Well, Shalom, everyone. God bless you. We want to welcome you to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures and Israel. And, we are so privileged to study the prophecy of Zechariah. Hopefully, you have your Bibles with you. Open, please, to Zechariah, for this meeting today. And we are going to deal today with Zechariah, Zechariah chapter, four in this meeting, today. So let's pray together. Let's ask the Lord to bless us, commit the meeting to the Lord. And so our God and our Father, thank you so much that you have sent to this world the Son of the Father.

HaMashiach, the Messiah Yeshua, HaBen shel HaAbba. Thank you for sending him to this world. Bless your word to us all. We ask it in the name of Yeshua HaMashiach. Amen, amen. And so, beloved friends and dear brothers and sisters, I would like to read with you today these 14 verses of this fourth chapter of the book of Zechariah to remind you that Zechariah have seen these eight visions that are recorded for us. In the first, sixth chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah, who wrote at about 520 BC, and he spoke to our people of all, the people of Israel, who returned from the, from Babylon back to the promised land of Canaan, were discouraged, needed encouragement. So the Lord had raised Zechariah to encourage his people Israel in a time of discouragement and decline. And so we read in Zechariah chapter four, And the angel that talked with me came again, and walked me as a man, awaked me as a man that wakened out of a sleep, and said unto me, What seest thou?

And I said, I have looked, and behold, a candlestick, or a lampstand, in Hebrew menorah, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereon, and two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. So I answered and spake unto the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? And the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered, and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

Who art thou, O great mountain before Zerubbabel? Thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone, or the capstone, the roof, with shouting, crying, Grace, grace, unto it. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the house, his hands shall also finish it, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. For who has despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord which run to and fro throughout the whole earth. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the lampstand, or the candlestick, and upon the left side thereof?

And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me, and said, Knowest thou not, knowest thou not what these be? And I said, Not, my lord. And he said, He says, then said he, these are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. And this is the last verse of Zechariah chapter four and verses one to fourteen. And here we are, brothers and sisters, we are reminded that we are in the study of Zechariah. Beautiful book was written by Zechariah, of course, was spoken to the people of Israel sometime around 520 BC. Remember the outline of the prophecy of Zechariah, the first six verses is the call of God. God called to Israel, return unto me.

Then in chapter one, verse seven, to all the way to the end of chapter six, that with the portion that we are studying today, God gives eight visions to Zechariah, visions of the restoration, of ultimate restoration of his earthly people, the people of Israel. Remember that these, these prophecy were written at about, 520, BC. The church was not as yet formed. God is looking over the ages as he will ultimately will restore his people Israel at the end of the tribulation. Then we have also learned that in chapter seven and eight, God is, providing, and speaking to Israel concerning those specific, fasting that he deal with them, is speaking with them concerning fasting, what is the real fasting and what is not. And of course, the last, chapter nine, verse one to the end of the, fourteenth chapter, God gives Israel the promise of the coming of the Messianic.

Age, the millennial age, the reign of the Messiah, and Israel restored, and blessing will flow to this world, and he will use the nation of Israel as a priestly nation that will minister to the nations of the world in the future day. But we are now in this, area, in this, portion of the Word of God that really still part of these eight visions that Zechariah is receiving from the Lord, and if you just remember that every vision had a purpose, and every vision has a message.

The first vision, chapter one verse seven to seventeen, the vision of the horseman, among the myrtle tree, spake, to Zechariah and to the people of Israel of the, merciful way in which the Lord deal with the city of Yerushalayim. And now he's merciful towards the city and the people of Jerusalem all along throughout the ages, as he's merciful towards you and I in this present day of the church age.

Then we learn in chapter 1 verse 18 to 21, the vision of the four horns and the four carpenters, and there it speak to us, it speaks to Israel of the power, the powers, the horns represent power that will be, that will scatter Judah, but eventually they will be uprooted by, they will be uprooted, eventual uprooting of these powers. God will ultimately bring to an end these powers that turn against Judah and Israel, and will ultimately will uproot them. That was the second vision. The previous vision that we have learned from Zechariah chapter 2 and 3, actually there's more than that, chapter 2 verses 1 to 13, the vision of the men with the measuring line, which speak to us and speak to Israel of the Lord's protective power over his people.

He's measuring and he's ultimately promising that he will restore the people of Israel to the blessing that he had called them to heaven. Finally, in the previous chapter, in chapter three, the vision of the clean garment for Yehoshua, Joshua, Israel's high priest, represent the fact that Judah, Israel, will ultimately be cleansed, although Satan is accusing them and causing them constantly friction and accusing them before the Lord.

And ultimately, through the power of the Messiah, through the branch, remember the Tzemach, the man that is called Tzemach, the branch is the Messiah himself, who will ultimately restore his earthly people Israel. And the lessons are tremendous by application to you and I today, beloved brothers and sisters, the promises of God to the assembly, to the Ekklesia, that the Lord is merciful towards his heavenly people, the church age today. The Lord's, the fact that the Lord will be the one that will thoroughly and ultimately he will ultimately all powers that rise against the assembly, the ekklesia, will ultimately be defeated because the Lord will sustain his people. And the fact that the measuring line, the Lord protecting his people, and finally the fact that, we have a great high priest today, the Messiah Jesus himself, who is there at God's right hand, interceding on behalf of his people today that belong to the church, the assembly of the living God.

So there are lessons that we learn from Zechariah that specifically apply to the earthly people of God, the people of Israel, but by application you and I can learn lesson that it will help us in our spiritual growth today during this church age, while these prophecies will come to fruition at the second coming of the Messiah and Israel's final restoration.

Now here in this fourth chapter, we have really the fifth vision, beloved brothers and sisters. And in this fifth vision, it's called really the vision of a lampstand and the olive trees. You know, I place here before you this lampstand, in Hebrew it's called menorah, purposely, so you can visually see what the lampstand is. You know, a lampstand, or in Hebrew we call menorah, is simply a lamp that has seven sticks or seven lamps together, united into one. And this lampstand, in the word of God, is representing, on the one hand, it's representing the nation of Israel. On the other hand, it's representing Christ, the Mashiach, the Messiah himself. The word menorah mentioned in the scripture sometime at about 42 times. In Hebrew it's called menorah.

In the, in the, in Aramit it is called nevrashta, and it is mentioned in Daniel chapter 5, although it doesn't have, it doesn't have a reference to this menorah that is found in the tabernacle and the temple, and it's called nevrashta in the Aramaic language. And of course in the Greek it is called lichnia or lichnia in Greek and it simply is found in Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 2 in reference to the seven branch lamps and or candlestick that was found in the tabernacle. So it is a symbol of the Messiah according to Isaiah 42 verses 1 to 6 and 49 verses 1 to 6 but it is also a symbol of the nation of Israel according to Isaiah 62 verses 1 to 3 where Israel is called to be a light to the nations of the world. So really it remind us beloved brothers and sisters of the the Messiah Christ himself and also the nation of Israel and if you will it's also we are called as believers today to be a light to the world.

The Lord Jesus said of himself I am the light Of the world in the Gospel of John chapter 8 and chapter 9, and the believers today are called to be light to the world, to the world according to Matthew chapter 5. Now notice this, beloved brothers and sisters. In this passage, I don't, of Zechariah chapter 4, we must connect with that really the pro, the book of Ezra, and I would read a few verses from Ezra, but notice first of all, in chapter 4 of this prophecy of Zechariah, verses 1 to 3, Zechariah is seeing a vision of the lampstand, of the menorah. So we read, let me read these three verses once again. And the angel that talked with me came again, and he waked me as a man that is waken out of his sleep.

And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold, a candlestick, a lampstand of gold, with a bowl, a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof. In verse three it said, And then two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side of the bowl. Now, just visualize with me, my dear friend and dear brothers and sisters, what Zechariah is seeing in the vision here. What does he see?

He was asked by the angel. First of all, notice that he, he wake him up. Aperetvi Zechariah have seen already four visions, and he was so tired that he fell asleep. And now the angel of the Lord waking him up, and to see another vision. Zechariah was overwhelmed with the previous vision, and now he wakes him up to see an additional vision. And you notice that the very fact that he had to wake him up shows us that this is a vision that you see not when you are sleeping, but when you are awake. In Hebrew it is called chazon, in contrast to chalom. Chazon is a vision, chalom is a dream. So as we read in verse one, he wake him up as a man that is waking out of a sleep.

And he said, what do you see, Zechariah? And what Zechariah see, notice that, he sees four things. In this next vision that is called, according to our portion, the vision of the lampstand and the olive trees. You notice we have these four things that he sees according to verses two and three. Number one, in verse two it says here, And he said unto me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick or a lampstand, menorah in Hebrew, of gold. And you can see here in this, just before me, we have this, the, the menorah. This is called in Hebrew menorah. It has a, a seven, you notice that? It has a shaft in the center. And on the two side of it, you have another, three, you might say, it, it looks like as it says here, the, the lamps on the three coming from one side and three coming from the other side, but you have a long shaft right in the middle of that menorah.

