Zechariah 4:1-14 Lampstand
Zechariah is awakened by the same angel he spoke with earlier. This time they discuss a lampstand that God prepared. A ‘super menorah’ symbolizing His watchfulness.
I don’t know if Zechariah is having successive visions or one long one. Apparently, he either fell asleep or his attention wandered because the angel “woke” him up to show him this new vision. In this vision, Zechariah had strange answers to his questions of “What is it?”
Twice, in this vision, Zechariah asks “What are these…” questions. The first time is after he is directed to describe what he sees. His detailed description is intriguing, but we will get to that in a minute. What surprises me is that the angel answers both those “What are these…” questions with a question. “Do you not know what these are?” Zechariah’s answer to those questions is “No, I don’t.” THEN he gets an answer to his original question.
I’m curious as to why the angel didn’t simply give the explanation instead of asking his own question first. Is it because he expected Zechariah to know the answer? Was it to focus Zechariah more deeply on the items being discussed? Or did the angel expect Zechariah to ‘dig deeper’ and come up with the answer? The ultimate answers didn’t seem to be given with overtones of disappointment for Zechariah not knowing the answer himself so I don’t think it was a condemnation of Zechariah. And neither does God condemn us for asking questions; even ones we should probably know the answer to.
When the angel first asked Zechariah what he saw, Zechariah KNEW it was an important message so he took it ALL in. He could have said “A lampstand and some trees” or even “Just a lampstand.” But he didn’t. Zechariah went into great detail regarding the lampstand, as well as what else was in the immediate vicinity.
A seven-tiered lampstand is not that unusual in the history of Israel; even one of gold. That is the design God had created for His Tabernacle. But this lampstand was different. Instead of one light for each branch, it had seven. Each lip was a place for a wick to sit. So, this lampstand would hold 7×7 lights; 49 lights.
When I was think about this number, I was reminded of the discussion Peter had with Jesus concerning how many times one should forgive a brother. Peter asked if it was 7×7. Jesus said it was 70×7 instead. Was 7×7 a significant number because of God sharing it in this vision? Lighting that many wicks would produce a MASSIVE amount of light. Enough light to pierce ANY dark place. Maybe that was what God was getting at. The lampstand represented His eyes upon the earth. A lampstand of 490 lights would chase away ALL darkness, but it’s not yet time for that to take place.
Zechariah then turns his attention to the two trees on either side of the lampstand. Notice first of all that these two trees didn’t hide, or eclipse, any portion of the lampstand. Instead, they fed it continually. There was no need to purify oil for the lamps when God gave them a holy source that was DIRECTLY tapped into His presence. The lampstand NEVER ‘ran out of batteries’. It would continue to light the way to God forever. And God will FOREVER watch over the earth; no matter how ‘dark’ it gets.
That is a GREAT comfort to us today. No matter how bleak it looks; no matter how far away society wanders from God, He is STILL IN CONTROL. He has the ending already mapped out. And NOTHING will change that ending. We also KNOW that His power will NOT ‘run out’ because He IS the source.
Father God I’m MORE than grateful to know that You ALWAYS have Your eyes on what is going on in this world. I can’t imagine how much worse it would be if You didn’t care. You allow man free will but You know how to ‘bend’ that will too. Even the hard things that are happening today are NOT beyond Your control or notice. They are actually a part of Your plan. Your plan to bring a final end to sin and Satan. Talk about ‘false hope’! Whether he wants to admit it or not, he is DEFEATED already!!!
Be my source ALWAYS Holy Spirit.
