The gold lampstand and the two olive trees
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep.
2 He asked me, "What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lights on it, with seven channels to the lights. 3Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”
4 I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”
5 He answered, “Do you not know what these are?” “No, my lord,” I replied.
6 So 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 Almighty.
Chapter 4 begins with Zechariah sleeping.
We might fancy that if we could see an angel, we would be so excited that we would never sleep again. But not so. The Russian writer Dostoevski said, “Man gets used to everything, the rascal.” Zechariah ate angels’ food and fell asleep! Disciples too fell asleep on the Mount of Transfiguration when Moses, Elijah, and Jesus were there in special appearance. Today the head of a man in the pew bobs and jerks during the sermon.
It is not that we lack enthusiasm for exciting things as believers in God. We have Moses and the prophets. They are more exciting, Abraham told the rich man in hell, than someone coming back from the dead to entertain us.
The angel tapped Zechariah on the shoulder and asked this question in muted tone: “What do you see?” The same question is asked time and again as the angel walks Zechariah through the visions. It is not enough to just see.
The one asking the question wants the one seeing to understand what it is he is seeing. In this case, the angel is the careful guide to the sights, and through his explanation, we see too.
We believe in angels. We need angels. They are not just something children believe in and adults speak of with condescending smiles. We depend on the angels for our safety. Even the devil realizes this. He quoted this very fact to Jesus during his temptation. And what he misquoted is true for Christians because we hear in Psalm 91, “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (verses 11,12).
To the angel’s question to Zechariah, “Do you not know what these are?” we too must say, “No, my lord.” So the Lord speaks through the angel and tells us.
Basically, the vision was one of lights and the apparatus of lights. There was a solid gold lampstand (we have a 22- karat God!). There was some kind of bowl or basin on it, and there were seven lights. The lights were the lamps made of clay with their seven spouts, or channels, to the point of the flame. There were also two trees, olive trees.
This is explained at Zechariah’s request: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel.”
“[God’s] word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). God himself makes the connection between light and his Word. It is like the light because it makes clear the way we should go. It points out the dangers along the way and outlines them in its light. The Word brings life, as light brings life to plants. It tells us what is coming in the future; it enlightens us. This was especially the case when the angel pointed out things that would happen in the future. We could say he cast light on the future.
The angel was quick to point out that the level ground in front of Zerubbabel was not there by accident or by Zerubbabel’s engineering. “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” In the context, it would not be overwhelming power on the part of the Jews that would establish and build the temple. It would be by God’s power. “Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1).