Zechariah 4:6

Then he answered, and spake unto me, saying,.... In great condescension, in order to instruct him into the true meaning of the vision: This [is] the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel; this signifies

Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Then; so soon as Zechariah had owned his nescience. He; Christ. This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel; or, This word of the Lord is to Zerubbabel, it is particularly designed to him, and in an emblem prefigureth what a church, how precious as gold, how full of light; how framed, how maintained it should be by God himself. This hieroglyphic is a representation of what the church should be. Zerubbabel; the governor, on whose hand much of the care and trouble of building the temple did lie; yet let him not be discouraged, for this work lieth on God. Not by might; or, by an army, as the word bears, Hebrew; you may think you shall need all army to defend you in carrying on this building, which ill-will of neighbours about you hindereth, but I tell you there is no need of an army. Nor by power; courage and valour, all which make, arms considerable; no need of this neither. Or might and power here may be of the same import, and added only for elegancy and assurance of the thing. But by my spirit; which garnished the heavens and can beautify the church; which moved upon the darkness in the creation, and brought forth a beautiful and mighty structure, and can do as much now. By spirit we may understand either the Third Person of the Trinity engaged in building the church, with the Father and the Son; or by spirit you may understand the power of God. Either is encouragement enough, and secureth the future effect, and promiseth a future state of the church, pure and precious as gold, full of knowledge in the doctrines of God, as this candlestick with seven lamps, full of holiness from abundant measures of grace; persevering in it by continued supplies from the Spirit of grace in ordinances, &c.

Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.Ver. 6. This is the word of the Lord] That is, this hieroglyphic contains the mind of God in it. This is the interpretation of the vision, neither so concise nor obscure, ut Oedipode sit opus (as a Lapide after Ribera here saith), that it can hardly be understood. For who seeth not by the opposition here made between human help and divine, that in building and beautifying his Church with safety and salvation God will make bare his own holy arm; and do the work alone, or by the weakest means against the strongest resistance? Thus, then, have we (saith Mr Pemble) in three words the scope of this whole vision. That as the making and maintaining of this candlestick and his lamps was without the art and cunning of man, by means supernatural; so God’ s Spirit, without and above all human helps, should suffice for the rebuilding and preservation of the material temple and true Church. Unto Zerubbabel] The Tirshatha, or chief magistrate, Ezra 2:63, called also, as it is thought, Sheshbazzar, Ezra 1:8. He was a type of Christ; to whom also God the Father here speaketh concerning his Church to be gathered by the preaching of the gospel. Not by might, nor by strength] As Mahomet in the East and the Spaniard in the Indies; but by the power of his Spirit, that great wonder worker, whereby the people fall under him, Psalms 45:5, and strongholds are cast down before him, 2 Corinthians 10:4, as once the walls of Jericho. Thus he unwalled all the children of Sheth, Numbers 24:17, viz. by the foolishness of preaching; and thus he still rideth upon his white horses, his ministers, conquering and to conquer, Revelation 6:2. Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca Christo subdita sunt (Tertull.). The Romans could never subdue this nation, but Christ could. The Germans and other western people embraced the Christian religion in the year 772, when the Mahometan impiety wasted the East. God’ s Spirit is irresistible, compared to the wind, John 3:8, to a mighty rushing wind, Acts 2:2, that bears all before it, therefore called a spirit of power, 2 Timothy 1:7, of counsel and of might, Isaiah 11:2, and therefore here fitly opposed to an army, and to the arm of flesh, to all human power and policy whatsoever, though the gates of hell come to their help. Not by might, nor by strength, &c.] These two words some take to be synonymous; Mercer saith that the former signifieth stout and noble acts, the latter importeth power and faculty of doing those acts; and is the same as δυναμις in Greek.

(6) This . . . word.—The vision is called “the word,” as being a symbolical prophecy. (Comp. Zechariah 1:7.) As the golden candlestick was placed in the holy place of the Tabernacle (and the Temple) “before the LORD, as an everlasting statute for their generations on behalf of the children of Israel” (Exodus 27:21), so did the congregation on whose behalf (or as a symbol of which) was the candlestick, require a sanctuary in which to let their light shine before the Lord, and from which it might shine before men. This sanctuary Zerubbabel had founded, and his hands were to complete (Zechariah 4:9); but not by any merit or strength of his own or of Israel, but simply by the Spirit of the Lord of Hosts, which would revive “the dry bones” of the house of Israel, “that they should live, and be placed in their own land” (Ezekiel 37:11-14).

Verse 6. This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel] This prince was in a trying situation, and he needed especial encouragement from God; and here it is: Not by might, (of thy own,) nor by power, (authority from others,) but by my Spirit - the providence, authority, power, and energy of the Most High. In this way shall my temple be built; in this way shall my Church be raised and preserved. No secular arm, no human prudence, no earthly policy, no suits at law, shall ever be used for the founding, extension, and preservation of my Church. But the spirit of the world says, "These are all means to which as we must have recourse; otherwise the cause of God may be ruined." Satan, thou liest!

6. Not by might, &c.] This is the teaching of the vision, its message from Jehovah to Zerubbabel. Fed “without hands” (Daniel 2:34) with oil the lamp in the vision shone brightly. So without the resources of human “might and power,” which to “these feeble Jews” (Nehemiah 4:2) were altogether wanting, but by the “Spirit” of Jehovah, of which the oil was a symbol, should the Church shine yet again on Mount Sion, and eventually as the Church of Christ throughout the world.

This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel - Osorius: “As if he were to say, the meaning of the vision and scope of what has been exhibited is, ‘God’s doings have almost cried aloud to Zerubbabel

6. When the prophet confesses ignorance the angel proceeds to explain. This — The entire vision.