Deeper Commentary
Zechariah Chapter 4
Zechariah 4:1 The angel who talked with me came again, and awoke
me, as a man who is awaken out of his sleep- The context of Zechariah
is God's desire through him to make the returned exiles realize that God
was intensely active for them. They had the impression that He was somehow
distant and otherwise occupied. He wishes them to see that He is extremely
present. The waking of Zechariah from sleep perhaps hints at the need to
spiritually awake and perceive the critical importance of responding
immediately and zealously to God's passionate activities for His people.
Zechariah 4:2 He said to me, What do you see? I said, I have seen, and
behold, a lampstand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its
seven lamps thereon- The "seven lamps are the seven eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth" (Zech. 4:2,10)- i.e. they represent the Angels active in the land of Israel to enable the restoration. They are energized by the spirit in the bowl;
for God makes His Angels spirits (Ps. 104:4). God's Spirit is just as much
at work today, mediated by His Son rather than through the Angels as it
was in Old Testament times. The candlestick being part of the tabernacle was therefore also a "pattern of things in the Heavens"; it represented how the Heavenly organization of Angels works.
See on Jer. 1:11,12. The candlestick in the tabernacle had seven bowls
(Ex. 25:31), but this has only one. As noted often, the restored temple of
Ez. 40-48 was significantly different, although broadly similar to, the
Mosaic arrangements. The seven lamps "are the seven spirits of God" in the
vision of the temple in Rev. 4:5. The whole vision speaks of the activity
of God through His Spirit and through the operation of the Angels in order
to enable His work to go ahead. It was to encourage the returned exiles
that so much was now possible, so much strength was behind them. The sons
of Zion were as fine gold (Lam. 4:2); the candlestick system was to be the
restored Israel. They were to be the light of the earth / land promised to
Abraham, manifesting and empowered by God's Spirit. This whole system was
God's vision for the returned exiles. It didn't come about, and so the
system has been reapplied to the new Israel, who are to shine as lights in
the world, enlivened by the Spirit.
There are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it- "Seven pipes" is literally "seven and seven pipes to the lamps"; it could mean 14, or 49. In this case the vision was of a lampstand far larger and brighter than that in the Mosaic tabernacle. It didn't come about then, and so was fulfilled in terms of the Christian church, presented in Revelation 1 as seven candlesticks with seven lamps on each, i.e. 49 lamps. Jer. 25:11,12 and Jer. 29:10 speak of a 70 year period of Babylonian rule over Judah, beginning with the invasion of BC597. But Babylon only ruled over Judah for 49 years, before Babylon fell to the Persians. This would connect with the way that Zech. 4:3 speaks of 7 menorah candlesticks each with 7 lamps, making 49 lamps. 49 is the cycle of 7 sabbath years that culminated in the jubilee year, and the jubilee year, the proclamation of liberty to the land (Lev. 25:8-12; 27:7-24) is a figure used so often in Isaiah to describe the freedom of Judah once released from Babylon. Lev. 26:34,43 speak of the land enjoying her Sabbaths whilst Israel were in exile for their sins- i.e. for 49 years. So it seems that there could have been some restoration after 49 years- but it didn't happen.
Zechariah 4:3 And two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it- The bowl is presented visually as the central point of the system. The two olive trees are said to stand on both sides of "The Lord of all the earth / land" (:14). The candlestick system was envisaged as central to the earth; and this was to be the restored Judah, as noted on :2, ruling over the earth / land as the spiritual light of those peoples. The candlestick system differed from the Mosaic one in that it didn't require maintenance or feeding by man; and this is the enduring message, that it is the work of the Spirit and not of flesh.
Zechariah 4:4 I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me,
saying, What are these, my lord?- See on :14. The response in :5
suggests that Zechariah was supposed to have perceived himself what this
was all about. But even he as a spiritual person didn't grasp the degree
to which God was at work through the Spirit. We likewise need our eyes
regularly opening to the extent and force of God's working, and all that
is potentially possible for those who wish to walk in step with the
Spirit. The response in :6 was not initially an explanation of the
symbolism, but rather the overall conclusion- that the restoration would
not be achieved by human strength, but by God's Spirit. It's as if
Zechariah is being sidetracked by struggling with decoding the symbolism
to miss the bigger picture; and that remains an abiding problem for us as
we read and reflect upon such visions.
Zechariah 4:5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, Don’t you
know what these are? I said, No, my lord- This could be read as a
rebuke, as if Zechariah is now recording his own slowness to understand.
It is that admission of weakness which would have made so much more
credible his appeal to his audience to understand. Likewise the Gospels
were written by the disciples, and they admit so often their failure to
understand, thereby strengthening their credibility in appealing for
others to understand quicker than they did. In the work of preaching and
teaching, the more real the more credible.
Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the
word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by
My Spirit’, says Yahweh of Armies- See on Jud. 14:6. The returned
exiles were "feeble" (Neh. 4:2), and they were considered like this by the
surrounding peoples to the point that this was how they too saw
themselves. They were indeed feeble. But this is the trademark of God's
work; the feeble are used, that the work of His Kingdom may be of His
Spirit and to His glory. "Might" translates a word which can mean "wealth"
or "army". He is told that it will not be due to “an army” but due to God’s Spirit
/ Angel, the "Lord of hosts" of Angel armies ("Lord of hosts" s a common
title for God in Zechariah). The “army” may refer to the army which the
King of Babylon was willing to send with the returning exiles in order to
support the returning exiles. But Israel’s attention is focused instead on
how the Spirit / Angel would enable all things.
The returned exiles could have entered a new covenant with God, as offered to them in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. That new covenant involved the specific promise of the work of the Spirit in their hearts and lives. But their resistance to the Spirit and trust in human strength meant that they rejected that new covenant. Ez. 37:10 had spoken of the exiles as receiving the Spirit so that they might become a great army (s.w. "might" here). There was no other way to become mighty.
Zechariah 4:7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain- The “great mountain” of Babylon was to become a plain before Zerubbabel (Zech. 4:7)- a clear allusion to Dan. 2:44, in which the little stone of Messiah destroys the Kingdoms of men and becomes a great mountain to replace the statue headed by Babylon. But Zerubbabel didn’t destroy Babylon- according to Jewish tradition he returned there after ‘giving up’ in Jerusalem. Perhaps Zech. 11:16 refers to him as “the worthless shepherd” who didn’t gather “those that be scattered”, who didn’t encourage the Jews scattered in Babylon to return to the fold of Zion, and who didn’t care for their spiritual wellbeing. And so the prophecy that Babylon would be destroyed before Zerubbabel has to be reapplied, and will be fulfilled at the return of the Lord Jesus. It has also been reapplied in a more spiritual sense. For the same words for "mountain" and "plain" are used in Is. 40:4; the mountains were to become plains when Judah returned from exile, and over that levelled ground was to be made the proclamation of a Messianic king by his herald, and then his appearance. This didn't happen as was potentially possible; and so the prophecy was reapplied to the coming of the Lord Jesus.
The words may be intended literally if we consider that the great
mountain might refer to mount Zion and not only Babylon. If Zerubbabel lived up to his potential,
then a flat tableland would be prepared as a "platform" [Heb.] on which
the new temple could be built; an we see this in the vision of the
restored temple which the captives were intended to build in Ez. 40. But this didn't happen- and so this
language was reapplied to the work of John the Baptist in making the rough
places of men's hearts smooth, in order for them to accept Jesus, the true
temple.
And he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’- When the foundation stone of the temple was laid, there should have been excited acclamation: “Grace, grace unto it” (Zech. 4:7). But instead the old men wept when the foundation was laid, knowing that the temple was nothing compared to what it ought to be (Ezra 3:12). The glory of the restored temple was prophesied as being far greater than that of the former (Hag. 2:9); Is. 60:17 alluded to this in prophesying that “ For brass [in Solomon’s temple] I will bring gold, and for iron [that was in Solomon’s fixtures] I will bring silver, and for wood brass, and for stones iron”. But it simply didn’t happen, because God’s people were satisfied with a small, inglorious temple so that they could get on with building their own “cieled houses” (the same word is used in describing how the temple of Solomon was “covered”, or cieled, with cedar). And the old men wept at the fact that the glory of the new house was less than that of the earlier one.
The capstone however may not have to mean the foundation stone, which had already been laid some years before. It could mean that Zerubbabel would lay the final stone in the temple, and everyone would shout out in realization of how this was all of grace. And that was the point of the vision of the candlestick; it was all of God's Spirit, and therefore of grace. Paul in Romans speaks of the work of the Spirit in this same context- as the exemplification of how we are saved by grace and not works. Indeed charis, "grace", is often used about the gift of the Spirit. But it seems Zerubbabel didn't complete the temple but returned to Babylon; and there was not the deep appreciation of grace which was intended.
Zechariah 4:8 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying- The "moreover" is to emphasize how Zerubbabel was indeed to lay the "capstone" of :7; his hands were to do this. And yet for all this repeated emphasis, it seems Zerubbabel returned to Babylon and didn't complete the work.
Zechariah 4:9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this
house. His hands shall also finish it- God through the Angel would
work with Zerubbabel- but he would not. The original for "finish" more
correctly means to fulfil; Bible prophecy has potential fulfilments which
may never come about. But in essence, the prophetic word will be fulfilled
in other ways. It was all potentially possible for Zerubbabel. But he beat it
back to Babylon instead. Before him, all nations of the earth could have
fallen, the whole ‘mountain’ of Babylon could have crumbled as before a
mighty stone; in him Dan. 2:44 could have had its fulfilment (Zech. 4:7).
