Глава 4

Vision five: 1–5. The prophet's vision of a lamp and two olive trees. 6–10. Word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. 11–14. Explanation of the meaning of the two olive branches. Zechariah 4:1. And that Angel who spoke to me returned and awakened me, as one awakens a man from his sleep. From Zechariah 4:1 it is clear that from here begins the second series of revelations, separated from the first by an interval during which the interpreting angel was absent, or prophetic inspiration left the prophet. Zechariah 4:2. And he said to me: what do you see? And I answered: I see, behold, a lamp all made of gold, and a cup of oil on top of it, and seven lamps on it, and seven tubes for the lamps that are on top of it; According to Keil’s interpretation, the seven lamps represent the image of the chosen people, who shine before the Lord with the light of their knowledge of God and illuminate the darkness of pagan ignorance of God. The lamp itself, in this case, marks the external structure of the Old Testament church; and the oil that keeps the lamps burning, and the light flowing from them, are symbols of the Spirit of God. The lamp seen by the prophet has special devices so that the light of its lamps never goes out due to a lack of oil, which signifies the power of the Spirit of God leaving the Church. In essential terms, the stated understanding, according to St. Ephraim, “the golden candlestick... means royal dignity on which everything rests; the luminary at the top signifies the priesthood. Two olive trees, one of which is on the right side of the lamp, and the other on the left, mean the two rulers of the Jewish people - Jesus and Zerubbabel, one of whom is anointed to the kingdom, and the other to the priesthood. Under the seven lamps of St. Ephraim means the three post-exilic prophets and persons mentioned in Zech. 6:10 bk. Zechariah (pp. 223–224, cf. Theod. 86). Zechariah 4:6. Then he answered and said to me thus: This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, saying: Not by might, nor by might, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:7. Who are you, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? you are a plain, and he will carry out the cornerstone with noisy exclamations: “Grace, grace on him!” Zechariah 4:8. And the word of the Lord came to me: Zechariah 4:9. the hands of Zerubbabel laid the foundation of this house; His hands will finish it, and you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. Zechariah 4:10. For who can consider this day of little importance, when those seven, the eyes of the Lord, who look around the whole earth, joyfully look at the plumb line in the hands of Zerubbabel? This whole vision refers not to the state of the Old Testament Church in which it was before the time of Zechariah, but mainly to its future glory. The Levitical Church will be restored, and the beginning of this restoration is the reconstruction of the church, which determined the celebration of Old Testament worship. The Lord, who determined to restore Israel, will henceforth use for this purpose not external force, as was the case, for example, during the exodus from Egypt, but the power of the Spirit; there are no insurmountable difficulties for this force. Before Zerubbabel there stands, as it were, a great mountain of apparently insurmountable obstacles in the construction of the church and the restoration of the society that has returned from captivity. But this mountain will turn into a plain. Zerubbabel, who laid the foundation of the church, will complete the building; he will take out the cornerstone, or, according to some, he will lay (Vensk.) the stone crowning the entire building, with general benevolent exclamations. Let those who doubt the successful completion of the begun enterprise and look with contempt at the newly built church, as inferior in its splendor and richness of decoration to the church that was completed, leave their doubts and give room for confidence that glory awaits that church that does not promise to be magnificent from the outside. The sight of Zerubbabel as the builder of the church should therefore cause general joy. Zechariah 4:14. And he said, “These are the two anointed with oil who stand before the Lord of all the earth.” Those anointed with oil are Jesus and Zerubbabel, representatives of priestly and royal authority. You might be interested in: