And I answered and said – <\/B>The vision, as a whole, had been explained to him. The prophet asks as to subordinate parts, which seemed perhaps inconsistent with the whole. If the whole imports that everything should be done by the Spirit of God, not by human power, what means it that there are these two olive-trees? And when the Angel returned no answer, to invite perhaps closer attention and a more definite question, he asks again;<\/P> <\/p>\nFuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Zec 4:11-14<\/span><\/p>\n What are these two olive trees <\/em><\/p>\n The candlestick and the olive trees<\/strong><\/p>\n In <\/em>the parable of Zechariah we have the picture of a lamp supplied not by a limited quantity of oil contained in metal or earthenware vessels, but by an unlimited Unfailing quantity from a living source.<\/p>\n It was not part of the produce of an olive harvest that kept the candlestick burning brightly; for that supply would in course of time have been exhausted: even the whole crop of olives of one year would in course of time have failed. And what a beautiful symbol of the bountifulness and enduringness of grace this is! We do not get a limited, carefully measured supply from Christ, but an unlimited, ever-flowing fulness. He will supply all our need; not according to our own sense of need, but according to His riches in glory. Christ came not that we might have a bare life, snatched from the condemnation of the law, but that we might have more abundant life than man originally possessed in his unfallen state. It is not pardon and acquittal only that He gives us, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Where our sin abounds His grace doth much more abound. God carefully measures His afflictive dispensations, and sends trials and sorrows in small doses, as it were; just as the apothecary measures out in a carefully graduated medicine glass the bitter or poisonous medicines that are necessary to cure our sicknesses. But God pours His joys and blessings into our souls in such lavish bountifulness that there is not room in them to contain them. He wishes not only that His joy may be in us, but that our joy may be full. The two olive trees that feed the visionary candlestick, one on each side, may be said to represent the twofold character of Christs personality,–His Divine and human natures. Another idea implied in the symbol of the text besides this of exhaustless abundance is spontaneity–freeness. The olive trees pour their oil into the lamps freely as well as fully. The oil that feeds the candlestick has not to be first gathered in the berries, extracted in the oil press, manufactured by the art of man, sold by the merchant, bought and earned by the sweat of the face. Not in this roundabout, laborious, artificial way, but directly, by a spontaneous, natural process, do the olive trees contribute of their fulness to the supply of the lamps; and thus it is that the grace of God is freely given to us. Not by laborious mechanical arts and efforts, but by a living faith, a simple trust, do we obtain the supplies of our spiritual need from Christ. We have not to work for them, but only to freely receive them as they are freely offered to us. How striking is the contrast between the way in which we get the fruits of sin and the tree of life! We stretch out our hand to pluck the forbidden fruit. We take it ourselves, in defiance of Gods command–by force, by deceit, by trouble, by methods that cost us toil and pain. But God gives to us to eat of the tree of life. We have not to stretch forth the hand to pluck it; it is given into our hand, into our mouth. Gods unspeakable gift is freely bestowed. The olive trees that feed the lamp of your faith and love are planted in no earthly soil, and are dependent upon no earthly means of culture. They grow without your toil or care in heavenly light and air. Their harvests are regulated by the unchanging laws of Gods covenant of grace. Your Father is the husbandman. Your Saviour has finished the whole work of grace, and you do not require to add to it. The less you interfere with its working the better. The Kingdom of Heaven is indeed as if a man should cast seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of itself–first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. He who is the author of your faith will be the finisher of it; and having begun the good work of grace in you, He will carry it on and complete it; and therefore the more poor in spirit you are, the more empty and destitute, the more will the Kingdom of Heaven be yours, the more room and freedom will it have to work out in you the good pleasure of Gods goodness as the work of faith. (Hugh Macmillan, D. D. , LL. