Not by Might, Nor By Power

adaptedfrom PCC Prayer Meeting Exhortation on 8 April 2010.

“Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This isthe word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, butby my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Thename Zechariah means ‘Yahweh Remembers.’ And this is the theme of his prophecy.

Zechariahbegan his ministry about 2 months after Haggai preached his first sermon.Haggai had preached to stir the people from their slumber so that they wouldbegin again to rebuild the temple of God in Jerusalem which had been lying inuncompleted ruin for 16 years.

Zechariahcomplemented Haggai’s ministry. He sought to provoke the people to continue inthe work they had begun to do. He encouraged the people with the fact that Godremembers His covenant. He will never leave nor forsake His people whom He hasadopted as His children.

In this way, Zechariah worked hand in hand withHaggai. It is not surprising then, that Zechariah emphasises some of the samethings as Haggai. In particular, in this study, we want to consider a promiseof God conveyed through Zechariah that will remind us of what He said throughHaggai, namely:

“Not by might, nor bypower, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zec 4:6).

Notice that this is both a promise and a reminder. Buthow ever you look at it, you must realise that it cannot be studied by itself.It is part of a night vision that the Lord gave to Zechariah in 519 BC. TheLord gave Zechariah eight visions in that night. Our text is part of the 5^thvision recorded in chapter4.

This is the vision of thegolden candlestick and two olive trees. Let us, therefore, study this promiseunder three heads: (1) The Basis of the Promise; (2) The Thesis of the Promise;and (3) The Praxis of the Promise.

1. TheBasis of the Promise

Our chapter begins with anangel waking Zechariah up and asking him: “Whatseest thou?” What does he see?

Hesees a golden candlestick, or lampstand. This lampstand has a bowl right at thetop where oil can be added, and it has seven branches with a lamp on each ofthe branches. The oil to keep the lamps burning is poured into the bowl at thetop and piped to the seven lamps through the seven branches.

Thisunique candle lampstand is known as the menorah. It is one of the symbols ofthe modern state of Israel, the other being the Star of David. There were tenof these candlesticks in Solomon’s temple (2 Chr 4:7), but originally in thetabernacle, there was only one.

In Zechariah’s vision, the lampstand is flanked by two olive trees.These two olive trees produce golden olive oil (v. 12) and remarkably thegolden olive oil are piped immediately to the golden candlestick.

This is a lampstand that doesnot need to be manned. The candlestick that was in the temple at Jerusalem hadto be manned 24 hours a day. The priests had to be put on a rota to make sure that there was alwaysenough oil for the seven lamps to burn continuously without ever going out (Lev24:1-4). But not this lampstand.

Now,it is clear that this vision of the lampstand is central to the promise we areconsidering, for it is in response to Zechariah’s question on what the visionmeans that the angel says—

“This is the word of the LORD untoZerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith theLORD of hosts” (v. 6).

This is the thesis statement ofthe vision. The vision is the basis and illustration of the thesis. But whatdoes the vision mean?

Thankfully, we have theadvantage of biblical hindsight to understand what it means. Need we have anydoubt, for example, that the lampstand represents the church of Christ? InRevelation 1, we are told that the apostle John saw a vision of the ascendedLord Jesus standing in the midst of seven candlesticks. There John was toldspecifically: “the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches”(Rev 1:20).

Each of the candlesticks orlampstand represents a congregation of the Lord so that, as a whole, the churchuniversal is being pictured in the seven candlesticks. 

In the vision of Zechariah, it was aseven-branched lampstand, whereas in the vision of John, it was sevencandlesticks. Why the difference? The difference, I believe, can be found inthe fact that in the Old Testament, though there were many tribes, there wasonly one assembly, one temple and one worship.

In the New Testament, however,there would be numerous denominations and congregations. They would be governedseparately and they would worship separately. So there are 7 separatecandlesticks.

We have digressed, but thepoint is that the lampstand represents the church and her work. The Church,whether in the Old Testament or in the New Testament is to shine forth forChrist in a world of darkness and sin.