And these are the seven, and it's interesting because the word seven is in Scripture, often times speaks of fullness and completeness, and the menorah became a type and a picture of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, of Yeshua HaMashiach, of whom, upon whom the Holy Spirit of God residing. Isaiah 11 tells us that the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him. Beloved brothers and sisters, just turn for a moment to Isaiah, for a reading of a verse, Isaiah chapter 11, we read in the first few verses, from verse 5, especially after, I read from verse 1 to 5, that is, And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse.

And a branch shall grow out of his roots. In other words, there will be someone that come of the rod and the stem of Jesse. And that person that will come, we read in verse 2, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and might, and the Spirit of the knowledge and the fear of the Lord. So if you see here, the sevenfold lampstand that the Spirit of the Lord resided upon the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and as we have already concluded, the number seven often times speak to us about perfection, completeness, and here we can see that the lampstand here is the type and a picture of Christ, of the Messiah, but also of the Nation of Israel. So what, Zechariah is seeing in that vision, according to verse two and three, he sees, number one, the menorah, as it is seen here.

Number two, you notice, according to verse, two, he see a bowl upon the top of it. In other words, he see like a bowl at, on the top of the menorah. That bowl, it's, in, in Hebrew it is called v'gula. Gula is something round, like a bowl that is standing right above the menorah, the lampstand. That's the second thing that he sees. But the third thing that he sees, beloved brothers and sisters, he sees, as it says here, and the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, he says, and seven pipes are going into the seven lamps. In other words, he sees seven distinct pipes that are going right into the bowl that is upon the seven, the lampstand, and these seven pipes are going from the bowl right into the top of the lampstand. Now, mind you, we call it candlesticks, but in reality, there are no candles there.

There are small bowls of, at the top of the, each stick here, each lamp, and oil is being poured. Poured into each of these, like a small bowls that, the oil lit and it gives us light. It gave light in the, tabernacle and in the temple in the city of Yerushalayim. But where do the bowl receive the oil to be poured into the lampstand? The first thing that Zechariah sees, he sees two olive trees. In other words, notice that, and I'm reading now verse three. In verse three, he sees, that's the fourth thing that he sees, he sees, and two olive trees by it, one upon the right hand of the bowl and another one on the left side thereof. In other words, this lampstand Receive the oil that come from seven pipes that goes right into the lamp out of a bowl, but the bowl itself is being filled with oil that come directly from the two olive trees.

In other words, what we really see in that vision, or what Zechariah is really seeing, is a supernatural, supernatural way whereby the lampstand will be kept lit, give light. You see, in days of old, when, there was the lampstand in the tabernacle, and the lampstand in the temple, the, in days of old, according to Exodus chapter 27 and verse 20, the Lord said to Moshe to tell Aaron, thou shalt commend the children of Israel. That they bring the pure olive oil, bitten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always. In other words, there was a need to keep the lamp lit at all time, but the priest had to go in to the holy place to give, to put oil, to maintain the menorah lit at all time. You can just imagine, after a while, the oil will be diminished, it need to be refilled again and again and again. But here on the other hand, beloved friend, what we do see in Zechariah chapter four, in the first three verses and eventually at verse twelve, that we do read that these olive trees In a supernatural way, they are filling the bowl at the top above, above the menorah, and those, the pipes that go to each one of these seven lamps, and in a supernatural way, the menorah will be kept lit.

No need for the high priest to get in and to put oil every time. The oil come naturally straight from the olive trees, with pipes going to the bowl, with pipes going down to the lamps, and keeping the lampstand, the menorah, the candlestick lit at all times, supernaturally. This is an amazing lesson that we learn here. And we will see it in a moment, that God, in a supernatural way, is going to be maintaining and sustaining and allowing the lampstand, which representing the nation of Israel, which representing the Mashiach, the Messiah as well, to give light and to maintain light at all time in a supernatural way, using the two olive trees.

And the two olive trees will be, you might say, giving oil to the bowl, the bowl giving oil through pipes down to the menorah. Interesting that if you read, if you knew a little bit in the Hebrew text, it's very interesting, because in the Hebrew text, it says in verse two, It says, and I just read it in Hebrew for a moment, vayomer elai, mah atah ro'eh? Va'omar, ra'iti v'hineh menorat zahav kulah v'gulah al roshah, and I just want to say the last point, it says, v'shiv'ah neroteha aleha, shiv'ah v'shiv'ah mutzakot lanerot asher al roshah.

