ZECHARIAH 4-7 ZECHARIAHS VISIONS2011 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Zechariah 4-7 Zechariahs Visions

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2011.

Well, this evening we're in the book of Zechariah, continuing our journey through Zechariah. We started last week with chapters 1 through 3, and this week we'll be looking at chapters 4 through 7, and continuing on with these visions that Zechariah was receiving from the Lord. Now, as a reminder, Zechariah's ministry was really a calling of the people back to God. He ministered along...

alongside of Haggai, who was calling the people back to rebuild the temple, kind of the outward structure. Well, Zechariah's ministry was around the same time, but he was calling the people to rebuild spiritually their lives. He was calling them to get focused on the things of God once again.

And he did so with encouragement primarily regarding their future. He looks a lot at the millennial kingdom and the things that are going to take place and he's painting this picture and reminding them all of these things that God has in store for them as a way to encourage them to right now and today get right with God and make sure that you're walking with Him and fulfilling the calling that He's given to you. He's reminding the people that God has not given up.

It was an important message for them because as they were back in the land, remember they were in captivity for 70 years, Jerusalem and all of Israel pretty much was desolate land. There was nobody there. But now as they've come back, they're in this rebuilding project and it's discouraging and there's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of rubble and just a lot of work and it's not...

looking very favorably. They've got enemies around them still. The walls aren't built. The temple's not built. There's just a lot to do. And they're discouraged. And so Zechariah's encouraging them. God hasn't given up. Look, He has these plans for you. He's still working. He's not done. And so be faithful in the work that you have right in front of you.

And God is speaking to Zechariah and having him speak to the nation through these visions that he is receiving. These visions that God is giving to Zechariah. And these visions are pictures of spiritual realities.

They're picturing for us truths that God wants the people and us this evening as we study them. He wants us to understand and then be responsive to what God is saying through these visions. And so, as we look at these, we want to see...

How does God want us to respond? What is His intention by these visions that He provides? And so we're picking it up in chapter 4, continuing on with a new vision now that God is giving to Zechariah. Look at verse 1, it says, Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 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.

2. All of trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 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. 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. 3.

Here in verses 1-7, we begin this next vision that Zechariah has. And this vision is one that you're probably familiar with because it's a common one to refer to. It's a common one that is taught and studied. But this vision that he has is of a lampstand.

Now a lampstand was not just for one light, but if you would think of the menorah, the seven lights, that's what this lampstand was. And so it was one stand that had the light on top, but it had three arms on each side. And so there would be seven lamps or seven lights on this lampstand.

And so he sees the menorah and then on top of that he sees this large bowl, this large basin and there was pipes that would come from this bowl to the seven lamps. And then next to the lamp stand on either side was an olive tree.

And so he has the lampstand, the bowl with the lamps, with the pipes, as well as the two olive trees. And he sees this vision, and Zechariah does not understand it. He doesn't know what it means. And so he asks, what does it mean? And the angel says, well, don't you know? He says, no, I don't know what it means. Tell me what it means. Well, we find the significance or the picture that God is painting explained in verse 6.

Here the angel says, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. So this picture, this vision that he has is a picture message for Zerubbabel. And this picture message that God is giving is this.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. This is the message that God is giving to Zerubbabel through this picture that He's giving to Zechariah. Now, Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem. He was basically the person in charge politically. And so he was the one who was getting the people back to work.

You might remember we talked about Joshua last week. Joshua was the high priest. And so there's these two rulers, these two authorities in Jerusalem at the time. Zerubbabel, who is the political or civic ruler, however you want to look at it. He was the governor. And then Joshua, who is the high priest, the spiritual leader of the people.

And so God says, this message is for Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, you've got a big overwhelming task ahead of you. Rebuilding the temple. Remember, these visions that Zechariah has are just after they began to work on the temple again. They began to work on the temple when they first got back to the land.

They worked on it for a little bit, but they got discouraged. They got the foundation laid, but not much beyond that. And then for like 16 years, no work was done. They just left it alone and it was just too hard, it was too difficult. And so now they're just barely getting back to work. And they've got this overwhelming task ahead of them. There's just this big pile of rubble that is where the temple is supposed to be.