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The consecration of the people<\/strong><\/p>\n The picture that the prophet saw is set before us with distinctness, and the meaning of the symbol is not obscure. The significance of the central figure–the candlestick or candelabrum, all of gold,–the prophet knows perfectly. Concerning that he asks no questions. Is the meaning equally clear to all of us? The golden lampstand always symbolises the Church. The Church is represented, not as the light of the world, but as the receptacle or support of the light. The light is Divine. The candelabrum all of gold was to the prophet the symbol of the Church of God in its latter-day glory. To him the Jewish Church and the Jewish nation were not twain, but one. That sharp discrimination which we make between things sacred and things secular, the devout Jew did not make at all. Between politics and religion he drew no line. It must be admitted that this old Hebrew conception is a little nobler and finer than the theory of life that generally prevails among us. We have come to make a broad distinction between that part of life which is sacred, and that part which is secular. The complete divorce between the Church and the State which exists among us is the result of sectarian divisions. That a practical unity is one day to be realised I have no doubt. It can never be realised until the different sects all learn to exalt that which is essential above that which is secondary. The things that are essential are the values of character, righteousness, purity, and love; the things that are secondary are rites and forms and dogmas. When the Church of God shall be one it will be possible to bring it into the closest relations with the State. The prophet did need to inquire concerning the two olive trees growing on either side of the candelabrum, connected with it by golden pipes and pouring a perennial supply of golden oil, pure and precious, into the golden bowl–what did they symbolise? The oil thus provided must be taken to represent the Divine inspiration, which is the power that moves and the life that energises the Kingdom of God in the world. It is the immanent and perennial grace of Him whose light is truth, whose warmth is love. The two olive trees are the two anointed ones, Zerubbabel and Joshua–the two men in whom the Spirit of the Lord was dwelling; the men who were working together to rebuild the temple, and fully restore the worship. They were the living sources of inspiration and help to the restored and glorified kingdom. We have no kings or priests. All who believe, says Peter, are a royal priesthood. The grace that was specialised in the old time is generalised in the new. The right of standing before the Lord, receiving His messages, and transmitting His truth and love and power, is not restricted to a few; it belongs to all faithful and loyal souls. (W. Gladden.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Model religious teachers<\/strong><\/p>\n This is not another vision, but an explanation of the one recorded in the preceding verses. Take the two anointed ones as types of model religious teachers.<\/p>\n The two olive trees<\/strong><\/p>\n Consider–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That by the two olive trees it is not clear to understand only the graces of God poured out on His Church. That is indeed signified by oil in such Scripture as Psa 45:7<\/span>. Here the resolution is concerning the trees that furnished the oil. Nor yet are we to understand them of a fountain of bounty in God; for there can be no reason given why that should be compared to two trees, and be said to stand before the Lord. But by them we are to understand Christ anointed in His priestly (which includes His prophetical) and kingly office, who was chief in this work, and in furnishing all instruments; who furnishes His Church, and serves His Father in the work of redemption, and is cared for by Him.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>That the angel, answering both the prophets questions in one, leads us to understand the one by the others so far as is needful; and therefore we may conceive that either that of the branches is not touched as needless, or pointing out only the fit ways of communicating Himself to His peoples capacity, the pipes not being able to receive the oil of the whole tree at once, or that branches only now furnishing, imported Christs communicating Himself in a small measure in this typical work of building the temple in respect of what He had and was to communicate in the building of His Church under the Gospel; or if we will stretch it further, it may take in Joshua and Zerubbabel, the one anointed priest, the other a successor of their anointed kings, who, however, as instruments in the work, they were resembled by the burning lamps, getting furniture from the bowl, yet in respect of their office among that people, and their influence upon all instruments of building the temple, they were types of Christ, and so might be represented by two little branches, resembling Him, the great olive tree . . . standing before the God of the earth, as being instrumental to keep in life in the Church when all power shall be opposite to her. (George Hutcheson.