Zech. 4:1-14: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit

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1)     vv. 1-3 – What are we seeing in this vision? (pic)

A)   A gold lampstand

B)    A bowl on top

C)    7 lamps

1)     BUT each of the 7 lamps has 7 lips (like a super-menorah). 49 total flames.

D)   2 olive trees

1)     v. 12 – Golden olive oil is piped directly from the trees into the bowl to feed the lamps.

2)     The lampstand

A)   When I hear about a lampstand, I immediately think about the lampstand in the tabernacle/temple.

1)     Ex. 25:31-40

2)     1 Kgs. 7:48-49 – Solomon’s temple had 10

B)    In the context of this vision, one thing we need to know is that these lamps required a ton of work.

1)     You have to have oil to burn.

(a)   Grow olive trees, harvest olives, process the olive oil, etc.

(b)   Lev. 24:1-4 – Pure oil

2)     Every single day: trim the wicks, clean out the ash, refill the oil to keep the lamps burning.

3)     This all takes money, labor, politics/economy all to keep the lights on.

C)    The whole point of this vision is that these lamps do not depend on anything or anyone. The olive trees directly feed olive oil into the lamps so they are constantly burning.

D)   vv. 4-5 – Zechariah: What am I looking at here?

3)     v. 6 – God’s answer: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

A)   Not by…

1)     Might

(a)   BDBA - 1. strength, usu. physical: a. seld. alone

(b)   LTW - Refers to various kinds of strength, especially military force and wealth.

(c)   This is the full weight of your collective resources.

2)     Power

(a)   LTW - This verb mainly describes physical strength and prowess or a display of power. This noun usually refers to the physical prowess or strength of a man…

(b)   This is what you, individually, are capable of doing.

3)     e.g.

(a)   Might is how much weight all of us in the room can lift together.

(b)   Power is how much weight you can lift by yourself.

4)     In the context of Haggai and Zechariah, the task that needs to be accomplished is rebuilding the second temple. God’s message is that this will not be accomplished because of any one person, and not even because of your collectively working together.

B)    But by my Spirit

1)     In the vision, you are not going to keep God’s light burning by force or manual labor.

2)     God is going to feed the lamp, and it’s going to burn because he is continually feeding oil into it.

3)     The lampstand was impressive (it was all gold), but even a fancy lampstand with no oil is nothing but an expensive paper weight. God says, “I’m going to give you what this lamp needs to burn.”

4)     Illustration: rowboat vs sailboat

(a)   In a rowboat, you are 100% of the go power. If you stop rowing, the boat stops moving.

(b)   In a sailboat, there are things that you have to do, and it’s a lot of work, BUT you are not the force making the boat move. The wind is. If there is not wind, then the boat isn’t moving.

C)    v. 7a – “Who are you, O great mountain?”

1)     Zerubbabel is standing in front of a mountain: They’ve got to clear the rubble, he’s dealing with discouraged people, there’s a famine in the land, he’s got problems with both local and international politics, etc.

2)     If we were in Zerubbabel’s spot, we would look at this mountain and say, “There’s no way.”

3)     God says, “Before Zerubbabel you [the mountain] shall become a plain.”

(a)   God put the mountain there in the first place. He doesn’t have any problems moving is or reducing it to nothing.

4)     v. 7b – Zerubbabel is going to finish this project.

(a)   The cornerstone is first thing you do when you’re building a new building.

(b)   The top stone (other versions: capstone) is the last thing you do to finish the building.

5)     v. 7c – And when he does, it will be to the shouts of “Grace, grace.”

(a)   The people will not be shouting about how awesome Zerubbabel is or praising his excellent leadership or building skills.

(b)   They are shouting about the grace of God (grace grace – maximum emphasis), and how he provided the wind to move this sailboat.

D)   Summary

1)     God will provide the oil to keep the lamp burning.

2)     “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit”

3)     And when Zerubbabel finishes this temple, the people will shout about God’s grace.

E)    Why did God show Zechariah this vision? (Next)

4)     vv. 8-10 (v. 10 is hard)

A)   The people were discouraged.

1)     Ezra 3:12

2)     Hag. 2:3. NOTE: God gave the same message through Haggai in vv. 6-9, “I will shake the heavens and the earth…”

B)    v. 10 – Those of you who despise the day of small things…shall rejoice

1)     “AND you shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”

(a)   This Heb word can refer to a plumb line, or it can also be treated as “chosen stone.”

2)     If plumb line = Those of you who are discouraged will rejoice when you see Zerubbabel out there doing the work and building the temple.

3)     If “chosen stone” = (cf. capstone in v. 7b) Those of you who are discouraged will rejoice when you see Zerubbabel putting in the capstone and finishing the temple.

(a)   NIV / CSB – “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?”

(b)   MSG – “They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!”

5)     vv. 10b-14 – Zechariah finally gets his answer from vv. 4-5.

A)   v. 10b – “These seven [i.e. the 7 lamps from v. 2] are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”

1)     cf. 2 Chron. 16:7, 9

2)     Ezra 5:4-5

3)     “The lamps symbolizing God’s continual presence and protection…”[1]

(a)   God sees his people and will take care of them and accomplish his purpose even when it seems like an unclimbable mountain to us.

B)    vv. 11-14 – The 2 Olive Trees

1)     Some argue that they are Haggai and Zechariah, and the words of God are feeding the flame.

2)     Traditional and most widely held view: Joshua, the High Priest (note: the subject of the previous vision) and Zerubbabel, the David Governor

3)     These two, combined with the word, Branch, point us to Jesus, the Priest-King.

(a)   cf. Zech. 6:12-13

C)   The lampstand is God’s people alight with his all-seeing, all-power presence fueled by His Spirit through his anointed Priest and King.

6)     Lampstands in Revelation

A)   1:12-13 – While not specifically stated, Jesus (the Priest-King) is fueling the flame of these lamps.

B)    1:20 – The lampstands are the communities of God’s people (local churches)

C)    2:1-5

D)   Notes

1)     One lampstand vs seven

(a)   Zechariah tells us about a single lampstand with 7 lamps – there is s single covenant people of God.

(b)   Revelation tells us about 7 lampstands in different places – God’s people are all over now.

2)     cf.

(a)   Zech. 4:10b – “The seven [lamps] are the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth.”

(b)   Rev. 5:6 – “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

(c)   God’s people are not left to themselves. The all-seeing, all-knowing fuels their flame with his Holy Spirit.

3)     cf. Rev. 11:3-4. God’s people, fueled and sustained by God’s Holy Spirit, are supposed to shine God’s light to a dark and lost world.

7)     Main Take-aways

A)   Don’t despise the day of small things.

1)     Our job is to build God’s temple one brick / soul at a time.

2)     Maybe you look around at the world and the temple looks pretty pathetic to you right now, or maybe you feel helpless or discouraged about the mountain in front of us.

3)     We serve a God who levels mountains (Matt. 17:19-21; 21:20-22).

4)     POINT: Do not be discouraged about our work.

B)    How is this possible? “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

1)     We are sailboats, not rowboats.

2)     We plant and water, and GOD causes the growth.

C)   Our job is to be a lampstand and give God’s light a place to sit and shine into the dark world.

1)     Matt. 5:14-16

[1] George Klein, NAC.