In other words, it says seven times seven, and some believe that it's not only there is seven pipes, but seven times seven pipes going to all the seven lamps. In other words, seven pipes is filling each one. In other words, seven times seven, as it says here, shiva, v'shiva, mutzakot lanerot asher al roshah. In other words, there are really forty-nine pipes, and seven pipes filling each one of these lamps. And again, it tells us, and speaking to us, of the supernatural way, the fullness of the lighting, of the menorah, that is a testimony, that it's representing for us, according to Isaiah, Isaiah 42 and 49, the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and according to Isaiah 61, representing the nation. Of Israel. Very, very interesting. Isaiah, 61 and also 62. Now the question, of course, immediately that you and I have to ask, is, what is the message that, the, the, angel is seeking to convey to Zechariah?

And let me just once again remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that when Zechariah was speaking to the people of Israel, to the Jewish remnant who returned from the land of Babel, they returned after 70 years of being in Babylon, and they returned at about 536, 537 BC. And when they returned back to the land, they began to build the house of the Lord. But something happened.

What happened is because they had so much opposition and so much discouragement, opposition from without initially, and then they had friction and opposition from within, and they stopped to build the house of the Lord. Now, I would like you to turn with me to the, book of Ezra. I want to read a few verses here in the book of Ezra. Just turn to Ezra chapter one. I just want to, to show us the, the, what's happened in the, in the days when Ezra was writing his portion to the nation of Israel. Remember that the Jewish people returned back to the land, and then what happened according to chapter one, how did they return to the land?

They came back to the land according to chapter one, verse one, two, and three, in the first year of Cyrus, the king of Persia, the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, that he might be fulfilled, the Lord stir up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation, remember that, he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus, chapter one, verse two, king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven has given me all the kingdom. Of the earth, he has charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.

Who is there among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord, the God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. So the Lord has stood up a King Koresh, Koresh, the King of Persia, and he called the Jewish people by the word of the Lord to go back to the land of Israel. That is written in about 536 BC.

Now turn with me for a moment now to chapter 2 of the Book of Ezra, and if you read chapter 2 throughout the whole chapter, You will find out, it says in verse one, now these are the children of the province that went up out of captivity of those which had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away unto Babylon, and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, everyone unto his city. And you notice you have a list, a long list.

And actually the first two names in this long list are Zerubbabel, whose name is mentioned here in Zechariah chapter four, and Yehoshua, Joshua, whose name was mentioned in a previous chapter, in Zechariah chapter three. The high priest And the political, the spiritual leader, the religious leader, and the political leader, Zerubbabel, and, here we have, Joshua. Now, what happened, beloved brothers and sisters, the things didn't go, it didn't take too long, the people of Israel began to build the house of the Lord. Notice chapter three, we read in, chapter three, and there we read verses, nine onwards to verse, eleven. Chapter three and verse nine, we read, and I'm reading verse nine, and then stood Joshua with the sons of, and his bro- and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah together, to set, notice that, to set forward the workmen in the house of God.

The sons of Hanadad, with their sons and their brethren, the Levites. And notice, when they built it, they laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, and they set up the priests in their apparel with the trumpets and so on. So they began to build the house of the Lord, they laid the foundation according to this verse 10.

And you notice what it says in verse 11, and they sang together, by course, praising and giving thanks unto the Lord, because he stood, for he is good, and his mercy endures forever. And all the people shouted with a great shout. And when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. So the children of Israel were so thankful and so happy because now the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid down. Well, if you notice now, if you turn with me for a moment to chapter four, and you notice in chapter four, something has happened. They began to build the house of the Lord in the first, few verses. It didn't take too long, but their enemies opposed them.

You notice what it says here. I'll just read verse two. Then came they to Zerubbabel. This is the adversaries, the enemies. When you build something for the Lord, the enemies, verse one says, when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple, verse two, they came to Zerubbabel and they began to try to hinder the children of Israel from building the house of the Lord. How do they hinder them? Number one, they began to say, you know, well, we are going to help you.

And then when they are not successful, and Zerubbabel said to them in verse three, you have nothing to do with us. To build the house of our God, but we ourselves together, we will build unto the Lord our God, the God of Israel, and so on. They were not happy with it. And in fact, beloved brothers and sisters, it says in verse four, Of Ezra chapter four, then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah. So what they did, beloved brothers and sisters, they have weakened the hands of the Jewish people, and they hinder them from building the house of the Lord. They began by, like Satan does when you do anything for the Lord, he's coming as an angel of light initially, but when he's not successful to trick God's people, he's coming as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. So you know what happened? If you look again in Ezra chapter four, the last verse, that apparently at the last verse, they were so discouraged, at 336 BC, that it, it says here in verse 24, that they ceased.