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The two anointed ones<\/strong><\/p>\n Who are these? They refer to some standing channel of blessing from God, and are alluded to again in Rev 11:3-4<\/span>, in terms that cannot be mistaken. Without entering at length into the reasons for this opinion, we simply affirm that they refer to a duality of gracious manifestation from God, corresponding to a duality of necessity in the nature of man. There are two grand evils to be overcome, guilt and pollution, and they demand two standing sources of blessing, the one to remove the guilt by atonement, the other to remove the power of sin by giving a higher power of holiness. These two sources are embodied in two official forms, the only two that were connected with the theocracy as permanent elements, the sacerdotal and regal orders, This duality marked all the manifestations of God, for it rested on a deep necessity of human nature, and it was then embodied in the persons of Joshua and Zerubbabel. Since, then, they were so essential to the theocracy, the people need not suppose that God would allow them to perish, but would continue them in existence until He should come who was a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Learn–<\/p>\n 1. <\/strong>That the Church is the same under both dispensations, for the promises made to her then are only fulfilling now, showing that then and now she was the same Church. The candlestick is the same, though the tubes may be changed; and the Church is the same, though her official channels be totally altered.<\/p>\n 2. <\/strong>God has provided an unfailing source of strength for His people. Their supply comes not from a dead reservoir of oil, but a living olive tree, that is ever drawing from the rich earth its generous furnishings, and then distilling them by seven pipes, a perfect number, to those who are to be burning and shining lights.<\/p>\n 3. <\/strong>The whole work of religion in the heart of the individual, and throughout the world, is of grace. Christ is at once the cornerstone and the copestone of the Church; and as He was greeted with shoutings of grace when He came the first time, much more shall He when He comes the second time, without sin unto salvation.<\/p>\n 4. <\/strong>We are prone to judge of Gods work by mans standard; and because we see but a narrow stream from the fountain, doubt or deny the river.<\/p>\n 5. <\/strong>It is not only unwise, it is wicked, to be disheartened because of the external feebleness of the Church, compared with the work she has to do and the enemies she has to encounter. God is her strength, her glory, and her hope, and to despair of her is to deny God.<\/p>\n 6. <\/strong>The doctrine and discipline of the Church, the truth and power that God has lodged in her organisation and in her ordinances, are still the standing channels through which the Spirit pours the oil of grace and strength, and hence should both be kept pure and unclogged. (T. V. Moore, D. D.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Do not arrest the inflow of spiritual influences<\/strong><\/p>\n Beware, also, that nothing chokes the golden pipes of obedience to His kingliness, and trust in His priesthood; else the entrance of the golden oil will be arrested. They may soon become stopped by neglect, inattention, or disuse. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Two olive trees<\/strong><\/p>\n The <\/em>prophet manifests great concern to understand what is meant by these two olive trees.<\/p>\n .<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verse 11<\/span>. What<\/B><\/I> are <\/B>these two olive trees<\/B><\/I>] See on Zec 4:2<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n In this verse the prophet proposeth a question to which no answer is given, but he doth immediately proceed to ask one more question, though somewhat, yet not much, different from the former, and in the answer of this latter question the prophet acquiesceth. The explication of this verse you have Zec 4:3<\/span>. <\/P> <\/p>\n 11, 12.<\/B> Zechariah three times(Zec 4:4<\/span>; Zec 4:11<\/span>;Zec 4:12<\/span>) asks as to the twoolives before he gets an answer; the question becomes more minuteeach time. What he at first calls “two olive trees,” heafterwards calls “branches,” as on closer looking heobserves that the “branches” of the trees are the channelsthrough which a continual flow of oil dropped into the bowl of thelamps (Zec 4:2<\/span>), and that thisis the purpose for which the two olive trees stand beside thecandlestick. Primarily, the “two” refer to Joshua andZerubbabel. God, says AUBERLEN,at each of the transition periods of the world’s history has sentgreat men to guide the Church. So the two witnesses shall appearbefore the destruction of Antichrist. Antitypically, “the twoanointed ones” (Zec 4:14<\/span>)are the twofold supports of the Church, the civil power (answering toZerubbabel) and the ecclesiastical (answering to Joshua, the highpriest), which in the restored Jewish polity and temple shall “standby,” that is, minister to “the Lord of the whole earth,”as He shall be called in the day that He sets up His throne inJerusalem (Zec 14:9<\/span>; Dan 2:44<\/span>;Rev 11:15<\/span>). Compare thedescription of the offices of the “priests” and the”prince” (Isa 49:23<\/span>;Eze 44:1-46<\/span>). As in Rev 11:3<\/span>;Rev 11:4<\/span>, the “twowitnesses” are identified with the two olive trees and the twocandlesticks. WORDSWORTHexplains them to mean the Law and the Gospel: the two Testaments thatwitness<\/I> in the Church for the truth of God. But this is atvariance with the sense here, which requires Joshua and Zerubbabel tobe primarily meant. So Moses (the prophet and lawgiver) and Aaron(the high priest) ministered to the Lord among the covenant-people atthe exodus; Ezekiel (the