Visions of Zechariah 3 and 4

Our background today, you notice in the Rules of Interpretation, if you would look at that handout first, you have translation. Of course, translation is very important because we have the Bible, those of us in the English-speaking world translated from Hebrew and Greek, in some cases a few other languages in which the writers wrote into English. And so translation is very important, and then you see context. The context is very important, and I would add too, context has to do with the background. So we want to spend a little bit of time with regard to the background of two books, Haggai and Zechariah. We're going to focus eventually on the visions of Zechariah 3 and 4. You recall that when the Old Covenant was formally instituted with Israel, there was a type of a marriage ceremony in which Israel said, I do, and they entered into a marriage relationship with the Word, the One who became Jesus Christ.

Israel was promised blessings, national blessings, and the Old Covenant was a national covenant.

Over a period of time, Israel strayed, and they went a whoring after the other nations committed spiritual fornication. As a result of that, they went into captivity 721 to 718 BC under the hands of the Assyrians. That's the ten tribes to the north. As you recall, after the death of David, the kingdoms were divided, and Rehoboam got ten kingdoms to the north called the Northern Kingdom, or Israel, sometimes generically referred to as Ephraim, because Ephraim was a leading tribe for many, many years. Then the Southern Kingdom consisted of Judah and Benjamin.

After Israel, the nation went into captivity in the hands of the Assyrians, Judah continued for another hundred-plus years, and they also continued to sin, and their sins eventually exceeded those of Israel, and God allowed them to go into captivity under the hands of the Babylonians.

Turn to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah was set on the scene to tell Judah, do not resist the Babylonians. Go ahead and submit to them, because I have determined, I being God, that I am going to execute my punishment upon them. But at the same time that he did that, he promised them that they would return after 70 years.

Nebuchadnezzar started his waves of sending various waves of troops against Judah and Jerusalem in circa 604 BC. Remember that Israel went into captivity the final wave, probably 718 BC. So about 120 years after Israel went into captivity, Nebuchadnezzar began his attack on Judah and Jerusalem. In Jeremiah 29, verse 10, For thus saith the Lord, that after 70 years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, and causing you to return to this place.

So even though they were going into captivity, they were going to be able to return in 70 years. Now there were false prophets in the land at that time that said, Oh no, Jeremiah, he's a traitor. He's wrong. Do not listen to him. They even threw him down into a pit. They tried to kill him and all kinds of things. But, of course, the Word of God held true, and Judah went into captivity under the hands of the Babylonians.

Now we go to Ezra chapter 1. In Ezra chapter 1, Ezra is right after 2 Chronicles, back a few pages. In Ezra chapter 1, we see that the 70 years have been completed now, and a Gentile king by the name of Cyrus makes a decree that the Jews can return to what we call today Palestine, which is really a negative term in one sense.

It is to the land of promise, to the land of Israel, to the land that was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And in Ezra chapter 1, verse 1, in the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. See, we just read from Jeremiah 29, verse 10, that prophecy that after 70 years you'll be able to return. The Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus, king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout the kingdom, but it also, writing, saying, Thus saith the sires king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven, have given me the kingdoms of the earth, and has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

So, Cyrus made that decree, a Gentile king, and the Jews began to return. That return was led by two men. Zerubbabel was the civil governor. See, after that last king was killed, the last king of Judah was killed, there was no other king sitting on the throne of Israel as a nation. Now, of course, some talk about the throne being transferred to Ireland and England and all that, but that's not our purpose here today.

Zerubbabel was the civil governor who led the return along with the high priest Joshua. Those two individuals are the two that are highlighted in Zechariah 3 and 4. Now we go to chapter 2. It has the names of the people who returned there, and then we come to chapter 3. This is Ezra 3.1. And when the seventh month was come, remember the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month, the children of Israel were in the cities, the people gathered together as one man to Jerusalem, then stood up Joshua, son of Joseph and the brethren, the priests, and Zerubbabel and his brethren, and built the altar of the God of Israel to offer burnt offerings, as it is written in the law of Moses, a man of God.

So one of the first things they did after they came back from that captivity was to build an altar to worship God. Now we go down to verse 10. And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, this foundation of the temple, that's important, the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel, according to the orders that David had set up. Verse 11, they sang together by course. The people were shouted, and there was just such a happy time when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

They had been in captivity for 70 years, and they had yearned to go back to Jerusalem to keep the feast. And here they were in the seventh month. It begins the civil year, and also the time of the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Atonement, the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of the Eighth Day. And here they were back in Jerusalem, and they built this altar.

Verse 12, but many of the priests and Levites and teeth of the fathers who were ancient men, that had seen the first house when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice, and many shouted aloud for joy. Such a wonderful time. Now, even after they built this what is called the Second Temple or the Restoration Temple, it was a very insignificant puny kind of structure as compared to Solomon's Temple. Now, you want to point out one more verse here in Ezra and Ezra chapter 5. Ezra chapter 5 verse 16.

In Ezra chapter 5 verse 16, some people talk about that Zorubabel and Shashbizar were two different people. Shashbizar was the Babylonian name of Zorubabel. So you see in Ezra 5.16, then came the same Shashbizar. You can write in your margin there, Zorubabel. Zorubabel was his Jewish name, Shashbizar the Babylonian name, and laid the foundation of the house of God, which is in Jerusalem. And since that time, even until now, had it been in building, and yet it is not finished.

So Cyrus issued this decree in 538 BC. Now we're down to 520 BC. 18 years have passed, and not much has been done. It was opposition from the Samaritans. It was opposition even from some of the Jews who said it's not time to build the temple back. And there was just malaise on the part of some not to get the job done. So in the face of this, God stirred up two prophets. Hagai and Zechariah. Hagai and Zechariah came on the scene to stir up the spirit of the people to build this temple. Now up front, we want to say and put it in your thinking that this building of this restoration temple is highly symbolic of the spiritual temple that was to come. And that's a big part of the key of understanding the visions of Zechariah 3 and 4.

So we look in Ezra 5.1. Then the prophets Hagai the prophet. See, this is circa 520 BC. 18 years after the decree of Cyrus. Then the prophets Hagai the prophet Zechariah the son of Edo prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel. Then rose up Joshua and began to build the house of God, which is at Jerusalem and with them were the prophets of God helping them. This is one of the few times in history that the people of God responded to the message that God sent to them through the prophets. So two prophets and we have in the minor prophets, and of course the Jews just say the 12. They don't say minor prophets. The only reason that nomenclatures use is because they are shorter. Now we want to go to Hagai, not Hagii. We want to go to Hagai.

So these two prophets come on the scene and it's one of the first times in history, as we said, that the people of God really responded to the words of a prophet. In Hagai 1, verse 14, the Lord stared at the Spirit as Zerubbabel, stared at the Spirit of Joshua, the high priest, and all the remnant of the people, and they came and did work in the house of the Lord of Hosts in the fourth and 20th, six months, second year of Darius. So they got busy and they began to build that temple. Now this temple, in comparison to Solomon's Temple, as we've already noted, was very small and insignificant. Verse 3 of chapter 2, Who was left among you that saw this house in her first glory, and how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? It was a pitiful structure. You know, David had hired the services of Hiram, king of Tyre. They brought in cedars from Lebanon. They had gold and all kinds of materials stored up to build the temple with. It was such a magnificent structure, and now this is somewhat of a pitiful little structure by comparison. Of course, people have used in the past various times. You see, since the time that the spiritual temple began in 31 A.D., we've had about 2,000 years. And during that 2,000 years, Jesus Christ and God the Father have been building the spiritual temple, the Church of God. And during that time, the Church of God, if you were to plot it on a graph the way you might, some economic indicators, you would have highs, you would have severe lows, highs and lows and levels and so on. And at times, you could barely discern that there was a Church of God on the earth. And, brethren, here we are claiming to be a part of the spiritual temple. So in verse 3, Who is left among you that saw the house in her first glory house? You see it now, is it not in the eyes of you in comparison as nothing?

Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, be strong, O Joshua, be strong, all you people of the land, says the Lord, and work for I am with you, says the Lord of Hosts. According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so my spirit remains among you, fear you not.

There was promises made to the 12 tribes, as you recall in Genesis, with regard to various aspects of the 12 tribes. One of the things it said was, the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. So one of the main reasons, of course, why Judah returned from captivity was so that prophecy would not be broken and the Messiah would come out of Judah and a remnant of Israel would be preserved. Now there were representatives, and I'm not going to turn to the Scripture, but there were representatives from all 12 tribes that came back to Judah. Yeah, you can find that in chronicles, kings, in different places, but I'm not going there right now.

