Zechariah 4–6

Let's go ahead and open our Bibles to the Book of Zechariah. We are on the second to the last book of the Old Testament: Zechariah, and we are going to be picking it up in chapter 4 because we did the first 3 chapters last time. I got to tell you guys, this is one of the most amazing prophetic books I think in the Old Testament. I mean, and it's got some tough competition with Isaiah and Jeremiah and that sort of thing, but Zechariah gives us so much incredible insight concerning the last days. Both the first and the second coming of Jesus are actually covered in the prophecies of Zechariah. In fact, he, as we've said before, gives us more information about the second, first and second comings of Jesus than the other minor prophets put together. But there's just so many things here that are so important for us to keep in mind and so I want to just start here this evening by giving you 3 things to remember before we get into chapter 4 of Zechariah so we'll put that up on the screen there. We've got three things right for you notetakers. Here we go, three things to remember: (slide)  Prophesied while the Temple was being rebuilt after the 70 year exile of Judah in Babylon/Persia  Ministered alongside Haggai  The leaders of the people were Joshua (high priest) and Zerubbabel (a civic leader overseeing the rebuilding of the Temple) First of all, number one, that Zechariah prophesied while the temple was being built following the 70 years of exile when Judah had been taken into captivity by the Babylonian empire. You'll remember that during that 70 years of exile, the Babylonians themselves were conquered and they were taken over by the Medo-Persian empire. But either way, they were there, Israel was there for their, for 70 years and this is now after that time when through the grace of God, the Jews have been allowed to return to their homeland to rebuild the temple. And you'll remember that secondly, Zechariah ministered alongside Haggai. That's the second thing that I want you to keep in mind, these men worked together, they prophesied together to the mutual encouragement of the people of Israel at that time. And then finally, you need to remember that the leaders of the people during this time were a man named Joshua, who was a high priest and also a man named Zerubbabel who was a civic leader and was in fact the man overseeing and in charge of the rebuilding process of the temple. In fact, this second temple is referred to as Zerubbabel’s Temple. So, whereas the temple that came was standing during the time of Jesus was actually known as Herod’s temple, believe it or not, because Herod had allowed and spearheaded a lot of re-renovation and reworking and rebuilding of the temple at that time. So those are the things you need to remember, particularly that last part about these men, Joshua and Zerubbabel. And the reason I want you to pay special attention to these men is because tonight we're going to be talking about these men and we're going to see how the Lord is going to speak of them prophetically.

So, chapter 4 begins by saying:

Now, I want you to notice again that Zechariah, like many of the prophets is using the language of similarity. He says that he “woke me like a man who is awakened out of his sleep” and what that means is it wasn't like I was asleep or it wasn't like he woke me up in that exact way, he's saying it was like that, all right. And you'll find that a lot in the prophets using that language of similarity. And he goes on to say:

The NIV says seven channels, the New American Standard Bible says seven spouts. He says:

And then he goes on in verse 3 to say:

Why would you have olive trees next to a lamp stand? Well, olive oil was used for many things in ancient Israel, not the least of which burning lamps. It was the oil that actually, I mean, they cooked with it, they anointed with it, they burned it. And so, you can see why there's a connection between these two things. Now, the lamp stand that Zechariah is seeing here in this vision is one that you and I would refer to as a menorah. Years ago, we used to have a table on the back of our platform here that had a cross and a menorah. And we did that to show the connection between the Old and the New Testament and our solidarity with the people of Israel and that sort of thing. It's not there anymore but we are no less connected and supportive of Israel.

