Mountains are mostly majestic aspects of nature. They fill us with awe. There are two types of mountains in Scripture, one being meeting places with God, the others represent the difficulties that come to stand between us and fulfilling God’s vocation.

Zechariah 4 has an objective, the laying of a foundation. This foundation is important as there are principles in this chapter that will apply to today, in the midst of the atmosphere of crisis, and the restrictions placed on ministries where meeting, ministering has been restricted across the world. In this context it is vital we discern a way through or we lose notion of our vision and consciousness of what Jesus is trying to do in our generation. Once you have a strong foundation you can place anything you build on it, it shall stand all weathers and forces against it.

What foundation we are seeing here is the New Temple after Solomon’s temple had been demolished 70 years previous. It was demolished because of the sin of the priesthood and the nation as a whole. Could it be that God is letting some of the structures of the Church fall because of lost opportunity to be light and salt? So when God comes in restoration in a specific season it is key that how we build matters above what we build. I have seen that some embark on personal projects to have them marred by a progression bathed in lies, deceit and a manipulation of many people and organisations to get to the objective. This is not in keeping with the ethos of what God does. Hence the affirmation here in this passage “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.” It must be our watch word in a season of restoration.

I believe it is pertinent to assume that this message is sending a declaration over God’s people, that a season of Restoration is coming. The key to the restoration is not that we receive it, but change the way we apply it, not embarking on what I mention above.

The Olive Trees represent two covenants

These two olive trees represent two covenants, one that is already established by Moses and Abraham, the other is one that they were transitioning towards in the Coming Messiah. The whole purpose of coming out of Captivity was to prepare for the Messiah, movements in study of the Word were born with the Pharisees, the Synagogue system, were all transported from Persia to Israel. These started out with great objectives, yet when the Messiah came became the great opposition. We need to be grounded in God’s ways like Moses. So the wisdom of God comes in the leaders enabling the people make the transition from the covenant of Abraham to embrace the covenant through the person of the Messiah. Our understanding must be revealing, not presenting more stumbling blocks when God manifests in our midst.

The purpose of these Olive Trees was to pour out the oil down to the candlestick. So from this analogy we must therefore understand that the Anointing of the Holy Spirit comes from the covenant that is our foundation for coming near to God with boldness. If we desire to see restoration we must understand that the anointing by which this restoration manifests comes through covenant.

The pipes are the ministers of restoration

The pipes shown here, where the oil passes through is the ministries Jesus chooses to demonstrate His Covenant through. Right now the people are crying out for meat, are crying out for a manifestation of knowledge from the Word. They need to know that peace and joy even in a dark season is theirs by covenant right. It is this that the people of God are crying out for today, but as the Bible correctly demonstrates God’s people are dying for lack of knowledge. When you look at the Lampstand/Candlestick you will see it described in Isaiah 11 as the spirit of knowledge. The anointing of the 7 pipes are ministries bathed in these characteristics. They let flow the covenant oil to the Lampstand that stands in the midst of the Church: Revelation 2:5. What we need to pray is that God places the pipes into our midst to pass us the covenant oil to bring light, knowledge and power to overcome the spirit of the world, which is fear right now.

The Lampstand in our midst…

The Lampstand in our midst is only given to a diligent people who give effort to Bible Study, obedience and correct living. If we are desiring to see our mountain disappear before us, we need first to receive the covenant oil.

The Temple lamps had to be trimmed morning and evening. Our “trimming” are our disciplines, in Bible Study and prayer. In that way our lamps will always burn consistently and constantly. The letter of Jesus to the Ephesian Church connects the Lampstand to their Love of the Lord. It had grown lukewarm. Very often the love of many go cold when they withdraw from personal fellowship at the meeting of the Church. However this is becoming far more difficult as the pandemic shapes our demographic. However we have internet platforms to also interact.

The Mountain is a test God allows…

Have you noticed when you stand in faith for a particular issue that there is presented a series of mountains to overcome? We sometimes try to rebuke them as though they came through satan. Something we need warfare over. In some senses we do, we need to press into the things God has revealed as His restoration. However the mountains are tests, because we need to visualise them as being made into plains, terrain where no obstacles present themselves. We will meet the mountain when God takes us into restoration, a new level of understanding, and then our dependence not on our might or power, but the Spirit makes the mountain bow down and become a plain.

Then when the mountain we can bring out Jesus as our Head Stone…

Once we have overcome the mountain, so we shall bring forth the most important stone of our foundation, who is Jesus Himself. The word in Acts 3:19-21 is most important to cite here.

¹⁹ Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; ²⁰ And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: ²¹ Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets ^usince the world began.

 The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., Ac 3:19–21). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

When we overcome the mountain with our covenant oil God sends Jesus to us! He becomes the founding stone of our lives, our ministry within the Body. When we receive a specific refreshing, in the Presence of the Lord we know Jesus is coming to us! The PRESENCE OF THE LORD is a constant, but the refreshing is a specific preparation to receive Jesus in a specific aspect in our lives. We always seem to subscribe to the notion of a far away future coming of Jesus, however there are many comings and visitations. Here in Zechariah 4 Jesus is brought out with a procession cry of GRACE, GRACE UNTO IT…IS it is not ironic that grace is so misunderstood, the grace extended comes only when Jesus is brought out when we have OVERCOME! We always seem to think the Grace comes to resign to our struggle, but here it comes when we have OVERCOME!

In the last days overcoming assures us of our eternal abode, not just a prayer one day! So in Zechariah 4 we must 1. Know our Olive Tree Covenant 2. Let flow through us the Covenant oil anointing in our lives and ministry 3. We must overcome the test of faith by the might of the Spirit not our faculties 4. In our overcoming we bring out our Headstone who is Christ.

May we grasp we are in a season of restoration and by this 4 fold process we shall receive Jesus in our midst!

Shalom.