The work of the house of God, which is at Jerusalem, so the, so it sees unto the second year of the reign of the rise, the king of Persia. From 536 BC to 520 BC, when Zechariah was ministering to them, they stopped to build the house of the Lord. In other words, the lesson it is amazing. That even though God had brought them back to the promised land, the enemies were there ready to stop them from building to the, to the Lord and the Lord's house. And I just want to make an application for us. Whenever any one of us will seek to do and to build for the house of the Lord today, in the church age, you know, the church, the assembly, is really the house of the Lord.

Is the pillars, the pillars and the ground of the truth are found in the true assembly on the basis of the word of God. It is only the truth of God can be learned and found as mankind is adhering to the word of the Lord and through the church of God that is called to be a building, builders and testimony to the world. But you see what happened. The enemy is always there to stop and to hinder the work of the Lord. And so you can just imagine the Jewish people are discouraged. The house of the Lord is now stopped from being built.

The Jews had an opposition from the, we know them as the Shomronim in days of old. And they opposed, the enemies of, it's called in, in Ezra, in chapter three, they are called, in this third chapter, they are called those that are the opposers of the Jewish people who came back to the land of Israel. They are called adversaries in chapter four, verse one. The word is tzarei Yehudah, the adversary of Judah. And so you get discouraged. They stopped from building the temple in the city of Jerusalem. And now some 15, 16 years have passed by and God raised Zechariah.

And of course he raised other, Haggai, and then later on he raised Malachi, Malachi, to encourage the people of Judah, the people of Israel to, to trust in the Lord and to follow him and not to be discouraged and not to be dismayed, but to continue to build the temple of the Lord, to continue on, beloved brothers and sisters. And so look at this.

It took such a long time, some fifteen years, sixteen years. Eventually, according to chapter six, I'm not going to read chapter six, but eventually the house of the Lord was built. In fact, just go with me for a moment to chapter six, and I just want to read verses fifteen, six, fourteen, and fifteen. And the elders of the Jews built it, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai.

The prophet and Zechariah, you see here we are studying Zechariah, Zechariah, the son of Iddo, and they build it and they finished it according to the commandment of God, of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus and Darius and Artaxerxes. And in verse 15, we do read, beloved brothers and sisters, and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And so you notice, Cyrus was initially called the Jewish people to go back to the land.

And then when they went back to the land, they were discouraged and they stopped to build the temple because of those that stopped them, Cambyses, and ultimately the construction was resumed through the word of Darius the Great, and ultimately Haggai and Zechariah prophesied, spoke to the Jewish people, and the house of the Lord was finalized. Although it was a smaller temple, it was not as great as the temple that was in the days of Solomon. So now go with me back to the prophecy of Zechariah.

Here, the angel of the Lord, beloved brothers and sisters, in this, fifth, fifth, vision, the vision of the lampstand and the olive trees, here he's showing Zechariah this amazing sight. And you remember we have seen it in verses two and three, a lampstand, seven lamps, then a ball above the lampstand, then there are at least seven pipes are coming from the ball to every lamp, some which suggest seven to each of these lamps, forty-nine pipes. And the bowl at the top receive this, oil that will go into the bowl and fall into the lamps, receive this special, oil directly from these two olive trees that are on the two sides of the bowl. That is what Zechariah sees in his vision. Beautiful, lesson to see. So now, after we have covered verses one to three, then in verses four and five, we see now that in verses four and five, Zechariah, asks, what is the meaning of this vision?

And I just want to remind us, beloved brothers and sisters, before we move to verses four and five, that oil in scripture is always a picture of the Holy Spirit of God. In fact, if you remember, according to Exodus 28 verse 7, the priests were anointed with oil. According to 1 Samuel chapter 16 verse 13, it was the king, David, who was anointed with oil. And according to 1 Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 22, the prophets are called mine anointed, the prophets. The prophets were anointed with oil. In other words, the word Mashiach or Messiah was given to all those who were anointed.

The priest was anointed, Mashiach. The kings were anointed, Mashiach. And the prophets were anointed, Mashiach. The Lord Jesus, the Messiah, is the Messiah, the anointed one. In his life here on earth, he was the anointed prophet. Today, after his death and burial resurrection, he is the anointed great high priest. And when he will come at his second coming, he will be the anointed king of kings and lord of lords. And so whenever we read of oil, we often time have to understand that it make, it has a reference to the Holy Spirit of God. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, what we learn here, that you have a menorah, you have a bowl, you have the forty-nine pipes that coming from the bowl, and the bowl is being filled with the two olive tree in a supernatural way, no hands of men involved. The oil was given by God.

