Zechariah 4:11-14

Zechariah 4:11-14. Then answered I Or, Then spake I, the Hebrew word ענה being not only used of giving an answer to a question, but likewise of beginning or continuing a discourse. What are these two olive-trees, &c. The prophet had learned the meaning of the candlestick and its lamps, and now wants to know what the two olive-trees signify; and no answer being given to his question, he immediately proceeds to ask another; and in the answer given to it he acquiesces. Observe, reader, those that would be acquainted with the things of God, must be inquisitive concerning them. They must inquire of those who understand them, and they shall receive information; and if satisfactory answers be not given them at first, or quickly, let them renew their inquiries, praying for light from God, and the vision shall at length speak, and not lie. The prophet’s second question differs a little, yet not much, from the former.

I answered again, says he, What be these two olive-branches? Two principal branches, one from each tree, extending to the golden candlestick, and communicating to it, through two golden pipes, fastened to the golden bowl, the golden oil, out of themselves That is, the clear, bright oil, the best of its kind, and of great value. And he answered, Knowest thou not what these be? If thou knowest the candlestick to be the church, must thou not suppose that the olive-trees and the olive-branches are emblems of the means which God hath provided to communicate to it his truth and grace? The prophet having again acknowledged his ignorance, the angel says, These are the two anointed ones Hebrew, בני היצהר , sons of oil, as in the margin. As by the candlestick we understand the visible church, particularly that of the Jews at that time, for whose comfort this vision was primarily intended, these sons of oil, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth, 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. This prince, this priest, were sons of oil, anointed of God, or endued with the gifts and graces of his Spirit, to qualify them for the work to which they were called. They stood before the Lord of the whole earth, 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; for their wisdom, courage, and zeal were continually emptying themselves into the golden bowl, to keep the lamps burning; and when they should be removed, others would be raised up to carry on the same work, and Israel should not be left without prince and priest. Thus Grotius, Lowth, Henry, Dodd, and several later interpreters, understand the clause. By the two anointed ones, says Archbishop Newcome, “Zerubbabel and Joshua may be meant; who presided over the temporal and spiritual affairs of the Jews; were the ministers, or vicegerents, of Jehovah; and acted not by their own strength, but by the divine assistance;” Zechariah 4:6. “It is plain,” adds he, “that the golden candlestick is the Jewish state, both civil and religious: and that the oil, with which the lights are supplied, is the Spirit of God, in opposition to human efforts.” But though the candlestick here may primarily signify the Jewish Church, yet, in a secondary sense, it was also undoubtedly intended to be a figure of the Christian Church; and Zerubbabel and Joshua were types of the Messiah, and their offices emblematical of his offices, who, as is said Zechariah 6:13, sits and rules upon his throne, and is a priest upon his throne: who is not only the anointed one himself, but in his mysterious person, as God and man, is the good olive to his church, supplying it with the golden oil of saving grace, and communicating to believers out of his fulness the unction, or anointing of the Holy Spirit, John 1:16; 1 John 2:20-27.

Dr. Blayney, however, gives a different explanation of this passage. By the candlestick, indeed, he understands the church of God, both under the Jewish and Christian dispensations: but, in Zechariah 4:12, instead of two olive- branches, he reads, two orderers of the olive-trees, understanding by the olive-trees “the two dispensations of the law and the gospel, under which were communicated the precious oracles of divine truth, which illuminate the soul, and make men wise unto salvation;” and by the orderers, or directors, of these dispensations, Moses and Christ, the two sons of oil, or anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth, fulfilling his will and executing his commands. “Of the latter of these,” says he, “it is expressly said, Isaiah 61:1, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me, &c. Nor do I conceive that any other can be meant by the two witnesses, appointed to prophesy for a certain time, clothed in sackcloth, Revelation 11:3; the next verse plainly showing, that an allusion is there made to this prophecy of Zechariah, concerning the candlestick and olive-trees, though not with all that accuracy of citation which we should look for at present. These are the two olive-trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the God of the earth, Revelation 11:4.”