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Fourteen
Years of Despair (534-521 B.C.)
Now that a brief overview has
been given on the circumstances of rebuilding the
temple and the city of Jerusalem, we need to go
back and consider the despair that beset King
Zerubbabal and Joshua, the high priest, at the
beginning of the story. The reconstruction of the
temple was halted almost as soon as it was
started and the project “lay dead” for
fourteen years. The warlords mocked Zerubbabel
and Joshua, and as time went by, these good men
were considered impotent and inept by many of
their own people. It is true that Zerubbabel and
Joshua appeared impotent and inept to the
natural eye, but they wisely waited on the Lord.
The reconstruction project
stopped because the warlords sent letters of
accusation (about the past behavior of the Jews)
to King Cyrus and the king shut down the
rebuilding project until matters could be
reviewed and sorted out. There was nothing that
Zerubbabel and Joshua could do but wait. One does
not run ahead of a sovereign king. Fourteen years
is a long time to wait and Zerubbabel and Joshua
knew that with each passing year, their
opportunity to complete the task became more
unlikely. During this period of “gridlock,”
the Lord gave the prophet Zechariah several
visions to encourage His people.
Of course, Jesus saw everything
that was going on. He saw the lies and
accusations of the warlords. He saw the devil’s
efforts to thwart the rebuilding of the temple.
Jesus also saw the fragile condition (spiritually
speaking) of those Jews who had returned to
rebuild Jerusalem. In some ways, the generation
that came out of Babylon was worse off than the
generation that came out of Egypt. The Jews who
came out of Babylon possessed a corrupt religion.
They had mixed the laws of God and Moses with the
pagan beliefs of the Babylonians and had created
a toxic religion. To clean up this mess, God designed
the rebuilding of Jerusalem and His temple to
purify the rebuilders. He wanted to teach a
new generation of Jews the importance of living
by faith (doing what is right in God’s eyes
without regard for the consequences) because
without faith, it is impossible to please God!
(Hebrews 11:6)
Jesus wanted to rebuild Jerusalem
to be a city founded on faith and inhabited by
the “faith-full.” Jesus did not want
Jerusalem established on human prowess and
illusions of self-importance and
self-righteousness. Therefore, Jesus put the
exiles in a “tunnel of hopelessness.”
(This is a helpless situation that is bad, narrow
and confining. There is no other way out, forward
or backward, up or down. It is a foreboding place
where gridlock stops everything but the mighty
hand of God.) Almost immediately, God wanted the
rebuilders to understand that human effort could
not rebuild His temple and His city. There was
absolutely nothing that the Jews could do about
it. After a few years of hopeless gridlock, God
spoke to His people through Zechariah:
“[For many good
reasons,] The Lord was very angry with the
forefathers [and according to His promise, He
drove us from His land – Leviticus
25:23]. Therefore [the Lord said to me] tell
the people: ‘this is what the Lord Almighty
says: “Return to me,” declares the Lord
Almighty, “and I will return to you,”’
…[did you notice the order – return
to me and I will return to you] ‘Do not
be like your forefathers, to whom the earlier
prophets proclaimed: “This is what the Lord
Almighty says: ‘Turn from your evil ways and
your evil practices.’” But they would
not listen or pay attention to me,’ declares
the Lord.” (Zechariah 1:2-4, insertions
mine)
Basically, the Lord says, “If
(consider the conditional nature of this offer)
you return to me, I will bless you. I have many
wonderful things in store for you.” “’Shout
and be glad, O Daughter of Zion. For I am coming
[to Earth], and I will live among you,’
declares the Lord. ‘[A time is coming
when] Many nations will be joined with the
Lord in that day and [many Gentile nations] will
become my people. I will live among you and you
will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to
me to you. The Lord will inherit Judah as his
portion in the holy land and will again choose
Jerusalem [as His dwelling place].’”
(Zechariah 2:10-12, insertions mine)
Israel left a bad taste in the
mouths of the Canaanites. This bad taste can be
assessed by the hatred that the Gentiles had for
the returning Jews. The Canaanites did not want
the Jews living in their midst and they did
everything possible to keep them from rebuilding.
During the period of gridlock, the Lord gave
Zechariah a vision concerning Joshua and a vision
concerning Zerubbabel. As high priest, Joshua
represented the religious condition of Israel and
as king; Zerubbabel represented the political
condition of Israel. Because the vision
concerning Joshua does not directly concern the
Two Witnesses, I will reluctantly skip over it.