There was no involvement of any man as it was in the days of old in the tabernacle and in the temple where the priest had to go and, and replenish the oil in the menorah in the holy place. So now let's go back. So Zechariah is now in verses four and five, he asked a question. You notice what it says in verse four. So I answered and I spoke unto the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Chariot seeing that vision, you see the lampstand, seven lamps together, united. You see the bowl. You see the forty-nine pipes, seven at least pipes coming out of the bowl. You see two olive trees. You see the oil is being poured supernaturally into that bowl, and the lamps then is lit continuously without any involvement of any person.

So he's asking the question, and he's asking the angel, and that angel here, we always make a reference to that angel that he's the pre-incarnate Messiah that we have already read of him, the angel of Jehovah that is mentioned in chapter 1 verse 11 and verse 12. He's asking him and he's saying to him, what are these? What are these, my Lord, what are these? What are all these are? What are these? And so the angel that talked with me, verse 5, he answered and he said to him, notice he asked him, he said, do not you know, don't you know, knows thou not what these, and he says, no.

My Lord. Zechariah didn't quite know, he needed an explanation. He needed the help of the Lord, in fact, the help of the angel to explain to him, what are these, what are, what is going on here? What are you trying to convey to me when you show me this vision? And so, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next verses, this is so beautiful. In the next verses, the angel of the Lord is, is giving a word from the Lord through Zechariah to whom? To Zerubbabel. And Zerubbabel was the man, if you remember, the leader of the nation of Israel, you might say the political leader of the nation of Israel that led the, the Jewish people to return back to the land.

He was the one that needed encouragement. Why? Because what happened is that apparently this, the, the temple was stopped from being built. There was opposition of the people of the land against, the Jewish remnant that were there in the land. So everybody was discouraged and they stopped to build. Don't you see it sometime in our own life, beloved brothers and sisters, when we get disappointed and discouraged because the enemies of the gospel and the enemies from without, from within, they were opposing one another and you get so discouraged and the flesh within us often time hinder us from, from continuing on and building for the things of the Lord. We can see it in our life today, even as believers in the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. And so we read now, he said, I don't understand, and he really needed the help from the angel of the Lord. So you notice now, in verse 6 and 7, the angel gives a message, using Zechariah, 520 BC, to give a message to Zerubbabel, who after, for 15 years now, 16 years, 15, 16 years, has now stopped from building the temple.

And so notice, in verse 6, it is a word that came from the Lord to Zerubbabel through Zechariah. So we read in verse 6, Then he answered and he spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. Zechariah, this word that I'm speaking to you is for the benefit of Zerubbabel. And I want you to tell to Zerubbabel not to be discouraged, notice he's saying to him, not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. In other words, he's saying to Zechariah to tell to Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, I want you to understand that you can, will ultimately will continue to do what you began, and you will be able to do it not by human power, not by human might, but by my spirit, says the Lord.

And you know, brothers and sisters, every work of the Lord must be done in the power of the Spirit of God. Whenever the Holy Spirit of God is not involved, whenever the human nature, the flesh, is doing his own thing, it's not of the Lord at all. And really the Lord has no, he doesn't want the flesh to be active in building the things of God. It is always the Spirit of God that is the one God, the Holy Spirit, that empower God's people to enable to do the work of the Lord.

And you notice what he said to him. He said to him in this beautiful verse, not by might, not by power, in other words, not by human might and human power, but by the Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. I love this verse because we use this verse often time in the, in the ministry that the Lord have given us. It is really the work of redemption, the word of sal, the work of salvation of souls. It is not our power that leads souls to the Lord. It is the Spirit of God that open the hearts of individuals. And that's why the Lord is saying through Zechariah to Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel, you have to understand, lo bachayil, ve'lo bakoch, ki im beruach Adonai, amar Adonai Tsevaot, ki im beruchi, in my spirit, in the power of my spirit, thus says the Lord, it is in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

I want you to read with me for a moment in the book of Acts, as well for a moment, beloved brothers and sisters, turn with me to Acts chapter one. You remember when the assembly was born, the ekklesia was born in the city of Yerushalayim. And in the city of Yerushalayim, there was so much opposition in the early days when the assembly, the ekklesia, the assembly was born. And these Jewish believers of first century have experienced so much persecution and opposition, even from their own brethren. We have studied together the book of Hebrews. You notice what the Lord said to them before he went to heaven, before even the Spirit of God came, he said to them in Acts chapter one, we read, beloved brothers and sisters, in verse eight, he said, but ye shall receive not as power, after that the Holy Spirit will come upon you.