What about the olive oil thatkeeps the lamps going? What does that represent? It represents, no doubt, theSpirit of God.

“Oil,”according to Henstenberg, “is one of the most clearly defined symbols in theBible” (Christology of the OT, 103).Everywhere in Scripture oil is seen as the type of the Holy Spirit. Theprophets, priests, and kings in the Old Testament were anointed by with oil tosymbolize the empowerment and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Now, the lampstand inZechariah’s vision is fed with a continual supply of golden olive oil in thatthe Church is continually sustained by the Spirit of God.

In Zechariah’s vision the twoolive trees continually supply the lampstand with golden olive oil. Who dothese two trees represent? Well, in answer to Zechariah’s question, the angelsays, verse 14—

“These are the two anointed ones, that stand by theLord of the whole earth.”

Who are these? Well, the words‘anointed ones’ literally means ‘sons of oil.’ When that is clear, then it isnot difficult for us to see that they probably refer to Joshua the high priestand Zerubbabel the prince in the kingly line of David.

Butif it is them, why are they not named? Well, they are not named because God wasteaching his people a principle. You see, the vision is not so much aboutZerubbabel and Joshua, as it is about Christ whom they represent. The king andpriest of the Old Testament were anointed because they were representatives ofChrist, the Anointed One. Messiah, or Christ, means “Anointed One.”

God’swork would be sustained through His anointed servants, powerfully andconstantly endowed with the Spirit of Christ! So ultimately, it is Christ byHis Spirit who will ensure the success of His Work in the Church.

This same principle would haveoriginally encouraged Zerubbabel the governor. Zerubbabel together with Joshua had led the people back to Jerusalem to rebuildthe temple. But they were not very successful. The project had hardly taken offwhen it stalled. Then for 16 years the temple laid in uncompleted ruin.

Well, under the ministry ofHaggai the prophet, the work has begun again. But the progress has been slow;and there were many discouraging obstacles; and no doubt many discouragingremarks.

Zerubbabel’s hand must havebeen weakened by lack of enthusiastic support and perhaps even by manycriticisms. He must have been wondering how they are ever going to be able tocomplete the work.

Where am I going to find themanpower and expertise to finish this work? How am I going to find the strengthto press on in the midst of all the difficulties? Oh how can I cross this greatmountain in front of me?

What is the Lord’s answer to Zerubbabel? TheLord’s answer is essentially the vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees, whichis really the basis and illustration of the point that the Lord is seeking tobring across. What is the point? The point is the promise, which is our text.

Consider, therefore, ...

2. The Thesis of the Promise

^6b Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.”

What was the Lord saying toZerubabbel? He was saying to him: The work that they were engaged to do—eventhe rebuilding of the Temple and of Jerusalem was a work of Christ. It was awork that must be done spiritually. It would not be accomplished by thestrength and power of man. It would, rather, be done by the power of the Spiritof Christ. It would be completed because God’s Spirit would energise the work.

Whatis the Lord saying to us as His people? He is saying to us: This work that weare doing together as a church of Christ cannot and will not be accomplished bythe power or ability of man, nor by our combined might. It is a work that mustbe done spiritually. It will have to be done by the power and help of the HolySpirit. It will be successful because the Spirit of Christ will energise thework.

What is impossible with man isnot just possible, but easy with God. Where man fails, God never fails. Themountains of man are less than molehills to God. Indeed, where the Spirit ofGod is at work, mountains will become plains. Look at verse 7—

⁷ Who art thou, Ogreat mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bringforth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

In other words, no mountainwill be too great for Zerubbabel. If Zerubbabel relied on the Lord, he wouldovercome all difficulties.

And at the end of it, his heartwould be so full of gratitude to the Lord, that when the temple was completedand he was given the privilege of laying the memorial headstone, he could onlycry ‘Grace, grace!’ It was by God’s grace we begun! It was by God’s