And as he has this humongous overwhelming task, here's God's message to Zerubbabel. "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord." Essentially, God is telling Zerubbabel, "You are not going to accomplish this on your own strength." It's not with your might, it's not with your power.

You can't do it on your own. You can't group up with enough people to accomplish this in your own strength. This work is going to be accomplished by my Spirit, says the Lord. This is a pretty amazing truth for us to consider and we can't...

all nights looking at just this verse. So I would encourage you to continue to meditate on this verse for the rest of the week. And meditate on it in the sense of how does this fit into your life? What big mountainous task

are before you. What difficult things are you facing? And let God's message to Zerubbabel be passed on to you where God will tell you it's not by might that you will accomplish that thing. And it's not by power, but it's by the Holy Spirit that the work of God will get done.

Now, we often think of the Holy Spirit in regard to spiritual things. So if you want to share a scripture, you want to pray for somebody, we would say, yeah, okay, we need the Holy Spirit. But this is addressing specifically a physical work that has to take place. It's a physical job, putting...

the structure together. It's an outward physical thing and God says, you can't do this with your strength. It's a reminder. It's not just, you know, for church events that we need the Holy Spirit.

But whatever mountainous thing that is before you, whatever thing that God has called you to, and there's things that God has called you to that are difficult, that are hard. There's things that you face in the workplace. There's things that you face as a parent. There's things that you face financially. There's difficulties that we face. And God wants Zerubbabel to know, He wants you to know, you cannot do it on your own strength.

It has to be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so look to the Lord for strength. Look to the Lord to provide. Look for the Lord to work. Even in those arenas that we typically don't associate with the Holy Spirit. You know, hey, you're building a fence?

Look to the Lord. It's not by might, it's not by power. Whatever God has called you to in your life, whatever God has placed before you in your life, it needs to be accomplished by the Spirit. He works through us, but it's not by your might or your strength. J. Vernon McGee says, "...the message is simply this, it will not be by your cleverness, your ability, or your physical strength that the temple will be rebuilt, but the Spirit of God."

It's not your cleverness, it's not how smart you are, it's not the plans you got, it's not your mental strength, your physical strength, it's not your great abilities. You need the Holy Spirit to do the work. So it's not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. And this vision that he gives to Zechariah really paints the picture of a continual supply of the Holy Spirit. Not like a single dose, but...

The bull is continually feeding the lambs through the seven pipes. And then the olive trees are directly feeding the bull. So it's a continual, a constant flow of the Holy Spirit. And that is what is necessary in your life and in my life. We need that continual, that constant flow of the Holy Spirit. We need to walk in the Spirit, as Paul says in Galatians chapter 5.

I think Jesus says something that's very interesting and important for us in John chapter 3 verse 34. He says that God does not give the Spirit by measure. God does not give the Spirit by measure. God doesn't say, okay, here you go, half a cup of the Holy Spirit for you. What does Jesus say in John 7? If you come to Him and you thirst...

That the Holy Spirit will burst forth from you like torrents of living water. Not by measure, not, okay, here's a little bit, but as much as possible, as much as is needed, an abundance even more overflowing than what we need. That is how God gives us the Holy Spirit. And so we need to look to the Lord. We need to look for God to fill us

And overflow us with His Holy Spirit. Not just in things that happen at church, but in every aspect of our life. In verse 7, He kind of deals with the difficulty of the task. He says, Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain. There's this great mountain of rubble. This very difficult task looming over Him.

And the message of God is, who do you think you are, big mountain of rubble? Before it's irruvable by the power of the Spirit, that mountain will become a plain. It will be leveled. It will be removed.

I like what Wiersbe had to say about this. He said, Unbelief makes mountains out of molehills, but faith makes mountains into plains. When we are going forward in the power of the Holy Spirit, mountains become plains. But when we're not walking in faith, then we see like the little bumps and it's like, oh, it's this huge mountain, we can't get through it. There is a big work to do, God tells Zerubbabel.