(See Zechariah 3.)
Visions
Concerning Zerubbabel
“Then the angel who
talked with me [earlier in the vision
concerning Joshua] returned and awakened me,
as a man is awakened from his sleep. He asked me,
‘What do you see?” I answered, ‘I
see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top
and seven lights on it, with seven channels to
the lights. Also there are two olive trees by it,
one on the right of the bowl and the other on its
left.” Then I asked the angel who talked
with me, ‘What are these, my lord?’ He
answered, ‘Do you [Zechariah, a prophet
of God] not know what these are?’ ‘No,
my lord,’ I relied. So he said to me, ‘This
is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: “Not
by [human] might nor by [human]
power, but by my Spirit [the temple will be
rebuilt],” says the Lord Almighty.’
‘What are you, O mighty
mountain [of warlords, gridlock and
insurmountable difficulties]? Before
Zerubbabel you will become level ground. [My
Spirit will remove all the roadblocks set by your
adversaries and the temple will surely be
rebuilt.] Then he [Zerubbabel, yes King
Zerubbabel himself] will bring out the
capstone [the finishing stone of the temple] to
shouts of “God bless it! God bless it”’
Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘The
hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of
this temple; his hands will also complete it. [Tell
those who have no faith, those who doubt this
vision that when they behold the completed
temple] Then you will know that the Lord
Almighty has sent me to you.’
“’Who despises the
day of small things? [Who complains when
troubles are few? God works best when everything
else fails.] Men will rejoice when they see [once
again] the plumb line in the hands of
Zerubbabel.’ ‘(These seven [the
seven eyes on the stone set before Joshua] are
the eyes of the Lord, which range throughout the
earth [they are always on those who fear the
Lord. Psalms 33:18].)’ Then I asked the
angel [a second time], ‘What are
these two olive trees on the right and the left
of the lampstand?’ [After a few moments
of unanswered silence] Again I asked him [a
third time], ‘What are these two olive
branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out
golden oil?’ He replied, ‘Do you [Zechariah,
a prophet of Israel] not know what these are?’
‘No my lord,’ I said. So he said,
‘these [the two olive trees and the
golden lampstand that stand before the Lord,
they] are the two [witnesses] who are
anointed [chosen] to serve the Lord of all
the earth.’” (Zechariah 4:1-14,
insertions mine)
Please notice the key points in
this vision:
1. Even though the
rebuilding project was in gridlock when God gave
this vision to Zechariah, the Lord promised that
Zerubbabel himself would present the capstone
(the final stone on the temple) to shouts of
“God bless it! God bless it!” Jesus
wanted the king to know that he would indeed
rebuild the temple and the obstacles he faced
would be overcome, but not through human
strength. “’Not by [human] might
nor by [human] power, but by my Spirit [the
temple will be rebuilt],’ says the Lord
Almighty.”
2.
Twice the angel avoided Zechariah’s question
about the lampstand and the two olive trees. In
fact, the angel’s response, “Do you not
know what these are?” was a gentle rebuke
because Zechariah, who was both a prophet and a
priest, should have understood the meaning of
what he saw.
We
have reached bedrock in our study on the Two
Witnesses. The Lord showed Zechariah a golden
lampstand that had seven lamps on it. Two olive
trees stood beside the lampstand, one on the left
and the other on the right. Each olive tree had a
golden pipe that was attached to the lampstand.
In fact, the two pipes from the two olive trees
fanned out into seven channels so that each lamp
on the lampstand received oil. The imagery is
both elegant and simple. Olive oil perpetually
flowed from the two living trees and this enables
the lampstand to shine perpetually! What a
marvelous design! Zechariah saw an eternal flame.
A lampstand fed by two olive trees. (Remember, as
we learned near the beginning of this study, the
Two Witnesses have existed throughout eternity.)
