WHAT SEEST THOU?
Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick 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 thereof: 3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. 4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 6 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. 7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
We begin in this passage with a prophet who was cold and distant to the things of the Spirit, but winds up with proclamations of Grace, grace! How we greatly need that resurrection power among the believers in our day!
For although the prophet had been given several opportunities before this revelation to hear the word from God, his mind was now distant and cold concerning spiritual matters. Therefore before receiving yet another instruction from God he had to be awakened to a spiritual consciousness as a man that is awakened from natural sleep. In order to fellowship with God the true believer is awakened in regeneration, but must often bestir himself in sanctification!
We must be awakened to walk in righteousness and not in sin! 1 Corinthians 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; We must be awakened in order to recover sight of the glory of God! Luke 9:32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake, they saw his glory, and the two men that stood with him. For it was at the point of coming short of the glory that we became sinners! Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
One must see the glory of Christ in order to believe! John 2:11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him. And it is in a continued seeing the glory of God wherein one is matured spiritually in sanctification! 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
And not one single soul shall obtain the eternally glorified state without seeing Christ in his final glory, when once mediation is finished! Colossians 3:4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
One who is interested in his own spiritual and eternal well-being must be very cautious in these days! For these are days when humanity has no thought of the Lord or of his return! And it is in such an hour when ye think not the Son of man cometh! (Matt. 24:44). And it must be kept in mind that every one represented by either the wise, or foolish virgins were asleep at the midnight cry announcing the Bridegroom’s coming! (Matt. 25:5.6).
Also like eating a large meal causes us to get drowsy, so God’s bountiful provisions tend to make us lax and spiritually sleepy! We tend to take him and his grace for granted and get lazy! After her banquet with the King, the Bride has a sleepy head, but a waking heart. She leaves him out in the cold with the dew falling on his head. Song 5:1 I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved. 2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
Let us be careful! 1Thess. 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. 7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. 8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. 9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Matt. 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
What the Prophet Didn’t See
Listed in the above passage are the candlestick, the bowl, the oil, and the olive trees. There is even an explanation given concerning God’s meaning. The massive mountain of political impossibility, along with physical probability of the removal of the mound of debris to reconstruct the temple in Jerusalem would not be by the governor’s might or power, but by the Spirit of the Lord! But what you do not see is the sceptre!
We have the word of the Lord coming to the Prophet Zechariah! We have the candlestick for the illumination in which the Priest Joshua is to work. But we have no sceptre for Governor Zerubbabel! And that is because the Lord has taken the right of rule away from Israel and put it into the hands of their captors!
Ezekiel 21:25 And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27 I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
Isaiah 10:5 O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. The Hebrew word translated here as, rod is the exact same Hebrew word translated sceptre in Genesis 49:10! There is no governmental power granted to any nation for it’s own indiscriminate use! The Assyrians were only granted national supremacy to correct the sinfulness of Israel as a hypocritical nation! 6 I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
The sceptre, meaning to rule (Ezek. 19:14), is only to be held by a man, not a nation. If any nation does have to opportunity to rule over other nations for any period of time, it is strictly because that one Man delegated that power to them for his purposes!
But who is that man whose right it is to have the authority to rule given to him? Gen. 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Num. 24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.
Hebrews 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
That man is none other than the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ! And listen to him announcing his receipt of the sceptre of God to reign and to rule over the entire universe! Matt. 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
In verse eighteen he states that ALL the authority of God in heaven and earth are his! The sceptre was his upon his resurrection! And in verses nineteen and twenty he announces how he will rule! He will rule the world with a gospel sceptre! Rev. 2:26 And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: 27 And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. That word rod, underlined above, is the exact same Greek word translated sceptre as listed in Hebrews 1:8, also listed above!
Christ is the presently reigning Lord of all! He began to reign after finishing his cross work! Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; 1 Corin. 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 1 Peter 3:22 Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.
This is how the believing church is said to rule and reign with him in the thousand years which represent the present gospel age! Rev. 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. That which the true church binds on earth by the exacting of Christ’s crown rights on human kind by His gospel, God binds in heaven! (Matt. 18:18).
And no preacher, bishop, pope, or any form of religion has the right to rule over any soul except by the preaching of the word in the Holy Spirit! They only rule over souls by watching in gospel obedience for those souls! Hebrews 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. The word rule is strongly connected with the word feed in the care of God’s sheep!
Pastor Gene Breed
December 17, 2010