priest) and Daniel (a ruler) in theBabylonian captivity; so it shall be in restored Israel. Some thinkElijah will appear again (compare the transfiguration, Mat 17:3<\/span>;Mat 17:11<\/span>; Mal 4:4<\/span>;Mal 4:5<\/span>; Joh 1:21<\/span>)with Moses. Re 11:6<\/span>, whichmentions the very miracles performed by Elijah and Moses (shuttingheaven so as not to rain, and turning water into blood), favors this(compare Exo 7:19<\/span>; 1Ki 17:1<\/span>;Luk 4:25<\/span>; Jas 5:16<\/span>;Jas 5:17<\/span>). The period is thesame, “three years and six months”; the scene also is inIsrael (Re 11:8<\/span>), “whereour Lord was crucified.” It is supposed that for the first threeand a half years of the hebdomad (Da9:20-27<\/span>), God will be worshipped in the temple; in the latterthree and a half years, Antichrist will break the covenant (Da9:27<\/span>), and set himself up in the temple to be worshipped as God(2Th 2:4<\/span>). The witnessesprophesy the former three and a half years, while corruptions prevailand faith is rare (Lu 18:8<\/span>);then they are slain and remain dead three and a half years. Probably,besides individual witnesses and literal years, there is a fulfilmentin long periods and general witnesses, such as the Church and theWord, the civil and religious powers so far as they have witnessedfor God. So “the beast” in Revelation answers to the civilpower of the apostasy; “the false prophet” to the spiritualpower. Man needs the priest<\/I> to atone for guilt, and theprophet-king<\/I> to teach holiness with kingly authority. Thesetwo typically united in Melchisedek were divided between two tillthey meet in Messiah, the Antitype. Zec6:11-13<\/span> accords with this. The Holy Spirit in this His twofoldpower of applying to man the grace of the atonement,<\/I> and thatof sanctification,<\/I> must in one point of view be meant by thetwo olive trees which supply the bowl at the top of the candlestick(that is, Messiah at the head of the Church); for it is He who filledJesus with all the fulness of His unction (Joh3:34<\/span>). But this does not exclude the primary application toJoshua and Zerubbabel,<\/I> “anointed” (Zec4:14<\/span>) with grace to minister to the Jewish Church: and soapplicable to the twofold supports of the Church which are anointedwith the Spirit, the prince<\/I> and the priest,<\/I> orminister.<\/I><\/P><\/p>\n Then answered I, and said unto him<\/strong>,…. To the angel that talked with him, Zec 4:1<\/span>:<\/p>\n What [are] these two olive trees upon the right [side] of the candlestick, and upon the [left] side thereof<\/strong>? in Zec 4:2<\/span> they are said to be on each side of the bowl. The mystery of the candlestick being explained to Zechariah by the angel, the prophet desires to know the meaning of the two olive trees that were on the right and left of it, one on one side, and the other on the other side.<\/p>\n This gave to the prophet a general explanation of the meaning of the vision; for the angel had told him that the house (or kingdom) of God would be built and finished by the Spirit of Jehovah, and the church of the Lord would accomplish its mission, to shine brightly as a candlestick. But there is one point in the vision that is not yet quite clear to him, and he therefore asks for an explanation in Zec 4:11-14<\/span>. Zec 4:11<\/span>. “And I answered and said to him, What are these two olive-trees on the right of the candlestick, and on the left?<\/em> Zec 4:12<\/span>. And I answered the second time, and said to him, What are the two branches (ears) of the olive-trees which are at the hand of the two golden spouts, which pour the gold out of themselves?<\/em> Zec 4:13<\/span>. And he spake to me thus: Knowest thou not what these are? and I said, No, my lord.<\/em> Zec 4:14<\/span>. Then said he, These are the two oil-children, which stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” <\/em> The meaning of the olive-trees on the right and left sides of the candlestick ( al <\/em>, over, because the olive-trees rose above the candlestick on the two sides) is not quite obvious to the prophet. He asks about this in Zec 4:11<\/span>; at the same time, recognising the fact that their meaning is bound up with the two shibbale hazzethm <\/em>, he does not wait for an answer, but gives greater precision to his question, by asking the meaning of these two branches of the olive-trees. On the Masora observes, that the dagesh forte conjunct.<\/em>, which is generally found after the interrogative pronoun mah <\/em>, is wanting in the , and was probably omitted, simply because the has not a full vowel, but a sheva<\/em>, whilst the which follows has also a dagesh<\/em>. These branches of the olive-trees were b e yad <\/em>, “at the hand of” (i.e., close by, as in Job 15:23<\/span>) the two golden tsant e roth <\/em>, which poured the gold from above into the gullah <\/em> of the candlestick. Tsant e roth <\/em> ( . . ) is supposed by Aben Ezra and others to stand for oil-presses; but there is no further ground for this than the conjecture that the olive-trees could only supply the candlestick with oil when the olives were pressed. The older translators render the word by spouts or “channels” (lxx , Vulg. rostra <\/em>, Pesh. noses<\/em>). It is probably related in meaning to tsinnor <\/em>, channel or waterfall, and to be derived from tsamar <\/em>, to rush: hence spouts into which the branches of the olive-trees emptied the oil of the olives, so that it poured with a rush out of them into the oil vessel. The latter is obviously implied in the words hamm e rqm <\/em>, etc., which empty out the gold from above themselves, i.e., the gold which comes to them from above. Hazzababh <\/em>, the gold which the tsant e roth <\/em> empty out, is supposed by most commentators to signify the golden-coloured oil. Hofmann ( Weiss. u. Erf.