ZECHARIAH 4 FOR TOMORROW— HUNT'S COMMENTARY

ZECHARIAH 4 —— KEITH HUNT'S COMMENTARY FOR TOMORROW 

CHAPTER 4

The Golden Candlestick

     Zechariah is as a man wakened out of his sleep, by an
angel. He sees A candlestick of gold with a bowl on top of it; it
has  SEVEN pipes to SEVEN lamps.
     It is ONE candlestick! That is important to remember. 

     Zech asks the angel what this is all about (verses 1-5).

     The somewhat mystic answer is: "Not by might, nor by power,
but by my SPIRIT, says the Lord of hosts" (verse 6).

     Then immediately Zerubbabel is talked about (verse 7). And
God says, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of
this house; his hands shall also finish it. So you shall know
that the Lord of hosts has sent me (the angel) unto you (Zech).
For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall
rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel,
with those SEVEN; THEY ARE (the Bible interprets itself) the EYES
OF THE LORD, WHICH RUN TO AND FRO THROUGH THE WHOLE  

EARTH. (verses 8-10).

     So with what we have in these verses its first understanding
should be obvious. There was to be a Mighty work DONE IN
JERUSALEM; IT WAS THERE - building of the TEMPLE under Zerubbabel
It would be accomplished not so much as by human hands (of course
human hands did the work of building) BUT BY THE POWER of the
SPIRIT OF GOD!! (verse 6). It took some miracles of various sorts
to get the job done of continuing and finishing the work on the
Temple. The Spirit of God had to do some inspiring, encouraging,
some power to get men pushed into finishing the work that was
started but had come to a stop. The Temple was started under
Zerubbabel and it would be finish under Zerubbabel. 

     If anyone was despising the day of small things ... just not
much happening, people dragging their feet and sitting on their
backside, then it was time to rejoice, for under Zerubbabel the
Spirt of God would GET THINGS MOVING AGAIN WITH ZEAL!

     The golden lamp could well first represent the immediate
time frame. It represented the ONE SPIRIT OF GOD working with the
man Zerubbabel. The seven pipes to seven lamps are interpreted
for us a the SEVEN EYES of the Lord that run here and there. The
seven eyes are connected to the Spirit of God - all working to
finish the work of the Lord in that time frame of re-building the
Temple under Zerubbabel. 

     Seven is the number of PERFECTION or COMPLETENESS as God
uses numbers. Now, let's use some common logic. The seven eyes do
not represent trees, or lakes, or forests, or any such inanimate
objects, that can not possibly run to and fro. Logical sense
would have the seven eyes as representing 7 spirit creatures or
angelic beings of some kind, that run to and fro on this earth,
in the SERVICE of, doing the will of God in whatever ways to help
the Eternal do His work, in whatever age or time frame. So they
are seven created spirit being that are the eyes of the Lord,
going here and there seeing what is being done, and reporting
back to the Eternal. 

     That may seem strange to people who believe God personally
does EVERYTHING. But such people may never have thought that
perhaps God does NOT WANT to do everything. That would be His
choice would it not?

     The CONTEXT would have us understand the ONE candlestick is
the SPIRIT of God and in that time frame, using Zerubbabel to
finish building the Temple. And he is fully supported by seven
spirit beings who unseen, are a huge power behind the Spirit of
God working this work that was started by Zerubbabel and was
going to be finished under the watch-full work of Zerubbabel.


The Two Olive Trees?

     Back first to the one candlestick. It is ONE candlestick and
so it is NOT THE SAME as what John sees in the book of
Revelation. John sees SEVEN CANDLESTICKS - SEVEN INDIVIDUAL
CANDLESTICKS, WITH JESUS WALKING IN THE MIDST OF THEM.  

YOU'LL FIND ALL THAT IN THE FIRST CHAPTER OF REVELATION.

     THIS VISION THAT ZECH HAS IS ***NOT*** THE SAME AS IN
REVELATION.
     AND THE CONTEXT WOULD ALSO DISPROVE IT. THE CONTEXT  

IS GOD'S SPIRIT - ZERUBBABEL - AND SEVEN SPIRIT-BEINGS WITH EYES THAT CAN GO ALL OVER TO REPORT TO GOD WHAT IS  

HAPPENING TO AND FRO ON THE EARTH. 