And you shall be witnesses unto me both, notice, in Yerushalayim, in Yehudah, Jerusalem, Judea, Shomron, Samaria, and unto the outermost parts of the earth. You are going to receive the person and the power of the Holy Spirit of God, and that's the only way whereby you will be able to be a testimony and a testimony to the world around us, beginning in Yerushalayim, Yehudah, Shomron, and outermost parts of the earth.

It is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God will come upon you. And ye shall be my witnesses, we read, beloved brothers and sisters. How wonderful to see that when the, the early assembly, in the city of Jerusalem, when you and I, and as well today, if we are ever going to be able to serve the Lord in a way that is pleasing to Him, it always has to be in the power of the Spirit of God. Because the moment we do it in our own flesh, and sadly, all of us fail in that many times, as we walk our lives as believers, we fail so much, no wonder the state, the condition of the church today is in that same condition that was the same in the days of Israel, in days of old, because often time with human power and not with the power of the Spirit of God, things are done, and no wonder.

There is no building, and the building is slowed down, and often time we are very much discouraged, and it is many times our own fault, sadly. And so Zerubbabel is being receiving a word from the Lord through Zechariah to remind him, Zechariah, lo b'chayil ve'lo b'koach. It is not by might and not by power, but it is by my spirit, notice my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. And as we look at this verse, beloved brothers and sisters, we can think of so many verses.

That we find both in the Tanach, in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Brit HaChadashah, in the New Covenant, the New Testament, many, many times, how often times God's people are being reminded that it is only the Spirit of God that is able to help. Turn with me to John chapter 14, verses 16 and 17. Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, in the upper room there in the city of Jerusalem, He said in John chapter 14 and verses 16 and 17 to the disciples, before He died, He prepared them for the day that He will die, will be buried, rise again, and be ascended to heaven, send the Holy Spirit of God to this earth, to form the body of Christ, and to begin the ministry here in the world for all nations, to build the church, the assembly. He said to them, notice in verses 16 and 17 of John chapter 14, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, one of the same kind, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him, for he dwell with you and shall be in you.

The Holy Spirit of God in this present age of the church age, the Holy Spirit of God is dwelling in the believers and empowering us, empowering God's people, not only gives us new life and new birth, but empowering us to live the life of the believers' life when we allow him to lead us. Notice in John chapter 15, we read there in verse 26, John 15 and verse 26, we do read, and I'm reading this verse as well, verse 26, When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit, notice that the Spirit of truth which shall proceed from the Father, he shall testify of me.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to testify concerning the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah, and when we are occupied with him, as the Spirit of God lead us, we are able to bear testimony to him and to build in the power of the Spirit of God and not in the power of the flesh. And so, not by might.

Zerubavel, not by power, Zerubavel, but by my spirit, says the Lord. There's another verse I want to read, it's in 2nd Corinthians this time, please turn with me to 2nd Corinthians, and there we read, notice that in 2nd Corinthians, I'll read just a chapter 12 and verses 9 and 10, 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 verse 9, And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the, notice there, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. So the, the apostle is speaking about the power of God, the power of God. When I'm weak, verse 10, then I'm strong. Here we have the weak man by the name of Rehoboam and the nation of Israel, because of the opposition that they have experienced from the nations around them, the enemies of Israel, the enemies of the people, they stopped to build.

And so God raised Zechariah, and he's showing him that wonderful vision. A lampstand menorah, bowl upon the menorah, pipes coming to each one of the, of the lamps. Seven pipes times seven, forty nine, and the trees, olive trees on the two sides, and oil is pouring from the trees to the bowl, to the pipes, into the menorah, and in a supernatural way, the menorah is lit.

In other words, symbolically, it's really teaching us also a lesson. Again, the context is important. The text must be, read in light of its context, because the context has to do with Israel and disappointment and discouragement and ultimate, restoration in a future day. That's what the Zechariah is receiving from the Lord. So in verse, six, He's speaking about the fact not by might, Zechariah, not by power, Zechariah, but by spirit, by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. And that's teaching us tremendous lesson by application to us who are believers today. But he continue.

And in verse seven, beloved brothers and sisters, just to have as we are coming to conclusion of that, in verse seven, notice the assurance of God to Zerubbabel. Here is the name of Zerubbabel is mentioned here for the first time here in our chapter. In verse six, it's mentioned first. In verse seven, this is the second time, but the first time is mentioned in the prophecy of Zechariah. Look at the assurance that God give to Zerubbabel of a victory.

