This morning, we return once again to our examination of the prophecy of Zechariah. We're in Zechariah chapter four. We're going to look at, really the first three verses, but I'd like to read in a few minutes down through verse 14. And may I remind you that this is the fifth of eight visions given to Zechariah on a single night, magnificent picture of the radiant glory of God and the hope of his second coming. And much of the theme of this particular vision is one of light. 

And it's interesting, in Daniel two and verse 22 we read that God emanates light without shadow, saying, "light dwells with Him." And in Psalm 104, and verse two, he covers himself with light, "as with a garment." And we know that he caused light to enter into his darkness at creation, when he said in Genesis, one, three, "'Let there be light.'" Light is often used in Scripture as a symbol of eternal life. It's also used to illustrate spiritual enlightenment that comes through Scripture the opposite of spiritual and doctrinal ignorance, moral theological darkness, the consequences of sin. And all of us who know, and love Christ understand this. In fact, the apostle Paul summarizes so perfectly in Second Corinthians, four and verse six, where we read, "For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shown in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." And We see the golden brilliance of divine light in Ezekiel's vision of God recorded in Ezekiel one and verse four. "Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself, and brightness was all around it, and radiating out of the midst of the fire." And Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ to Timothy in First Timothy six and verse 16 as dwelling in "unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and everlasting power!" And in First John one and verse five, we read that "...God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." 

I think you would all agree that there is nothing more welcome when you're in total darkness than light. In fact, with light comes hope. Without light, there is no hope. And I want to use a story to illustrate this before we look closely at the text. During World War Two, around midnight on July 30, 1945 a Japanese submarine launched a spread of six torpedoes and a heavy cruiser of the US Navy. That cruisers name was the USS Indianapolis. That ship had just delivered the uranium and the components for "Little Boy," the first nuclear weapon used in combat. They had just delivered that at the B 29 base on the island of Tinian. Two torpedoes hit that ship, and that ship went down in about 12 minutes. There were 1195 sailors and marines on board that ship. They estimated that about 300 went down with the ship, and about 890 entered the open waters of the Pacific. The Navy didn't know what happened. They lost the men at sea, and four and a half days later, they were accidentally found, and they began to pick up the survivors. There were 316 survivors, and my father was one of them. He was one of 39 Marines on board that ship. The men died over the course of those days of injuries from the explosion, saltwater poisoning, dehydration, hypothermia and sharks. In fact, my father was sitting on his saturated kapok life jacket when a navy PBY plane that had landed was able to finally go through the waves and reach down and snatch him out of the water. And he said, "I couldn't stand up. They threw me like a sack of potatoes in with a number of other men." In fact, there was a total of 56 that the plane was able to pick up. They didn't have room for all of them in the fuselage, so they strapped a lot of them on the wings with parachute cord. And I had the privilege a number of years ago to record my father's story in a book it's called, "Out of the Depths." And I'd like to read to you just a portion of his testimony that really underscores the power of light to give hope. 

Here's what he said, 

"In total, Marks," who was the pilot of the PBY, "had picked up 56 survivors that afternoon. As I lay there in that wet and slimy pile of quivering humanity the comfort of a kept promise brought solace to my soul like a warm fire on a winter night. I knew that as surely as I was alive, God had been faithful to that which He had assured me when I first stepped into the black waters that first night. By the mercies of God, the darkness of that fifth night was vastly different from the four before. This night brought with it hope, not despair. Although my mind drifted in and out of a state of awareness, I do remember an overwhelming sense of worship and praise that flowed from the depths of my soul. My heart echoed the words of the psalmist in Psalm 59:16, 'I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defense and refuge in the day of my trouble.'" 

