THE PERPETUAL SPIRIT

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.
In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I said.

So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”

Zechariah 4

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Zechariah had a total of eight visions, each described within the text of the book that bears the prophet’s name. We have looked at half of the visions so far and as we turn to chapter 4, we see vision number five revealed. Look again at that vision here:

Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”

I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps. Also there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

I asked the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?”

He answered, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

“What are you, mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’”

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.”

“Who dares despise the day of small things, since the seven eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”

Then I asked the angel, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”

Again I asked him, “What are these two olive branches beside the two gold pipes that pour out golden oil?”

He replied, “Do you not know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I said.

So he said, “These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.”  Zechariah 4

Think about the people of God and the kingdom work they are called to carry out. This vision represents a good representation of how that happens.

First, the Lord needs people to be His hands and feet, His light in the midst of a world where so much darkness exists. The seven lamps on the gold lamp stand are representative of the servants of the Lord sent forth by His Spirit to do His will.

This leads to the second important part of what Zechariah sees because the lamps are being filled with oil from a bowl that is kept constantly replenished by the two olive trees. In other words, the burning lamps would give our perpetual light always fueled by oil just as a servant of the Lord will always be fueled by the Holy Spirit to do whatever the Lord wants.

Thus, this is why the Lord proclaims to Zerubbabel that what he will accomplish will not be done by his might or power but rather by the Spirit of the Lord. Through that Spirit, Israel’s governor will be able to do what the Lord desires and specifically not only lay the foundation of the holy temple but to see the construction through to completion. The end result will be all glory to God for it was by His Spirit that the temple was able to be built, a truth that would be celebrated in great rejoicing when the last stone (the capstone) of the temple was laid.

In the end translation of this vision, the Lord wants us to remember that as His will is sought and carried out throughout creation, it is being dictated and driven through His amazing Holy Spirit which an extension of God Himself and thus the same yesterday, today, and forever. Through that Spirit, we, like Paul, can discover that we can so all things (Philippians 4:13) for God will always bring us through what He brings us to in life.

Even if He commands us to rebuild His holy temple like Zerubbabel, Joshua, and the Israelites were called to do in the time of Zechariah.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com