December 23 - By My Spirit

The golden lampstand is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the gold points to the holiness and purity while the olive oil signifies the anointing of the Spirit. The function of the lampstand is for illumination and guidance, referring to the Spirit who leads us into the truth. It takes a prominent place within the Tabernacle, shedding light on what the priests were doing.

In a vision, Zechariah saw a golden lampstand with two olive trees beside it. The whole picture represents the Word of the Lord to one person: Zerubbabel, the political leader of the people at that time. The message was “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” A civic leader, Zerubbabel was in charge of rebuilding the temple and he might have thought of the different ways by which it could be done. He might be thinking of relying on his power or might in the political realm or by his ability and resources to complete the work of God. The vision was very clear to him: not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of the Lord was he going to accomplish the work.

As if the vision was not too clear to Zerubbabel, the Lord added two imageries. The first one drew his attention to a great mountain, probably representing some insurmountable difficulties in the rebuilding project. Should he rely on the Spirit of God, this great mountain will become a plain. The project will be completed in no time when he was to put the top, or capstone on the building amid the shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” If he had used his own power or might to complete it, the shouts would be that of “Zerubbabel! Zerubbabel!” But if it were the work of the Lord, everyone would thank God for His grace bestowed on the project.

Another image was that of Zerubbabel holding a plumb line in his hand. Being a leader and not a builder, he was not supposed to be using a plumb line. This symbolizes the small beginning of which no one should despise. With the Spirit in the project, God is going to bring this to fruition. The key thing is to have the anointing of the Spirit of which the two olive trees represent. The two olive trees represent Joshua and Zerubbabel, the religious and civic leaders. They were to bring in the power of the Holy Spirit to the people by supplying fuel for the light so that it continues to shine.

So many of us are doing the Lord’s work on our own power and might, it is like burning the wicks instead of the oil. There are so many who have been “burnt out” because of ministering. They have been doing it on their own instead of doing it by the power of the Holy Spirit. Do you feel tired in serving the Lord? Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with His fresh anointing now.