In my book Pentecost Lost, I use 7 pictures to help believers know Holy Spirt better. One of the 7 pictures is oil. Oil is almost always a picture of Holy Spirit. Our need for Holy Spirit anointing far exceeds our need for crude oil products such as gas to fuel our cars. I am so thankful there is no Holy Spirit oil shortage. The supply is adequate to the demand, but often our demand is not adequate for the job. We must access the supply.
We see this principle of uninterrupted connection illustrated as Zechariah and Zerubbabel tried to complete their difficult assignment. Zechariah had the daunting task of mobilizing the emancipated Jews to rebuild the altar and the temple of the Lord. The rubble and ruin that remained from the city’s destruction was demoralizing. It seemed that the Jews were being distracted and hindered on every front, until finally all construction came to a total stop. They had a vision to rebuild, but they could only sit, with rubble all around them, and wait. They must have felt powerless and terribly discouraged. In Zechariah 4, God gave Zechariah a vision of a golden candlestick flanked on both sides by an olive tree.
The angel asked him, “Do you know what I’m showing you?”
“No.” Zec
hariah answered.
Then he said to me, "This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: 'May God bless it! May God bless it!' (Zechariah 4:6-7)
He wanted to assure Zerubbabel that he would do more than simply lay a foundation; he would complete construction. God wanted Zerubbabel to recognize the job required more strength or power than he could muster. Zerubbabel saw the task, but what he needed to see was his source--God’s Spirit, who would enable him to finish the task.
Zechariah asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees?” A major responsibility for a priest was to fuel the lamp in the Holy place with pure, fresh oil, so it would burn continuously. But the lamp Zechariah saw was not tended by a priest. The oil was funneled directly from two living olive trees into the golden lamp. Zechariah saw an illustration of miraculous supply to help him visualize God as his source.
The vision, while both inspiring and encouraging to Zerubbabel and Zechariah, was also a prophetic picture for the modern church. Let’s look at the picture again. The prophetic picture represented by the golden candlestick is the Church. The lamp stand was gold because it is God’s Church, not a building, but a holy habitation for His Spirit. The church was symbolized as a candlestick because it should be a light in a dark world. John Wesley said, “All which is an emblem of the church, made of pure gold; to be a light in the world; to shine as lamps that continually burn, maintained with pure oil, distilled from the olive - trees, not pressed out by man, but continually, abundantly, and freely flowing from God.”
But, why did the vision include two olive trees? What was God saying with this clue? Even the prophet, to whom the vision was given, asked for clarification. John Wesley’s commentary for Zechariah 4:14 states “The two anointed ones - Christ and Holy Spirit. The Son was to be sent by the Father, and so was the Holy Ghost.” This is really, really important. The Church needs two trees to burn brightly in the end time. We desperately need Jesus, the living Word, and the living Holy Spirit.
But, the mystery in this picture continues to unfold. When olive oil is produce
d, the olives are removed from the trees. Did you notice that the oil in this picture did not come from lifeless fruit, but a living tree? What is the significance of oil from an olive tree, instead of oil from an olive? The significance is life. Our faith is not rooted in a dead hero, but a living, risen Savior. Our relationship is not built on a distant memory, but a personal indwelling. He is alive with a viable voice-speaking and a watchful eye-guiding. As a tender shepherd, He is both nourishing and protecting. It is comparable to the difference between viewing a photograph of a garden and taking a stroll through that fragrant garden, listening to the birds and exploring exotic waterfalls with the love of your life. Far too many believers have never experienced anything beyond the photograph they glimpse in Scripture. " (Copied from Pentecost Lost Copyright 2011 Patricia Holland.)
The angel asked him, “Do you know what I’m showing you?”
“No.” Zec
hariah answered.Then he said to me, "This is what the LORD says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the LORD Almighty. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: 'May God bless it! May God bless it!' (Zechariah 4:6-7)
He wanted to assure Zerubbabel that he would do more than simply lay a foundation; he would complete construction. God wanted Zerubbabel to recognize the job required more strength or power than he could muster. Zerubbabel saw the task, but what he needed to see was his source--God’s Spirit, who would enable him to finish the task.
Zechariah asked the angel, “What are the two olive trees?” A major responsibility for a priest was to fuel the lamp in the Holy place with pure, fresh oil, so it would burn continuously. But the lamp Zechariah saw was not tended by a priest. The oil was funneled directly from two living olive trees into the golden lamp. Zechariah saw an illustration of miraculous supply to help him visualize God as his source.
The vision, while both inspiring and encouraging to Zerubbabel and Zechariah, was also a prophetic picture for the modern church. Let’s look at the picture again. The prophetic picture represented by the golden candlestick is the Church. The lamp stand was gold because it is God’s Church, not a building, but a holy habitation for His Spirit. The church was symbolized as a candlestick because it should be a light in a dark world. John Wesley said, “All which is an emblem of the church, made of pure gold; to be a light in the world; to shine as lamps that continually burn, maintained with pure oil, distilled from the olive - trees, not pressed out by man, but continually, abundantly, and freely flowing from God.”
But, why did the vision include two olive trees? What was God saying with this clue? Even the prophet, to whom the vision was given, asked for clarification. John Wesley’s commentary for Zechariah 4:14 states “The two anointed ones - Christ and Holy Spirit. The Son was to be sent by the Father, and so was the Holy Ghost.” This is really, really important. The Church needs two trees to burn brightly in the end time. We desperately need Jesus, the living Word, and the living Holy Spirit.
But, the mystery in this picture continues to unfold. When olive oil is produce
d, the olives are removed from the trees. Did you notice that the oil in this picture did not come from lifeless fruit, but a living tree? What is the significance of oil from an olive tree, instead of oil from an olive? The significance is life. Our faith is not rooted in a dead hero, but a living, risen Savior. Our relationship is not built on a distant memory, but a personal indwelling. He is alive with a viable voice-speaking and a watchful eye-guiding. As a tender shepherd, He is both nourishing and protecting. It is comparable to the difference between viewing a photograph of a garden and taking a stroll through that fragrant garden, listening to the birds and exploring exotic waterfalls with the love of your life. Far too many believers have never experienced anything beyond the photograph they glimpse in Scripture. " (Copied from Pentecost Lost Copyright 2011 Patricia Holland.)
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