Zechariah 4
About ZechariahWritten by AI
Zechariah was a priest and prophet who began preaching in 520 BC, two months after Haggai, to the Jews rebuilding Jerusalem after the exile. Haggai urged them to build; Zechariah lifted their eyes to what God was doing and would do. Many scholars think chapters 9 to 14 come from later in his life, and some think from a later writer.
The first half has eight night visions, full of horses, horns, lampstands, and a flying scroll, plus a call to justice and mercy. The second half looks further ahead, to a coming King, a rejected Shepherd, and the Day of the LORD. Christians differ on how parts of chapters 12 to 14 will be fulfilled.
Watch for how often the Gospels draw on this book: the King riding a donkey, thirty pieces of silver, the pierced one, the struck Shepherd. And remember the word to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.”
Before you read Zechariah 4Written by AI
Zechariah sees a golden lampstand fed by two olive trees. The message is for Zerubbabel, the governor rebuilding the temple: the work will be done not by human strength but by God's Spirit. Notice the gentle rebuke of those who looked down on small beginnings: who has despised the day of small things?
The Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep.
“What do you see?” he asked.
“I see a solid gold lampstand,” I replied, “with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven spouts to the lamps. There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left.”
“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me.
“Do you not know what they are?” replied the angel.
“No, my lord,” I answered.
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 of Hosts. What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven eyes of the LORD, which scan the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.”
Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?” And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?”
“Do you not know what these are?” he inquired.
“No, my lord,” I replied.
So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”