He's telling him, don't you worry, Zubavel, you will ultimately be victorious. You will be successful to achieve what I called you to do. And he's saying to him in verse 7, who are thou, O great mountain before Zubavel? God is saying through Zechariah to Zubavel, this big mountain of opposition, mountain often time in the word of God representing the mountains of trials, the mountains of trouble, the mountains of the kingdom that oppose the promises of God for his people. And he's saying, who are thou, O great mountain, verse 7, before Zubavel? Thou shalt become a plain, notice then, you will ultimately become a plain, a flat.

And he said, and he shall bring forth the headstone or the cap. Stone, in Hebrew it's called, it says, the Eben HaRoshah, the capstone, which is another Messianic title. The Messiah Jesus is called the cornerstone, but he's also called the capstone. The cornerstone you build, when you begin to build the temple, you build with the cornerstone in the beginning, and from there you build the rest of the building. But the capstone will be the final stone that you put at the top of a building. So what you really have, the beginning and the ending, and ultimately the fullness of the building of that particular building, in the context here, is the temple in the city of Yerushalayim.

And he's saying, and he's so beautiful. And what an encouragement it must have been for Zubavel, who was maybe disappointed, maybe discouraged. Maybe he was a, we can see, we can say maybe for sure he was disappointed and discouraged. And he says, look, I brought forty nine thousand Jewish people back to the land. We began to rebuild the temple, but look, God, how many enemies we have. We had to stop to build the temple. What shall we do?

And here God is raising this man by the name of Zechariah, and Chagai, and ultimately, of course, Malachi to the later on. And he's encouraging his people. See, that's why God raising in our midst today, believers, servants of the Lord. And you and I are called to be the same, to be an encouragement to the people of God.

Continue on. Continue on. What the Lord gave you to do, don't be discouraged. Yes, there's opposition from without, there's opposition from within. Whatever, beloved brothers and sisters, this is a principle that we have to learn. Whatever you will seek to do for the Lord, even in this present age in which we live in, there will always be an opposition. Satan will oppose you, the world will oppose you, and the flesh of the time within us will oppose us. But God want us to trust him and to lean on him, not on man, to lean on him, not to trust in ourselves because we are failing people, but to trust him. And to allow him to lead. And he's saying, and I'm going to close with that, he's saying in verse seven, we can look at this again a little bit and finish with the, the fourth chapter in our next meeting together. Who are thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel?

Thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone, the roof. The word for plain come from the Hebrew word mishor. Mishor is when everything is straight and flat. He will, he will bring everything, the headstone, the roof, with shouting, and notice what it says at the end, crying, grace, grace unto it. In Hebrew, chen, chen, the words in Hebrew for grace is chen or chesed.

You see, we need grace if we are going to continue on. Israel needed grace if they are going to be restored and ultimately come to a day when the Lord will restore the nation. You and I, the church, need the grace of God. You know, we read in John 1, the law was given by Moshe. God used Moshe to give the law to his earthly people Israel. But the law was to direct us to the Messiah that will come. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, by Yeshua HaMashiach. It was grace that was extended.

To mankind. We needed not only the grace in order to receive salvation, but we need every day the grace of God to live our life. That's why Paul was told by the glorified Christ, the glorified Messiah, my grace is sufficient for you. And Paul said, when he says, then I will boast in my necessities and my, and challenges because, because when I need more grace, the Lord will be able to give me more grace. I'm not going to boast in my flesh, in my power, but I'm going to boast in the Lord and in the grace that he can provide. And James says, he giveth more grace. Here we learn that the nation of Israel will ultimately will be shoutings of And crying of grace, grace unto it, unto it that is the headstone, the Messiah himself that is seen here as the capstone, and ultimately, Zerubbabel is being encouraged.

By the Lord, through the angel of the Lord, through Zechariah, to continue on to build the house of the Lord. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, we have covered almost half of this passage of the vision, but we are going to read in our next meeting together, and we'll see the meaning. The meaning ultimately is telling us that ultimately God is intending to restore the nation of Israel back to himself, and he will become the Lord of the whole earth in a future day when Israel will be restored at the end of the tribulation period. So I'm going to stop with it for this meeting today, beloved friend. God bless you, and I trust that the Lord can help us to open our eyes as we study together the prophecy of Zechariah.

And so I gather now, Father, thank you for your word. Bless your word to us. Thank you for the grace that you are providing for us through the person of the Lord Jesus, our Messiah and our Savior. Bless your word, we pray, for we ask it in his precious name. Amen. Amen. God bless you, my friend. Until the next time, we say shalom, shalom. Bye-bye.