Zechariah 4:6

For Reading and Meditation:     Zechariah 4:1-14

Having followed the experience of the psalmist, who was saved from a spiritual fall by thinking of his brethren, we now ask ourselves: What does all this have to say to us? I think the answer to that question must be this: to stand is more important than to understand. We said a few days ago that the psalmist took...

This verse enshrines the important truth that the work of the Lord is not carried on by human ingenuity and strength but by the Holy Spirit.

We see it in the capture of Jericho. It was not the armed might of Israel that caused the walls to fall down. The Lord was the One who delivered the city into their hands when the priests blew the trumpets seven times.

If it had depended on a huge army, Gideon would never have defeated the Midianites, because his army had been thinned down...

Zechariah 4:1-14

The visions of Zechariah all have a meaning. This one is of a candlestick supplied by olive trees. "Then the angel who had been talking with me returned and woke me, as though I had been asleep." It is a good thing to have anyone wake us up. We ought always to be awake. We will miss a great deal if we are not. It is a good thing to be awakened by an angel. An angel's touch is soft, gentle, and...

Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him?God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.The wind blows where it wishes, and you...

Remember the word to Your servant, upon which You have caused me to hope. § O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me!Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. § You know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed.“Fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!” So when he spoke to...

The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” § We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us. § The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our...

When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for them: Ehud … a left-handed man … After him was Shamgar … who killed six hundred men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he also delivered Israel.The Lord turned to [Gideon] and said, “Go in this might of yours. Have I not sent you?” So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”The Lord said to...

In the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. § A stone … cut out without hands. § “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts. § The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, “See here!” or “See there!” For indeed, the kingdom of God is within...

Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. 4:6).

Our Father allows us to be independent until by that means we come to know our own weakness and need. "Strength is always the effect of having to do with God in the spirit of dependence."

"Some say, I want to feel that I am strong.' What we need is to...