zach 4-6 all respond, I'm curious what you think...

The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. He said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I have seen, and behold, a menorah all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps thereon; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it; and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it." I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, "What are these, my lord?" Then the angel who talked with me answered me, "Don't you know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbavel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD of Armies. Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbavel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of 'favor, favor, to it!'" Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbavel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbavel. These are the eyes of the LORD, which run back and forth through the whole earth." Then I asked him, "What are these two olive trees on the right side of the menorah and on the left side of it?" I asked him the second time, "What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?" He answered me, "Don't you 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."

(Zec 4:1-14)

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can't be hidden. Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

(Mat 5:14-16)

I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden menorot. And among the menorot was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.

(Rev 1:12-13)

Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the first works; or else I am coming to you swiftly, and will move your menorah out of its place, unless you repent.

(Rev 2:5)

I got a lot of this from the Keil and Delitzsch commentary on E-sword (www.e-sword.net) just so you know…..

In the temple, the menorah (lamp-stand) didn’t have the bowl and the pipes that fed the lamps (it goes without saying that there were no trees in the temple either!) The way this commentator makes it out, the menorah was fed by the fruit of the olive trees that stood on either side. God made the trees grow, produce fruit, and his fire brings the light of God to the whole world. But according to the commentator, we are the trees, receptacles of the manifest life of God to a lost and dying world. However, our light is not meant to be hidden or kept to ourselves. It is meant to be shared and given and dispersed to the whole world. This is imagery of mission.

This is also imagery of triumph. Zerubbabel will succeed because God is the one behind his growing and bearing fruit, not by his might, nor his power, but by the Spirit of God will the trees grow. The temple will be built because GOD built it through Z, not because of anything Z did. No man did this thing. It was God. When all is said and done, nobody will be able to deny the awesome power of God of the Angel Armies.

I think this really can be construed as a message for the church. The Church in America is blessed with resources beyond belief. We live in the wealthiest, most technologically advanced society in human history. God is making things easy for us.

Now, I don’t believe God likes America better than anybody else on the planet. That’s just foolish. God is no respecter of persons nor does he stoop to our petty political games. But the fact is, things are stupendously easy for us, here in the middle of suburbia. I mean, I’m writing this paper on a laptop bought with resources people in Calcutta or Africa can only dream of. Sitting next to me are people who paid in upwards of 4.00 for steamed milk, chocolate mixed with filtered bean-water.

The thing is, with that ease comes responsibility. If life is easy here, it is for a reason--- so God can grow us, we can produce fruit, and the world can be lit on fire with the light of God’s glory. We, being blessed to be a blessing to others (See God’s words to Abraham), must follow through or he may remove the lamp stand. Ask Ephesus (the church talked about in Rev 2:5): this is a scary thing. We have a responsibility to do something here.

But what? What do you guys think? How do we live life as a tree of God in the midst of a dying world? What do you think Scripture wants us to do with this? At the risk of sounding like a Blues Brother, we are on a mission from God: what is it?