The Two Sons of Oil Text: Zechariah 4:11-14
Introduction: God's Appointed Order
We live in an age that despises authority and detests distinctions. The spirit of our time is a leveling spirit, a revolutionary spirit, that wants to tear down every God-ordained hierarchy and blur every line He has drawn. The world wants a king who is not a king, a priest who is not a priest, and a church that is indistinguishable from a political action committee. It wants to mix and mash everything together into one gray, meaningless sludge. This is nothing less than a direct assault on the created order, and therefore, a direct assault on the Creator Himself.
But God is a God of order. He establishes governments, He appoints offices, and He delegates authority. And He does not do this in a haphazard way. In the Old Testament, God established two great pillars of authority for His people: the king and the priest. The king, the civil magistrate, wielded the sword. The priest, the minister of the sanctuary, wielded the Word and sacraments. These two were to be separate in their function but united in their purpose: to serve the Lord of all the earth. When one trespassed on the office of the other, as when King Uzziah tried to offer incense in the temple, disaster followed. When they worked in harmony, as they were called to do, the nation was blessed.
In this vision from Zechariah, given to a discouraged people trying to rebuild the temple from rubble, we see this divine pattern displayed in a glorious, symbolic way. The central message of the chapter has already been given: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts." The work of God is not accomplished by human political maneuvering or by brute force. It is accomplished by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. But how does this Spirit work? He works through God's appointed means, through God's appointed men, in God's appointed offices. This vision of the two olive trees is not a mystical abstraction; it is the concrete reality of how God builds His kingdom in the world. It is a lesson we desperately need to relearn today.
The Text
Then I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?"
And I answered the second time and said to him, "What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?"
So he spoke to me, saying, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord."
Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of all the earth."
(Zechariah 4:11-14 LSB)
Zechariah's Persistent Question (v. 11-12)
The prophet, having received the central message about God's Spirit, is still fixated on the imagery. He wants to understand the machinery of God's grace.
"Then I answered and said to him, 'What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?' And I answered the second time and said to him, 'What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?'" (Zechariah 4:11-12)
Zechariah asks the same basic question twice, with a slight refinement. First, he asks about the two olive trees. Then he zooms in and asks about the two olive branches that are feeding the golden oil through the pipes. This is not the question of an idle mind. This is the question of a man who wants to know how God's glorious promises connect to the dirt and dust of his own time. He sees the lampstand, representing the covenant people of God, Israel. He knows the lamps must burn, and they must burn with pure oil, which is the Spirit. But where does the oil come from? What is the delivery system?
The image is one of a constant, self-sustaining supply. The olive trees are living sources. They produce the oil. The branches are the point of contact, channeling this oil through golden pipes directly to the lampstand. There is no middleman, no frantic running to the market for more oil. The supply is built into the system. This is a picture of God's inexhaustible grace, His unending provision of the Holy Spirit to His people. The work of rebuilding the temple, and by extension, the work of building the Church, will not fail for a lack of resources. The supply line is direct from the throne of grace.
But Zechariah wants to know what these trees represent in his own historical moment. He is not content with a general principle; he wants to know who. Who are the instruments God is using? This is a good and necessary question. We should always want to know how God's cosmic purposes are being worked out in our own zip code.
The Angel's Revealing Answer (v. 13-14)
The angel feigns surprise at Zechariah's question, a common rhetorical device in Scripture to emphasize the importance of the answer.
"So he spoke to me, saying, 'Do you not know what these are?' And I said, 'No, my lord.' Then he said, 'These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of all the earth.'" (Zechariah 4:13-14 LSB)
The answer is plain and direct. The two olive trees are "the two anointed ones." The Hebrew is literally "the two sons of oil." In the context of post-exilic Judah, there can be no doubt who this refers to. It is Zerubbabel, the governor from the line of David, representing the civil authority, the kingly office. And it is Joshua, the high priest, representing the ecclesiastical authority, the priestly office. These are the two men God has raised up and anointed to lead His people in this great work of rebuilding.
Notice the language. They are the "anointed ones." In the Old Testament, kings and priests were set apart for their office by anointing with oil. This anointing symbolized the outpouring of God's Spirit upon them for their specific task. So, Zerubbabel is the anointed king, and Joshua is the anointed priest. They are the conduits through which the "golden oil" of the Spirit flows to the people of God (the lampstand) to empower them for the work.
They are described as "standing by the Lord of all the earth." This denotes their position of service and readiness. They are not freelancers. They are not acting on their own authority. They stand in the presence of the sovereign Lord of all creation, receiving their commission and their power from Him. This is the foundation of all legitimate authority. Whether in the state or in the church, true authority is never autonomous; it is always delegated, and it is always accountable to the one who delegated it.
This vision establishes a crucial principle: God has ordained two distinct spheres of government for his people, the civil and the ecclesiastical. The state is not the church, and the church is not the state. The governor is not the priest, and the priest is not the governor. Each has his own God-given sphere of authority. Zerubbabel's job is to maintain civil order and justice. Joshua's job is to lead the people in worship and teach them the law of God. When both men, in their separate offices, are faithful to their anointing, the lamp of God's presence burns brightly in the land.
The Anointed One and the Two Witnesses
Now, like all Old Testament realities, this points forward to something greater. The dual offices of king and priest were never meant to be the final arrangement. They were types and shadows pointing to the one who would perfectly unite both offices in Himself. Zerubbabel, the governor, could not ultimately save his people. Joshua, the high priest, had to offer sacrifices for his own sins. Both were flawed men leading a flawed people.
But they were a picture of the coming Messiah, the Christ, whose very name means "the Anointed One." Jesus Christ is the ultimate Son of Oil. He is our great High Priest, who offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice once for all. And He is our great King, who has conquered sin and death and now reigns at the right hand of the Father. He is the true olive tree, the source of all grace. The two offices that were separated in the Old Testament are brought together in the person of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7).
Because Christ is the ultimate King and Priest, His Church is now the lampstand in the world. And through the Church, Christ continues to bear witness to His kingly and priestly authority. This is why, when we get to the book of Revelation, we see this imagery from Zechariah picked up again. In Revelation 11, we are introduced to two witnesses who prophesy against an apostate Jerusalem.
"These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth." (Revelation 11:4)
Who are these two witnesses? They are the embodiment of the Church's prophetic testimony to the world. They represent the witness of the Law and the Prophets, the witness of Moses and Elijah, and the witness of the Church in its kingly and priestly roles. The Church is called to be a witness to the state, reminding the magistrate that he is a minister of God, accountable to King Jesus. And the Church is called to be a witness in its priestly function, proclaiming the gospel of forgiveness and calling all men to worship the true God. The Church, empowered by the Spirit of the Anointed One, is God's appointed instrument for the discipling of the nations.
The world hates this twofold witness. It hates being told that there is a king other than Caesar, and it hates being told that there is only one priest who can mediate between God and man. But our task is not to be popular; our task is to be faithful. Like Zerubbabel and Joshua, we are to stand by the Lord of all the earth and let the oil of the Spirit flow through us. We are to do this not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God, knowing that the one who is the true Anointed One has promised to build His church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.