prophet's solicitude to understand it, shews us the propriety of inquiring into it with care and diligence. Let us therefore endeavour to ascertain,
I. The import of the vision —
The general scope of it is declared by God himself — [The Prophet Zechariah was commissioned to encourage Zerubbabel and Joshua to proceed with the re-building of the temple, which had been long neglected. The Jews who had returned from Babylon were poor and feeble; whilst their adversaries were numerous and powerful. Hence they de- spaired of accomplishing, under such unfavourable circum- stances, so great a work. But in this vision they were taught to look to God, who, if they confided in him, would assuredly crown their labours with success. With him on their side, they needed not either to regret the want of power in themselves, or to dread the existence of it in their adversaries, since he was almighty and all-sufficient for them. This was the con- struction which the prophet himself was taught to put upon the vision : " Knowest thou not what these be ? " said the angel unto him : " And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerub- babel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts a."]
The particular parts of it will be found to bear upon this point with much beauty and exactness —
[In the second and third verses we have the vision: "What seest thou ? And I said, I have looked, and behold, a candle- stick, all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof; and two olive-trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side thereof." In our text there is an additional circumstance mentioned, namely, that " the olive-branches empty out of themselves golden oil through the two golden pipes." What the import of all this was, the prophet was very anxious to know ; and therefore repeated his inquiries with a kind of holy impatience b: and the answer given him was, " The two olive-trees are the two anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." From this answer we may gather both the literal and mys- tical interpretation of the whole.
The literal import then was this. Zerubbabel and Joshua were the two persons anointed of God to superintend, the one the civil, and the other the ecclesiastical, affairs of the Jews
a ver. 5, 6. b Mark the repetition, ver. 11, 12.