<\/em> i. 344-5) and Kliefoth, on the contrary, understand by it real gold, which flowed out of the spouts into the candlestick, so that the latter was thereby perpetually renewed. But as the candlestick is not now for the first time in process of formation, but is represented in the vision as perfectly finished, and as the gold comes from the branches of the olive-trees, it is impossible to think of anything else than the oil which shines like gold. Accordingly the oil ( yitsar <\/em>, lit., shining) is called zahabh <\/em>, as being, as it were, liquid gold. Hence arises the play upon words: the spouts are of gold, and they pour gold from above themselves into the candlestick (Hitzig and Koehler).<\/p>\n The angel having expressed his astonishment at the prophet’s ignorance, as he does in Zec 4:5<\/span>, gives this answer: These (the two bushes of the olive-tree, for which the olive-trees stood there) are the two b e ne yitshar <\/em>, sons of oil, i.e., endowed or supplied with oil (cf. Isa 5:1<\/span>), which stand by the Lord of the whole earth, namely as His servants (on amad al <\/em>, denoting the standing posture of a servant, who rises above his master when seated, see 1Ki 22:19<\/span>, also Isa 6:2<\/span>). The two children of oil cannot be the Jews and Gentiles (Cyril), or Israel and the Gentile world in their fruitful branches, i.e., their believing members (Kliefoth), because the candlestick is the symbol of the church of the Lord, consisting of the believers in Israel and also in the Gentile world. This is just as clear as the distinction between the olive-trees and the candlestick, to which they conduct the oil. Others think of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah (J. D. Mich., Hofm., Baumg., etc.); but although there is no force in Koehler’s objection, that in that case there would be a double order of prophets in Israel, since two prophets, both influenced by the Spirit of God, would not imply a double order of prophets, this explanation is decidedly precluded by the fact that two mortal men could not convey to the church for all ages the oil of the Spirit of God. The two sons of oil can only be the two media, anointed with oil, through whom the spiritual and gracious gifts of God were conveyed to the church of the Lord, namely, the existing representatives of the priesthood and the regal government, who were at that time Joshua the high priest and the prince Zerubbabel. These stand by the Lord of the whole earth, as the divinely appointed instruments through whom the Lord causes His Spirit to flow into His congregation. Israel had indeed possessed both these instruments from the time of its first adoption as the people of Jehovah, and both were consecrated to their office by anointing. So far the fact that the olive-trees stand by the side of the candlestick does not appear to indicate anything that the prophet could not have interpreted for himself; and hence the astonishment expressed in the question of the angel in Zec 4:13<\/span>. Moreover, the vision was not intended to represent an entirely new order of things, but simply to show the completion of that which was already contained and typified in the old covenant. The seven-armed candlestick was nothing new in itself. All that was new in the candlestick seen by Zechariah was the apparatus through which it was supplied with oil that it might give light, namely, the connection between the candlestick and the two olive-trees, whose branches bore olives like bunches of ears, to supply it abundantly with oil, which was conveyed to each of its seven lamps through seven pipes. The candlestick of the tabernacle had to be supplied every day with the necessary oil by the hands of the priests. This oil the congregation had to present; and to this end the Lord had to bestow His blessing, that the fruits of the land might be made to prosper, so that the olive-tree should bear its olives, and yield a supply of oil. But this blessing was withdrawn from the nation when it fell away from its God (cf. Joe 1:10<\/span>). If, then, the candlestick had two olive-trees by its side, yielding oil in such copious abundance, that every one of the seven lamps received its supply through seven pipes, it could never fail to have sufficient oil for a full and brilliant light. This was what was new in the visionary candlestick; and the meaning was this, that the Lord would in future bestow upon His congregation the organs of His Spirit, and maintain them in such direct connection with it, that it would be able to let its light shine with sevenfold brilliancy.<\/p>\n The Vision of the Olive-Trees.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 520.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are<\/I> these two olive trees upon the right side<\/I> of the candlestick and upon the left side<\/I> thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these<\/I> two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil<\/I> out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be?<\/I> And I said, No, my lord. 14 Then said he, These are<\/I> the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.<\/P> Enough is said to Zechariah to encourage him, and to enable him to encourage others, with reference to the good work of building the temple which they were now about, and that was the principal intention of the vision he saw; but still he is inquisitive about the particulars, which we will ascribe, not to any vain curiosity, but to the value he had for divine discoveries and the pleasure he took in acquainting himself with them. Those that know much of the things of God cannot but have a humble desire to know more. Now observe,<\/P> I. What his enquiry was. He understood the meaning of the candlestick with its lamps: It is Jerusalem, it is the temple, and their salvation that is to go forth as a lamp that burns;<\/I> but he wants to know what are these two olive-trees<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 11<\/span>), these two olive-branches?<\/I> v.<\/span> 12<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Observe here, 1. He asked. Note, Those that would be acquainted with the things of God must be inquisitive concerning those things. Ask, and you shall be told. 2. He asked twice, his first question having no reply given to it. Note, If satisfactory answers be not given to our enquiries and requests quickly, we must renew them, and repeat them, and continue instant and importunate in them, and the vision shall at length speak, and not lie.<\/I> 3. His second query varied somewhat from the former. He first asked, What are these two olive-trees,<\/I> but afterwards, What are these two olive-branches?<\/I> that is, those boughs of the tree that hung over the bowl and distilled oil into it. When we enquire concerning the grace of God, it must be rather as it is communicated to us by the fruitful boughs of the word and ordinances (for that is one of the things revealed,<\/I> which belong to us and to our children<\/I>) than as it is resident in the good olive where all our springs are, for that is one of the secret things,<\/I> which belong not to us.<\/I> 4. In his enquiry he mentioned the observations he had made upon the vision; he took notice not only of what was obvious at first sight, that the two olive-trees grew, one on the right side and the other on the left side of the candlestick<\/I> (so nigh, so ready, is divine grace to the church), but he observed further, upon a more narrow inspection, that the two olive-branches,<\/I> from which in particular the candlestick did receive of the root and fatness of the olive<\/I> (as the apostle says of the church, Rom. xi. 17<\/span>), did empty the golden oil<\/I> (that is, the clear bright oil, the best in its kind, and of great value, as if it were aurum potabile–liquid gold) out of themselves through the two golden pipes,<\/I> or (as the margin reads it) which by the hand of the two golden pipes empty out of themselves oil into the gold,<\/I> that is, into the golden bowl<\/I> on the head of the candlestick. Our Lord Jesus emptied himself, to fill us; his precious blood is the golden oil in which we are supplied with all we need.<\/P> II. What answer was given to his enquiry. Now again the angel obliged him expressly to own his ignorance, before he informed him (v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>): “Knowest thou not what these are?<\/I> If thou knowest the church to be the candlestick, canst thou think the olive-trees, that supply it with oil, to be any other than the grace of God?” But he owned he either did not fully understand it or was afraid he did not rightly understand it: I said, No, my Lord, how should I, except some one guide me?<\/I> And then he told him (v.<\/I><\/span> 14<\/span>): These are the two sons of oil<\/I> (so it is in the original), the two anointed ones<\/I> (so we read it), rather, the two oily ones.<\/I> That which we read (Isa. v. 1<\/span>) a very fruitful hill<\/I> is in the original the horn of the son of oil,<\/I> a fat and fattening soil. 1. If by the candlestick we understand the visible church, particularly that of the Jews at that time, for whose comfort it was primarily intended, these sons of oil,<\/I> that stand before the Lord of the whole earth,<\/I> are the two great ordinances and offices of the magistracy and ministry, at that time lodged in the hands of those two great and good men Zerubbabel and Joshua. Kings and priests were anointed; this prince, this priest, were oily ones,<\/I> endued with the gifts and graces of God’s Spirit, to qualify them for the work to which they were called. They stood before the Lord of the whole earth,<\/I> to minister to him, and to receive direction from him; and a great influence they had upon the affairs of the church at that time. Their wisdom, courage, and zeal, were continually emptying themselves into the golden bowl, to keep the lamps burning; and, when they are gone, others shall be raised up to carry