"While nestled among my wet and shivering shipmates, clinging to life in the darkness, I remember seeing the dim glow outside of the plane. At first, I didn't give it much thought, too weary to even care. But after a while, the light grew brighter. Then someone - probably one of the crewmen - announced that the light coming through the doorway was emanating from the destroyer USS Doyle, which was slowly but surely coming to get us. Knowing this, that glow took on a new dimension. Its rays beamed a light of hope that pierced the cold darkness of death. Speaking to survivors some years later, Lieutenant Marks poignantly described this fascinating phenomenon that occurred over the four to five hours we quite quietly waited as the Doyle made its way to us." 

He went on to say, 

Here's what he said, quote, 

"'In an operation where so many things went wrong, where so many people didn't get the word and where many of those who did get it failed to appreciate the situation, the perception of Lieutenant Commander W. Graham Claytor, in command of the Doyle was a shining exception.'" 

Dad went on to say, 

"Claytor was over 100 miles away from the survivors when he intercepted a radio conversation between Marks and a search plane. He had already been warned about the possibility of enemy submarines in the area - Marks himself had told him this -  buthe realized men's lives were hanging by a thread. Survivors were still floating in the water among sharks and their own dead comrades for another night, and he didn't want any more of them to die. If there was something - anything - he could do to help them hold on, he would. 

It was a moonless and cloudy night with no stars visible. The wind was cold in spite ofour latitude. In the hull and on the wings of Mark's aircraft, men were crying softly from thirst and pain. You have no idea what light can mean under those circumstances; it was hope and courage to the survivors on board. We laid back and stared at that light, summoning up the last bit of courage and strength we had to make it until dawn. 

Indeed, that light was a profound encouragement to us all. Certainly for me, and I'm sure for many others, it was just one more reminder of the goodness of God. What a marvelous illustration of the Holy Spirit's words through the apostle James, who reminds us that "every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." 

Words cannot describe those final hours of deliverance from out of the depths of the vast Pacific. I suppose the most profound realities of life are best expressed with complete silence. In fact, it took me over five years before I would even talk about the ordeal. It was simply too painful, yet also too sacred to mention. Even to this day, I can only bring myself to tell the story as a testimony to the glory and goodness of God."

Our world is a very dark place. I think we all understand that, and many people, maybe some of you, are in that darkness and you can't see any light, therefore you have no hope. No hope of rescue. But the reality is, there is light and there is hope, and that light is available to all who trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the ultimate Light. In fact, in John 8:12, he said, "'I am the Light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.'" And in John three, verse 19, we read this, "'This is the judgment that the Light has come into the world, and men love the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.'" 

That beam of light from the USS Doyle brought life giving hope to those desperate survivors of the Indianapolis. But how much more glorious the hope that we have in Christ. And this is the magnificent theme of Zechariah's fifth vision that God gave to him. And here we see a lamp stand symbolizing the coming presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the world; the one who will pierce the satanic darkness of this current world order. And we're also going to see several other profound and prophetic and spiritual insights that are deeply encouraging to us, and they were intended to be, as they were deeply encouraging and comforting, to the returning exiles that first heard these words. 

So let me read the passage to you, Zechariah four, beginning in verse one. 

"Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me as a man who was awakened from his sleep. 

He said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it, with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it;

also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side.'

Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, 'What are these, my lord?' 

So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' 

Then he said to me, 'This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, " says the LORD of hosts. 

What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'"'"

Also the word of the LORD came to me saying, 

'The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 

For who was despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel - these are the eyes of the LORD which range to and fro throughout the earth.'  

Then I said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?' 

And I answered the second time and said to him, 'What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?' 

So he answered me, saying, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' 

Then he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.'" 

Now, over the course of probably the next several weeks, I want to explain this vision to you, and I want to do it under three categories. The first category that we're going to look at, and that's what we will just examine today, just one, and that is the golden lamp stand of God's glory. And then we are going to look at the Spirit empowered work of the coming Messiah. And finally, the Messiah's future role as both king and priest. And I trust that this vision will be an encouragement and a comfort to each of you as they were, to the discouraged exiles who were afraid that perhaps God had abandoned them. 

