must be, to be effective, done in the energy of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:31, And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Effective evangelism is not a matter of education, or methodology, although those things make a contribution, but it is a matter of the power of the Spirit of God unleashed in the life and the heart of a willing vessel.

When Israel’s restored to the kingdom, when Israel reaches that great place of usefulness to God, it will not be because of any human agency, but only upon the part of God’s Holy Spirit. V 6, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.”

Zerubbabel was the chief ruler over Israel.

Haggai 2:4, Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says the Lord; ‘and be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all you people of the land,’ says the Lord, ‘and work; for I am with you,’ says the Lord of hosts.

Here these two, the one in civil authority and the other in religious authority. These two people are the ones who stand in the power.

Ezra 2:2, lists Zerubbabel as one who is responsible for leading the people. Zerubbabel had a lot of obstacles in front of him and he was trying to lead the nation to the rebuilding of the wall, and he was trying to lead the nation to the restoration of the temple, and he was fighting obstacle after obstacle.

But God says to him, “Zerubbabel, it’s going to be done historically, and it’s going to be done by the Holy Spirit.” It was. Now the Holy Spirit used a human vessel to build that wall.

Who was it? Nehemiah did it in 52 days. Everybody said it had to be God. Historically He says to Zerubbabel, “God’s Spirit is going to rebuild this place.” But Zerubbabel also, like Joshua, is a symbol of the whole nation. Historically Zerubbabel would see the city restored, so future the nation will see the kingdom restored on its grand scale.

The nation at this time was a mess. Things were rather tragic. But God says, “Zerubbabel, it’s going to happen.” The implication of the future, it’s going to happen again, when all of those who are the nation, once led by Zerubbabel, see God’s power.

V 6, “But by My Spirit.” The Spirit or the Ruach of God and the breath of God. This is the Spirit who worked in creation. God breathed, and everything sprang to life. This is the Spirit that opened and closed the Red Sea in Exodus 15.

This is the Spirit in Ezekiel 37, God breathed into the dead bones that had come together, and the dead people came to life. It will be that Holy Spirit, the Ruach of God who will restore and regenerate and rejuvenate Israel. A great future hope.

All God’s work is done by God’s Spirit. Anything not done by His Spirit is not His work, even if you call it that. The Spirit always works through spiritual gifts. The Spirit always works through holiness. The Spirit always works through the Word.

The Spirit always works through humility.

So, the oil is the picture of the Spirit, and it’s the flow of the Spirit in profuse quantity that’s going to make that kingdom such a fantastic time.

• a) Oil heals.

Psalm 23:5, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

The shepherd would put oil on the sheep’s head when it had been bruised, and it would soothe the cut. In the Bible, oil again and again is applied to wounds.

Luke 10:34, So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The Holy Spirit who touches us in the time of our being wounded, our sorrow, our distress, and soothes those wounds with His marvelous presence.

• b) Oil lights.

The Holy Spirit is the one who illuminates the believer’s path. It is the Holy Spirit who leads us into truth. It is the Holy Spirit who lightens the heart of an unregenerate man and convicts him of sin.

It is the Holy Spirit who opens the Word of God to our understanding. He is light.

• c) Oil warms.

Oil was used to produce heat. The unresponsive heart is warmed by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Read Luke 24 and the response of those on the road to Emmaus.

• d) Oil is a sign of joy.

In the Old Testament feast times oil was never applied in periods of sorrow and grief because it was reserved for periods of joy.

Psalm 104:15, And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man’s heart.

2 Samuel 12:20, So David arose from the ground, washed and anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house; and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate. Oil is a symbol of joy in the Old Testament. Certainly, the Holy Spirit is the source of joy.

Romans 14:17, for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is many things symbolized by oil. So, Israel fed by the Spirit of God, doing God’s work in God’s power, and marvelous things are going to happen. 4. The plan of the vision. V 7, ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”

Zerubbabel had a lot of obstacles, and now, after this tremendous promise from God. Zerubbabel looks at what has been a normal mountain type obstacle. God is saying that He is going to rebuild this city, even though it is not going to be like it used to be in glory. God is going to rebuild this temple, and nothing is going to stop Him.