     The context of Revelation is seven INDIVIDUAL CANDLESTICKS 
with Jesus walking in their midst and seven STARS in His hand.
The interpretation then given is the STARS represent the ANGELS
of the SEVEN CHURCHES (Revelation 1:12-20).
     So the two visions, one for Zechariah and one for John are
NOT representing the same thing at all. They are DIFFERENT!

     Back to Zechariah. We have TWO OLIVE TREES by the ONE golden
lamp-stand. The interpretation is given in verse 11-14. No need
to guess, we are told. The olive trees are one on the right and
one on the left of the candlestick.
     They have golden oil emptying out of themselves. Gold is
pure, as pure as you can get on this physical earth, The olive
trees represent the two ANOINTED ONES that stand by the Lord of
the whole earth.

     The context is Zerubbabel and the building of the Temple
through the power of the Holy Spirit, with the help of 7 spirit
beings looking and reporting as from going to and fro. The whole
objective is to get the Temple built and finished under
Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel started it and he was to be the one to
finish it (9).

     It would take the help from the Holy Spirit and the 7 spirit
beings to accomplish the task of the completion of the new Temple
to be built in Jerusalem after the 70 year captivity of the Jews
in Babylon.

     The two olive branches .... well in the recorded history of
the rebuilding of that Temple we have TWO MEN who played a hugely
important task - EZRA and NEHEMIAH. THEY WOULD REPRESENT  

THE MANY JEWS THAT RETURNED TO JUDAH AND JERUSALEM  

UNDER THOSE TWO GREAT LEADERS - Ezra (457 B.C.) Nehemiah (444 B.C.).

     THIS VISION IS NOT THE SAME AS IN REVELATION! HERE IS ONE

CANDLESTICK AND IN REVELATION THERE ARE SEVEN  

CANDLESTICKS. THE TWO ARE NOT THE SAME.

     JESUS WALKS AMONG THE CANDLESTICKS OF REVELATION. NO SUCH WALKING AMONG IS GIVEN HERE.


FOR TODAY

     There could be a connection for us today. The golden
candlestick and Zerubbabel COULD represent Christ!! The Spirit of
God in Christ doing the over-watching of the Temple to be built
in the 1,000 year age, the Kingdom of God on earth.
     The SEVEN EYES could be SEVEN STARS OF REVELATION 2:20. WE
SEE THE SEVEN STARS IN REVELATION ARE THE SEVEN ANGELS.  

THE SEVEN CANDLESTICKS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES. 

     IT IS THE MIGHT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN CHRIST, AND IN TYPE
PICTURED ALSO BY ZERUBBABEL, TOGETHER WITH THE HELP OF SEVEN SPIRIT BEINGS, WHO WILL IN SOME WAY SERVE AND HELP CHRIST, WHO WILL BUILD THE TEMPLE THAT IS TO BE BUILD  

WHEN THE MESSIAH COMES IN POWER AND GLORY TO ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH, AT
JERUSALEM; WHEN A NEW EZEKIEL TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT.

REVELATION 11:4 ARE FOR THAT TIME OF THE END IN HISTORY;  

AND WILL REPRESENT THE TWO WITNESSES WITH POWER OF THEHOLY SPIRIT, AS THEY WORK THEIR WORK IN JERUSALEM FOR  

THE LAST 42 MONTHS AT THE END OF THIS AGE! 
 
     The two anointed ones in Zerubbabel's day were Ezra and
Nehemiah. The one golden candlestick in Zechariah 4 representing
the Holy Spirit (working with Zerubbabel); the seven lights from
the candle stick represent the seven eyes of the Lord  - spirit
beings sent to watch over - the work of the finished Temple under
Zerubbabel. The two olive tree represented Ezra and Nehemiah (we
have two books of the Bible with their names on them), and they
were the great leaders to bring the people back to Jerusalem and
Judah from Babylon.

     In modern times. Christ would be THE Zerubbabel Temple
builder, powered by the Holy Spirit. The eyes or spirit beings
serving in ways not revealed to us, as they go to and fro in the
earth. The Messiah is the ONE who is to build the Ezekiel Temple,
through the power of the Holy Spirit. The two olive trees
standing near by represent the two great witnesses to proclaim
the truth of God for the last 42 months of this age in Jerusalem,
during the reign of the king of the North and the kings of the
East, leading up to Zerubbabel Christ Jesus coming to earth to
build the new Temple for the new age.
     Most orthodox Jews teach that the Messiah is the only one to
build the NEXT Temple in Jerusalem. All prophecy would bear this
out to be the truth of the matter.

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