“…nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6)
On Pentecost Sunday I was impressed, once again, by this marvelous word from Zechariah: “Not by might…”
The verse, really, is a caption to the strange and wonderful picture of “the golden lampstand.” Do you remember it? Zechariah is awakened in the middle of the night (Zc. 4:1). An angel directs his attention to “a lampstand all of gold” (Zc 4:2). It is a splendid thing: topped by a bowl, with seven lips for seven wicks, golden and shining. Standing by it, Zechariah notices, are “two olive trees” (Zc. 4:3) interconnected by golden pipes (Zc. 4:12).
It is a strange vision, to be sure. But strangest of all, apparently, are these olive trees. Zechariah could understand the lamp, perhaps; it is a common Old Testament symbol for God. But the olive trees have him mystified. Three times he asks the angel for an explanation (Zc. 4:5,11,12). The angel, in turn, seems mystified that Zechariah should need to ask at all. “Do you not know what these are?” the angel queries (Zc 4:13). Apparently the significance of the olive trees was perfectly obvious from a heavenly perspective.
The trees are “the two anointed ones” (Zc 4:14). They are Zerubbabel and Joshua, the governor and high priest, who together represent the people of God in mission. They represent Israel returned to the Promised Land and charged to rebuild the Temple. They are the people of God commissioned to the work of God in the world. In a sense, they are you and me.
I am impressed that this is a picture that is really going somewhere. Zechariah was given the vision on the evening of February 15, 519 BC. Some years before, a remnant of Israel had returned to Jerusalem from captivity in Babylon. They were charged with rebuilding the Temple – which itself represented God’s mission and God’s saving presence for all nations. Zerubbabel and Joshua were extremely slow in getting at it. The work had languished for many long years, when Zechariah arrived on the scene. But now they were to pick it up again. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it” (Zc. 4:9). This is a picture that is going somewhere. It is a picture of missionaries ready to complete their assignment, at last.
I am equally impressed that this picture is going nowhere. It has no wheels. The lampstand, of course, is stationary. The trees, presumably, are rooted. The golden pipes would have made the whole apparatus quite unwieldy, I think. It is a static picture of missionaries who, simply, “stand by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zc. 4:14).
This is a picture of Pentecost for missions. Get rooted to get going. Get going by standing still. Stand for a while by the Lord of the whole earth – and see what he will do through you. You may be nothing more than a skinny “branch of an olive tree” (Zc. 4:12). But, oh, see where you stand…