Prophetically, God is saying that He is going to bring His kingdom, and nothing is going to stop it. V 7, And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”

The headstone is the Hebrew designation for the final stone that marked the completion of a building. It will be finished. It is going to be complete. Zerubbabel is the person, and he will stick that headstone in there, and it will be done.

The greater than Zerubbabel, the future restoration of the kingdom will also be completed. This is going to be accomplished with shouting. It is going to be a great day when they get that temple finished. It is just going to be a time for everybody to scream and shout and make loud noises.

When that headstone went into place in Zerubbabel’s temple historically, they yelled their head off. It speaks of wild, tumultuous cheers and shouts. “Grace, grace to it.” That was their cheer. What gracefulness that temple has. What perfection it has. How beautiful it is.

But as the thing was being built, during the time of Zerubbabel, they really weren’t that excited. Some of them were comparing it with the old temple of Solomon that had been destroyed.

Haggai 2:3, ‘Who is left among you who saw this temple in its former glory? And how do you see it now? In comparison with it, is this not in your eyes as nothing?

It is not finished. This is nothing.

Ezra 3:11-12, And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the Lord: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then 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 heads of the fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first temple, wept with a loud voice when the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes. Yet many shouted aloud for joy,

This is the historical record of which Zechariah is the prophecy. The idea there has to do with the completing of it. The final stone was put in place. The thing was set into its foundation. There was great shouting and screaming and hollering. It happened.

There is a futuristic aspect to this. The first time the Messiah came, He offered Himself as a Messiah and came into the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, they threw palm branches in His path, and they shouted and screamed.

But they didn’t receive the kingdom, because before the week was out, they killed Him. But in the kingdom, when it comes, there is going to be shouting and praising like you never imagined. Isaiah talks about it.

Isaiah 12:1-6, And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. ² Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” ³ Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. ⁴ And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; Declare His deeds among the peoples, Make mention that His name is exalted. ⁵ Sing to the Lord, For He has done excellent things;

This is known in all the earth. ⁶ Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, For great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”

When the Messiah comes, we are going to have the same kind of screaming and yelling all over the place that they had when Zerubbabel finished the temple and stuck the headstone in. V 8-9, Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.

Not just stresses the certainty of completing the temple but doing so in the lifetime of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel will finish it. This is the word of the Lord, and God’s Word is inviolable and incontrovertible. Zerubbabel will finish it in order that God may be glorified.

The proclamation comes from the Angel of the Lord. So, it is Christ. In that day, when the ultimate temple is finished, then you shall know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me. The Angel of the Lord, none other than Christ the Messiah to you. He is the one.

The plan, God the Father lays out the plan. God the Son directs its fulfillment. God the Holy Spirit supplies its power. The whole Trinity involved with Israel in the past as they built their temple, and in the future as the kingdom comes.

Just as the Davidic prince Zerubbabel was to complete the restoration temple, so the greater Davidic King, Christ, will build the millennial temple. Again, we see that two-fold element in prophecy. V 10, They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”

What are those seven? The eyes of the Lord.

Why are they seven? Perfection. God is omniscient. Some of the people were skeptical about Zerubbabel’s temple not matching up to the Solomonic temple. They thought it was a loser. V 10, For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

If God gets happy over this thing, you ought to be happy. If an omniscient God who knows everything rejoice when the plumb line is dropped to start the thing, you sure ought to get happy about it and not despise it just because it might be a small thing to you.

Do you know why God gets happy? Because God sees His plan coming to fulfillment. God gets happy when He sees that thing begin, because He sees the end from the beginning. The point is, don’t despise what God rejoices over.

If God rejoices over such a minor activity as the building of Zerubbabel’s temple, what must be His joy in contemplating the entire objective in the future when He rebuilds the nation into the kingdom planned for them? Fantastic.

