Monday, June 29, 2015

The Two Olive Trees God Uses

Zechariah is such a book of restoration and protection.

"And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand!

Then I said, 'Where are you going?'

And he said to me, 'To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.'

And behold, the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, 'Run, say to that young man, "Jerusalem shall be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her a wall of fire all around, declares the LORD, and I will be the glory in her midst." '

Up! Up! Flee from the land of the north, declares the LORD. For I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the LORD. Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon." - Zechariah 2:1-7 ESV

This book mirrors end time restoration and pits it against present day restoration. God will do things in the last days but He feels now what He will feel then. He warns us away from danger (see Zechariah 1:4f) and directs us to a city not made with hands where He is the wall of fire that protects it (see Zechariah 2:5).

Joshua the priest should be wearing spotless garments but he isn't and Satan is ripping him apart with accusations but God restores him (see Zechariah 3:3f).

"And the angel of the LORD solemnly assured Joshua, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. For behold, on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven eyes, I will engrave its inscription, declares the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. In that day, declares the LORD of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come under his vine and under his fig tree.' " - Zechariah 3:6-10 ESV

God gives us men, anointed men, who will ooze oil and provide light

"And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left... And a second time I answered and said to him, 'What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?'

He said to me, 'Do you not know what these are?'

I said, 'No, my lord.'

Then he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.' " - Zechariah 4:3, 12-14 ESV

Zerubbabel and Joshua were the two men in that day. Zerubbabel was a man who measured according to God's measure (see Zechariah 4:9f) and Joshua was a priest who was dirty and plagued by accusation but restored.

People who live in God's grace measure and are restored with God's restoration provide light for their generation.

God is building His church just as He was restoring His nation in the book of Zechariah. God restores lives one at a time also. The principles for the restoration of a life are the same as for the restoration of a nation. Things didn't happen all at once. There were seeming setbacks but God was with them.

Let's flee to the city with a wall of fire around it. That place is the place of our heritage. There are men who tell us it's measurements and show us restoration by their example. It is light that should not be ignored.

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