But by the power of the Holy Spirit, that mountain will become flat. It will become a plain. And he tells them there in verse 7, he said, He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace. Grace to it. The capstone, it's that kind of like the final stone of the structure. And so he's telling Zerubbabel, you're going to bring it to completion, but it's going to be with shouts of grace. Not with shouts of how great I am.

Not with shouts of, wow, look what we've done. It's going to be shouts of, look what God has done. Grace, grace. And so from beginning to end, the temple project is going to be a work of God by the power of the Holy Spirit with man recognizing only you, God, could have done this.

Well, we continue on with this vision in verse 8. It says, Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 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.

Verse 1.

And I further answered and said to him, What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two golden pipes from which the golden oil drains? Then he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. And so here we continue on with the vision. And God is speaking again, saying...

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation and his hands shall finish it. He's given a great word of encouragement to Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was part of the original work as they first came back to the land and they laid the foundation.

He was part of that work. Then they stopped the work for about 16 years. But now God's calling them back. They're getting back to work on the temple. It's a lot to do. It's hard work. It seems impossible. But God tells Zerubbabel, your hands began it and your hands will finish it. He's telling Zerubbabel, you'll see it happen. It's going to take place under your watch.

With your strength, with your energy, as you're working by the power of the Spirit, you're going to be involved in setting that last stone.

You will finish the work. It's not that, hey, you're going to be working on it, working on it, working on it, and then the next generation will complete it. No. Your lifetime is revivable. You're going to see this. And you can imagine what a great encouragement that would be. Because he could see the end then. He could know, alright, God says I'm going to get this done.

It's going to happen. I'm going to see it in my lifetime. And so he could continue to work with that confidence, with that hope that is set before him. So he will finish the temple. I really love this passage though. As you look at verse 10, there's some great challenges for our own hearts. Because in verse 10 he says, "...for who has despised the day of small things?"

Who has despised the day of small things? An incredible question to ask. Now, I already told you to meditate on verse 6, but also meditate on verse 10. Who has despised the day of small things? Zerubbabel, as he sees this mountain of rubble, as he sees the huge task ahead of him, he sees his small contribution.

He's not able to do that much. I mean, they don't have a large army. They're not a massive force of laborers. Really, it's the day of small things for them. And each day they're able to move a little bit of the rubble. They're able to set up a little bit of the wall. But there's not this massive, impressive labor force or work that's going on. And you can imagine how that would be.

To have this great work ahead of you, but just not very much is happening. And you could see how they would begin to despise the day of small things. How they could begin to get discouraged. Just like you and I, we do that so often. We despise the little things. It's just such a little thing.

And yet God says, who has despised the day of small things? He goes on to say, for these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of the Zerubbabel. What are these seven who rejoice? Well, there at the end of verse 10, He says, they are the eyes of the Lord which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth. Here's what He says.

Who has despised the day of small things? Not the Lord. The Lord has rejoiced to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. The plumb line was the tool that they would use to measure the straightness of a wall. To make sure it was completely vertical. That it wasn't crooked or going to fall over. And so he says, look, the eyes of the Lord who scan to and fro through the whole earth.

He rejoices to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. And so you see the difference of perspective. Zerubbabel looks and goes, all I've got is a plumb line. All I can do is just check this wall and see if it's crooked or straight.

It's just a little thing. I mean, I feel like we're accomplishing nothing. And then God, on the other hand, He's rejoicing. He's like, oh right, Zerubbabel's got the plumb line. He's engaging in the work. He's participating in the work and what I've called Him to.

And that's so often the case that we look at what we're involved with or what we've been called to and we think, it's just a little thing. I mean, all I'm doing is vacuuming. All I'm doing is cleaning toilets. All I'm doing is sharing with these kids. All I'm doing is praying with this person. There's so much bigger stuff to be happening that needs to be done.

