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Today: [Zecheriah 4] By My Spirit says the Lord! In Zecheriah 4 the prophet is given a word to the governor of Jerusalem regarding how the restoration temple would be built. It is a message a relevant for those of us today as it was for these struggling returnees 2500 years ago.
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[Zec 4:1-14 KJV] 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: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
In Zecheriah 4 we come to the 5th vision of the prophet Zecheriah. Due to the nature of this book and seer anointing on Zecheriah it is important to look at these visions together and consider them as a progressive revelation from God not only to the ancient returnees tasked with building the second temple, but to us as well.
- The first vision is of an angel astride a red horse in a stand of myrtle trees.
- The second vision is of four horns defeated by four carpenters representing the purpose of God to defeat and remove Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and Persia.
- The third vision was of an angel being instructed not to measure the city of Jerusalem for it will be a city without walls, supernaturally protected by God Himself.
- The fourth vision is that of the governor Zerubbabel’s counterpart, Joshua the high priest being resisted by Satan himself.
- The fifth vision of Zecheriah is that of a candlestick (or, menorah) between two olive trees. Representing a very important word of the Father for the saints of God.
After being woken up from the stupor of the 4th vision, Zecheriah sees this lampstand in between the olive trees and he questions the angel standing by what the vision means. Interestingly enough the angel seems surprised that Zecheriah doesn’t already know the answer. Apparently, the angel considers this vision self-evident and self-explanatory. This tells us that angels are contemplative creatures as well as men. It gives us insight into the inner life of beings that are part of the angelic host. It tells us that they have a body of knowledge available to them that they can consult, and that for other things they must consult God on high for understanding themselves.
The angel then answers Zecheriah that the lampstand vision is a word from God Zecheriah is to deliver to the governor of the province of Yehud (the reconstituted nation of Judah under Persian rule). Remember that Zerubbabel is actually in the line of the kings of Judah. If the nation of Judah had not fallen to the Babylonians and consequently come under the rule of Persia, Zerubbabel would have been its king. Zerubbabel was apparently asking a question that Zecheriah may or may not have been aware of. Remember that Haggai at the same time that Zecheriah is receiving these visions, had rebuked the people and Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest, commanding them to cease looking so much after their own interests and to commence the rebuilding of the temple. The response apparently on Zerubbabel’s part was to question “God how is all this going to be done?”
Have you ever had a vision from God or knew you had a mandate from God to do something and asked the same question that Zerubbabel asked? Remember that Zerubbabel’s name means “a seed sown in Babylon”. Babylon means confusion. When the returnees came from Persia they understood well enough and were utterly committed to building their own houses and providing walls around the city for their own personal protection, but when it came to building the house of God and sacrificing for something beyond themselves, all of a sudden, they are challenged in their thinking and seem to lose all their verve and ingenuity for the task. Zerubbabel didn’t have to spend one moment motivating the people to build for themselves, but building for the larger purposes of God was another matter.
To all of this the answer of heaven is “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit says the Lord…” What does this mean? It is more than poetry. It is an important instruction that applies to us today. We want to see our nation reconstituted. We want to see the purposes of God in the ascendancy in the public square once again. Do we simply identify the most likely means of accomplishing these noble ends, or does God have specific instructions for us as He did Zerubbabel?
- Not by might. This word suggests that God is first saying that it isn’t by force of arms, or by motivating the people to anxiousness or physical distress.
- Not by power. This word comes from a root word for “chameleon”. It speaks of political power or influence. We do not see the things of God brought to pass by the expediency of the moment, or doing whatever is necessary to get the job done.
- But by My Spirit says the Lord. However inconceivable it may be, we need to trust in God alone and not in our own wits, or in some political expediency or force of capacity to see the purposes of God brought about in our lives or in our society.
Remember this was the lesson Isaiah declared that was completely ignored from Hezekiah’s time right down the last king of Judah who was marched into captivity. They wanted an alliance with Ethiopia. They were looking to Egypt to come to their aid. They were making concessions to Egypt in their own religious life, attempting to convince Pharaoh how much they had in common with them so he would come with a mercenary force and protect them. For decades this continued, with the Pharaoh using their desperation and what God called idolatry and unbelief to seduce the kings of Judah until the day that the Babylonians came and Pharaoh, a type of the kings of the earth was nowhere to be found and the people of God were slaughtered wholesale, the city of destroyed and the temple leveled. Now the angel declares to those brought back from 70 years in captivity, that the lessons apparently needed to be reinforced again.
The headstone that Zecheriah prophesied to Zerubbabel about was the capstone of the temple itself. The mountain was not a natural mountain but the mountain of debris where the temple once stood. In other words, Zerubbabel was looking and saying “what a mess – how will we ever clean it up?” The angel was saying that this mountain of rubble would become a level plain, a foundation to build on. Who is the headstone for us? None other than Christ. Who can save our nation? A political messiah? In the first century king Herod seduced the Jews who ultimately crucified Jesus himself, by building them a shining temple. These same Jews with murder in their hearts, first attempted to give Jesus a make-over by planning to take him by force and make him into a king like Herod. When He wouldn’t allow this to happen they crucified him. Because he wouldn’t come to them on their terms they rejected Him, the very desire of ages. If there was ever a lesson to be learned in our day it is the lesson of Zecheriah 4:6.
What does the lampstand represent? It represents the church and the churches down through time. This lampstand is the one that John the revelators saw Jesus walking in the midst of. Who are the olive trees? These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord or the whole earth. What do they represent? The apostles and the prophets. Note the words of Paul:
[Eph 2:20-22 KJV] 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner [stone]; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Where are the apostles and prophets today? If you suggest that modern church culture should look for, accept and defer to the prophets and apostles today, you get a Sunday school lesson and a rebuke for being so naïve and impractical. And we wonder where the anointing went in our meetings. We wonder why our culture is such a laughingstock among the nations. Revelations 14 and 18 assure us that there are prophets and apostles in the earth today. Our church culture might look like a shining city to men, but God says it is a mountain of rubble that is going to be cleared away for the thing that God is building not through force of arms, or political expediency but by His anointed process that the vision of Zecheriah invites us to participate in.
Prophetic Word from 1983:
Over and over in my Spirit the Lord keeps telling me, “Don’t look back”. Don’t look back.” Don’t look to the things that are behind you but look to the things that lie ahead. Because I have prepared great and tremendous things ahead for those people that will obey my word and those people that will walk in My Spirit.
I have great and mighty things that I want to do in the earth says the Lord. But I need a willing and an obedient and humble people. I need people that are willing to pay the price, people that are willing to turn from the things of the world and give me their whole life, completely and totally dedicated to me. With no compromise, with nothing of the world, but just looking unto me, being so obedient unto me, that they move in My Spirit.
Because it ISN’T by might. I’ve told you and told you and told you even as the music was going forth this morning. It was my spirit that had them keep saying, “Not by Might, Not by Power, but by My Spirit…” I was speaking to you, that it isn’t your might and its not men’s power but it’s my spirit that is going to do the things in the earth that I’m going to do. And the only way you can be a part of it is to walk in my Spirit, but you must draw yourself away with me, saith God.
