came, and hence they could go on in the erection of the temple, in which these priests were to minister.

V. 9, gives the reason for the fulfilment of this glorious. promise. Every thing seemed so desolate, that there was no hope of such a blessing, as the coming of the Messiah. God declares that although his people were thus obscure and desolate, he had never lost sight of them. He represents his people, or the theocracy by a stone, a single stone (Ehad), lying before Joshua, as if worthless. But he says that on this one stone are "seven eyes." Seven being the number of perfection, the seven eyes represent the all-seeing eye of Jehovah, and show the sleepless regard which he bestows upon his church. The image of a stone was selected, because the main work of the theocratic people then was the erection of a temple. God assures them that he has not cast it aside, but would yet polish and chisel it, and make it suitable for its glorious destiny. The removal of sin "in one day," refers to the perfection of the atonement to be made by the Messiah, which needs not daily repetition like the sacrifices of the priesthood, but "by one offering he perfected forever them that are sanctified." Heb. 10: 14.

V. 10, refers to the security and peace that should reign in the Messianic period, first in the heart of the penitent believer, then in the bosom of the faithful church, and then at last in the glories of the latter day and heavenly rest. 2 Kings 18: 31 shows that this was a familiar image of prosperity and peace. Thus as in all these visions, the prophet connects the present with the future, the passing and perishing with the unchanging and eternal. Some of the doctrines are

(1). The divinity of Christ. The Jehovah angel of v. 1 is called Jehovah in v. 2, and this Jehovah angel, as appears from other passages, especially Haggai 2: 6, 7, and Malachi 3: 1, compared with Mark 1:2, we know to be Jesus Christ.

(2). Satan's temptations are never so subtle or so powerful as when they assume the form of penitence and humility. But the greatness of our sin, only magnifies the greatness of the mercy that pardons it.

(3). The origin of our salvation and the ground of our hope are in the love and grace of God, and not in our own worthiness or merit. V. 2.

(4). We are saved by the imputed righteousness of Christ and not by our own merits.

V. 4.

(5). A gratuitous justification furnishes no excuse for inaction and sin, but leads to more entire obedience. V. 7. (6). Fidelity in God's service shall be gloriously rewarded. Y. 7.

(7). Angelic guidance shall be given to the faithful people of God. V. 7.

(8). The ceremonial system of the O. T. typified Christ. V. 8.

(9). The atonement of Christ is perfect, and needs no addition of penances or human merits.

(10). The tendency of true religion is toward peace and prosperity, to men individually and collectively. V. 10.

VISION V. Ch. 4.

The golden candlestick, and the two olive trees.

1. And the angel who spoke with me returned, and awaked me as a man 2. who is awaked from his sleep; and he said unto me, what seest thou?

And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick all of gold, and a bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps upon it, and seven tubes to 3. each lamp on the top of it: and two olive trees, one on the right hand 4. of the bowl, and one on the left hand. And I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying,

5.

6.

7.

Then the angel that talked with me

6

What are these my lord?' answered and said unto me,

• Dost thou not know what these are?' And I said, no, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of JEHOVAH unto Zerubbabel, saying,

Not by might, and not by power, but by my spirit,

Saith JEHOVAH of Hosts.

Who art thou, thou great mountain before Zerubbabel?

Be a plain! He shall bring forth the top stone with shoutings,
Grace! Grace unto it.

8, 9. And the word of JEHOVAH came unto me saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands shall finish it, and 10. thou shalt know that JEHOVAH of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who will despise the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and

see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel, these seven eyes of JEHO11. VAH, they run to and fro in the whole earth. And I answered and

said unto him, What are these two olive trees on the right hand of 12. the candlestick, and on the left? And I answered again and said unto him, What are the two olive branches which through the tubes of gold 13. pour out the golden oil from themselves? And he answered unto me, saying, Knowest thou not what these are? And I said, no, my lord. 14. These are the two sons of oil, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

A pause seems to have occurred after the preceding vision, and the prophet, for a time, to have relapsed into his ordinary and normal state. This state compared with the prophetic extacy, was as sleep to waking; the ordinary state of the soul being so insensible to those impressions that were made upon it in the prophetic condition. But he was soon roused from that state by the angel and bidden to look. He saw a candlestick of gold with a bowl on the top, having seven lamps, and each lamp furnished with seven feeding tubes, making forty-nine in all, and two olive trees standing beside the candlestick, from the two crowded branches of which the clustering olives were pouring a constant supply of golden colored oil into tubes that led into the bowl. The prophet enquires into the meaning of this vision and after some delay is told, v. 6, that it conveys the truth that in carrying on the work of the church, it is not by human power that it is either to be advanced or retarded, but by the strength of God.