You know, it's not like I'm leading the harvest crusader. It's not like, you know, we're reaching the thousands. It's just this person right in front of me. And it's so easy for us to despise the day of little things. You know, you go to do a Bible study and one person shows up. It's like, man, we do a new work. We do outreaches this summer, right? And it's just like...

Only like three people who weren't from the church came. It's easy to despise those days of little things. But that's our perspective and it's wrong. God doesn't despise the days of little things. He doesn't despise those things. He rejoices. You see, it's not about how big of an accomplishment you have. It's really about how faithful you are to what God has called you to.

And if He's called you to big things, well then you've got to be faithful to that. And if He's called you to what we would call little things, then you've got to be faithful to that. But to God, there's not little things. He rejoices when you are faithful, when you engage in the work that He's called you to. Is God only pleased when Davids conquer Goliaths?

No. He's pleased whenever you and I engage in the battle that He's called us to. So don't despise. Don't just think, well, you know, I can't be on the worship team. I know God's prompting my heart, but I don't got voices like those other people. I've just got this little plumb line here. It's like I can't contribute really nothing.

But it's not about what you feel is big or small. It's about what has God called you to and be faithful to that. And God rejoices when you engage in the work that He's called you to. He rejoices. He does not despise what we would consider little things.

Who has despised the day of small things? Not the Lord. Well, then Zechariah goes on to ask him, who are these two olive trees? And what are these branches that feed this bowl which feeds the lamb? What's being pictured here? What's going on? And he says, these are the two anointed ones, there in verse 14, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.

Now there's some discussion among Bible scholars who these two anointed ones represent. Some suggest it's the Old Testament and the New Testament. I don't really think that's what God was referring to, but that's one suggestion. The most common suggestion, the most common,

generally accepted idea is that it's the office of king and priests there in Israel. These were anointed positions, positions that God created and God gave instruction to anoint those who would enter into those offices. And there was in Jerusalem at this time Zerubbabel who was a descendant of David, who was of the royal line, who was heir to the throne of David. And then there was also Joshua who was the high priest. And so through these offices

two anointed positions, these things that God had established that the work would get done. And so that's the generally accepted belief regarding these two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. But it is up for a little bit of discussion since he doesn't name those two offices specifically.

Well, this chapter, chapter 4, is a great chapter. Again, I encourage you to spend some time in it. Allow the Lord to continue to speak to your heart. But let's move on into chapter 5 now. And we're going to get into a few more visions in chapters 5 and 6. We'll kind of hit these a lot quicker than we did in chapter 4. Verse 1 of chapter 5 says, Then I turned and raised my eyes and saw there a flying scroll...

And he said to me, What do you see? So I answered, I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits. Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth. Every thief shall be expelled according to this side of the scroll, and every perjurer shall be expelled according to that side of it.

Verse 4, I will send out the curse, says the Lord of hosts. It shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it with its timber and stones.

Here, Zechariah now enters into a new vision. And this time he sees a flying scroll. It's a scroll that's opened up. And it's flying somehow. Now, this scroll is quite large. He says it's 20 cubits by 10 cubits. In feet, that's about 15 feet by 30 feet. Now, if you want to picture that, the...

stage here probably right about here is about 15 feet to the wall

and the sanctuary is about 35 feet wide. So, just about this size here of the ceiling would be the size of this flying scroll. Quite a big flying scroll. Probably the biggest I've ever seen. Just kidding, right? So, he sees this flying scroll. It's large. Now, this would also be the dimension of the tabernacle, the holy place. If you remember, the tabernacle is divided in two. You have the holy place and then the holy of holies.

The holy place was these same dimensions, 10 cubits by 20 cubits. And so it was that size of a scroll that he sees. And there's writing on both sides of it. And on one side, he addresses the issue of stealing or thieves. And on the other side, he addresses the issue of perjury or lying. Those who swear falsely in the name of God. And so through this vision...

He's basically addressing those who steal and those who lie. And he's saying, look, this scroll is going out, it's announcing judgment upon those who are engaging in these two sins.