So many people today are without hope because they are without the light of Christ, and all they can do is pursue the fleeting pleasures of this life. But as believers, we have a living hope. May I just remind you of that before we look at the text? First Peter one, beginning in verse three - and by the way, Peter wrote this knowing that he was soon to be crucified for his faith - he said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who, according to His great mercy, has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God, through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials..." 

Indeed, as Paul said to Titus in chapter two, that we are "looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself, a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds." 

So under the first heading here: the Golden Lampstand of God's glory, notice verse one, and we'll begin to look at this closely. "Then the angel who was speaking with me returned." Now bear in mind that previously, the angel of the Lord - the pre-Incarnate Christ, had been speaking to him, in the fourth vision, but now the interpreting angel -  that had previously been dispatched to communicate to him in the earlier visions - this angel now returns. And the text says, "And he roused me as a man who is awakened from his sleep." We can only surmise that Zechariah must have been somewhat exhausted, because he's receiving all of these things in one night. He's probably overwhelmed by the previous visions, and so he is now roused, awakened. 

And verse two, it says,  "And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand...'" - the Hebrew menorah - I see, "'a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and it's seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it.'"

Now the menorah resembled the lamp stand of the seven lamps that God detailed. We could go to Exodus 25 and read about that; and that was the lampstand that was displayed in the tabernacle and later on in the temple. But this particular lampstand is different. It's much more elaborate, and it's going to have three significant variations that we're going to look at in a few minutes. But I want you to recall the seven branched candle of the tabernacle and the temple symbolized the radiance of God's glory among his people, in the present, but also pointed to the eventual glory of his presence among them in his kingdom. There's a number of passages that speak to this type of symbolism. In fact, that lamp stand symbolized the "flaming torch" Genesis 15:17, "the flaming torch which passed between the pieces. And on that day when the Lord made a covenant with Abram, it symbolized the invisible Spirit that materialized himself in the fire of the burning bush when he called Moses to come and deliver his people from the Egyptian bondage in Exodus three. It symbolizes the brilliant, dazzling, ineffable light of his Shekinah. Shekinah comes from "mishkan," which means "to dwell." And the Shekinah is the light of his presence. Whenever he would materialize himself, he would often do so in this brilliant, dazzling light, the light of his Shekinah. And that was the pillar of fire that led his covenant people through the darkness of the wilderness, wandering, that you would read about in in Genesis 13. And it was this very light that is depicted - the light that's pointing to the Messiah, to the Lord God Almighty - that overcomes the darkness of this sin cursed world. And it was this light that the Israelites were to bear witness to, to manifest in how they lived, in their character, in their conduct, in their worship, and more. 

Moreover, that menorah pointed to, therefore, the God ordained responsibility they had to be a witness people to the nations, and a witness of the coming priest-King, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, Christ; a people who would mediate God's presence to the nations as a kingdom of priests in Exodus 19 six. They were to be a kingdom of priests, and they were to be a light to the Gentiles, as we read in Isaiah 42 and verse six. 

Now let's look more closely at the construction of this lamp stand. "And he said to me, 'What do you see?' And I said, 'I see, and behold, a lampstand...'" again, a menorah, "'all of gold with its bowl on the top of it.'" Now here's where we get into these three variations that make this lamp stand different than the one that God commanded them to build, and what was displayed in the holy place, in the tabernacle and later on in the temple. The first feature that is different is notice this has an oil receptacle receptable over the seven lamps, and this would allow oil, therefore, to flow into the empty lamps by the force of gravity, something foreign; this isn't seen in the tabernacle, very different from the normal menorah. And in the normal menorah, the priests had to constantly be filling the lamps with oil by hand. 

It also says, "'...and it's seven lamps on it with seven spouts.'" Well, this is the second feature that's very different. It's got these spouts. It could be translated tubes or conduits. And this would be conduits through which the oil would flow. And it says, "'belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it.'" So what you have then are seven spouts, or seven tubes that are connected to each one of the seven lamps, for a total of 49 tubes. The lampstand in the tabernacle and the temple had no connecting spouts, only seven branches to hold up the lamps. 

