The Lampstand and the Olive Trees

We come to the 7th vision of Zechariah.

The first four visions symbolized the deliverance of Judah from Babylon. Those visions also look to a future regathering of Jews into the land promised to Abraham.

The 5th and 6th visions symbolized inner salvation as the High Priest, Joshua, had his dirty garments replaced by God with clean garments.

It tells us that the people were going to be brought back to the land for a purpose, but to be used, they first must be clean. They could not be in sin and be used. What a message for the church today. God has a purpose, and I do not know how many times I have said it, for each true Christian in this fellowship. To complete that purpose God has for you, the Holy Spirit has gifted you special gifts that make it possible to complete God’s purpose. How many of us are using those God-given spiritual gifts? I do not know but dare I say not enough of us.

To be used, the people had to be cleansed, but they could not cleanse themselves. The cleansing had to come form God.

Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.”

1 Peter 1:19 “but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Man is unable to clean himself. God has to do the cleaning. It is a theme throughout the Bible, and that theme is this.

Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away sins, and when my sins were washed away, I was reborn at the snap of my fingers by the renewing and transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

As we saw in the last vision, Joshua is now cleansed, but he is still not quite ready for service which brings us to the next vision and what makes all of us fit for service.

1. The Vision.

Zechariah 4:1–2 “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.”

I can imagine that Zechariah was worn out from the previous visions, and he had to get some sleep. No sooner had he drifted off to la-la land, that the angel woke him up for another vision. God wanted Zechariah wide awake for this vision.

Zechariah is shown the menorah.

All of us readily associate the menorah with the nation Israel. The menorah was fashioned by God’s skilled artisan, Bezaleel, and it was made of solid gold. In the Tabernacle and the Temple, the high pries had charge of the lampstand/menorah. His duty was to keep it lit and full of oil.

To keep it lit, the high priest had to keep watch on it trimming the wick when necessary because the menorah was to burn continuously.

I do not know how much of this you want to know, but since it is Wednesday night, I am going to throw it out there.

In the Book of Revelation, we have a picture of our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ, walking in the middle of the lampstand which represents the 7 churches of Revelation.

Revelation 1:20 “The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.”

Christ is performing the function of the priest as He is moving through the churches making sure the light does not go out.

In the Book of Revelation, what does He continually tell the churches to do to keep their light burning? REPENT.

Guess what? There is not a single church of the 7 still standing today. Their lights went out because those churches did not trim their wicks and did not fill the lampstand with oil, and that is what’s happening to many churches across this land. They are not emitting any light because there is no oil, and the wicks need to be trimmed. The message to the church today would be to repent.

AMEN! I love the continuity of God’s Word.

In Zechariah’s vision, the menorah represents Israel which in the future will become a great witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Revelation 7:1–4 “After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree.

Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying,

“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed.

One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:”

Today, Israel is not a witness for God because as a nation, Israel has rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.

There is an incredible passage in the New Testament that reveals the current spiritual condition of Israel, and it was written by an expert, Paul.

Romans 10:1–4 “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

Later in the same chapter, what does Paul reveal?

He reveals how all people, including Jews are saved.

Romans 10:9–13 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.””

Can a Jew be saved today? ABSOLUTELY!!!! If a Jew is saved, he will be saved because of God’s grace and faith in Jesus Christ.

Any Jew from Abraham to whoever you want to name has been saved by faith. If you do not believe me read the 11th Chapter of Hebrews.

No Jew has ever been saved just because he is a Jew. In the same manner, being a member of a Baptist church does not save you either. You are only saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:8–9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

In Zechariah’s vision, he sees more than the menorah.

He sees a bowl which acts as a reservoir, this is some awesome, amazing stuff, over the 7 lamps so that the oil flows by gravity into the lamps from an elevated bowl. As long as the bowl was full of oil, the high priest would not have to check it. Let me go ahead and tell you this. You should be shouting AMEN right now!!!!

Listen carefully.