In verse 6, for thus saith the Lord of Hosts, yet once in a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come. Now the desire of all nations eventually, of course, will be Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. They had a shaking of the nations at that time in the Persian Empire, and there was civil war and unrest in the Persian Empire, and there was a struggle over who would be the king. There was Pseudo-Smernus who claimed that he was the rightful heir to the throne, and there was somewhat of civil war, and Darius prevailed and became the king. But notice what it says. I will shake all nations, the desire of all nations shall come. I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of Hosts. This is very key here to understanding how that this Restoration Temple pictures the spiritual temple that is to come, because when this physical structure, this Restoration Temple, was dedicated, the glory of God did not fill this temple the way it did Solomon's temple.

Clear on that? Even though the Spirit of God was among them, there was not this manifestation. Even if you go back when the tabernacle was raised up in the wilderness, Exodus 40, that when that tabernacle was raised up, Moses went in there. When he came out, his face was so bright, they could hardly look upon it. When Solomon's temple was dedicated, the glory of God filled the temple. Let's turn to that scripture, 2 Chronicles 5, the last couple of verses. 2 Chronicles 5. I hope I don't spend too much time in this background. 2 Chronicles 5.

Verse 13, He came to pass as the trumpeters and singers, whereas one, to make one sound, to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord. When they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals, made the music, praised the Lord, saying, He is good, His mercy endears forever, that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priest could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud of the glory of the Lord, and filled the house of God. Then you can read verse 1. It talks about this is the dedication of the temple, Solomon's Temple. Now we go to Ezra 6. Ezra 6, over a few pages, records the dedication of this Restoration Temple, and by secular history, Jewish history, and also the record in the Bible, the glory of God did not fill that Restoration Temple. So we're at Ezra 6, verse 15.

And the house was finished on the third day of the seventh month, a dar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius. We're now at the Cirque of 515 BC. From the time that Haggai and Zechariah came on the scene, to the time that it was finished, we're down to 515 BC, Passover season. And the children of Israel, the priests and Levites, the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of the house with joy. It talks about all the things that they offered at the dedication. Verse 17, verse 19, the children of the captivity kept the Passover upon the 14th day of the first month. But there's no record that glory of God filled that restoration temple, because it didn't.

But as we now go back to Haggai and we read this verse, and this verse says, we're in verse 7, and I will fill this house with glory, says the eternal host. Now that house is a spiritual temple, the Church of God, and on the day of Pentecost, 31 AD, when the Holy Spirit was sent, that spiritual temple began and God filled individuals, filled their minds and hearts with His presence. And that temple is not made by hands, as we will read later in Hebrews 8.

Verse 8, the silver is mine, the gold is mine, says the eternal host. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. And we just read in verses 3 and 4 that this particular temple was nothing in comparison to Solomon's temple. So it has to be talking about the spiritual temple. One of the great things you have to keep in mind about Haggai and Zechariah is that it has great spiritual implications for the future. And what they did was a type of symbolic of what we're involved in now. They were building a physical temple. We are in the process of being created by God into a spiritual temple. And we are the temple of God. The glory of this latter house should be greater than of the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give peace, says the Lord of hosts. God says there's supposed to be peace in His spiritual temple. Now, Haggai, you can understand quite a lot about the meaning of the minor prophets by the literal meaning of the prophet himself. Haggai the prophet. Haggai literally means feast or festival. Feast or festival. The Jews came back and they kept a feast, a festival. And then Zechariah means remembered of God. So God does not forget His people. He remembers them. He keeps His promise. He's true to His Word. After 70 years, you will return. And so they did. Now we go to Zechariah.

In Zechariah 3, you see it's important, this background, this backdrop, to understand what this is about. Because if you just dive into Zechariah 3 and 4, and you don't understand the backdrop and really what Haggai and Zechariah are there to do, their principal mission is to build this temple. But the symbolism of it has to do with the greater reality that is coming. And it has already begun. And it began on the day of Pentecost in 31 AD. In Zechariah 3 and verse 1.

Remember now that Zechariah means remembered of God. In the book of Zechariah basically deals with Israel and Judah as a physical type in building the Restoration Temple, but it points more directly toward the Spiritual Temple, how the Spiritual Temple will be built and governed.

So God will not forget or forsake His people. That's the basic theme of Zechariah. He will remember. He will not forget or forsake His people. He'll remember them. He'll crush their enemies. He'll gather them. He'll restore them. He will multiply them.

This remembering, the crushing of enemies, the gathering or calling out, the restoring and the multiplying, all of that begins with the church. Then in the millennium will extend to all the nations of the world. Zechariah 3.1, He showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel, the malak of the Lord. The Lord is Yahweh, called the Eternal. Usually Yahweh refers to the one who became Christ. Sometimes Yahweh does refer to the Father. And Satan, the adversary, is one of the few places in the Old Testament that Satan is, the adversary is used. Satan standing at his right hand to resist him. So Satan is right there. He's going to resist the building of this temple. Because if he can stop the rebuilding of the temple and the Jews return, then prophecy is broken. See, Satan is right here in amidst all the churches of God at the present time, and he is trying to destroy them. He's trying to destroy each one of us.

