Visions of Power and Majesty

Zechariah 4-5

February 2, 2003

 

The aim of encouraging and spurring Joshua and Zerubbabel continues.  Here the aim is to show their standing or position as God's favored instruments in the work of rebuilding the temple and re-establishing the worship. They needed the assurance that the work would be done, and that the Lord would empower this feeble group to finish the work. 

 

Beyond this was a bigger picture, one that has been hinted at in the visions.  While Zerubbabel stood for the kingly office and Joshua stood for the priestly office, the day would come when the power and majesty of both offices would be combined in one person whom the Lord of hosts calls "the Branch."

 

It is "the Branch" who will put away sin and who will build His church so that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  In the framework of encouraging these two servants of the Lord, we see Christ set forth as the one who will build an eternal temple - the Church.

 

I. Vision of the Golden Lampstand and Olive Trees: God's Spirit Provides the Power for His Work  4:1-14

 

1. God's work demands God's Spirit   vv. 1-7

 

Background: 

Rebuilding the wall - Zerubbabel's task - seemed impossible.  But this was God's work.  Zerubbabel had to look beyond bricks, mortar and timber and see that it was God's work. 

 

Application:

Christian service, acts of kindness, witness, giving, et al are God's work.  Frustration develops, on one hand, when we shoulder the task in our strength.  On the other hand, human ingenuity, clever manipulation, man-centered motives emerge when we think that the work is really "my" work.  

(1) We must have a worldview shift. 

(2) We must see all of life being lived to God's glory - Colossians 3:17.  

(3) We must learn that when God gives us work to do (Ephesians 2:10) then He also provides the power by His 

     Spirit.

 

Lampstand - people of God or in the New Testament Revelation, the church (which is the symbol in Revelation).

 

Seven lamps - each having seven wicks, produced exceptional light (Matthew 5:14-16).  This lamp was cylindrical not the menorah we are familiar with.  T. V. Moore: seven tables and seven lamps represent "the manifold modes by which her light was to be given out, and the manifold modes by which grace was to be imparted" (153-154).  So all the work and ministry and service the Lord has entrusted to His people will have all the divine supply necessary to do the work.

 

The olive trees supply a constant source of oil transferred by pipes to the lamps.  God's resources and might for his people never runs dry nor abates. 

 

Verse 6:  The message - not by might - "military strength, human prowess, such as the 'army' of workers Solomon had to enable him to build (I Kings 5: 13-18)"; nor by power - "a word used for the 'strength' of the load-carriers in Nehemiah 4:10.  Looked at from a human point of view the manpower available was inadequate for the task."  'But by my Spirit' says the Lord of hosts - The breath of the Lord created the world, parted the Red Sea and closed it again.  In Ezekiel's vision (37:1-14) the wind (ruah) "brought dead people to life" (Baldwin 121).  How would the work be done?  "Only if His Spirit governs every detail can service be glorifying to Him" (Baldwin 121).  Even rebuilding the temple was a time for the provision of the Spirit.  In the New Testament, Ephesians 5:18, in the context of walking and serving in the will of God.

 

Verse 7: Why fret?  By God's power through Zerubbabel all opposition would be brought low and the triumph of the final stone will give way to shouts that acknowledge God's grace at work!

 

2. Because of God's Spirit at work, God's people must never despise small beginnings  4:8-10

 

Verse 8-9 - certainty that Zerubbabel would finish the work.  The plumb line pictures Zerubbabel at the work and the eyes probably refers to the Holy Spirit aiding him.  The picture of diligent work and assistance by the Spirit is the New Testament picture of walking in the Spirit.

 

Verse 10 - piercing question - Is God required to provide a big splash?  Does he need might armies?  Must he have a king's kitchen to feed 5000?  Does God ever need what man thinks that he must have to do his will?  Consider Gideon's army of 300 routing the massive Midianite force.  Consider David slaying Goliath and his "ten thousands" even as a youth.  Consider the upper room where 120 exploded into 3000 believers in one day with one sermon.  In fact, God gets greater glory in the small beginnings because we cannot claim that we've done anything. 

