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Context No. 1992 of 4322 · Zechariah

Context · Reflection

Zechariah 4:6-14: in context

6Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, “This is the LORD’s word to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD of Armies. 7Who are you, great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you are a plain; and he will bring out the capstone with shouts of ‘Grace, grace, to it!’” 8Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying, 9“The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you. 10Indeed, who despises the day of small things? For these seven shall rejoice, and shall see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. These are the LORD’s eyes, which run back and forth through the whole earth.” 11Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?” 12I asked him the second time, “What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts that pour the golden oil out of themselves?” 13He answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”

As Zerubbabel faces the daunting task of rebuilding the temple, God gives him a word through Zechariah: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of Armies. The great mountain of obstacles before Zerubbabel will become a level plain; his hands, which laid the foundation, will finish it. And God adds, who despises the day of small things? The work will be accomplished not by human strength but by God's Spirit.

The word to Zerubbabel is one every servant of God needs: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit. The task before him was daunting, a mountain of obstacles, and by human reckoning beyond his resources. And God tells him the work will be accomplished not by human strength, resources, or ability, but by God's Spirit. The power to do God's work comes not from us but from him, not by our might but by his Spirit. This corrects a deep tendency in us. When we face a task God has given, especially a daunting one, we instinctively reckon our own resources, our strength, our ability, our means, and often find them insufficient, and are discouraged. God's word redirects us: the work is not done by your might but by my Spirit. The sufficiency for God's work is not in our resources but in his Spirit; and so the insufficiency of our own strength is not the final word. We do not accomplish God's purposes by human power, and we are not meant to; we accomplish them by his Spirit at work in and through us. This both humbles and frees. It humbles us, guarding against the pride that would take credit for God's work as though our might accomplished it; the work is done by his Spirit, not our power. And it frees us from the discouragement of measuring the task against our own insufficient resources; for the work does not depend on our might but on God's Spirit, which is not limited by our weakness. We have this treasure, Paul says, in clay jars, that the surpassing power may be seen to be God's and not our own. The mountain before Zerubbabel would become a plain, not by his strength but by God's Spirit. And the daunting tasks before us are likewise accomplished not by our might but by God's Spirit at work. This frees us to attempt what is beyond our resources, trusting not in our own strength but in the Spirit of God, and to give the credit, when the work is done, to the Spirit who accomplished it. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit: the work of God is done by the power of God, and our part is to depend on his Spirit rather than trust in our own strength.

When I face a task God has given, especially a daunting one, do I measure it against my own resources and strength, discouraged by their insufficiency or tempted to accomplish it by my own might, or can I take hold of God's word to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power but by my Spirit, depending on the Spirit of God rather than my own strength for the work he has given me?

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