Kept for this visit
Notes, starred and highlighted verses and bookmarks kept while signed out last until this visit ends. Create a free account and everything you keep here moves into it, saved for good.

Not by Might, Nor by Power

1 The angel who talked with me came again and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I have seen, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3 and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.” 4 I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is Yahweh’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of Armies. 7 Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’” 8 Moreover Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you. 10 Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are Yahweh’s eyes, which run back and forth through the whole earth.” 11 Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?” 12 I asked him the second time, “What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts that pour the golden oil out of themselves?” 13 He answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Zechariah 4:1-14 · WEB

A lamp that nobody has to fill is shown to a governor rebuilding a temple, and the sentence at its center explains the picture.

The prophet has to be woken as a man who is wakened out of his sleep, which is the plainest statement anywhere that these visions are not his own production.

What he sees is a gold lampstand with a bowl on top, seven lamps, and pipes running to each of them — and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left. Asked twice what it means, he answers no, my lord both times.

The detail that carries the meaning is the plumbing. A lamp in that world was filled by hand, daily, by someone carrying oil. This one is connected directly to two living trees, so the fuel arrives without anybody fetching it. The vision is of light that does not depend on the labor of the people who need it.

Which is what the interpretation says in words: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says Yahweh of Armies Zechariah 4:6. The two nouns denied are the two a small province conspicuously lacked, and the sentence is addressed to the man responsible for the building work.

Verse 7 then reduces the obstacle: who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain. And the capstone comes out to shouts of grace, grace — the last word anyone would expect over the completion of a construction project, since a finished building is normally credited to its builder.

Verse 9 gives the practical assurance in two clauses about the same pair of hands: the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it. Beginning and end assigned to one man, which is precisely what a stalled project cannot assume.

Then the question that names the discouragement out loud: who despises the day of small things? Somebody was. And the answer given is a matter of scale rather than encouragement — the seven who rejoice to see a plumb line in his hand are identified as Yahweh's eyes, which run back and forth through the whole earth. The same seven eyes as the stone of the previous vision Zechariah 3:9. What is watching a small building site is what watches everything.

The two olive trees are finally named as the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth — literally two sons of oil. The vision has a priest and a governor in front of it, and the image is taken up again much later Revelation 11:4.

settled What this mark means