A Study of Zechariah 4
Introduction: Hello everyone! I’ve always been so encouraged by some of the verses in Zechariah 4—some of the most encouraging verses in the Bible, especially for anyone who is serving in any way at all for the Lord. You’re going to be amazed at Zechariah’s remarkable vision in this chapter, and its interpretation.
Now, let plunge into the Old Testament prophet Zechariah, chapter 4—one of the fascinating passages in the Bible.
Scripture:
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 So he 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 Almighty.
7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.
10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I said.
14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”
Review
If you’re new to this podcast series and to our study of Zechariah, here’s a brief review. In 587 BC, the Babylonian Empire destroyed the nation of Judah and its capital, Jerusalem. The temple of the Lord was destroyed. The survivors were exiled. Seven decades passed, and a new empire arose, the Persians, and Emperor Cyrus issued a decree that the Jews could return to their ancestral home. Many thousands of them did return, and the most urgent task was the reconstruction of the Temple. Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua led the effort. But they ran into a buzzsaw of opposition, and the work was suspended for 18 years. We read about all this in the opening chapters of the book of Ezra.
Then two prophets—two preachers—showed up: Haggai and Zechariah. They began preaching and a revival broke out—a revival that resulted in the resumption of the work on the Temple. The books of Haggai and Zechariah, which are near the end of the Old Testament, are written versions of their sermons.
So when we read the book of Zechariah, we’re reading the messages of encouragement he gave to Zerubbabel and to Joshua and to all the remnant, and his encouraging messages revived their spirits and resulted in the resumption of the work.
In the previous chapter, Zechariah 3, the prophet had a special word of encouragement for High Priest Joshua. Now here in chapter 4 we have a special message for Zerubbabel. But really it’s for all of us. Over the years, I’ve found this chapter of tremendous help to me whenever I’ve grown discouraged.
The book of Zechariah begins with a series of eight visions that he had on one single night, which we can date to February 15, 519 BC. We’ve already looked at the visions in chapters 1 through 5. Here in chapter 4 we have Zechariah’s fifth vision, which is a gold lamp stand fed by golden oil.
First, picture a Jewish menorah—the seven-branched candle stand. (Now, in all honesty, scholars aren’t sure the Hebrew text here pictures a menorah. It may be a more elaborate candle stand. But for our purposes, it’s simplest just to picture a Jewish menorah).
Suspended above it is a bowl or reservoir of golden olive oil, the very best. And there are pipes or tubes connecting the bowl to the lamps so that each of the seven lights has a continuous supply of oil that is fed to it through the process of gravity.
On either side of the menorah and bowl are two olive trees, and these trees have channels from their branches into the bowl, so that there is a continual supply of olive oil coming from the olive trees into the bowl and down into the lamps. There is nothing like this anywhere else in the Bible. It’s a unique vision. But it’s relatively simple to interpret. In fact, the angel interprets it for us. The golden oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit, who does God’s work through us and keeps our witness and our work shining brightly. I want to base my outline for this message around four quotations from the chapter.
1. “Not By Might Nor By Power But By My Spirit”
The first is: “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit.” Look at verses 1-6: Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. 3 Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”
“No, my lord,” I replied.
6 So he 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 Almighty.
There is no way to express how important this has been to me and to countless other preachers and Christian workers throughout the history of the Gospel work. The principle is: Our effectiveness for the Lord only occurs when Jesus carries out His work through us by the operation of the golden oil of the Holy Spirit.
In saying that, I’m looking at this image through New Testament eyes. When Jesus came in His humanity, in His earthly mode, He was baptized by the Holy Spirit at the River Jordan, and from that moment until His ascension, He did His Father’s will through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. He spoke His Father’s words through the Empowerment of the Holy Spirit. He performed His Father’s works through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
Then He returned to Heaven and asked the Father to send the same Spirit who had empowered Him to baptize the church. And from that moment, anything that has happened effectively for the Kingdom has been through the operation of the Holy Spirit through us. We do the Son’s will through the power of the Holy Spirit. We speak the Son’s words through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We perform the Son’s works through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
We do for Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit exactly as Jesus did for His Father in the power of the Spirit.
It’s not by might, nor by power, nor by eloquence, nor by personality, nor by charm, nor by laborious effort, nor by personal talent, nor by financial capacity, nor by fame or fortune or intelligence—but by the Spirit that the work is done, the words spoken, and the victory won.
The disciples in the New Testament were filled with the Spirit and they spoke the Word of God with boldness.
The golden oil of the Holy Spirit is the only fuel for the flame. Nothing else can feed the fire. There is no other propellant. It’s not I, but Christ, said the apostle. That means I’m not the one preaching the sermon; it’s Jesus doing it through me by the Holy Spirit. It’s not me teaching the junior boys; it’s Jesus doing it through me by the Holy Spirit. It’s not me visiting the hospital to comfort an invalid; it’s Jesus doing it through me by the Holy Spirit. It’s not me raising my children for Christ; it’s Jesus doing it through me by the Holy Spirit.
My job is to offer a threefold prayer:
- Lord, take all there is of me.
- Lord, fill all there is of me.
- And Lord, use all there is of me.
2. “God Bless It! God Bless It!”