And the third feature that's different is in verse three, also he sees "'..two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on its left side.'" Now we know that olive trees were the source of oil to fuel the lamp stands, and oil was often used in Scripture as a metaphor to describe the pure presence of God. And here we see that they are strategically placed on either side. The lamp stand on the right and on the left, symbolizing this idea that there is going to be an endless supply of oil to maintain the light. And later, we will discover that these two olive trees picture the "two anointed ones" in verse 14. "Anointed ones," it could literally be translated "two sons of oil," who "are standing by the Lord of all the earth." 

Now, let me get ahead of myself a little bit here, so you begin to get the picture. What two God ordained offices in Israel required the anointing of oil? Kings and priests. Kings represented God before the nation. Priests represented the nation before God. Kings could only come out of the tribe of Judah and priests could only come out of the tribe of Levi. Therefore, no single person could be both king and priest. No one could be both, and we also know that no one ever fulfilled his office in perfect righteousness, and because of sin, the offices of the priest and the King were absolutely devastated by divine judgment. You can read about that, for example, in Jeremiah 20 and 21, and during this setting, this time, there was no king in Israel. There was a governor, and we're going to learn more about him in days to come, Zerubbabel. And there was a high priest. There was Joshua. And what we're going to see is that these two olive trees represent these two offices, king and priest. And these two men, in that day, but together, they pre-figure the Messiah, Priest-King, the Lord, Jesus, Christ. In fact, later in Zechariah six and verse 13, we read, "'"Yes, it is He who will build the temple of the LORD and He who will bear the honor and sit and rule on His throne. Thus he will be a priest on his throne, and the councel of peace will be between the two offices."'"I

t's interesting, if you go to Ezekiel chapter 21 verses 26and 27, Ezekiel described the Messiah as the one who would wear both the turban and the crown, the priestly turban as well as the kingly crown. And in Psalm 110, first five verses, there's a picture of the Messiah fulfilling both offices. "The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a foot stool for Your feet.' The LORD will stretch forth Your strong scepter from Zion saying, 'Rule in the midst of Your enemies.' Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, your youth are to You as the dew. The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, 'You are a priest forever. According to the order of Melchizedek.' The Lord is at Your right hand. He will shatter kings in the day of His wrath..." and so on. 

We're going to examine these things more closely in the days to come, but let's just take a bit of an inventory with what we've just studied. He sees a lamp stand, but it's got a bowl on the top of it, something foreign, and therefore it's a lampstand that, shall we say, is self-sustaining. It's self-supplying, self-filling. It needs no priest to fill it with oil. And we also see these two olive trees on either side of the bowl producing this endless supply of oil. And the symbolism here is not really explained by the angelic interpreter, nor the angel of the Lord, but it's going to relate to Zerubbabel, and we're going to see that. However, the figure of the seven branched lampstand that stood in the Holy Place in the tabernacle and in the temple, was well understood by the people of that day. It was a representation, once again, of the radiance of God's glory. It also typified Israel's high and holy calling to be a witness nation. You see, they knew that they were to be light bearers to this dark, pagan, idolatrous world; the nations around them. And we know that God's original purpose for Israel was for them to be a witness nation to the praise of his glory, Exodus, 19 six, "You shall be, to Me, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." And as I said earlier, they were to be "a light to the Gentiles" Isaiah, 42 and verse six. In Deuteronomy, 32 verse eight and following Moses says this, "'When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples...'" now catch this,  "'...according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD's portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land and in the howling waste of the wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye.'" 

