Zechariah (4)

This are the reflections our group is using for our fourth week in Zechariah:

Our text is Zechariah Chapter 4.

The imagery continues! We’re given this imagery, as all imagery in the Bible and in creation, to draw us from earthly to heavenly things; giving us glimpses of the Triune God and His glory. I don’t think we can ponder this imagery and say, “Oh yeah, this is what it means” and simply leave it behind and not think about it again. This isn’t a McDonald’s fast-food meal that we eat and then forget about – it is much like the Eucharist, which we partake of as a way of life. The imagery, the sacrament, isn’t so much something we consume, but rather something that consumes us. It begins a “work” in us and continues that work. We don’t own the “Word” of God, the Word of God owns us.

When we see the number “7” we often see an image of perfection and completeness. In Zechariah 3:8 - 9 we see a Branch and a stone with even eyes. We can relate this image to Isaiah 11:1 – 5 where we see the “branch” of Jesse (King David’s father, and an image of the Christ/Messiah), having the “Spirit of Yahweh” resting on Him – the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, knowledge, and the fear of Yahweh and so forth. Isaiah lived much earlier than Zechariah; we see a continuity in sacramental imagery – this is true of the entire Bible.

In Zechariah 4:10 we see the image of “eyes” which link us back to Zechariah 3:9. We also have the idea of the LORD seeing what is going on throughout the earth which links us to Zechariah 1:10 with horses patrolling/walking through the earth. It is as if we are viewing a collage or looking in a kaleidoscope.

What do we see about the “eyes of the LORD” in the following passages? 2 Chronicles 16:9; Psalm 11:4, 34:15; 66:7; Proverbs 15:13; 22:12. How might an awareness of these passages influence how we live?

 Note the description of Christ’s eyes in Revelation 1:14, 2:18. What is this image communicating to us?

Note Revelation 5:6 and compare with Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10.

Compare Revelation 4:5 with Zechariah 4:2 – 3, 10.

As we move back and forth from Zechariah to Isaiah to Revelation and back to Zechariah we see the interplay of imagery; it is cosmic and it is transcendent. What I mean is that it moves us beyond the veil of the “seen” into the “unseen”, it moves us from our own “time” into the past, into the future, and into the eternal “now” in Christ. This should not surprise us because our lives in Jesus Christ are meant to be supernatural, we are called to be children of another world (John 15:19; 17:14) There are reasons why we are taught “not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed” (Romans 12:1 – 2). Frankly, we have so adapted and conformed ourselves to the world (this present age) that we no longer know who we really are – we often apologize for Jesus Christ and His Way when it is the world that should be apologizing and repenting.

In Zechariah 4:9 God gives the promise that Zerubbabel will complete the Temple. Since Zerubbabel is an image (an earthly reflection of the heavenly reality) of Christ, this image says that Jesus Christ will complete the building of His Temple, which goes back to the promise in Haggai that the latter House will be greater than the former house – the Church-Temple-Body-Bride of Christ will be greater than anything and everything that has gone before it (when we read the NT book of Hebrews this is a theme). Note the progressive image in Ephesians 2:19 – 22; 4:11 – 16; this is hardly a picture of defeat and retreat.

As I look around me I often see professing-Christians in ghetto mode, retreat mode, defeat mode – this is what Satan loves, to see us cowering and looking for ways to escape and be taken away. As Paul writes in Romans 8, “We are more than conquerors.” As John writes in his first letter, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” We are called to be overcomers (Revelation chapters 2 – 3), not those seeking a fire escape to retreat from the fire of conflict and suffering. The same fire that will destroy the wicked will purify the saints.

Which gear are you in? Are you here to overcome in Christ and help others overcome, or are you hunkered down and not taking risks in sharing the Gospel and living for Jesus Christ?

Consider the question of in Zechariah 4:10, “Who has despised the day of small things?” There is an old saying, “Little is much when God is in it.” I seem to be prone to forget that – what about you?

The interpretation of the lampstand is given in Zechariah 4:6 – 7.

In Zechariah 4:7 we see that obstacles as large as mountains will not stand before Zerubbabel. Are there mountains in our lives and in the lives of our churches that we need to see removed?

Finally, I’ve saved Zechariah 4:6 for last, “Not by might nor by power but by My Spirit says the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts (armies).” This reminds me of Psalm 127:1, “Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; unless the LORD guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain.” How does Psalm 127:1 relate to Zechariah 4:6?

How might Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:6 – 8 and John 15:1 – 11 relate to Zechariah 4:6?

What does the working of the Holy Spirit look like in our lives? In the lives of our churches?

What is the practical-truthful reality in our lives and the lives of our churches? Are we living in the Holy Spirit? Making decisions in the Holy Spirit? Being directed by the Holy Spirit? Being led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14)?

Or are we substituting our own wisdom and understanding and agendas for the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the empowering of the Holy Spirit? Are our churches more like any other earthly organization rather than reflections of the Kingdom of God and heavenly realities in Jesus Christ?

How, by God’s grace, can we close the gap between heaven and earth in our lives and the lives of our churches?