And sometimes we forget who the real enemy is. It says right here, right up front. Satan's there to resist us. And the Lord sent unto Satan.

You know, it's interesting where in the book of Jude, where it talks about that some people are not afraid to speak evil of dignities, but even Michael, when contending for the body of Moses, only said to the devil, for the Satan the Lord rebuke you. Here is the eternal himself rebuking Satan. The eternal son of Satan, the eternal rebuke you, O Satan, even the eternal that has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you, is not this a brand plucked out of the fire. In other words, I brought these people back. I plucked them out of the fire. They were in captivity. And I brought them back. And you're trying to resist it. And I'm saying I'm rebuking you. Nothing is going to stand in the way here of getting this job done.

Now, Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and stood before the angel. Now, one of the difficulties people have when we talk about this, Joshua was the high priest. Jesus Christ today is our high priest. Jesus Christ, as far as his life and his behavior is concerned, never stood in filthy garments. But on the stake, he who knew no sin was made sin for us.

You'll hold your place right there. And we don't want to get hung up in this with regard to types and that kind of thing. Moses was a type of Christ in that he was a mediator and intercessor. But Moses wasn't perfect. He made a lot of mistakes. David, say, was a type of Christ, Isaac, a type of Christ who was led to the sacrificial altar and opened not his mouth and all of that. But you see in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, where he has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. But as far as Jesus Christ is concerned, the way he lived his life, he could not have been our Savior unless he had lived sinlessly. Never sinned. But on the stake, he took upon himself, as it says in the Scriptures, the sins of the world. And he went in our stead and paid the price for sin.

All of us, before we could enter into this spiritual temple, we stand in filthy garments. And the only way that we can be cleaned up is through the life, blood, sacrifice, faith and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And it was God who cleaned up Joshua at that time. Now don't get lost in the symbolism and try to make it, oh, I don't know. Sometimes our mind just gets hung up on a point and can't go on. But let's see what we can do here. So Joshua was clothed in filthy garments and stood before the angel. And we all stand before God in filthy garments until we repent how faith and Christ are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit. And the Exodus spoke unto those that stood before him, saying, take away the filthy garments from him, those who stood before him. There's evidently other angels here, those that stood before him. Take away the filthy garments from him.

And unto him, he said, behold, I cause your iniquity to pass from you. I will clothe you with a change of raiment. We too must be clothed with a change of raiment. Now the symbolism in the Bible for that change of raiment is white linen. White linen is the righteousness of the saints. In this case, they use a miter, a bonnet, whatever you want to call it, goes on the head. Hold your place there. Go to Revelation 19. Revelation 19 that just clearly says in this one verse here that the white linen is the righteousness of the saints. And to be a part of the marriage supper of the Lamb, you have to be a raid in this fine linen. In Revelation 19.7, let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife that made herself ready. Dara was granted that she should be a raid in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. So we too have to put on, we have to have a change of raiment. That change of raiment is a fine linen, the righteousness of the saints.

Verse 5 back in Zechariah. And I said, Let him set a fair miter upon his head. So they set a fair miter upon his head and clothed him with garments, and the angel of the Lord stood by.

And the angel of the Lord, now in the old King James, this next Hebrew word is translated, protested. And at that time, it had a different meaning today. This word literally means confirmed or affirmed.

Does the new King James say, Confirm or Affirm? Raise your hand if it does. Confirm or Affirm. NIV, correct translation here is affirmed or confirmed. And the angel of the Lord confirmed unto Joshua, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my charge. This is similar to what is said to us as we come to baptism. If you will walk in my ways, if you will keep my charge, then you shall also judge my house.

See, we're going to be made kings and priests in the kingdom of God.