But I want to show you a photo here on the screen of a lamp stand that is displayed by the Temple Institute in preparation for the rebuilding of the temple, which they hope is going to happen very soon in Jerusalem. And of course, we know the temple has to be rebuilt. (slide) It will be rebuilt because we know that the book of Revelation, it speaks of the temple. My personal opinion, which, that and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee, so don't, go around quoting me. But my personal opinion is that, that is what the anti-Christ is going to enable Israel to do, is to rebuild the temple and I think it's going to go up very, very quickly during that first part of the tribulation period. But again, don't go around telling people that's what, here's what is going to happen because this is just my opinion. But what you see here is this man height, it's roughly the height of a man, this lamp stand and it is being prepared. I mean, these are the things, did you know that the, that Israel or the Temple Institute is preparing the implements for the rebuilding of the temple? They've got all kinds of things that they're getting because they believe that it will be rebuilt, they have every faith and that it's going to happen. There's a group called the Temple Mount Faithful that is just very zealous for this rebuilding process and like I said, we know that it will happen at some point, but there is great symbolism in the lamp stand, and that's something we're going to see and talk about as we read on here in Zechariah chapter 4.

It goes on in verse 4 to say:

I love this response.

And you might say, well, it's kind of a strange response for an angel, isn't he a messenger and supposed to just give information? But he's a little bit incredulous at this because this is something that every Jew would know exactly what this is. I mean, you see a menorah and as a Jew, you know this is the lampstand. But see, there's something different about this lampstand that Zechariah is seeing in the vision, and that is these two trees and this huge bowl, which is a receptacle. And what you're, what he's seeing in this vision is this flow of olive oil that's going into this bowl that has these channels going down to these seven areas. These seven areas where the lamp is lit and it's perpetually giving light, all right? Now, this was normally the job of the high priest. The high priest would go into the holy place and he would refresh the oil because the light was to keep going all the time. Anyway, so the angel asked this interesting question, do you not know? And he says:

And then verse 6:

Now, here's where we need to stop for just a moment and we need to ask ourselves the question. And by the way, that's a very popular statement, I'm sure you guys have heard it: “not by might nor by power, but by spirit.” People have it on their refrigerator and they've got it on a framed plaque in the house.

And it's a great scripture, it's a wonderful scripture. But what we have to ask is, what does it have to do with a lamp stand and trees that kind of are getting these IVs into this lampstand to keep it perpetually burning? What does that statement have to do with it? Well, once again, remember that the lampstand stood in that very first section of the holy place. It was tended by the priest, kept burning all the time, but it was the only source of light that was in that opening area of the temple. There was no other source of light in that area. And that is an interesting thing to note because we read about this issue of our source of light in the Book of John. We just covered this in our study of John a couple of weeks ago. Let me put it on the screen for you, just as a reminder, John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5. Speaking of Jesus: (slide)

So, we see that this first symbolic picture that we get from the lampstand in the holy place is the light of God which shines and gives light to men. But the oil, that kept the lamp giving off its light also had its own unique symbolism in the scripture. Olive oil or oil, if you will, is used throughout the word of God as a picture of the Holy Spirit. It is used for anointing, it is used for refreshing and that is the essence of the message that God wants to convey to Zerubbabel. Because remember, Zechariah sees this image, this vision, and the angel says to him, what you're seeing here Zechariah is a word to Zerubbabel. This is a message for Zerubbabel. Well, so, why is that a message? Well, remember, Zerubbabel is in charge of rebuilding the temple and all the things that are going along with it. We learned from other passages in the Bible, from Ezra and from Haggai, which we recently studied through, that there were all kinds of setbacks in the rebuilding of the temple. There was all kinds of opposition, there were people that were coming in and taking out lawsuits and sending letters back to Persia to try to get this building process halted and there, and they many times were even in fear of their lives.

But God wanted Zerubbabel to know that this project would be completed, but not by human effort. And so, He says to Zerubbabel:

And that's such a, this was, this must have been such an encouraging thing for Zerubbabel to hear with all the difficulty that they were having getting the temple built. You'll remember that they took about 13 years, 13 to 15 years off the building process. They stopped the process, it got so bad, it got so difficult, it got so oppressive, that they stopped building. God had to raise up Haggai to come and say, it's time to restart. And now God raises up Zechariah to speak to the man who is chief or kind of the general contractor, if you will, for the rebuilding of the temple. And he says to him, listen, you need to go forth, you need to get back to work, and you need to know that this is going to happen, but not by human strength. I am behind this thing, I am going to enable this thing to happen. And I just, yes, I think that there's an application here for all of us, when we have a task or a challenge in front of us and it can look so huge, so imposing, almost like a mountain that looms in our path just daring us to take a step forward. I dare you just to start working on this thing again. And I'm sure the rebuilding of the temple was that to Zerubbabel, it was a mountain. It was just, it was, it was a mountain. I can't climb that mountain, I can't get over that, it's too huge, it's too big, it's too imposing. Look what He says in, look what God says in verse 7:

In other words, this mountain, this issue that Zerubbabel is facing to get the temple built, it looks like a mountain now, God says, I'm going to make it a flat spot and I am going to so empower and so enable the rebuilding of this to take place, it's going to be like this mountain didn't even exist.

And then He goes on to say: 7 “… And he (that refers to Zerubbabel) shall bring forward the top stone (your Bible, if you have a different translation, may say capstone) amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”” (ESV) And so, the Lord is telling him here that the rebuilding of the temple is going to be a work of God's grace through the power of the spirit, right. And again, this isn't just a word for Zerubbabel. I believe that this is one of those wonderful and encouraging passages that applies to all of God's people who are seeking to do what Zerubbabel was doing, and that is walking in obedience to the Lord. And many times, when we simply choose to walk in obedience to God, we run into trouble. We run into hardships and we run into opposition. Sometimes people will say to me, I thought I was doing God's will, but look what's happening. And I have to remind them that the difficulty that they're at enduring has nothing to do with whether or not what they're doing is God's will. In fact, it usually confirms that it's God's will. God to tells us to walk into obedience to him, but he never promises us that it's going to be a cakewalk. He never tells us that this is going to be an easy thing to do. In fact, we're told that as it relates to the Apostle Paul, he told him ahead of time how much he would suffer for his work as an apostle, and we know from the New Testament that the Apostle Paul walking in obedience to the Lord suffered greatly. He even describes his suffering in very graphic terms in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. He talks about all the things that happened to him from getting beaten and whipped and shipwrecked and left in an open sea for hours and hours on end and going without food and snake bites. And we read about these things, in the Bible, well, he was doing God's will. Zerubbabel is doing God's will and yet there are challenges. But God wants to remind Zerubbabel, and I believe he wants to remind His children of whom we are, that as we walk with Him, as we seek to walk out in obedience the things He's called us to do. And it could just be, being a godly wife or husband, godly parents, a godly business owner. Whatever you're doing in your job or how, whatever you, whatever life presents, you're trying to walk it out in obedience to the Lord. God wants you to know that whatever mountains may stand in your way are only going to be removed by His power and his Spirit, not yours. And that means we have to trust in Him, we have to rely on His power.

Verse 8 goes on, it says:

Sometimes people look at a situation that has been left, like the rebuilding of the temple, and they it seems so meager, so minor and saying, well, we laid the foundation, big deal. What are we even doing here? And they spoke in a way concerning this just initial foundational work of the temple in very derogatory and negative sorts of ways to the point where they despised it and God says, and yet they will rejoice. Because they're going to see this completed, right. I want you to notice that he goes on and we're still in verse 10, we're in the middle of verse 10. He starts off by saying:

And that refers to the seven branches on the lamp stand, okay.

So, he's still describing what this vision is all about.

And of course, that is just the perfect, remember seven is God's perfect number, so it speaks of His perfect vision, His perfect ability to look at all things going on in the whole earth and to have watchful oversight over the tasks and ministries that He has given to his children to accomplish.

