Immediately after Zechariah's vision of Joshua and
the Angel, the prophet received a message regarding
the work of Zerubbabel. "The Angel that talked with me,"
Zechariah declares, "came again, and waked me, as a man
that is wakened out of his sleep, and said unto me, What
seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a
candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his
seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps,
which are upon the top thereof: and two olive trees by it,
one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon
the left side thereof.
"So I answered and spake to the Angel that talked with
me, saying, What are these, my Lord? . . . Then He
answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of
the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by
power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts."
"Then answered I, and said unto Him, What are these
two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and
upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said
unto Him, What be these two olive branches which through
the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? . . .
Then said He, These are the two anointed
ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah
4:1-6, 11-14.
In this vision the two olive trees which stand before God
are represented as emptying the golden oil out of themselves
through golden tubes into the bowl of the candlestick. From
this the lamps of the sanctuary are fed, that they may give
a bright, continuous light. So from the anointed ones that
stand in God's presence the fullness of divine light and
love and power is imparted to His people, that they may
impart to others light and joy and refreshing. Those who are
thus enriched are to enrich others with the treasure of
God's love.
In rebuilding the house of the Lord, Zerubbabel had
labored in the face of manifold difficulties. From the beginning,
adversaries had "weakened the hands of the people
of Judah, and troubled them in building," "and made them
to cease by force and power." Ezra 4:4, 23. But the Lord
had interposed in behalf of the builders, and now He spoke
through His prophet to Zerubbabel, saying, "Who art thou,
O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become
a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with
shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it." Zechariah 4:7.
Throughout the history of God's people great mountains
of difficulty, apparently insurmountable, have loomed up
before those who were trying to carry out the purposes of
Heaven. Such obstacles are permitted by the Lord as a test
of faith. When we are hedged about on every side, this is
the time above all others to trust in God and in the power
of His Spirit. The exercise of a living faith means an increase
of spiritual strength and the development of an unfaltering
trust. It is thus that the soul becomes a conquering power.
Before the demand of faith, the obstacles placed by Satan
across the pathway of the Christian will disappear; for
the powers of heaven will come to his aid. "Nothing shall
be impossible unto you." Matthew 17:20.
The way of the world is to begin with pomp and boasting.
God's way is to make the day of small things the
beginning of the glorious triumph of truth and righteousness.
Sometimes He trains His workers by bringing to them
disappointment and apparent failure. It is His purpose
that they shall learn to master difficulties.
Often men are tempted to falter before the perplexities
and obstacles that confront them. But if they will hold the
beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end, God
will make the way clear. Success will come to them as
they struggle against difficulties. Before the intrepid spirit
and unwavering faith of a Zerubbabel, great mountains of
difficulty will become a plain; and he whose hands have
laid the foundation, even "his hands shall also finish it."
"He shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace unto it." Zechariah 4:9, 7.
Human power and human might did not establish the
church of God, and neither can they destroy it. Not on
the rock of human strength, but on Christ Jesus, the Rock
of Ages, was the church founded, "and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18. The presence
of God gives stability to His cause. "Put not your trust
in princes, nor in the son of man," is the word that comes
to us. Psalm 146:3. "In quietness and in confidence shall
be your strength." Isaiah 30:15. God's glorious work,
founded on the eternal principles of right, will never come
to nought. It will go on from strength to strength, "not by
might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts." Zechariah 4:6.
The promise, "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the
foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it,"
was literally fulfilled. Verse 9. "The elders of the Jews
builded, and they prospered through the prophesying of
Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And
they builded, and finished it, according to the commandment
of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment
of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia. And
this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar
[the twelfth month], which was in the sixth year of the
reign of Darius the king." Ezra 6:14, 15.
Shortly afterward the restored temple was dedicated.
"The children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the
rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of
this house of God with joy;" and "upon the fourteenth
day of the first month" they "kept the Passover." Verses
16, 17, 19.
The second temple did not equal the first in magnificence,
nor was it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine
presence which pertained to the first temple. There was
no manifestation of supernatural power to mark its dedication.
No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected
sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the
sacrifice upon its altar. The Shekinah no longer abode
between the cherubim in the most holy place; the ark, the
mercy seat, and the tables of testimony were not found
there. No sign from heaven made known to the inquiring
priest the will of Jehovah.
And yet this was the building concerning which the Lord
had declared by the prophet Haggai: "The glory of this
latter house shall be greater than of the former." "I will
shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come:
and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of
hosts." Haggai 2:9,7. For centuries learned men have
endeavored to show wherein the promise of God, given to
Haggai, has been fulfilled; yet in the advent of Jesus of
Nazareth, the Desire of all nations, who by His personal
presence hallowed the precincts of the temple, many have
steadfastly refused to see any special significance. Pride and
unbelief have blinded their minds to the true meaning of
the prophet's words.
The second temple was honored, not with the cloud of
Jehovah's glory, but with the presence of the One in whom
dwelt "all the fullness of the Godhead bodily"--God Himself
"manifest in the flesh." Colossians 2:9; 1 Timothy
3:16. In being honored with the personal presence of Christ
during His earthly ministry, and in this alone, did the
second temple exceed the first in glory. The "Desire of
all nations" had indeed come to His temple, when the Man
of Nazareth taught and healed in the sacred courts.