Fresh
olive oil was required for the seven lamps that
made up the golden lampstand. (Exodus 25:31-40,
Leviticus 23:3,4) Zechariah also knew that, “the
lamps on the pure gold lampstand [that stood]
before the Lord must be tended
[each day by humans] continually.” (Leviticus
24:4 italics and insertion mine) Given his
intimate knowledge of priestly duties, Zechariah
should have connected the dots. He was looking at
a symbol of the Holy Spirit (the two olive trees)
and the eternal flame of God’s Word (the
lampstand with seven lamps on it). The Spirit of
God enables the law of God to shine perpetually! As
the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and
do not return to it without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields
seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is
my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not
return to me empty, but will accomplish what I
desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it.” (Isaiah 55:10,11)
Standing
before the Lord of the Earth
Notice
the location of the Two Witnesses in Revelation
11:4: “These are the two olive trees and
the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of
the earth.” The lampstand in Zechariah’s
day was located on the south side of the Holy
Place, directly across the room from the Table of
Shewbread that was located on the north side of
the Holy Place. The Table of Shewbread represents
the throne of God. In Zechariah’s vision,
two olive trees were seen standing on each side
of the lampstand, therefore, the two trees also stood
before the Lord. When Zechariah pressed the
angel a third time, the angel confirmed their
importance saying, “These [the two
olive trees and the golden lampstand] are the
two [witnesses] who are anointed to serve
the Lord of all the earth [Sovereign God].”
The
Lampstand with Seven Lamps
When
God gave this vision to Zechariah, the temple in
Jerusalem was not in service. This point is made
because the temple in Heaven was operating and
intact. (Hebrews 8:1-5) Zechariah’s vision
should be understood from the perspective of the
Heavenly temple, where the Lord sits on His
throne. (Psalm 11:4) The lampstand in Heaven’s
temple represented the nation of Israel, the agent
through whom God’s law was chosen to
shine. The seven lamps on the lampstand represent
the totality of God’s Truth, the truth that
displaces darkness, including the plumb line of
His law that defines true vertical.
Because
of God’s great affection for Abraham,
Abraham’s offspring had been chosen as
“keepers of the Word of God.” They were
trustees of His law. In other words, when Israel
was delivered from Egypt, the nation was chosen
to serve the world as trustees of the gospel of
Christ. (Exodus 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 10:4) Jesus
referred to this responsibility in His Sermon on
the Mount, Jesus told the Jews, “You are
the light [the lampstand] of the world….”
(Matthew 5:14, insertion mine) In other words,
Israel had been selected and anointed to serve
the Lord of all Earth as trustees of God’s
Word. (Isaiah 42: 6,7; Revelation 14:6) This
explains why a single lampstand was placed
before the Lord’s throne in the Heavenly
temple. That lampstand was a constant
reminder before the Lord that Israel needed Holy
Spirit power every day to take the light of truth
(the perfect law of God) into all the world. “I,
the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I
will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and
will make you to be a covenant for the people and
a light for the Gentiles, to
open eyes that are blind, to free captives from
prison [of sin] and to release from the
dungeon those who sit in darkness [of
ignorance].” (Isaiah 42:6,7,
italics and insertions mine)
The
seven lamps on Israel’s lampstand represent
the sevenfold brilliance that shines from God’s
Word. No group of people has been given more
blessing and spiritual advantage than the nation
of Israel!
Paul,
lamenting Israel’s defiant rebellion against
Christ wrote, “For I could wish that I
myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for
the sake of my brothers, those of my own race,
the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as
sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the
receiving of the law, the temple worship and the
promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from
them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who
is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” (Romans
9:3-5) Did you notice the little superscript
numbers? These numbers identify the sevenfold
blessing given to Israel. God raised up a people
to “prepare the world for the kingdom of God
and He gave every blessing and grace to do so,
but they refused. “He came to that which
was his own, but his own did not receive him.”
(John 1:11)
When Jesus began His ministry,
Israel was thoroughly poisoned with idolatry.
Israel worshiped God’s laws instead of God,
and their legalism led them to reject the
teaching of Jesus. If Jesus came to Earth to
minister among Christians today, He would find
Christians thoroughly poisoned by idolatry. A
majority of Christians worship God’s grace
instead of God! This point is proven by the total
disregard for God’s seventh day Sabbath.
Most Christians disregard God’s Sabbath
because they believe the Ten Commandments were
abolished at the cross. The pendulum has swung
from worshiping God’s law to worshiping God’s
grace. In fact, mercy (grace) and justice (law)
co-exist because God is love. (Psalm 89:14) Man’s
need of God’s grace is based on the eternal
presence of God’s law. Where there is no
law, there is no need for grace! (Romans 4:15)
When the Ten Commandments, especially the fourth
commandment, is presented to the world during the
Great Tribulation, many Christians will be
shocked to hear that they have blasphemed the law
of God in the name of Grace. Although the
doctrine of grace opposes the doctrine of
legalism, they produce the same outcome. Anything
that displaces the law of God with rules taught
by men is blasphemy. (Isaiah 29:13; Mark 7:7,8)
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