Zechariah 4

1been asleep. 2“ What do you see now?” he asked. Lanswered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl of oil on top of it. Around the bowl are seven lamps, each having seven spouts with wicks. 3And I see two Olive trees, one on each side of the bowl.” 4Then Lasked the angel,” What are these, my lord? What do they mean?” 5“Don’t you know?” the angel asked. “No, my lord,” I replied. 6Then he said to me, “This is what the Lor says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Heaven's Armies. 7Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!*” 8Then another méssage came to me from the LORD: 9“Zerubbabel is the one who laid the foundation of this Temple, and he will complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of Heaven's Armies has sent me. 10Do not despise these smail beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand.” (The seven lamps* represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world.) 11Then I asked the angel, “ What are these two olive trees on each side of the lampstand,

12and what are the two olive branches that pour out golden oil through two gold tubes?”3:9 Hebrew seven eyes. 4:7 Hebrew ‘Grace, grace to it.’ 4:10 Or The seven facets (see 3:9); Hebrew readsThese seven.3:7-10 There was no priesthood during the Exile, so it had tobe reinstated upon the return to the land. In this vision, Jeshuais installed as high priest. One of the high priest’s duties wasto offer a sacrifice on the Day of Atonement to make amends forall the sins of the people. The priest was the mediator betweenGod and the nation. Thus, he represented the coming Messiah(Isaiah 11:1), who would change the entire order of God’s dealingwith people’s sin (Hebrews 10:8-14 explains this in detail). Jesus,the Messiah, was the High Priest who offered, once for all, thesacrifice of himself to take away our sins. in the new order, everyChristian is a priest, offering a holy, cleansed life to God (1 Peter2:9; Revelation 5:10).