We shall interject here one of the great truths about Zechariah 3 and 4. Now, back in the 80s, in the worldwide Church of God, there was a lot of unrest in the church in those days. Didn't have the division like we've had in recent years, but there was a lot of unrest. At one time, it was thought, a lot of people went around saying, well, Joshua is this person related to Mr. Armstrong, and Bubba Bell is Mr. Armstrong. This Joshua is in filthy garments, and he's going to get cleaned up. Well, then, the Joshua candidate changed to somebody else. So, he's going to get cleaned up, and so on. And it was also said, and we'll come to this a little later in chapter 4, also said that Mr. Bubba Bell's hands laid the foundation of this house. We've read that from Ezra 3 and also Ezra 5. His hands have laid the foundation of this house. Then, one evangelist went so far as to say one that went traveling around to the churches, saying that if Mr. Armstrong doesn't live to the end of the age, the Bible is not true. Now, at that end, December of 1985, I was teaching minor prophets on the campus in Pasadena, and just down the street from where we were meeting on Orange Grove Boulevard, Mr. Armstrong was in his home there, Deathly Hill, and he died a few weeks later, January the 16th, 1986. And the same thing, basically the same thing I'm telling you today, was communicated in that class that day. And many classes, and refreshers since, but it seems that we still cannot get it. There are people today who claim that they are the two witnesses. One husband and wife team. There are those who claim that they are the rub-a-bell. They claim that they are an apostle. You know, I would be afraid to write my name in the Bible, where God has not written. I have not read my name in the Bible.

And I have not read the name of the Bible, and a lot of other people in the Bible either.

The fact is, of course, in the Kingdom of God, we all know this, that king and priest are going to be combined. It will be a theocracy. A theocracy. And Jesus Christ will be king, and he will be a priest. And in Revelation 5.10 says that we will be kings and priests.

So some say, well, this person, you can say that they are a type of, as we could read, and we'll read later about the Apostle Paul saying that he had laid the foundation in Corinth. And you could say, well, he was a type of rub-a-bell, and that he labored in laying a foundation for the spiritual temple of that day. We could say Mr. Armstrong was a type of rub-a-bell, and that he laid the foundation for the church of our day. Is he the ultimate fulfillment of that? No. No way, no how. Because this spiritual temple is not made by hands. It is not made by man. It is made the true temple which the Lord pitched, and not man. Continuing, I shall give you charge over my courts. I will give you places to walk among those that stand by. The angelic realm we're standing by. Here now, Joshua, the high priest, you and your fellows have sent before you, for they are men of sign. Now the Hebrew word for wondered, or wonderment, however it's translated wondered at, is mophath. M-O-P-H-E-T-H. If you don't write it down another Hebrew word in your lifetime, maybe write this one. M-O-P-H-E-T-H. It means men of sign. The people, they are men of sign, or they are symbolic. N-I-V translates that, that they are these men, they're the ones that are standing by, or men of sign, or they're symbolic of that which is to come.

That what they were doing was symbolic of that which was to come.

For behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. And what will my servant the branch do? First of all, let's identify my servant the branch. Hold your place there. We will go to Isaiah 11, verse 1. Isaiah 11 and verse 1. Remember that Messiah comes from the tribe of Judah. He will be the son of David, and of course the father of David was Jesse. In Isaiah 11, 1, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of its roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding the Spirit of counsel, in might the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. It goes on there extolling the great virtues of the Messiah who is to come. And verse 10, and in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an in sign of the people, and to which shall the nation seek, for his rest shall be glorious. Then we go quickly to Romans chapter 15. Of course, Paul is writing to Gentiles in Romans, and Paul is not want or negligent to show us that the church of God, the Israel of God, consists of Jew and Gentile. So in Romans chapter 15, Romans 15, verse 12, and again Isaiah said, again Isaiah said, there shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, and him shall the Gentiles trust for the nations. Now the God of hope fill you with joy and peace, in believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

That one from Jesse is Jesus Christ, verse 3, for even Christ, please not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of him that reproach you, fell on me. The branch is Jesus Christ.

And we just left off and read here and said, Behold, I will bring forth my servant the branch. We have identified that servant, the branch, is Jesus Christ. Now we go to Zechariah 6 and verse 12, and it will tell us clearly who the branch is, what the branch will do. Zechariah 6 and 12. And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name is the branch. He shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall build it, not a man. No man builds the spiritual temple, but those men who were building this restoration temple, Drevobel, Joshua, Haggai, Zechariah, what they were doing, symbolized that which was to come. Continuing, verse 13, He shall build the temple of the Lord. He shall bear the glory, and He shall sit and rule upon His throne, and He shall be a priest upon His throne. And the counsel of peace shall be between them both. King and priest, remember what we read from Haggai, and in this place shall be peace. Peace is eventually coming to the whole earth. There is no man who does this. And why didn't we take the plain words of the Bible, and will we take them now, and will we really understand them, ingest them, become a part of our being, so that we know that we know that God remembers us and He's faithful to His word. He is who He says He is. And we are all laborers together, as Paul says, in building this spiritual temple. But God is the master builder of the whole thing. Now, Zechariah 3, verse 9, back there, For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua upon the stone shall be seven eyes.