--- Verse 11: 11 “Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”” (ESV) And apparently Zechariah didn't get an answer to this question. And so, it says that he put it to the angel a second time, he says: 12 “And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?” 13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” (ESV) Now this is interesting. So, he's told that these two trees, these two olive trees are two anointed ones whose name, by the way, that term, the two anointed ones, it literally means in the Hebrew sons of oil. Isn't that interesting? But he's saying that these two are going to be supernaturally supplied with the Spirit of God, and they would be like these olive trees with this continual supply. And so, and these are two people that are ministering before the Lord. Now, Bible students for years and years have said, who are these two? Who are we talking about when he talks about these two individuals, these two anointed ones? Well, I think this is personally another example of what we call the law of double reference, where we see a short term and a long term fulfillment to a, this particular prophetic vision and the short term fulfillment to this is Joshua and Zerubbabel. These two men who are anointed by the Lord to come together in a very special way and oversee this building of the temple there in Jerusalem. But, I believe that there's also a longer distant prophetic element to this, related to what we know as the two witnesses who will preach the gospel during the great tribulation as told us through the Book of Revelation, and the reason we believe that is because of what it says in the Book of Revelation. Let me put it on the screen.

It's Revelation chapter 11, and it says: (slide)

And so, we see here this connection because this is in chapter 11, is referring to the two witnesses who preached the gospel during the tribulation period. And it says very clearly, these are the two olive trees. Now the only difference between Zechariah's vision and what we hear or see here in the book of Revelation is that in Zechariah's vision, there's one lamp stand and in Revelation it speaks of two. But other than that, it seems a pretty clear connection to me. And once again, we've talked in the past about who the two witnesses are going to be. We're not told, and there's just all kinds of guesses related to who they will be. And we'll see as we get closer to that. I want to remind you that believers will be watching this all play out from the wedding supper of the lamb. I believe that the tribulation, or excuse me, the rapture will precede the tribulation. I believe the church will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air and there we will celebrate the wedding supper of the lamb during the period of time that is known as the great tribulation. And so, we are going to see these things on a huge big screen. I'm quite sure and be watching these things as it goes along. So, there we go. All right, let's move on to chapter 5. 1 “Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll!” (ESV) It's interesting how visions can be, can take on kind of a weird imagery, isn't it. A flying scroll, and it's not a small one. 2 “And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”” (ESV) So, we're talking about a scroll that's about 15x30 feet, okay? So, this is not a small sort of a deal. What we don't know and what we are not told is what is written on the scroll. What we do know is that it has writing on both sides. ---

Let's see if we can kind of figure some things out from what we read. Now the Lord is going to reveal to Zechariah the meaning of the scroll beginning in verse 3.

So, whether you look at cleaned out or purged away, this is a word describing judgment, removal in judgment. So, God is here speaking of a cleansing that is going to take place in the land related to this curse that is going through the land and pinpointing individuals who steal and those who give false testimony or swear falsely. Verse 4, He says:

So once again, this is a, this is simply a promise of judgment that is being given to Zechariah saying that God is going to do a further work of cleansing the land. All right? But God has more to show Zechariah in terms of sin and iniquity. Verse 5 goes on to say:

Which gives you the sense that God is keeping this inequity under wraps or not under wraps, but keeping it from breaking out, all right. And then he says, verse 9:

And the name Shinar is an ancient term for Babylon, okay? And he says:

Now this is a fascinating vision where Zechariah has given this interesting picture of the removal of sin to another land. And what we're seeing here is a picture of the idolatry that was once such a huge part of the land of Israel and Judah, which in fact was the reason God allowed their nation to be overthrow in the overthrown in the first place, and the people taken captive and into exile for 70 years. Why? Because of idolatry. But do you know that after they came back from the land, they never dealt with that kind of idolatry again? They never bowed down to idols or of deities of pagan deities made from wood and stone and metal. They never did that again. They were literally cured of this, and so God is giving this fascinating picture to Zechariah of this sin that is being kept in this basket and taken to the land of Babylon where it's going to be further exalted. He says they're going to build a house for this sin and they're going to set it there and so forth. And of course, this is where it's going to remain until the Lord judges it. And in fact, the judgment of Babylon, both spiritual and physical is an interesting element of the book of Revelation. So very interesting connection there as well.

So, chapter 6, now as we get into chapter 6, we're going to see that the, this is the eighth and final vision that Zechariah received in a single night. This was a very busy night. I'm not surprised he fell asleep, whether it was in spirit or physically, because this was a very busy night receiving all these visions. And the interesting element is we see all these visions is that they all speak of the future history of Israel and no less, this. Look at verse 1 of chapter 6, he says:

So, these are not physical mountains that you and I would look at. These are spiritual mountains or they depict something beyond simply a mountain, and it says that they're mountains of bronze. Remember, there's nothing lost on God when he brings explanation to these things and bronze always has a connection in the scripture to sin, okay? So, remember that. So, I'll just I could give you a bunch of examples, but we'll just move on. So, keep that in mind. Now he goes on to see some things happening here.

Notice the angel doesn't ask him. Don't you know what this is? He says, I'm just going to give it to you this time, bud. Anyway, he goes on. He says:

Now I want you to remember something about the word wind in both Hebrew and Greek. Wind is the very same word that is translated breath and is the very same word that is translated spirit, okay? And that's the same for Hebrew in the Old Testament, Greek, in the New Testament.

So, the fact that the ESV translators here have chosen to translate this as wind is their prerogative based on what they believe is consistent with the context of the passage, but it could just as easily be translated the four spirits and it is elsewhere in other translations, or literally the four breaths. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but the word does mean that. And so, he says:

Interestingly, the chariot that's pulled by the red horses is not spoken of here. Apparently, it remains right where they are. And so, this is very interesting thing that Zechariah is seeing here. He goes on and we try our best to understand what this is all about by reading on in these verses. Verse 7:

Okay, stop there. We saw in our last study of Zechariah that other messengers were sent out, came back and reported that the land of the north or the peoples of the earth were at rest. Now that's a different sort of a situation when the people are at rest, and that is a word to mean that they are just living their lives in sin, and there's no judgment that has come upon them, they are at rest. But notice it's a different statement today, these messengers come back and report that as they go toward the north country, he says they have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.

Isn't that interesting? So, this refers to the fact that judgment has taken place because the Lord's Spirit is at rest, which gives us this clue, if you will, to help us see that these images refer to the fact that judgment has taken place. Judgment has happened in this area, and by that area we refer to the north country, which is essentially Babylon. And if you want to use a New Testament reference actually even an Old Testament reference, also the region of Magog, okay. And it says verse 9, 9 “And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.” (ESV) Okay, now this is interesting. What are we doing here? This is treason. I mean, if this is actually going to supposed to be played out in physical sorts of terms, this would be treason because they are under the dominion of the Persian kingdom right now, and the king of Persia is the king. So, for anybody of the Jews, or frankly any people's group that the Persians have conquered to crown someone king, that would be, they'd be guilty of treason. But that's not what the Lord is doing here in a physical sort of a situation. And so, we're going to kind of see here what's going on. I want you to take note of verse 11 once again, this is very important. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on (who’s head?) the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest.” (ESV) Now this gets really strange and the reason is because priests are never crowned king and kings are never priests because the priests come from the line of Aaron and the kings were to come from the line of David. So, they don't cross, right? But this is, yet God is doing this, saying this, I want you to crown the high priest because I have a picture that I'm setting up for you. He's not saying that, but that's exactly what's going on. So, let's read on and find out what this picture is all about.

12 “And say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD.” (ESV) Okay, this is where we have such wonderful and insightful information concerning the coming of Messiah. Now, you'll remember that he refers here to the branch in verse 12, and we talked about this last week. We talked about the fact that the references to the branch in the Bible are very clearly connected to Messiah. Let me show you some of the passages we looked at last week. From Jeremiah chapter 23 on the screen: (slide)

All right, and then from Isaiah chapter 11, you'll remember we saw this last week. (slide)

