Zechariah 4:1-14--A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

Zechariah 4
English Standard Version

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
4 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 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.”

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Zechariah receives a vison of the inside of the Temple--the Holy Place where there is a Golden Lampstand that gives light for the priests to minister.  Zechariah asks where he is because he sees a completed Temple, but the Temple at his time was still being rebuilt after the Babylonians destroyed it.  The LORD sent Him as a prophet to encourage the leaders and the people to finish the work.  The angel speaking to Zechariah seems to imply that he should know what he's looking at.  He should recognize it.  It's clearly the Golden Lampstand from inside the Holy Place, which would mean he was standing inside of the Temple.  As we'll see later, he is probably seeing the heavenly Temple that the earthly Temple is based on, as there is something he's going to see that cannot be in the earthly Temple (the olive trees/branches).

Then the angel repeats the promise that was given to Zerubbabel to Zechariah--"Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the LORD of Hosts."  It will take an act of God (a miracle) to finish completion of the Temple in Zerubbabel's lifetime, but the LORD promises that it is gong to happen.  He is going to live to see its completion.  The LORD will move heaven and earth and remove all enemies that stand in Zerubbabel's way for this to happen.  Then the world will know that the LORD is with His people once again.

The LORD calls on the people to rejoice that the foundations of the Temple have been completed.  He promises that the job will completed, and it will all be done within the lifetime of the current governor of Judah.  No one is to despise the small milestones along the way.  They are to celebrate them as indications of the LORD being faithful to keep His bigger promises that are sure to come true.

The angel then explains the vision in a bit more detail (probably answering the questions that Zechariah really meant to ask).  The lampstand represented God's ability to see the whole world, even in places that they think are "dark" and "hidden."  The seven lamps of the Golden Lampstand remind us of Christ being the Light of the World--not just to the Jews, but also to the Gentiles.

Then Zechariah asks two different times what the olive trees represent.  The angel seems to imply that Zechariah should already know, but the identity of these two olive trees is kept a mystery.  The only thing revealed at this time is that they are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.  Probably not helpful.  However, we do finally get an answer in Revelation 11:4 (sort of).  There will be two witnesses that the Lord sends in the end times to testify before the end will come.  We don't know their identities, but they will be given supernatural protection by the Lord until their assignment is finished, they will be given the ability to judge those who oppose them with fire and all kinds of plagues like those that we saw in Egypt and that we will see in the last days, and they will be killed, only to be raised to live again be taken to heaven (or back to heaven depending on your perspective if Zechariah is seeing far into the future or if he is seeing a present reality and these witnesses are already in heaven, will be sent to earth to testify and then will return).  Either way, I don't blame Zechariah for not understanding this vision and what he was seeing, even though it all seemed very clear to the angelic messenger.