Behold, I will engrave the graven darrels as the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. I mean, that verse covers a lot of territory. So we have our handout of this vision, a stone upon, we drew it in a pyramidal shape, and upon that stone are seven eyes. Now, what the Scripture does with the Bible interpreting the Bible, the seven eyes are equated with the seven lamps and the seven spirits. Seven eyes, seven lamps, seven spirits of the Lord. Now we get into somewhat speculation. The speculation up front is that these seven eyes, and we have rich in Zechariah 3 and 4, the sevens. The seven eyes, and then in Zechariah 4, the menorah, the lampstand, has seven candlesticks within it. In Revelation 1, you see the diagram at the bottom of that page down here. You see that Jesus Christ is walking among the seven golden candlesticks. The seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches. Now we go to Revelation. I'll tell you, oh, your place will be coming back. Now we go to Revelation chapter 4 and verse 5. In Revelation chapter 5 verse 4, remember we're about this equating in Revelation chapter 4 and verse 5. And out of that throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. There's been a lot of speculation as to what these seven spirits of God are. So the seven lamps are equated with the seven spirits.

Now, 1 Corinthians 12, 12, and 13 says, by one spirit we're all baptized into one body. Ephesians chapter 4 says, there is one spirit.

Of course, there are angels and they are spirit beings.

People talk about, well, this church has, and they talk about church eras, has this spirit, and that church has that spirit, and so on. If you have God's spirit, you have God's spirit. Now, there are various spirits of attitudes. There are spirits of contention and spirits of deceit and various kinds of spirits that people are attitudes that people can fall into. Now, look at Revelation 5 verse 4.

Revelation 5 and verse 4.

And I wept much because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not because the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, remember that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals, and I beheld, and lo in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, in the midst of the elder stood a lamb, as I had been slain, having seven horns, seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

Now, I would, of course, now I get into speculation. We go back to Revelation, I'm sorry, to Zechariah chapter 3.

These eyes are sent forth into all the earth.

We read Zechariah 3.9, the first part again, For behold, the stone that I have laid before Joshua upon the stone shall be seven eyes, seven eyes, seven lamps, seven spirits, seven spirits are sent forth into all the earth.

The commission of the church is to go into all the earth. We turn to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 14, please. Matthew 5 and verse 14.

Matthew chapter 5 and verse 14, You are the light of the world. City that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, put it on a candlestick, and it gives light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. This is a part of the mission of the church. So much we focus on Matthew 28, 19, 20. Go ye therefore into all the world, preach the gospel unto everyone. And so that is a part of the commission, and so we must do. A part of the motto of the United Church of God is to prepare a people and to proclaim the coming kingdom of God. The PNP. Prepare and proclaim. But a part of the commission that we have is to be the light of the world. And we see from Scripture that the eye is the light of the body. The eye is the light of the body. So God has sent forth His church into all the world to be the light of the world. In that sense, to be His eyes sent forth into all the world. Back in Zechariah 3, I will engrave the graving thereof, says the Lord of Hosts. Now the word engrave, you remember the Ten Commandments were engraved and then they were broken and then they were written again. And it says in Hebrews 8-10 and also in Hebrews 10-16 that God says that He will write His laws upon our hearts and minds.

This stone upon which the eyes are set must be identified. Upon this stone are seven eyes. Who is the stone? We go to Isaiah 28 verse 16. In Isaiah 28-16, actually I should have covered the stone part before I did the eyes, but in Isaiah 28 verse 16, therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation. Back to this word foundation. Remember what did Zerubbabel and Joshua do? They laid the foundation of that physical temple.

That's the first thing they did, basically, when they came back in the seventh month. They laid the foundation, but it took them 18 more years to really get going in earnest. It wasn't until 5-15 that it was dedicated. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation he that believes shall not make haste.

Now, in building a building, the cornerstone we usually talk about is down on the ground in the foundation. Maybe over here in this corner. But when it comes to the spiritual temple, the cornerstone, the head, is Jesus Christ at the top of the pyramid.

So now we go to 1 Peter 2. Basically, the symbolism that we're covering here in chapter 3. Chapter 4 is pretty much already explained for us when we get there.

In 1 Peter 2, verse 3, If so be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious.