And so much is potentially possible for us, too. The Lord may have many
people in a city, all is prepared for their conversion- but we may not do
our part, and so the potential harvest is never reaped. Isaiah 41
describes the Messianic saviour as coming to the land from Babylon, from
the north and from the east. Babylon was east of Judah, and yet the
approach road came down from the north. This was the way Zerubbabel and
Joshua would have come; but the prophecies suffered a massive deferment to
the coming of the Lord Jesus in a more figurative sense from the north and
east.
Zechariah 4:10 Indeed, who despises the day of small things?-
Both the faithless Jews and the mocking local peoples considered the
temple so far rebuilt to be "as nothing" (Hag. 2:3). Zerubbabel was being
urged to rebuild it according to the grand plans given in Ez. 40-48,
obeying the precepts laid out there, and then Yahweh would come and dwell
in it. But those small beginnings were not to be despised; they were a
beginning, and instead of condemning the Jews for not having built it
according to the plan of Ez. 40-48, instead God sees the cup half full
rather than half empty, and urges them to go on from those small
beginnings to greater fulfilment. The question as to who has despised
those small things may beg the answer: 'Not God. Even though you didn't do
as I asked you, go on from that start to do greater things'. Really His
gentle approach is similar to how we may talk to children as they
initially fail to fulfil a task.
For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the eyes of Yahweh, which run back and forth through the whole earth- See on :6; Jer. 1:11,12; Zech. 1:10,11. The entire strength [seven as completeness] of the Angelic eyes of God would rejoice with Zerubbabel when the temple was built as commanded, using a plumb line to measure and build the edifice according to the regulations in Ez. 40-48. No wonder the whole of Haggai is an encouragement to Zerubbabel and Joshua to live up to their potential. The builders need fear no opposition; the Angel eyes of God were running throughout the eretz promised to Abraham, through all of it, the whole of it, including the areas governed by far superior powers, and as explained in earlier visions, they had prepared the whole area for the Kingdom to be restored in Judah. To run is an idiom for response to God's word (e.g. Dan. 12:4; Hab. 2:2). The Angels were going out to fulfil the word of restoration; but it still required the freewill response of Zerubbabel and the Jews. The people did "rejoice" at the rebuilding of the temple (s.w. Ezra 6:22; Neh. 12:43). But this was but an incipient fulfilment of the far greater joy envisaged here.
Zechariah 4:11 Then I asked him, What are these two olive trees on the
right side of the lampstand and on the left side of it?- These were
the obvious, major difference with the Mosaic candlestick. Typically a
candlestick required human care to fill it with oil. But this system had a
source of oil in two olive trees. There was apparently a silence, because
Zechariah has to ask again in :12, and is told in :13 that he ought to
have figured it for himself. And we see here a principle; sometimes there
is a Divine silence in response to our prayers and situations, or to our
requests to understand and see the meaning attached to even. And that
silence is intended to elicit from us the answer from our own reflections.
Knowledge of God isn't just dished up on a plate in the Bible. We need to
work things out for ourselves, as God knows that this is the way to really
learn anything.
Zechariah 4:12 I asked him the second time, What are these two olive
branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil
out of themselves?- As noted on :11, there was an initial lack of
response which was designed so that Zechariah would work it out himself.
He is therefore somewhat rebuked for not getting it himself. His slowness
to perceive is perhaps the more rebuked because one interpretation of the
two sources of oil is that they referred to himself and Haggai, who were
providing the prophetic word and the articulation of God's Spirit to
enable God's people to function as the candlestick to the world around
them. Zechariah's focus in the second question was upon the tubes which
took the oil from the trees, appearing as branches leading from spouts.
The oil appeared golden because it was going into the golden candlestick;
the gold of God's people Judah was to be a function of the golden oil
going into them.
Zechariah 4:13 He answered me, Don’t you know what these are? I said,
No, my lord- As noted on :11,12, this rebuke was because the Divine
silence after the first enquiry was intended to elicit in Zechariah an
understanding. This in broader terms is one reason for the Divine silences
in our lives. The rebuke was the more necessary if the pipes, the conduit
of the Spirit, were representative of Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets
at the time.
Zechariah 4:14 Then he said, These are the two anointed ones- I
have suggested on :12,13 that they refer to Haggai an Zechariah, who as
prophets were the vehicle of the Spirit's articulation to Judah the
candlestick. But perhaps they were specifically represented by the pipes
or spouts, and the actual trees were Joshua and Zerubbabel. Or perhaps the
other way around; the trees were Haggai and Zechariah, the source of the
Spirit, and Joshua and Zerubbabel were to be the conduit of the Spirit to
Israel. Hence Haggai's prophecy is specifically and solely addressed to
those two men; see on Hag. 1:1.