on the same work; Israel shall no longer be without prince and priest. Good magistrates and good ministers that are themselves anointed with the grace of God and stand by the Lord of the whole earth,<\/I> as faithful adherents to his cause, contribute very much to the maintaining and advancing of religion and the shining forth of the word of life. 2. If by the candlestick we understand the church of the first-born, of true believers, these sons of oil may be meant of Christ and the Spirit, the Redeemer and the Comforter. Christ is not only the Messiah, the Anointed One<\/I> himself, but he is the good olive<\/I> to his church; and from his fulness we receive,<\/I> John i. 16<\/I><\/span>. And the Holy Spirit is the unction or anointing<\/I> which we have received, 1Jn 2:20<\/span>; 1Jn 2:27<\/span>. From Christ, the olive tree,<\/I> by the Spirit, the olive branch,<\/I> all the golden oil of grace is communicated to believers, which keeps their lamps burning, and without a constant supply of which they would soon go out. They stand by the Lord of the whole earth,<\/I> who is in a special manner the church’s Lord; for the Son was to be sent by the Father, and so was the Holy Ghost, in the time appointed, and they stand by him ready to go.<\/P><\/p>\n The Two Olive Trees Explained<\/strong><\/p>\n Verses 11-14:<\/p>\n On Either Side Of The Candlestick<\/strong><\/p>\n Verse 11 relates <\/strong>Zechariah’s inquiry of the angel that had awakened him for an explanation of the two olive trees that stood on each side of the golden candlestick, on the left and on the right side, to furnish oil, or energy for the lights, v. 3. Three times he asked the angel for an explanation, v. 4, 11, 12, before he received an answer. Each time his question became more minute.<\/p>\n Verse 12 repeats <\/strong>the inquiry of the meaning of the “olive branches”, formerly called trees, which emptied their golden olive oil through the golden pipes into the lampburning place proper, v. 2. The olive oil in its purity was gold in appearance as it furnished energy for the burning candlestick flames.<\/p>\n Verse 13 relates <\/strong>the angel’s asking Zechariah once again whether or not he understood the meaning of what he saw in the vision, to which he replied, “No, my Lord.” He needed the aid of <\/p>\n that Holy Spirit, and this helping angel to assure him of the Divine meaning, 1Co 2:10-14<\/span>; Heb 1:14<\/span>.<\/p>\n Verse 14 gives <\/strong>the angel’s explanation that these are or represent the two anointed <\/strong>ones who stood before the Lord of the whole earth. Let it be considered that these two anointed witnesses <\/strong>involved in the purpose of God, in the redemption and restoration of the earth, though represented by many anointed prophets, priests, and lawgivers, as Joshua the priest and Zerubbabel, have their ultimate fulfillment in and through <\/strong>“The house that Moses built program of anointed worship,” and the “house that Jesus built,” the church, His two olive trees, institutional witnesses, Act 1:8<\/span>; Act 2:1-4<\/span>.<\/p>\n The same vision is again related, at least one similar to that which we have just explained; only there is given a fuller explanation, for the Prophet says that he asked the angel what was meant by the two olive-trees which stood, one on the right, the other on the left side of the candlestick, and also by the two pipes of the olive-trees. Some render שבלים, shebelim, ears of corn, thinking that the branches of the olive-trees are compared to ears of corn, because they were full and loaded with berries; but the metaphor seems to me immaterial. The word in Hebrew is indeed ambiguous; but it often means a pipe, or a running or flowing; and this sense best suits this passage; and I wonder that this meaning has been overlooked by all interpreters; for no doubt necessity constrained them to retake themselves to this metaphor, however unnatural it was. But we know that this spectacle was presented to Zechariah in order to show that the olive-tree continually supplied abundance of oil, lest the wick should become dry, and lest the lamps should thus fail. Since then on every side there were pourers or pipes, and three tubes received the oil from one olive-tree, and four received it from the other, so that great abundance thus flowed from the two olive-trees, and since there were also seven pipes, we see how suitable it was that they should be between the olive-trees on the right and on the left, and also that their tubes for the oil should be between the pourers and the two pipes. As then the oil ran through the pourers and passed through the two pipes, he asks the angel what these flowing meant? The answer was, These are the two sons of oil, who stand before the Lord of all the earth; that is, they are the two fountains which supply oil from God himself, lest the lamps should fail through the want of it. (53) This is the import of the whole. <\/p>\n (53) The second questions, which seems to be a modification of the first, has been variously explained. The word [ שבלים ], except in the feminine gender, has not the meaning attached to it by Calvin. It is rendered, “branches,” κλαδοι, by the Septuagint, Piscator, Newcome, Henderson, and by our own version; “berries,” by Jun. and