So we read from Isaiah 28 16 that he would lay a cornerstone in Zion. Zion symbolizes the church. You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also, it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed came to his own, his own received him not, but unto them who received him he gave them power to become the sons of God. That's John 1 14 or 10. I forget one or the other. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believes, under you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same has become head of the corner. So it moves from in a building, a physical building here, to the head of the corner, and Jesus Christ is the head of the church. There are different places that you're familiar with that says that. He's the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, a purchased people that you should show forth the praises of him who's called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So Jesus Christ the stone. Now we go to Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 20. And remember that the seven eyes are upon the stone and the seven eyes are equated with the seven lamps. Jesus Christ walks among the seven candlesticks in Revelation 1. In Revelation 5 and verse 6, seven lamps are equated with the seven spirits which run to and fro through the whole earth.

So in Ephesians we see that the church is built upon this foundation. The foundation of Ephesians 2.20 and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone, head of the corner, head of the church. Now we go back to Zechariah 3.

In Zechariah 3, we'll engrave the engraving thereupon. Matthew 16.18 says, and I will build my church. Remember, let's quote the whole thing, Matthew 16.18. And I say unto you that you are Peter, Petros, little rock, and upon this rock, Petra, big rock, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

And so we are engraving, in a sense, in the very blood of Jesus Christ who purchased us, who gave Himself for us.

And notice this last part in here in verse 9. I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. On that great day of atonement, that great day of atonement, when Jesus Christ comes again and He binds Satan, the beast and the false prophet, and casts them into the bottomless pit. Notice Isaiah 28.

Of course, we're coming back here. Time is fleeting.

So Isaiah 27. In Isaiah 27, In that day, the Lord with His sore and great and strong sword shall punish Leviathan, Leviathan, symbolic of the devil, the piercing servant, even Leviathan, that crooked serpent, and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

In verse 13, Isaiah 27. It shall come to pass, and that day that the great trumpet shall be blown. Remember, the Jubilee trumpet was blown on what day? The day of atonement, the great trumpet. And it shall come to pass, and that day that the great trumpet shall be blown. And they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, the outcast in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord and the holy mount at Jerusalem. Of course, the whole chapter should be read. Now back to Zechariah.

In verse 10. In that day, when you see that expression in the prophets, that's what's called a prophetic utterance. Those three words. In that day. In that day is what's known as a prophetic utterance. It introduces a prophecy. In that day, in this particular prophetic utterance, in that day means that period of time that merges into the millennium. In that day, says, Lord of hosts, shall every man his neighbor shall call every man his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree. And you remember from Isaiah and Micah that one of the great symbols of the millennium is each man under his vine and his fig tree. Verse of one of chapter four.

The angel talked with me, came again, and walked me as a man that is waking out of sleep. And he said unto me, What do you see? And then he describes what we have here. This candelabra, this menorah, and on it is a bowl. And in that bowl there are seven candlesticks. In the bowl is oil. And on either side of the bowl are two olive trees. As we shall see, the two olive trees symbolizes the two witnesses. The seven candlesticks, if we use Revelation 1, verses 19 and 20 to interpret, the seven golden candlesticks are the seven churches. So this vision, once again, depicts the seven. And the seven candlesticks are in this bowl that has oil in it. Of course, the olive oil that we use symbolizes the Holy Spirit. We use it in anointing. It was used in the Old Testament, in various times, for anointing and other purposes. It's symbolic of God's Spirit. The candlesticks are in the oil, and thus they have light. Because the Holy Spirit is symbolic of light and life, well actually the Holy Spirit is not just symbolic of, it is the very essence of God. So, Zachariah has this vision.

And verse 4, so, I answered and spoke to the angel that talked to me and said, What are these? I mean, what is this? And the angel that talked with me answered and said to me, Well, don't you know? It ought to be obvious. Of course, it wouldn't be obvious to us either. No, you're not what these be. And he said, No, my Lord. Then he answered and said unto me, Saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts. Remember that we read from Haggai 1.14 that God's Spirit was with them.

And God was there. And remember also from Joshua 3.2 where it says, The Eternal, even the Eternal rebuke you see. So God's Spirit was there helping them, helping Haggai, helping Zechariah, helping Zerubbabel, helping Joshua, helping the remnant of the people. And so his Spirit stirred them up to build this physical temple. But the greater reality of this has to do with the spiritual temple, which is not made by hands, not by might, not by power, but through my Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.

Now for years we had people defining the Holy Spirit as the power of God. The Holy Spirit is the essence of God. And through God's Spirit, He can do works of power.

The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. The Spirit of God is in us, His very essence, the divine nature.