The lampstand speaks of Christ, and the oil in the bowl that keeps the light burning is the Holy Spirit. The light being emitted represents Jesus Christ because He is the light of the world.

What do we have? We have the Trinity, the Triune Godhead, working in unison as they always do.

Jesus Christ is the light of the world. Without Him, there never would have been any light.

Genesis 1:3–4 “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.”

John 1:4–5 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

John 8:12 “Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

Do you remember this passage?

John 16:13–14 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority,

but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.”

With that in mind, let’s examine the lampstand in Zechariah’s vision.

The lampstand supported the lamps with the light shining from them, and the light in turn revealed the beauty and glory of the lampstand. In the same way, the Holy Spirit never speaks of Himself. Instead, He reveals the glory and beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. AMEN!!!!

Now, the vision has been pretty amazing, but now it takes a prophetic turn for current events at that time and for future events during the Tribulation.

Zechariah 4:3 “Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.””

Zechariah sees two olive trees, one on each side, standing beside the lampstand.

For that current time, the two olive trees represented Zerubbabel and Joshua.

Zerubbabel was the civil ruler of Judah. He was from the line of David. I say the civil ruler because the monarchy had not been reestablished. Joshua, as we have already said, represents the high priest.

Zerubbabel and Joshua were to be the two instruments God would use to bring light back into Judah, to make Judah a light to the world, and to rebuild the Temple.

The prophecy, however, is destined for a future fulfillment in two ways.

First, the linking of civil authority, Zerubbabel, with religious authority, Joshua, symbolizes that during the Millennium Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, will rule and reign from Jerusalem on the throne of David.

Isaiah 16:5 “In mercy the throne will be established; And One will sit on it in truth, in the tabernacle of David, Judging and seeking justice and hastening righteousness.””

Jeremiah 23:5–6 ““Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS”

Luke 1:31–33 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest;

and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.””

Dear friend, Jesus Christ is going to be the THEOCRATIC AUTHORITY on this earth one of these days. All other forms of government will be abolished as Jesus Christ rules in holiness, righteousness, and judgment.

Second, there will be two witness that come forth during the Great Tribulation as great preachers of the Gospel.

The wording in Zechariah almost matches word for word the wording in the Book of Revelation.

Revelation 11:3–4 “And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.”

Now, I am going to say this, and hopefully you won’t get mad at me.

When John wrote these words, do you know what he expected? He expected his readers to know he was linking the events in the future to what Zechariah wrote.

In other words, he expected the readers of the Revelation to have read and to have understood the other Scriptures before reading the Revelation.

What a novel concept. Christians being responsible for God’s Word. I never thought of that. Do you know why many people have trouble understanding the Book of Revelation? They do not have the Scriptural background to understand it.

Listen to me, and this is important if you ever want to understand the Bible.

What God says in one part of His word and what God means in one part of His word, it means the same thing when He says it another part of this Word unless the Bible specifically tells us differently.

During the Great Tribulation, two witness will appear, and whoever those two witnesses are and I believe they are Elijah and Moses. God will have these two witnesses who will speak with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

Do you want proof of their authority and power?

Revelation 11:5–6 “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.

These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”

I personally believe these two will pronounce the judgments mentioned in the Book of Revelation in much the same way Elijah and Moses did.

1 Kings 17:1 “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.””

Don’t forget our key passage to understanding the Bible.

1 Corinthians 1:22 “For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;”

It was one thing for Elijah to walk up to Ahab and tell him it was not going to rain for 3 1/2 years, but it was another thing for it not to rain for 3 1/2 years not a single drop and without dew. That was the sign. It proved that Elijah was a man of God, and I believe the same thing will happen during the Tribulation as signs to the Jews in particular.

It is absolutely incredible. Thank you, Anthony for the suggestion. I am telling you, and I cannot put into words, how clear this is to me. Compare Elijah to these jokers today that make “biblical predictions” about all kinds of stuff. Do they ever come true? Do you know why? They are not speaking in the power and authority of the Holy Spirit.