The second phrase I want you to notice is “God bless it! God bless it!” Look at verses 6 and 7 again:
6 So he 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 Almighty. 7 “What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”
Let me paraphrase verse 7 for you. “Don’t worry about the mountains that rise up in your way. Don’t worry about the obstacles. Don’t worry about being able to finish what God has begun through you. The Lord will clear away the mountains, Zerubbabel. Leave the obstacles to Him. You started the rebuilding of my house—and you will finish it. You will lay the final piece, the capstone in place, and as you do so the people will shout: “God bless it! God bless it!”
Let’s adopt this shout for ourselves. Let’s say:
Lord, take all there is of me.
Lord, fill all there is of me.
Lord, use all there is of me.
And God bless it! God bless it!
3. “Despise Not the Day of Small Things”
The third phrase we come to is “despise not the day of small things.” Can God bless and use us even when our work seems obscure, so small, so insignificant? Yes! Because little is much when God is in it. Look at verse 10: “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
Governor Zerubbabel and High Priest Joshua were facing one major criticism regarding their work—it seemed too small. It seemed too insignificant. In Ezra chapter 3, when they began working on the building, the older people wept because the attempt was a far cry from the glorious temple of Solomon they remembered from their youth. They wept because it was so small and meager.
Zechariah and Haggai both addressed that. Look at Haggai 2: “‘Who of you is left who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Does it not seem to you like nothing? 4 But now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ declares the Lord. ‘Be strong, Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 5 ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’”
And down in verse 9, Haggai said: “‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty.”
I believe what it means is this. Solomon’s temple was glorious and huge and gilded with gold. Your temple is meager by comparison, but one day this Second Temple will be the place where the Messiah will be brought by His parents and dedicated to the Lord. This Temple will be where He will begin to discover the Father’s will for His life as a boy of twelve. This Temple will be where He will teach and work miracles and confront His enemies. You are building this for the Messiah. You are doing this for Jesus. What you are doing is greater than you know.
Ladies and gentlemen, what we are doing in this life and all that we are doing throughout our days is for Jesus! It may seem small in our sight, but there is nothing small about anything done for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Zechariah says the same thing here in Zechariah 4. “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
In other words, the omniscient God is watching over the work. He sees what you are doing no matter where on earth you are doing it. He sees every effort. He knows every labor. He is with you and He is rejoicing with you. He rejoices over the work He is doing through you by the Spirit. Think of the significance of this verse—the Lord God Almighty, omniscient and omnipotent—is rejoicing over the simple work you are doing for Him, whatever it is.
So we can pray:
- Lord, take all there is of me.
- Lord, fill all there is of me.
- Lord, use all there is of me.
- God bless it! God bless it!
- And always remind me that little is much when You are in it. You will rejoice over our smallest works and use them in the greatest ways.
4. “The Gold Pipes that Pour the Golden Oil”
Now, let’s tackle one more beautiful phrase in this chapter: “the gold pipes that pour the golden oil.
Look at verse 11 and following: 11 Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”
12 Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”
13 He replied, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I said. 14 So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”
The word “anointed” here is the verbal form of the word Messiah, the Anointed one. Zerubbabel and Joshua were anointed for this work, and they were types or figures of the great and coming Messiah. Zerubbabel was the governor, a descendent of David, who represented the kingship. Joshua was the High Priest.
They represented one who would be both Priest and King.
Let’s jump ahead for a moment to Zechariah 6 where this is explicit. Let me read from the New Living Translation–Zechariah 6, verses 11 through 13: “Make a crown from…silver and gold. Then put the crown on the head of Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 Tell him, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Here is the man called the Branch. He will branch out from where he is and build the Temple of the Lord. 13 Yes, he will build the Temple of the Lord. Then he will receive royal honor and will rule as king from his throne. He will also serve as priest from his throne, and there will be perfect harmony between his two roles.’”
In other words, in the laws of ancient Israel, the political and spiritual offices were strictly separated. The priest could not serve as king, and a king could not perform priestly duties. They were a check, one upon the other. But Zechariah predicted that one day a man would come called The Branch. He would be the anointed one, the Messiah. He would fill the offices of both priest and king and there would be harmony between His two roles.
This is referring to Jesus. Zerubbabel was a type of Jesus as coming King; and Joshua was a type of Christ as coming High Priest.
Now, what did Jesus do? He went to the garden of Gethsemane and said, “Not my will, but Yours be done.” The word Gethsemane means olive press. It was an olive orchard, and the olives were thrown into the press and crushed, and that produced the golden oil that lit the lampstands in the temple and elsewhere.
Jesus Christ is represented by the two olive trees. He was crushed for us, and from His ministry came the flowing golden oil of the Holy Spirit. It runs through invisible channels into our hearts. It fuels our work. It empowers our lives. His Spirit enables us to do His work. His Spirit enables us to replicate His character. His Spirit allows us to live in His victory.
So we can pray:
- Lord, take all there is of me.
- Lord, fill all there is of me.
- Lord, use all there is of me.
- God bless it! God bless it!
- Always remind me that little is much when You are in it.
- And may all my life be always only for the glory and honor and purpose and praise of Jesus the Messiah!
That is the wonderful meaning of this mysterious vision in the fourth chapter of Zechariah.