Zechariah's Fifth Vision: Empowered For Service Series

Intro

Zechariah 4 records this prophet’s 5th vision. As in the previous vision (chapter 3), God is addressing the concerns Zechariah and his companions had in their assignment to rebuild the temple and restore worship in Jerusalem. The concern dealt with in the previous visions was how can we be qualified to serve God considering all our sins and failures. That chapter revealed Christ, the Messiah, as the qualifier of his people. You are qualified to serve God because Christ has removed your filthy garments and given you a clean robe of righteousness. Through the cross, Jesus removed your iniquity in one day, exchanging his righteousness in the place of your sin. That is the good news of the gospel.i

But Zechariah and his companions had another concern: How will we get our assignment accomplished? How are we going to rebuild this temple? The obstacles seem insurmountable; we do not have the strength nor the resources to get the job done.

Zerubbabel was the representative of the Davidic kingly line in that context. He only functioned as a governor under the Persian rule. But he was the descendent of David God put there in Jerusalem at that time. Joshua, the High Priest, was the central figure in the previous vision. Zerubbabel is central in this vision.

Under his leadership, the foundation of the temple had been laid (Ezra 3). But building the temple was harder than expected. The opposition against the work was far more intense than expected. The laborers were few, and after a zealous start, they became discouraged: so discouraged that the work God gave them to do ceased for the next 16 years. It is being revived through the prophetic ministries of Haggai and Zechariah (Ezra 4).ii Encouragement came as Zechariah shared these visions with the people.

That is what God wants to do for us through this revelation. We have an assignment; we have been given work to do. But we also have opposition. We also don’t feel adequate for the task. We need to understand what God is revealing about his grace through these visions. We need renewed courage to take up the mantle God has given us and finish the task he wants us to do.

Zerubbabel, God’s assigned leader of this remnant, has laid the foundation, but will and the remnant with him be able to finish constructing this temple? It doesn’t look like they have what it takes to get the job done. The point of this vision is summarized in Zechariah 4:9. “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it.”iii This 5th vision is a revelation of how that will happen. The plain answer is encapsulated in verse 6: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,' Says the Lord of hosts.” It won’t get done by your strength or craftiness. That indeed is inadequate. It will get accomplished through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Let’s read the whole chapter, Zechariah 4:1-14 with that in mind.

“Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep."

Who is “the angel who talked with me”? As you recall from previous messages, there is an angel who is specifically assigned to help Zechariah understand these visions. He is separate and distinct from “the Angel of the Lord” who is the preincarnate Christ. This angel is typically identified by Zechariah as “the angel who talked with me.” He first appeared in Zechariah 1:9 during the first vision. He temporarily left in Zechariah 2:3 during the third vision. Now he reappears to prepare Zechariah for this fifth vision.

Zechariah tells us he “and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.” There had apparently been a lull following the fourth vision. Zechariah was in a state of rest. The angel is stirring Zechariah’s attention for the next vision. A key word here is “as.” This is happening as a part of Zechariah’s supernatural experience. He is not literally asleep and awaken. But within this supernatural experience it like someone being awakened out of sleep. Mark Boda puts it this way: “The prophet is awakened from sleep, but only ‘as’ a normal awakening, for he does not awaken into the real world but into a visionary one.”iv

Verse 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."