Project 119: Zechariah 4
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
One of my favorite verses of encouragement comes from Zechariah’s fifth vision in the night: “For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubabbel” (Zechariah 4:10, ESV). Zechariah’s fifth vision features a pretty fancy lampstand (in fact, it’s a lampstand with seven different lamps coming off of it, each with seven lips, or places for wicks—could you imagine the light emanating from this contraption if all 49 wicks were lit!?), flanked by two olive trees. As we read on, we see that the lamp reminds God’s people of His promise to them: He is empowering them, through His Spirit, to complete a task He has specifically called them—the rebuilding of the temple—and will use Zerubbabel, the Persian-elected governor of the Israelites, and Joshua, their high priest, to help guide the people.
I bet these days seemed like small days to the Israelites. They had arrived back in Israel and everything had been destroyed. They had probably heard tales of the beauty of Solomon’s temple, but the grandeur of that house of worship has long faded into a pile of rubble. How could any temple they build even compare with their ancestor’s house of worship? And with such a small task force, how could they ever finish the task assigned to them? I can easily imagine the days of monotony and construction, the days of weariness, the days of wishing this part of the process was already over.
But God tells them not to despise these days. He reminds them that His Spirit is the one who equips them, that His eyes see all the inhabitants of the earth, and that quiet faithfulness doesn’t go unanswered—even if it seems like these days will never end, like the glory they’ve been waiting to see is so far out of view, like they’ll never see the temple completed. He reminds them that they will, and on that day, they will give Him all of the praise.
We are all caught up in the milestone moments of life, often waiting for that next big thing, but life is made up of more days of small things than milestones, isn’t it? And God is working in the days of small things—in the mornings of never-ending laundry, in the afternoons at a unfulfilling job, in the evenings when the dishes never seem to finish—even when we can’t see it. And this ought to make sense to us, after all, because He is a God who “delights in small beginnings” (Andrew Hill, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi). He is the same God who created the world not with flashes and explosions but through simply speaking, the same God who came to live among us, not as a king raised in a palace, but as a baby born in a manger. He uses these moments to remind us that He’s called us to be faithful where He has placed us today, even in the days of small things. And so often, we find that these days of small things are far more formative for our souls than the milestone moments. Praise God that He promises the tiny seeds He has planted will come to fruition, in due season—in His timing.
Zechariah 4 (ESV):
A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. 7 Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you. 10 For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
“These seven are the eyes of the LORD, which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?”12 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?”13 He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”