It's been noted, if you look at the Ten Commandments and how the first four relate to relationship with God and then the last six relate to relationship with humanity, with man. How the tablets were two is probably that one side of the tablet, or one tablet, you know, had those...

laws pertaining to your relationship with God and then the other tablet had the laws pertaining to your relationship with one another. These two laws that are mentioned here on the front and back of this scroll would be taken one from each side of the Ten Commandments. So just an interesting side note there that the Ten Commandments possibly are represented by these two laws that are written here on this scroll.

But this flying scroll goes over the face of the whole earth and basically announces every thief shall be expelled and every perjurer shall be expelled. He says in verse 4, it shall enter the house of the thief. And so essentially what God is saying through this vision is that nobody is going to get away with stuff. God has some great things in store for Israel, but

As a nation. He's got great promises. He's been giving those. But as an individual, you're still responsible. You're still accountable for your actions. And if you're practicing stealing, if you're practicing lying, then God says you will be expelled. And this judgment will come to you. And so He's going to deal with the individuals who are engaging in sin. And so it's a...

against those who would think, hey, well, I don't need to worry about this sinful practice that I have because, well, I'm part of Israel and God has great things in store for Israel. Or for those who today would say, well, I go to church so it's not a big deal that I continue to practice this sin in my life.

And God would give the warning that no, yes, God will bless the church and He wants you to be engaged in the work of the body of Christ, but that does not mean, that does not excuse sin from the rest of your life. You need to continue to be obedient to God, not just here on the property, but throughout your whole life. You need to be committed to and engaged in the things that God has called you to.

Well, we go on to the next vision in verse 5. It says, Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, Lift your eyes now and see what this is that goes forth. So I asked, What is it? And he said, It is a basket that is going forth. He also said, This is their resemblance throughout the earth. Here is a lead disc lifted up and this woman sitting inside the basket. Then he said, This is wickedness.

And he thrust her down into the basket and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women coming with the wind in their wings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. So I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they carrying the basket?

And he said to me, to build a house for it in the land of Shinar. When it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base. So now we have another vision, an interesting vision. This time it's of a basket. There's a woman in the basket and then there's a lead disc that seals or covers or closes the basket on top.

And then he sees two ladies with wings, probably angelic beings we would think. And so they lift up the basket and they're carrying the basket away. And so he asks the angel, where are they taking the basket? And he says, well, they're taking it to a place that's been set up in Shinar. And there it will be set up when it is prepared. So the woman is referred to as wickedness.

And so the general picture here, the overall picture is that God is going to be removing wickedness from Jerusalem. He's going to be carrying it away and sending it back to where it came from. Now Shinar was the land of Babylon and Jerusalem.

I'm not going to get into the details there, but there's some great insight you can look into the roots and the history of Babylon and how the enemy has used that really as a central location, as a headquarters for all things evil. And so you can check that out on your own time. But basically God is saying, look, I'm going to be purging wickedness from the land. I'm going to be removing it from the land. And so again, it's an exhortation to those who are practicing wickedness

that you need to get right with God. You can't think that you're going to get away because wickedness is going to be taken captive, thrust into the basket with a lead disc on top and removed from the land. Now there's also references here by the basket, the lead disc, which were weights that they used in those days, to the commercialism that the Jews learned in Babylon.

And before they went to Babylon in captivity, they were basically farmers. They weren't really commercially minded. They just produced what they needed to. They traded accordingly. But when they came back from Babylon, there was a materialism, there was a commercialism that came back with them.

And so God also could be addressing that aspect of their life, that He's going to be dealing with that, removing the wickedness from the things that they're practicing and carrying that back to Shinar. We move on into chapter 6 and now we have another vision in verses 1 through 8.

He says,

Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, What are these, my Lord? And the angel answered and said to me, These are the four spirits of heaven who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. The one with the black horses is going to the north country, the white are going after them, and the dappled are going toward the south country. Then the strong steeds went out, eager to go that they might walk to and fro throughout the earth.

And He said, Go, walk to and fro throughout the earth. So they walked to and fro throughout the earth. And He called to me and spoke to me saying, See, those who go toward the north country have given rest to My Spirit in the north country. So now we have a new vision.