 

3. God is faithful to provide for His work   4:11-14

 

This vision's meaning unfolds in stages.  First is the scene, then the exhortation of the necessity of the Spirit to do God's work, vv. 1-7.  Second is the certainty that God's work will be accomplished, even though by man's measure it begins insignificantly.  Now, he returns to the two olive trees that supply the fresh oil to keep the lamps of witness and service burning.  What are the two olive trees?  Zechariah wants to know.  Or to frame the question in light of the two previous implications, what does God use or provide to supply the need for spiritual power to His work?

 

The answer is on two levels.  The first is the apparent and much needed human instruments.  In this case it refers to Joshua the high priest and Zerubbabel the governor who is in the Davidic lineage.  They were the human instruments as priest and ruler that God would use to build the temple and re-establish its worship.  They were the vessels through which God would bless His people with power, direction, protection, and motivation to be faithful in the work. 

 

The Lord is pleased to continue using human vessels as instruments of blessing in His work.  All of us have benefited from the ministry of spiritual leaders who have taught us, motivated us, and instilled godly courage in us.   

 

But the second level of which the first foreshadows is more significant.  The dual offices of priest and ruler (king) were found in these "two sons of fresh oil," Joshua and Zerubbabel.  But they only pictured what God has done ultimately in combining both offices in Jesus Christ.  There's a connection with this same idea in 6:9-15 where the two offices reside in one man - the Branch.  Clearly, this is messianic in its ultimate understanding.  How do we apply this to the present work of God among us?

 

Through Christ's kingly rule we are led and directed and governed as we serve the Lord.  Our King leads us, protects us, rallies us, exhorts us, and assures the certainty that God's work will be accomplished.  Let us faithfully serve, even when things look small and insignificant, but let us also depend upon the provision of the Spirit through Christ, our King and High Priest. 

 

II. Visions Six and Seven of the Flying Scroll and the Sealed Ephah or Basket: The Lord God Condemns  

     and Conquers Evil

 

1. The Lord exposes evil    5:1-4

 

The scroll, 30'x15', was the size of the Holy of holies and front porch of the temple.  Scrolls were often 30' long but never 15' wide.  This is a giant billboard in the sky, written on both sides.  Because of it going forth "over the face of the whole land," it implies that its message is made known to all.

 

The two sins identified are from each of the law's two tables - the 8th and the 3rd commandments.  Their juxtaposition in each table shows that they actually represent the whole law, that all of God's law ahs been broken by every household. 

 

Here are the implications:

(1)   Breaking God's law brings a divine curse. 

(2)   God's curse is ultimately His judgment.

(3)   The whole law has been broken by the whole of humanity.

(4)   The law convicts and condemns leaving law-breakers hopeless (Galatians 3 corresponds well with this!).

 

2. God will remove or put away wickedness    5:5-11

 

The believers of Zechariah's day and our own groan under the tyranny of wickedness, longing to be freed from its defilement.  Here is the promise of God that wickedness will have its end. 

 

Ephah was about 2/3 bushel or 5 gallons and was used to hold grain.  The woman inside it is obviously not literal, but the word for wickedness (v. 8 This is wickedness!) is feminine in Hebrew, and so the woman is pictured.  She fills the basket-picturing the time that evil runs its full course.  Her attempts at more are thwarted (v. 8).  When God brings evil to an end it is over.  The lead covering cannot be removed. 

 

The stork flew high only on long journeys, in this case the two women with stork wings flew to Shinar (Babylon, modern Iraq).  It would be quite interesting at this juncture in modern history to use this symbolism to our advantage. 

 

The idea is that evil will be removed from the dwelling of God's people and will remain forever separated.  Like a statue, she is placed on a pedestal, never to return to hinder God's people.

 

Here was encouragement and hope for an oppressed people, a small remnant of believers in a wicked world.  One day death and hell will be cast forever into the lake of fire, never to trouble God's people again. 

 

So be encouraged.  You do not labor on behalf of mere temporal goals but you serve an eternal God who has eternal purposes ripening in your service. 

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