God is excited about the future of Israel. He is thrilled and rejoices. The plan is on the way and it might not look like much now, but don’t despise small things. Zerubbabel’s temple didn’t look like much, but it reinstituted a nation that could have been lost right there. It got a lot wall up, and it preserved that little people so that the farther objective could be accomplished. God was happy. God rejoiced.

5. Promise of vision. V 11-13, Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its

left?”?” ¹² And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?” ¹³ Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”

As the lampstand symbolizes Israel in full fellowship with God, the Holy Spirit, the source of fuel, it and becoming a light bearer to the world. We now see the two olive trees through which the blessing of God is flowing to the nation.

Those two things are the office of king and priest. The two anointed ones must be the king and the priest. The word for oil there is incidentally fresh oil, which indicates that it is fresh oil out of a tree rather than manufactured oil.

God is trying to present something that has no human instrumentation, and even uses the right word for oil so we know it’s not the manufactured kind, but it is fresh oil. The pure power of the Spirit of God flowing through the priestly, kingly office into the life of Israel that makes it radiate messianic truth.

We know who the King Priest is, none other than Christ Himself. So, it is Christ, starting and finishing the cycle.

Conclusion

The person in the vision, none other than Christ Himself, the Messiah. V 14, So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.” Here the Lord of the whole earth is a messianic title.

It identifies Christ with His reign in the world. The Messiah is the source, the channel of blessing flowing through the Spirit of God to the people and then radiating back His glorious reality. He is none other than the Lord of the whole earth.

Now, we know that is a messianic millennial term because of how it’s used in Micah.

Micah 4:13, “Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion; For I will make your horn iron, And I will make your hooves bronze; You shall beat in pieces many peoples; I will consecrate their gain to the Lord, And their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.”

Micah 4:1, we have the last days the Armageddon battle predicted. So, we know that’s when it is. It is the prophetic, futuristic element of Zechariah’s prophecy.

So, the Lord of the whole earth is really the key to the whole thing. It’s the messianic Christ that pervades this thing. Sometimes in the Hebrew figures, and thinking, there will be a dramatic change in thought. It seems very clear that initially these two olive trees are the priestly and kingly offices of Christ.

But then there seems to be an introduction of another thought altogether, when in verse 14 it describes these anointed ones as those standing by the Lord of the whole earth, almost as if they are persons. This same transition can be seen explicitly in

Revelation 11:4, These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. Two witnesses who will come during the time of the tribulation, and they will announce to the world that the King Priest is coming to take His kingdom.

Zechariah 4:14, and Revelation 11:4 maybe that both are the same.

What we have here in Zechariah 4:14 is a prophecy not only of Messiah as King Priest but of two very specific witnesses who will declare that truth during the time of the tribulation.

When we read the book of Revelation 6 to 19 is the record of how Messiah, the King Priest, becomes the Lord of the whole earth. Zechariah has a vision. His vision sees Zerubbabel completing the temple and the people restored.

Zechariah sees the nation restored, redeemed, brought back to the place of being a witness as they are energized by the flow of the power of the Spirit of God to radiate the truth of the very Messiah who is the source of their blessing.

Revelation 7 Israel becomes that witness nation. Revelation 7, the first eight verses describe them as the witnesses. They are going to proclaim 144,000 of them. There are 12,000 from each tribe. They are the servants of God, and they go out to proclaim.

What will be the result?

Revelation 7:9-10, After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

A multitude of Gentiles who have been saved, and they are the direct result of the witnessing of the 144,000 out of the tribes of Israel. When Israel is turned loose as God’s witness nation at the period of time known as the tribulation, in anticipation of the kingdom, as they are turned loose, there will be more Gentiles converted than could even be counted.

The greatest revival in the history of the world. When Israel finally does what God called her to do from the beginning.

Revelation 12:17, And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Israel will have the testimony of Christ, proclaim it, and a world of Gentiles will be redeemed to God.

Isaiah 60:1-3, Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. ² For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. ³ The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. Not happened yet.

Until then, who is the light?

Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Luke 12:35, “Keep your lamps burning.” You are the light.