The Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees
The interpreting angel returns and rouses Zechariah like someone being awakened from sleep, then asks what he sees. Zechariah describes a solid gold lampstand with its bowl, lamps, and two olive trees standing on either side. His questioning shows that the vision's meaning is not self-evident and must be interpreted from God rather than inferred from appearance alone.
T1hen the angel who was speaking with me returned and woke me, as a man is awakened from his sleep. 2“What do you see?” he asked. 3“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.” 4“What are these, my lord?” I asked the angel who was speaking with me. 5“Do you not know what they are?” replied the angel.
The angel explains that the vision is a word to Zerubbabel: the temple will be completed not by might or power, but by the LORD's Spirit. What looks like a great mountain will flatten before him, and the capstone will be brought out amid cries of grace. The hands that laid the foundation will finish the house, proving that the LORD has sent this message. The paragraph also rebukes contempt for small beginnings and affirms that the LORD's watchful eyes rejoice to see real progress in Zerubbabel's hand.
6So 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. 7What 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!’” 8Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9“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. 10For 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.”
Zechariah presses further, asking specifically about the two olive trees and the golden oil flowing from them. After again exposing Zechariah's lack of understanding, the angel identifies them as the two anointed ones standing beside the Lord of all the earth. The paragraph closes the vision by showing that God's ongoing supply to His lampstand comes through divinely appointed and consecrated servants in His presence.
11Then I asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?” 12And I questioned him further, “What are the two olive branches beside the two gold pipes from which the golden oil pours?” 13“Do you not know what these are?” he inquired. 14So he said, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing beside the Lord of all the earth.”