He's just getting these back-to-back visions, these different things that God is showing to him. And this time, the vision contains four chariots with horses leading them. Each of the chariots has different color horses that are leading the chariots.

So what is the significance of these chariots and these four horses? Well, he tells us in verse 5. He says, These are four spirits of heaven who go out from their station before the Lord of all the earth. And so these chariots with their horses represent four, probably angelic beings, four spirits who go out from the Lord.

They go out into all the earth. They go out to and fro throughout the earth. What is the point? What is God saying? God is essentially saying, I'm working all over the place. His work is not just limited to Jerusalem. He is working all around the earth. He is at work. He is accomplishing His purposes in every nation, in every direction, wherever you would go.

In verse 8 it says, See those who go to the north country have given rest to my spirit in the north country. These spirits or these angelic beings that God is sending forth are giving rest to His spirit. That is, they're accomplishing the work that God is sending them forth to do. They're accomplishing the purposes of God all around the earth. And so these horses and chariots represent this spirit.

Now, the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Judah, was threatened by many of the surrounding nations. They were able to return by the supernatural direction and leading of God.

And God is continuing to remind them, I'm working all over the place. And I'm giving rest to the north country. Now, the north country would have been the area of Persia, which is where they were, you know, the nation that was in charge when they were released to go back. And so he's saying, look, I'm the one arranging these things. I'm working these things. I'm accomplishing my work. And my spirit is given rest as I send out these people

angelic beings to do the work that I've called them to all around the earth. Well, then we go on into verse 9. It says,

Verse 1.

Verse 14,

Now the elaborate crown shall be for a memorial in the temple of the Lord, for Helam, Tobijah, Jediah, and Hen, the son of Zephaniah. Even those from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord. Then you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you, and this shall come to pass if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.

So now Zechariah is given a command. He says, "Okay, Zechariah, here's what I want you to do. There's three guys who have recently returned from Babylon and they come with gifts. They come with some of the wealth of Babylon. And what I want you to do, Zechariah, is to take the gifts, the silver and the gold that they bring, and make an elaborate crown

and then set it upon the head of Joshua. So no longer is he seeing some vision. Now there's three guys who've actually returned from Babylon. He's to take the gifts that they brought. He's to put it together to make an elaborate crown.

And he's to take it to Joshua, who's the high priest, and set it upon his head. Now, this picture is really quite amazing because it was not normal to crown a high priest.

It was not normal because the high priest would be a descendant of Levi. He would be of the tribe of Levi. The king, who would be the one who would normally receive a crown, was always from the tribe of Judah. And so...

These two tribes were different. They had different lineages, different families, and it was not possible for there to be one who would sit on the throne and have the crown and be king, as well as be priest at the same time. That is something that would never take place until...

We come to Jesus. And so what we're seeing here in Joshua is a foreshadow of Jesus. God is announcing through this command to Zechariah that there is coming one who will be king and priest.

Which was unique. It was something that had not happened before, had not taken place before. And so he says, put the crown on Joshua. And now Joshua is representing the Messiah who is to come, Jesus who is to come. And he says in verse 12, Speak to him saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts saying, Behold the man whose name is the branch.

The man whose name is the branch. We talked a little bit about this last week. The branch is a reference to the Messiah, again, who is Jesus. We find that in Isaiah, you can look at chapter 11, as it talks about there. Well, this evening we're in the book of Zechariah, continuing our journey through Zechariah. We started last week with chapters 1 through 3.

And this week we'll be looking at chapters 4 through 7 and continuing on with these visions that Zechariah was receiving from the Lord. Now as a reminder, Zechariah's ministry was really a calling of the people back to God. He ministered along...

So alongside of Haggai, who was calling the people back to rebuild the temple, kind of the outward structure, well, Zechariah's ministry was around the same time, but he was calling the people to rebuild...

their lives. He was calling them to get focused on the things of God once again. And he did so with encouragement primarily regarding their future. He looks a lot at the millennial kingdom and the things that are going to take place and he's painting this picture and reminding them all of these things that God has in store for them as a way to encourage them to right now and today get right with God and make sure that you're walking with Him and fulfilling the calling that He's given to you.