Joshua and Zerubbabel were both anointed or commissioned to be the king and priest of the restored Kingdom. Joshua anointed is the same idea in Greek as 'Jesus Christ'. He failed in this calling, and so the prophecies were reapplied and fulfilled in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The reference is to Joshua and Zerubbabel. The whole ‘lightstand’ depended upon these two anointed ones, these providers of oil, and the fact they both in various ways failed to deliver true faith and spirituality meant that the victory over the world which the vision also prophesied could not come about; the final fulfilment had to come through the Lord Jesus, who was the ultimate Priest (cp. Joshua-Jesus) and Prince of Judah (cp. Zerubbabel). This prophecy could have been fulfilled at the restoration; but when we read in Rev. 11:4 that “These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks”, the Lord is saying that now He has redefined and rescheduled the fulfilment of that vision in a latter day context.
Who stand by the Lord of the whole earth- The olive trees stood either side of the candlestick. And yet the candlestick is presented as a person. I suggest that the gold candlestick was the purified, return exiles (Lam. 4:2), who were intended to bear lordship over the entire eretz promised to Abraham. The leadership were therefore incidental to the centre of the vision and candlestick system, which was the people of Judah themselves who were to be the light and lords of the whole earth, the entire eretz promised to Abraham, including Babylon and Persia.
But the symbology is mixed. The various elements here all also represent Angels. By responding to the word of restoration, Zerubbabel, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah and the obedient masses were all represented by things which otherwise refer to the Angels. They would be identified together with those who had practically enabled all this to happen. Hence the seven Angelic eyes of :10 were to rejoice together with Zerubbabel when he completed the temple as specified.
The olive trees "are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth". The "Lord of the whole earth" is the Angel of Zech. 3:1 (making "the God of the earth" in Rev. 11:4 also an Angel?). The olive trees actually stand by the candlestick, thus making the whole arrangement of bowl, branches, pipes and lamps represent the workings of the one Angel- in the same way as the Angel of Jesus in Rev. 1 can somehow stand in the midst of a candlestick.
The olive being a symbol of leadership (in Judges 9:8 the olive tree was the first tree to be thought of as a national leader), it would be fitting that they represented Joshua and Zerubbabel. However, there is a definite allusion to the Angel cherubim here. "Within the oracle he made two cherubims of olive tree" (1 Kings 6:23); "and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two (olive tree) cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony" (Ex. 25:22). If the olive trees are like the Cherubim, then "the Lord of the whole earth" of Zech. 4:4 which was between them connects with the ark- the Angel that dwelt over the ark, between the Cherubim. Josh. 3:11-13 also makes the connection between the ark and the "Lord of all the earth". The candlestick therefore represents the Angel co-ordinating the restoration, as well as the other "seven" Angels in His control. This shows the close association between the Angel-cherubim and Joshua and Zerubbabel. Thus from the Angelic inspiration of these two men, the spirit was supplied to the candlestick through the gold pipes- the faith they showed and their prayers supplied the spirit which enabled the seven lamp Angels to act. However, the close link between the two olive trees and the Cherubim Angels once again shows that the ultimate impetus to our faith, prayers and spirituality comes from God's spirit in the Angels rather than from any personal inspiration we may feel. This idea of the flow of the spirit, enabling God's action through the Angels as a result of our prayers, is found elsewhere: "This shall turn to my salvation, through your prayer, and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:19); "... how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit ("good things", Mt. 7:11) to them that ask Him?" (Lk. 11:13). Thus in the vision of the seven lamps, the prayers and faith of Joshua and Zerubbabel were the oil, the spirit that was supplied to activate the seven lamp Angels that went to and fro in the land of Israel preparing the way for the restoration. However, the olive trees were "sons of oil" (AVmg)- they were anointed with the oil initially. Is this a dim foreshadowing of the birth of the spirit ("sons of oil")? The men of the olive trees were sons of the spirit word through their belief in the word of God concerning the restoration. The olive branches emptied the golden oil out of themselves- if we are to have the same victory of faith as Joshua and Zerubbabel, we have to in the same way pour ourselves out in prayer and golden faith. The amount of oil flowing into the bowl determined the amount flowing out of it to the lamp Angels, seeing that there was a constant flow of the oil in the vision. Thus the amount and intensity of our prayers and spirituality affect how brightly the Angels burn in their zeal to fulfil our requests. Notice too the power of the prayers of a small minority of God's people. But the envisaged situation didn't come about. The two olive branches which feed the bowl were replaced by Christ, the one branch (Zech. 3:8; 6:12), who would provide the Spirit in abundance so that the true spiritual temple could be built- "the branch... shall grow up out of His place, and He shall build the temple of the Lord" (Zech. 6:12).
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