Now hold your place. Look at Hebrews 8.

Hebrews 8 in two verses summarizes what I just said. Hebrews 8 and verse 1.

Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such a high priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. Of course, he is occupying in the millennium when he comes, king and priest. A minister of the sanctuary and of a true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. Therefore it is through my Spirit, says the eternal host. We're going to get this job done. That's not to nick the role of the Holy Spirit that time. But the greater role is what is being played now. Now back to Zechariah 4.

So it is through his Spirit, verse 7. Who are you, O great mountain? Mountain symbolizes nations. Remember that Satan stood there to resist the first part of Zechariah 3 verses 1 and 2. And now the great mountain.

Babylon, the nation. Are you going to stand in the way? Who are you, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? You shall become a plane. You're going to be leveled. And he shall bring forth a headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, grace, grace unto it. And Jesus Christ is that headstone. He is now head of the corner, as we have read from Ephesians 2.20 and also from 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 8. Jesus Christ is the head of the corner. He has brought grace and divine favor and made it possible for all of us to have a change of agreement. For our filthy garments to be taken away. For our sins to be removed as far as the east is from the west.

And we have exceeding and great promises that exceed those under the Old Covenant. We can be kings and priests, rule and reign forever in the kingdom of God. Verse 8, more over the word of the Lord came unto me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel, and here's this verse where a lot of, at least this one evangelist went around saying that if Mr. Armstrong had lived to the end of the age the Bible was a lie. I see I have read from Zechariah 6 verses 12 through 14. Who's going to build the temple? Who is the ultimate fulfillment of the office of King and High Priest? Jesus Christ! What are we going to be in the kingdom of God? According to Revelation 5.10, we will be kings and priests in the kingdom of God.

That the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the house. Now there can be types. Let's go now to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In various, I guess what you would call, eras or epochs, epochs of history, there have been men that God has raised up who did a powerful evangelistic work, would sow the seeds, raise up churches. In 1 Corinthians 3 verse, let's start in verse 6. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So neither is he that plants anything or he that waters, but God gives the increase. See who builds the spiritual temple? Paul takes no credit.

Now he that plants and he that waters are one, and that everyone shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are labors together with God, your God's husbandry, you are God's building. According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another builds their appoint. But let every man take heed how he builds their appoint. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

So there can be a type of Zerubbabel in that sense of laboring and building the spiritual temple. And as Paul writes here, we're all laborers together.

Paul planted, Apollos watered, God gave the increase. Apollos nothing, Apollos nothing, but God who gave the increase.

Now continue to Zechariah 4.

The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of the house. His hand shall also finish it. Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews 12, verses 1 and 2. He who has begun a good work in you will complete it.

This would be one of our favorite scriptures.

That doesn't mean that you haven't made it. You have to be faithful all the way, of course.

Blade the foundation of the house. His hand shall also finish it. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me unto you. For who had despised the day of small things? See, this Restoration Temple was a pitiful little thing in comparison to Solomon's Temple. The Church of God started small in a comparative sense, 3,000 people in the day of Pentecost. How many have been converted through the ages? I don't know. No, not all that many, by comparison. Look at the world today. Approaching seven billion. Of seven billion, how many would you say are converted?

Who has it to despise the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and shall see the plummet. The plummet has to do with making sure that things are plumbed, square, even, right, just. In the hand of the rubber bell with those seven. In other words, with those seven lamps which are in this bowl, they are the eyes of the Lord that are in chapter 3 upon the stone. So here, the translation in King James is awkward. One of the margins renders this as with those seven means those seven lamps that are in this bowl, which you see, these are the eyes on the stone in chapter 3 that we talked about.

So here, lamps and eyes equated, and it seems little doubt that the candlesticks in this bowl represents the churches as in Revelation 1. Then answered, I incentive them, what are these two olive trees? Well, you clarified that. He told me what's in the bowl except for the two olive trees. And he says, well, don't you know who these are? No, my Lord. Well, these are the two anointed ones who stands before the God of the whole earth. And in Revelation 11 verses 3 and 4, they are identified. Revelation 11 verses 3 and 4, the two olive trees are identified.

Now we'll give power unto my two witnesses. They shall prophesy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Now, we have gotten excited and gone over time. But the two olive trees, the two witnesses standing before the God of the whole earth, who will bring forth a powerful testimony at the end of the age. So, brethren, I hope that you have learned quite a bit here about the Bible, interpreting the Bible, and employing the rules of interpretation. And that you will profit from this. That you will review this. Because there is great, great significance and meaning in what we've said here today.