Besides, no one today receives any new revelations. All revelations were ended with Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 1:1–2 “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,

whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;”

INCREDIBLE AND AMEN!!!!

Man, I could go on and on about this. Do you remember what Israel was supposed to do as a remembrance? They were to, from generation to generation, share the events of what happened as they were delivered from Egypt. As these two witnesses start their work during the Tribulation, there will be something stirred within the Jews that will cause a remnant of them to turn to Jesus Christ.

AMEN!!!

2. The Vision’s meaning for us.

In verses 4-14, and I must say understandably, Zechariah asks for further clarification. Now, we are not going to go through all of that exchange, but there is something I want to examine because I think it exposes the fault of many Christians today.

Zechariah 4:4–6 “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.”

The vision had Zechariah a little perplexed. He did not have a clue about what he had just seen, but I give him credit because at least he admitted he did not understand, and he asked for a better understanding.

Pay attention to verse 5, and I believe this is what God wants to ask many Christians today who struggle understanding God’s Word.

Zechariah 4:5 “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.””

“Do you mean you do not know what I am talking about?”

How many times do we read something in God’s Word wondering what in the world God is saying, and God wants to tell us, “Well, you should know.”

Why should we know? Because we have the completed Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Do you know the conclusion I have made? There is nothing in God’s written word that is “unknowable.”

Now, it make take us years of reading a certain passage over and over before we finally understand what God is trying to tell us, but it can be known. I am talking about what is written. That’s how I can be so dismissive of someone who says something like this is a sign for the Rapture. God’s Word does not say anything at all about signs before the Rapture. I can easily dismiss someone who claims to have something new from God. Why?Because I know everything God had to say to us was completed with Jesus Christ. I can dismiss someone easily who predicts the date of the Lord’s return because the Bible tells me that no one knows that date. I can easily dismiss someone who claims the identity of Antichrist because the Bible says no one will know him until he is revealed.

Even though Zechariah did not understand what he saw and he should have, God still answered his question. Dear friend, there is nothing in this world wrong with asking questions for Scriptural clarity. Ass a matter of fact, the older Christians in a church are supposed to mature enough and so grounded in the Scripture that they can help the younger Christians understand.

God answered Zechariah by telling him that what he saw would be accomplished in the short-term and in the future, and it would be accomplished by the Holy Spirit.

Now, what does all this mean for Beech Grove Baptist Church?

(1) Beech Grove should reflect and dispense the Light into the world.

How do we do that?

(2) Beech Grove must be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,”

Just as the Holy Spirit was and is going to be vital to Israel being an instrument of light in the world, so is the Holy Spirit to fill us so we can be the light in a dark world.

As you all know as I have told you many times lately, when we are saved, we are gifted with the indwelling Holy Spirit, but that does not mean that we are continuously filled with the Holy Spirit.

That’s why our lights get a little dim. We are not getting enough oil.

How are we filled with the Holy Spirit? (I do not know if you will like the answer).

Ephesians 5:19–21 “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,

giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God.” (Verses 22-33 give examples of submission).

Do you realize how many times lately that we have read passages that include the phrase giving thanks always or in all things give thanks? What do you think God’s Word is telling us? Could our unthankfulness be keeping us from being filled with the Holy Spirit? I will let you decide.

Paul tells us in this passage that we make the choice to be filled with the Holy Spirit or not, and we just talked about this, so I am not going into detail.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit we must not do the following:

Lie to the Holy Spirit

Grieve the Holy Spirit

Quench the Holy Spirit

It is rather simple according to the Word.

If you want to be filled with the Spirit, you must walk or live in the Spirit. Living in the Spirit makes a difference that the world notices.

Galatians 5:22–26 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

It is really incredible if you think about it. AMEN! WHAT A VISION!!!

Now, I am going to give you a warning. With the next vision, we are going to really get into some deep stuff as we look at a flying carpet (Scroll or roll) and a woman in space flying in some kind of object.

More to come.