Trem. , Drusius and Pemble; and “tubes” by Grotius. As it is a repetition of the former question, it is probable that the branches in immediate connection with the candlestick are intended: the oil proceeded from them by means of tubes or pipes to the bowl or the reservoir at the top of the candlestick, and hence by means of seven tubes, or pourers to the seven lamps. The question now is respecting the olive-trees or the branches from which the oil proceeded; and the answer is, that they are “the sons of oil.” <\/p>\n What is said of these “sons of oil,” that they “stand with (or before) the Lord,” can hardly comport with the explanation given by Calvin: but it is more suitable to regard them as persons annointed, as rendered in our version, and by Kimchi, Drusiu s, Dathius, Newcome, and Henderson. They are considered here to mean Zerubbabel and Joshua; but yet as types of Christ in his twofold character of a king and priest. Blayney takes another view; he renders [ שבלים ], “orderers,” deriving it from the Syriac, in which language the verb signifies to direct, to guide in the way. He conceives them to be two persons, guiding the oil to the channels or tubes which conveyed it to the lamps, and that they were types of Moses and of Christ, the authors of the two dispensations. The preceding view seems the most probable. — Ed. <\/p>\n CRITICAL NOTES.]<\/strong> <\/p>\n Zec. 4:11<\/span><\/strong>. What<\/strong>] A question put three times, Zec. 4:4<\/span>), this, and Zec. 4:12<\/span>; varied at each time and at last minute.
I. <\/strong>They have a high order of life in them. They are represented by the olive branches. Few productions of the vegetable kingdom are of such a high order as those of the olive. Its fatness was proverbial (Jdg 7:9<\/span>); it is an evergreen, and most enduring. In short, it is marked by great beauty, perpetual freshness, and immense utility. It was one of the sources of wealth in Judea, and its failure was the cause of famine. The emblems of a true teacher are not dead timber or some frail vegetable life, but an olive tree. Religious teachers should not only have life, but life of the highest order. They should be full of animal spirits, full of creative genius, full of fertile thought, full of Divine inspiration.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>They communicate the most precious elements of knowledge. They empty the golden oil out of themselves. It has been observed by modern travellers that the natives of olive countries manifest more attachment to olive oil than to any other article of food, and find nothing adequate to supply its place. Genuine religious teachers feed the lamp of universal knowledge with the most golden elements of truth. They not only give the true theory of morals and worship, but the true theory of moral restoration. What are the true genuine religious teachers doing? They are pouring into the lamps of the worlds know ledge the choicest elements of truth.<\/p>\n
III. <\/strong>They live near to the God of all truth. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. They stand; a position of dignity, stand, a position of waiting–waiting to receive infallible instructions, ready to execute the Divine behests. All true religious teachers live consciously near to God. (Homilist.<\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I. <\/strong>The universal dominion of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord of the whole earth. Not to be understood in an abstract, but in a relative sense. The Lord Jesus is the last Adam, and He came and acquired universal dominion on behalf of His people. He obtained universal dominion by prevailing with God. This He did by His obedient life. Whatever perfection–whether of love, or holiness, or wisdom, or integrity–you may name, the Saviour possessed them all. And the Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. This righteousness, this obedient life of the Lord Jesus, hath prevailed with Gods law, hath prevailed with justice. This is one step towards the Saviours universal dominion, Gods unexceptional approbation of His righteousness, Gods deep and eternal interest in His righteousness. When the Saviour came to die, was there in the whole universal Church one sin that He did not conquer? Was there one demand of justice that He did not meet? See some of the symptoms of this dominion while the Saviour was in the world. He cast out devils,–there is power over hell. Need I remind you of sin? Why, He pardoned one and another. Then diseases,–what disease was ever too hard for Him? Then the sea,–He walks on it. Whatever dominion He possesses, He will give to you.<\/p>\n
II. <\/strong>The representatives of the Old and New Testament Churches. The two anointed ones. In the Book of Revelation called the two witnesses. These represent the Old Testament Church and the New Testament Church. In this passage, then, is given Christs entire dominion; the river of the Gospel; the Old and New Testament Churches sweetly united in the same theme; a clear note of time when these wonders were to be mediatorially accomplished; and the faithfulness of the Old and of the New Testament Churches. (James Wells.<\/em>)<\/p>\n
<\/strong><\/p>\nFuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n