That's exactly what John the Baptist saw when Jesus came out of the waters of baptism, the Spirit of the Lord resting upon him. So now remember what the Lord is saying concerning Joshua, the high priest. What does He say in verse 12? Look again in verse 12: 12 “…“Behold, the man whose name is the Branch:…”” (ESV) 12 “…“Behold, the man whose name is the Branch:…”” (ESV) (Pastor Paul repeated this verse for emphasis)

This is fascinating. I want you to remember that Joshua is “Yeshua” in Greek; it's Jesus. Behold the man whose name is the branch, there's this picture. So, He picks this man who has the same name given to His own son, which is going to happen of course, at the incarnation. And He speaks of this man who is a priest as both priest and king, which has never been done before, right? And, so He goes on to say in verse 13, once again:

He's not talking about a physical temple now, He's talking about you and me. We, the Bible says, are the temple of the Lord, we are the temple of the Lord. Individually, we are even temples of the Holy Spirit, but collectively we are the temple of the Lord and God is building that the Messiah has come forth to build. And this is the prophecy that we're seeing. And He goes on to say:

This is a prophecy of the millennial kingdom and look at what it says:

So, He says right here that this one who's coming, who's going to build this other temple. Because you know he, they're right in the middle of building a physical temple. So, God's speaking to them about a spiritual temple that is to come and as He speaks of this, He speaks of this one who will come in royal honor, whose name is literally the Lord our righteousness, right? And He says He will sit on his throne and He will sit as priest also on this throne, and there will be no issues between the two. He will be the priest king or the king priest, if you will. Verse 14 goes on to say:

So, this crown that they're making from this gold isn't going to sit on Joshua's head because again, God wasn't wanting to crown a physical king. He was wanting to speak of a king to come. But this will remain, He says in the temple as a perpetual reminder of this prophecy, that there is a king coming who will be in the temple as priest and king, right? Verse 15 is kind of an interesting final statement, and it says:

This is the final verse of the chapter and once again, we have a passage that applies the law of double reference. First of all, the statement, “those who are far off will come and help in the building of the temple”, speaking of the those who are coming yet from Babylon to come and get this building process finished. More Jews coming, but it also speaks at the same time as a prophetic reminder that the nations of the world are going to stream toward Israel at the very end of the tribulation period. And as we go into the millennial kingdom, and this is told us by prophets, Isaiah and Haggai, and also here in Zechariah, this is commonly spoken of in the Bible about during the millennial kingdom. Just as the millennial kingdom gets started after the tribulation period, the nations of the earth will stream to Israel and they will bring their wealth along with them and it will adorn the temple. So, anyway, so these are amazing prophecies of the last days and the things that will happen. That's where we're going to stop for tonight. We'll pick it up in chapter 7 next time. And let me tell you these prophecies as we continue through the book of Zechariah, they only get better. They only get just incredibly better. We're going to learn in the coming chapters how Jesus is going to return for His second coming. We're going to find out from Zechariah exactly where he's going to return to the earth. I mean, where he is literally going to touch down. We're going to learn how the Jewish people are going to respond to his return. We're going to learn what happens during that return and it just is amazing and how it's so dovetails with the prophecies also that are given in the New Testament related to the second coming of Jesus. So really, really good stuff coming up, so stay tuned.

So, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for giving us this time tonight. It's always so delightful to dig into your word and Lord, we confess to you tonight, we are nothing without you. We are nothing without you, Lord, your word tells us that if we don't stay connected to the vine, we can't bear any fruit and we can't even understand the scriptures. We need your Spirit, we need the illuminating work of your Spirit for us to understand and to lay hold of these things. Lord, without your Spirit, we're lost, we are nothing and we're empty. But you have so graciously poured out your life, and your Spirit, and wisdom, and insight, and revelation and truth. Your word is so incredible and we're so thankful, Lord, that you've given it to us. We consider it a precious thing, and we ask Father that even from this study here tonight, that we would go from this place and just meditate on the things that we've heard and learned, and remember that when we walk and as we walk in obedience to your word and as we come up against the difficulties and the challenges, those mountains that stand in our way, that your word to us is not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. We thank you and we praise you, in the precious and powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.