He's reminding the people that God has not given up. It was an important message for them because as they were back in the land, remember they were in captivity for 70 years, Jerusalem and all of Israel pretty much was desolate land. There was nobody there.

But now as they've come back, they're in this rebuilding project and it's discouraging and there's a lot of work to do. There's a lot of rubble and just a lot of work and it's not looking very favorably. They've got enemies around them still. The walls aren't built. The temple's not built.

There's just a lot to do and they're discouraged. And so Zechariah is encouraging them. God hasn't given up. Look, He has these plans for you. He's still working. He's not done. And so be faithful in the work that you have right in front of you.

And God is speaking to Zechariah and having him speak to the nation through these visions that he is receiving. These visions that God is giving to Zechariah. And these visions are pictures of spiritual realities. They're picturing for us truths that God wants us to believe.

The people and us this evening as we study them, He wants us to understand and then be responsive to what God is saying through these visions. And so, as we look at these, we want to see...

How does God want us to respond? What is His intention by these visions that He provides? And so we're picking it up in chapter 4, continuing on with a new vision now that God is giving to Zechariah. Look at verse 1, it says, Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 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.

2. Olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 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. 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.

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. Here in verses 1-7 we begin this next vision that Zechariah has, and this vision is one that you're probably familiar with because it's a common one to refer to, it's a common one that is taught and studied. But this vision that he has is of a lampstand.

Now a lampstand was not just for one light, but if you would think of the menorah, the seven lights, that's what this lampstand was. And so it was one stand that had the light on top, but it had three arms on each side. And so there would be seven lamps or seven lights on this lampstand.

And so he sees the menorah and then on top of that he sees this large bowl, this large basin and there was pipes that would come from this bowl to the seven lamps. And then next to the lamp stand on either side was an olive tree.

And so he has the lampstand, the bowl with the lamps, with the pipes, as well as the two olive trees. And he sees this vision, and Zechariah does not understand it. He doesn't know what it means. And so he asks, what does it mean? And the angel says, well, don't you know? He says, no, I don't know what it means. Tell me what it means. Well, we find the significance, or the picture that God is painting, explained in verse 6. Here the angel says this,

This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. So this picture, this vision that he has is a picture message for Zerubbabel. And this picture message that God is giving is this. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. This is the message that God is giving to Zerubbabel through this picture that he's giving to Zechariah.

Now, Zerubbabel was the governor of Jerusalem. He was basically the person in charge politically. And so he was the one who was getting the people back to work.

You might remember we talked about Joshua last week. Joshua was the high priest. And so there's these two rulers, these two authorities in Jerusalem at the time. Zerubbabel, who is the political or civic ruler, however you want to look at it. He was the governor. And then Joshua, who is the high priest, the spiritual leader of the people.

And so God says this message is for Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel, you've got a big overwhelming task ahead of you. Rebuilding the temple. Remember these visions that Zechariah has are just after they began to work on the temple again. They began to work on the temple when they first got back to the land.

They worked on it for a little bit, but they got discouraged. They got the foundation laid, but not much beyond that. And then for like 16 years, no work was done. They just left it alone and it was just too hard, it was too difficult. And so now they're just barely getting back to work. And they've got this overwhelming task ahead of them. There's just this big pile of rubble that is where the temple is supposed to be.

And as he has this humongous, overwhelming task, here's God's message to Zerubbabel. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord. Essentially, God is telling Zerubbabel, you are not going to accomplish this on your own strength.

It's not with your might. It's not with your power. You can't do it on your own. You can't group up with enough people to accomplish this in your own strength. This work is going to be accomplished by my Spirit, says the Lord. This is a pretty amazing truth for us to consider and we can't

Spend all night looking at just this verse. So I would encourage you to continue to meditate on this verse for the rest of the week. And meditate on it in the sense of how does this fit into your life? What big mountainous task

are before you? What difficult things are you facing? And let God's message to Zerubbabel be passed on to you where God will tell you it's not by might that you will accomplish that thing. And it's not by power, but it's by the Holy Spirit that the work of God will get done.