We also see the imagery of the light referring to the Messiah, as well as the mandate of Israel to be a witness nation in Isaiah 49 beginning in verse five, "And now says the LORD, who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant," speaking of the Messiah, "to bring Jacob back to Him, so that Israel might be gathered to Him (For I am honored in the sight of the LORD, and My God is My strength), He says, 'It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.'" So here we read that the servant's role, the Messiah's role, has always been the salvation and the restoration of Israel to fulfill his covenant promises, and it is he who is to be the light that brings salvation to the Gentiles as he operates his glorious redemptive purposes through Israel, helping them ultimately fulfill their predetermined plan. And we read about this in other passages. Let me just give you one in Revelation, chapter seven, in the first 10 verses, there is a prophecy of the greatest missionary endeavor and success in the history of the world. It will come during the time of the pre- kingdom judgments before the Lord returns - the time of the tribulation; the time of Daniel 70th week. And during that time, there will be 144,000 witnesses, 12,000 out of each of the 12 tribes of Israel that will be chosen by God and sealed by God and protected by God to proclaim the gospel to the nations. And following this, the Messiah will return, and Israel will be converted, restored to fellowship, be in her land and so forth. 

In Isaiah 61 and verse six, we read, "But you will be called the priests of the LORD; you will be spoken of as ministers of our God. You will eat the wealth of nations and in their riches you will boast." Speaking of the time during the millennial reign of Christ upon the earth. And in Ezekiel five, beginning in verse five, we read, "'Thus says the Lord GOD, "This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations with lands around her."'" And why did he do that? So that they would be a witness nation but notice what's happened. "'"She has rebelled against My ordinances, more wickedly than the nations and against My statutes more than the lands which surround her; for they have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in My statutes."'" And oh how they failed. 

So, beloved, this vision pictures a final restoration of the nation of Israel to fulfill their predetermined commission. Remember, this vision comes after their cleansing, right?  The excrement covered garments have been taken away and clean robes have been put on them. And this is all because of the person and the work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, the King, the Priest, that is represented. And what's fascinating is how deeply encouraging and comforting this must have been to those people, because now they have come back. They're supposed to build a temple. The Samaritans are giving them all kinds of problems; the older ones in particular, they're looking at the outlay of the temple, and they're weeping because it's so small, it's so pathetic compared to the temple that was before them, that was destroyed. And they're wondering, "God, have you abandoned us?" And God speaks through his prophet, Zechariah, in these visions, and ultimately says, Not at all. Don't be discouraged. What a heartwarming picture. The construction and operation of this lampstand is going to burn endlessly without any human intervention. 

Now I'd like to give you a New Testament illustration to maybe help this come alive to you a little bit more. In John seven, we read of Jesus in the temple, and he's teaching, and he's teaching at the eight-day Feast of Booths, sometimes called the Feast of Tabernacles. And the context there is in that Feast of Tabernacles, they are commemorating God's provision and protection. And obviously this is what God wanted them to do. This commemorated God's provision, his protection, of his covenant people during their wilderness wanderings, when he delivered them out of the bondage of Egypt. But it also pointed to the future blessings of the millennial kingdom, when the Shekinah, the presence of God, will come and dwell in the midst of all who belong to Him. 

And notice also, it's a pure gold which symbolizes the absolute beauty and majesty and splendor and holiness of God. And the seven spouts for each of the seven lamps demonstrates the complete perfection of God's glory and power to be the light of the world. Will you remember that the number seven in Scripture is a number of completeness, as well as a number of perfection, the number of fullness. Remember, God created the world in six days, and we see the creation week being seven days, right? So there's completeness, there's perfection. And in this lampstand, which, again, is so different from the one they were familiar with, the emphasis is therefore on supernatural intervention, self-sustaining, self-filling, one that would burn perpetually. And the number seven underscores, again, the completeness and the perfection of this burning, which is, if I can put it this way, a visible illustration of the ineffable brilliance and irresistible power of the glory of God, yet future. My, what a promise and what a promise to all of us. The hope that we have in Christ and the two olive trees, the two offices of priest and king, point to not just Joshua and Zerubbabel, as we will see in the immediate context, but together, they pre-figure the Messiah, the Messiah Priest-King, the Lord, Jesus, Christ. 

