SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/11/2016 11:09 PM
My Worship Time Focus: The Vision
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference:
Zechariah 4:1-3, 11-14
Message of the verses: “1 Then the angel who was speaking with me
returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. 2 He said to
me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and behold, a
lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it
with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; 3
also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on
its left side."” “11 Then I said to
him, "What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on
its left?" 12 And I answered the second time and said to him, "What
are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty
the golden oil from themselves?" 13 So he answered me, saying, "Do
you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." 14 Then
he said, "These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of
the whole earth."”
Perhaps we
better look at the first paragraph from Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary to help us
understand what is going on here. “In
the holy place of the tabernacle, in front of the veil and to the left of the
altar of incense, stood a golden candlestick with seven branches (Ex.
25:31-40).” We will not look at the
endnote he has after this first sentence:
“In Solomon’s temple, the one large candlestick was replaced with ten
smaller ones (1 Kings 7:49; 1 Chron. 28:15).”
“At the end of each branch was a golden lamp, and it was the high priest’s
duty each morning and evening to trim the wicks and provide the oil needed to
keep the lamp burning (Lev. 24:3). This
candlestick provided light in the holy place so the priests could see to burn
the incense on the golden altar each morning and evening (Ex. 30:7-8).”
What has
been explained above was not like what we see in Zechariah’s fourth vision as
his vision we see seven branches and also lamps, and the candlestick also had a
bowl which was on the top and into this bowl dripped the oil from the Olive
trees, kind of like an automatic system with no need for anyone to put oil into
the lamps. Both Dr. Wiersbe and John
MacArthur say that this represents Joshua and also Zerubbable as seen in verse
14. However when we look at verse
fourteen we also have to look at Revelation chapter eleven as the two witnesses
of that chapter seem to go along with this vision that Zechariah has, so
perhaps that could be the greater fulfillment of this vision. Now also when we look at Zechariah’s vision
there would be a total number of forty-nine pipes as there are seven pipes to
each lamp and this assured that there would be an ample supply of fuel in order
to keep the lamps burning.
Now the
lampstand represented the Messiah as we know that Jesus tells us in John 8:12
that He is the light of the world, the light of life to everyone who trusts Him
as their Savior and Lord. Also the lamp
would shine its light on the table in the holy place which revealed the loaves
of bread and Jesus also said that He is the bread of life as seen in John 6:33,
45, and 48.
The tabernacle
candlestick also spoke of the nation of Israel for Israel was suppose to be the
light to the nations around them, but unfortunately they fell prey to the
nations around them, and did not fulfill being the light to the world, but in
the future this will happen. The symbol
of the new state of Israel is the menorah, which is this seven branched candlestick. Now when the remnant came back to Israel the
light was not burning to brightly, not bright enough for its leader Zerubbable
as he wondered if things would get back in order.
Dr. Wiersbe
concludes this section: “Believers today
must keep in mind that the church is the light in a dark world, and we must
depend on the Holy Spirit to enable us to bear witness (Matt. 5:14-16; Phil.
2:14-16). In Revelation 1-3, local
churches are symbolized by individual lampstand, and the purpose of a lampstand
is to give light. If we don’t do what
Christ commands us to do, He may take away the lampstand (2:5).”
5/11/2016 11:40 PM
No comments:
Post a Comment