Now, we often think of the Holy Spirit in regard to spiritual things. So if you want to share a scripture, you want to pray for somebody, we would say, yeah, okay, we need the Holy Spirit. But this is addressing specifically a physical work that has to take place. It's a physical job, putting...

The structure together. It's an outward physical thing and God says, you can't do this with your strength. It's a reminder. It's not just, you know, for church events that we need the Holy Spirit.

But whatever mountainous thing that is before you, whatever thing that God has called you to, and there's things that God has called you to that are difficult, that are hard. There's things that you face in the workplace. There's things that you face as a parent. There's things that you face financially. There's difficulties that we face. And God wants Zerubbabel to know, He wants you to know,

You cannot do it on your own strength. It has to be done by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so look to the Lord for strength. Look to the Lord to provide. Look for the Lord to work. Even in those arenas that we typically don't associate with the Holy Spirit. You know, hey, you're building a fence?

Look to the Lord. It's not by might, it's not by power. Whatever God has called you to in your life, whatever God has placed before you in your life, it needs to be accomplished by the Spirit. He works through us, but it's not by your might or your strength. J. Vernon McGee says, "...the message is simply this, it will not be by your cleverness, your ability, or your physical strength that the temple will be rebuilt, but the Spirit of God."

It's not your cleverness, it's not how smart you are, it's not the plans you got, it's not your mental strength, your physical strength, it's not your great abilities. You need the Holy Spirit to do the work. So it's not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord. And this vision that he gives to Zechariah really paints the picture of a continual supply of the Holy Spirit. Not like a single dose, but...

The bull is continually feeding the lambs through the seven pipes. And then the olive trees are directly feeding the bull. So it's a continual, a constant flow of the Holy Spirit. And that is what is necessary in your life and in my life. We need that continual, that constant flow of the Holy Spirit. We need to walk in the Spirit, as Paul says in Galatians chapter 5.

I think Jesus says something that's very interesting and important for us in John chapter 3 verse 34. He says that God does not give the Spirit by measure. God does not give the Spirit by measure. God doesn't say, okay, here you go, half a cup of the Holy Spirit for you. What does Jesus say in John 7? If you come to Him and you thirst...

That the Holy Spirit will burst forth from you like torrents of living water. Not by measure, not, okay, here's a little bit, but as much as possible, as much as is needed, an abundance, even more overflowing than what we need. That is how God gives us the Holy Spirit. And so we need to look to the Lord. We need to look for God to fill us.

And overflow us with His Holy Spirit. Not just in things that happen at church, but in every aspect of our life. In verse 7, He kind of deals with the difficulty of the task. He says, Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain. There's this great mountain of rubble. This very difficult task looming over Him.

And the message of God is, who do you think you are, big mountain of rubble? Before Zerubbabel, by the power of the Spirit, that mountain will become a plain. It will be leveled. It will be removed. I like what Wiersbe had to say about this. He said, unbelief makes mountains out of molehill's.

But faith makes mountains into plains. When we are going forward in the power of the Holy Spirit, mountains become plains. But when we're not walking in faith, then we see like the little bumps and it's like, oh, it's this huge mountain, we can't get through it. There is a big work to do, God tells Zerubbabel. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, that mountain will become flat. It will become a plain.

And he tells them there in verse 7, he said, He shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace. Grace to it. The capstone, it's that kind of like the final stone of the structure. And so he's telling Zerubbabel, you're going to bring it to completion, but it's going to be with shouts of grace. Not with shouts of how great I am. Not with shouts of, wow, look what we've done. It's going to be shouts of, look what God has done. Grace, grace, grace.

And so from beginning to end, the temple project is going to be a work of God by the power of the Holy Spirit with man recognizing only you, God, could have done this. Well, we continue on with this vision in verse 8. It says, Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 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.

For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.