“I have looked, and behold a candlestick 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 upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.” (Zechariah 4:2-3)

This vision has three main messages. It represents “the word of the LORD” given to Zerubbabel which is “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit” (Zechariah 4:6). It also foretells the finishing of the temple by Zerubbabel wherein the “mountain” will become a “plain” and the “small things” will become the “plummet” in the hand of Zerubbabel (Zechariah 4:7-10). Finally, the vision presents “the two anointed ones that stand by the LORD of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14).

The golden candlestick symbol was used in the tabernacle with seven lamps on each branch (Exodus 25). Ten duplicate candlesticks were in the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 7:49). Seven individual candlesticks are revealed in Revelation 1 that represent “the seven churches.” The similarities and differences suggest something about the “mystery” that God kept from the Old Testament saints (Ephesians 3:9).

The two olive trees are unique to Zechariah. God called Judah a “green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit” (Jeremiah 11:16). God called the New Testament church “the olive tree which is wild by nature” (Romans 11:24). Some have suggested that Revelation 11:3-4 speaks of these “two witnesses” as the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. HMM III