Zechariah 4:13

"And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth."

Well, what do the olive trees mean? Certainly, they are not "the royal and priestly office in Israel."[26] Why not? Because neither the priesthood nor the monarchy ever had anything whatever to do with supplying the oil for God's candlestick (his Word, or his people) to shine forth 1the world. In fact both the priesthood and the monarchy, more often than not, were hindrances, not suppliers of the oil.

We have already cited the near-unanimous opinion among present-day scholars to the effect that Joshua and Zerubbabel are the olive trees, an interpretation forbidden by the truth that those men did not supply the golden oil that illuminates God's Israel throughout two dispensations.

The two olive trees must be understood in the additional light afforded by John's vision in Revelation 11:3,4:

"And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth."

The same terminology being used in both passages makes it mandatory to find the articulation between them, for it can hardly be questioned that the olive trees in Revelation are the same as those in Zechariah. It will be helpful at this point to read a full discussion of these in my commentary on Revelation, pp. 239-242. The tendency of many scholars to identify the witnesses in Revelation as Joshua and Zerubbabel requires a conclusion that they will prophesy during the present dispensation for "a thousand two hundred and three score days" (a code expression standing for the whole Christian dispensation, the entire time between the two Advents of Christ), or that Joshua and Zerubbabel will personally rise from the dead, "torment" the people with their preaching for literally 3 1/2 years, be murdered, left lying in the street three days, and then rise from the dead and go on preaching! Impossible as such conclusions are, the identification of the olive trees as Joshua and Zerubbabel requires those same ridiculous conclusions, which is why we reject such identifications here.

The olive trees are the Old Testament and the New Testament; they are the Law and the Gospel; they are the Word of God to the old Israel and the Word of God to the New Israel. It should be allowed, of course, that if Joshua be recognized as a representative of the Law (being a priest of God), and if Zerubbabel be understood primarily as a type of the Messiah; then, and only then, could the olive trees be said to represent these men. However, the olive trees cannot refer to them personally, nor to them as mere ministers in the development of ancient Israel, nor to their respective offices of the priesthood and the monarchy.

In conjunction with the golden candlesticks, both here and in Revelation, the entire vision presents "God's Two Witnesses" that prophesy continually throughout both the Mosaic and Christian dispensations. John's use of just "two" candlesticks instead of seven was for the purpose of limiting the "witness" to the faithful portion of God's Church instead of including all of it and does not contradict this view of the vision. In BOTH presentations (in Zechariah and in Revelation), the two witnesses are: (1) The word of Almighty God, by which we mean the BIBLE, and (2) His Spirit-filled people, in Zechariah's day, the righteous remnant, and today, the Spirit-filled portion of God's Church. We might add that the Word of God and the obedient people of God are the only "witnesses" God commissioned.

"The two anointed ones ..." This is the basis of so many conclusions that Zerubbabel and Joshua are meant; but there is no evidence at all that Zerubbabel was "anointed"; and furthermore, the cleansing of Joshua (Joshua 4) including no anointing. It is probably a synonym for "holy" in its use here.

This vision is not two separate visions of olive trees and a golden candlestick, but a single vision of BOTH. Plummer has a very perceptive summary of the vision's meaning, thus:

"The two olive trees which supply the material for the candlesticks, are fit emblems of the Old and New Testaments; the candlesticks typify the Jewish and Christian Churches. These are identical as far as being God's witnesses; the Church derives her stores from the Word of God, the light of the Word of God is manifested through the Church."[27]

Several other great scholars besides Plummer have discerned this basic understanding of the vision, including Wordsworth.[28] Jamieson objected to this, insisting that Zechariah intended to apply the vision to Joshua and Zerubbabel. It could quite easily be, of course, that Zechariah himself probably thought the vision meant Joshua and Zerubbabel; but we are not in any manner limited by what it may be supposed that Zechariah thought he said. The words are the words of God, and the Word of God through other prophets makes it crystal clear what was meant. Moses and Elijah qualify just as well as Joshua and Zerubbal for identification with the olive trees; and so Leon Morris identified them[29] but in both cases (Moses and Elijah, and Joshua and Zerubbabel) it is the Law and the Gospel which is meant. Elijah typified the Law; Moses was a type of Christ. Here Joshua typifies the Law; Zerubbabel is a type of Christ.

An unusually discerning scholar is Leupold who pointed out the fundamental weakness in making Joshua and Zerubbabel the olive trees, saying, "If it appears to any reader that we seem to be attributing too much to human agencies, let it be borne in mind that God gave these offices to His people."[30] However, such an accommodation does not remove the inconsistency of allowing mere men, weak and fallible men, to stand in the vision as suppliers of the light of all nations as seen in the candlestick. It is undeniably the Word of God which accomplishes that.