The candlestick represented the Theocracy, the church of God, an image of great beauty, showing her mission to be a light-bearer in a dark world. The material, gold, indicated the purity, preciousness and indestructibleness of all that pertained to her. The seven lamps, and seven times seven tubes indicated, by the use of the number of perfection, the manifold modes by which her light was to be given out, and the manifold modes by which grace was to be imparted. The olive trees represented the source of that grace, the spirit of God, from whom comes forth all supplies of strength for the church.

Here then were these lamps burning continually, lamps that

man's hand did not make, and does not feed, and yet supplied from a source that is exhaustless, the living trees that stand beside the candlestick. Now if the strength to do God's work comes from God, the weakness of man is no obstacle, for when he is weak then is he strong. Zerubbabel may have but few visible resources, but the work was one that after all was to be done by God, and not by man, and however feeble the church might seem to be, there was more for her than against her. Hence as the Jew gazed on this ceaseless flow of strength and grace, he could forget the feebleness of man in the unfailing supply of the power of God.

But there were obstacles in the way, like a great mountain. These obstacles should be prostrated like a plain before him, v. 7, so that the work should be completed, the top-stone laid, and it should be seen that all was of grace. Hence they should not falter in the work before them.

V. 10, rebukes them for despising the feebleness of the church in external resources, and overlooking her true glory. That glory lay in the fact that God's eye (the seven eyes) was upon her in love, and although those eyes see all that is in the earth, the most mighty and most magnificent, yet they see nothing that is mighty enough to destroy the church, or magnificent enough to eclipse her true glory. The plummet (stone of tin, Heb.) in the hand of Zerubbabel indicated that the work was there going forward to completion.

The meaning of the olive trees, or as the prophet sees more distinctly, of the two olive branches, is next explained. The two questions are asked, and the first left unanswered in vs. 11, 12, to draw special attention to the duality of the olive branches. To what does this refer? The answer is to the two anointed ones that minister before God. Who are these? They refer to some standing channel of blessing from God, and are alluded to again in Rev. 11: 3, 4, in terms that cannot be mistaken. Without entering at length into the reasons for the opinion, we simply affirm that they refer to a duality of gracious manifestation from God, corresponding to a duality of necessity in the nature of man. There are two

grand evils to be overcome, guilt and pollution, and they demand two standing sources of blessing, the one to remove the guilt by atonement, the other to remove the power of sin by giving a higher power of holiness. These two sources are embodied in two official forms, the only two that were connected with the theocracy as permanent elements, the sacerdotal and regal orders. They existed once in Melchisedek but were ever afterwards divided, as in Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Zerubbabel, &c., &c., until the time of the Messiah who again combined them in his own person, and who by his work, made his people kings and priests unto God. This duality marked all the manifestations of God, for it rested on a deep necessity of human nature, and it was then embodied in the persons of Joshua and Zerubbabel. Since then they were so essential to the theocracy, the people need not suppose that God would allow them to perish, but would continue them in existence until he should come who was a priest after the order of Melchisedek.

Such are the teachings

of this vision, and some of its doctrines are:

(1). The church is the same under both dispensations, for the promises made to her then are only fulfilling now, showing that then and now she was the same church. The candlestick is the same, though the tubes may be changed, and the church is the same, though her official channels be totally altered.

(2). It is not only unwise but it is wicked to be disheartened because of the external feebleness of the church, compared with the work she has to do, and the enemies she has to encounter. God is her strength, her glory and her hope, and to despair of her is to deny God.

(3). The doctrine and discipline of the church; the truth and power that God has lodged in her organization and her ordinances, are still the standing channels through which the spirit pours the oil of grace and strength, and hence should both be kept pure and unclogged.