Now, what's interesting when you go to John eight, there's a fascinating scene that occurs that is revealed to us. It's a scene where Jesus is in the temple treasury according to verse 20. And by the way, the temple treasury is located on the outermost court of the temple. It was also known as the Court of Women; and this was the place where people would bring offerings to one of the 13 shofar chests. Those were chests that you put your money in that were shaped like, like massive trumpets, and each one had an inscription on it to tell you where that particular money would go. It was basically designated giving on the temple precincts. And during this festival, we know that there were four massive candelabra, golden lamps that were erected in that outer court. And the people would come in exuberant processionals glorifying God, and they were burning torches; they would burn torches when they would come in these processions. And they would sing and dance and celebrate with the accompaniment of the Levitical orchestra. Imagine the scene, a magnificent scene here, with all of the music, all of the torches and Jesus is there in the background. You get the picture? The blazing lamp symbolized the presence of God and the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night; a cloud that not only led the people to the Promised Land but also protected them as they went on their journey. Remember the Angel of the Lord and the pillar of the cloud and fire moved from being in the advance, to being in the rear to protect them from the pursuing Egyptian charioteers. 

But during this celebration, we know that the Israelites would sing Psalm 27 one, "The Lord is my light and my salvation." And they would celebrate the Word of God being a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path, a light to guide those who fear him. They would sing Psalm 44 and verse three that extols the power of Yahweh's quote, "right hand" and his "arm and the light of His presence." 

Now, with all of this pageantry going on, we don't know exactly when or how, but we do know what. Suddenly, sometime in the midst of all of this, the very source of light, and the very source of life, made a very stunning and loud proclamation, and it's recorded in verse 12. Here's what he said, "'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness but shall have the Light of life.'" Now, everyone that heard that probably got realquiet, because they knew that this was a claim to deity. The Jews would have instantly understood this. You see, they understood Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 42 six concerning the coming Messiah of Israel, that he would be the anointed one whom God would send as quote "the light to the nations," so they understood what he was saying. But they also would have immediately known who it was that was making this stunning declaration of himself, that this was that Jesus of Nazareth, who had earlier in that same feast, during the water pouring ceremony, declared himself to be the source of living water. Here he is again. Imagine the scene. Imagine them hearing this. "'I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness but shall have the Light of light.'" Literally, the light that produces life. 

Folks, this is part of what is being pictured in Zechariah’s fifth vision. You know, apart from his light, where would we be today? Right? We would have no spiritual life. We would remain dead in our trespasses and sins, but because of the light, we read in the New Testament that we have been "rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son,” Colossians 1:13. In First Thessalonians five, we read how that we are now "sons of light and sons of day." We're no longer people of night nor of darkness. Now at the feast in this temple, Israel knew that this magnificent lampstand symbolized the presence and the power of God, but what they didn't know is that God Himself was there amongst them, and he gave witness to that very fact. So this fifth vision given to those exiles, returning in that day, was a vision of Messianic promise; vision of hope and blessing, a vision that announced to those beleaguered people that one is coming one day to fulfill all of the mediatorial role of the king and of a priest, and he would do it like none other. Therefore he's saying to them, don't think that what you're doing is in vain. My promises are still with you. Be of good cheer. Don't think that I have abandoned you. 

Well, that's a good place to close for today. We'll look more closely at all of this in the days to come. We have so much to be thankful for, don't we? Oh, what a glorious God, what a glorious Savior. Let's pray together. 

Father, we thank you that the light of the gospel has shown forth in our hearts, that you have delivered us from the domain of darkness, that you have indeed transferred us into the kingdom of your beloved Son. Lord, if there be one here today that knows nothing of what it means to be in relationship to you, by grace through faith in Christ, I would plead with you as your servant to break their heart, to make them miserable until they bow the knee and voluntarily, by your regenerating power, confess Christ as Savior and Lord. Lord, bless your word to our hearts. May it bear much fruit to the praise of your glory, for it's in Christ's name that I pray. Amen.