Zechariah 4:1

And the angel that talked with me,.... See Zechariah 1:9: came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep; into which he fell, after he had had the former vision; see Daniel 8:18.

And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his

CHAPTER 4 By the golden candlestick is foreshowed the good success of Zerubbabel’ s foundation, ; by the two olive trees the two anointed ones, . The angel that talked with me; Christ, who for some time had left Zechariah, and bestowed some time on new dressing, and cleansing, and adorning Joshua, the high priest. Came again: this is the fourth time of Christ’ s revealing his mind to this prophet by vision. Waked me; either roused him out of a drowsy fit and bodily sleep, or out of an ecstasy, or wonder, that surprising him, he was as if asleep; or shaked him out of a sluggish negligence, or an observance of these things. CHAPTER 4 Waked me; either roused him out of a drowsy fit and bodily sleep, or out of an ecstasy, or wonder, that surprising him, he was as if asleep; or shaked him out of a sluggish negligence, or an observance of these things.

Zechariah 4:1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,Ver. 1. And the angel that talked with me] Came again] After some absence, as it may seem; and a new vision or revelation received from God to be imparted to the prophet. And waked me, as a man that is wakened, &c.] It fared with the prophet (notwithstanding the former visions) as with a drowsy person; who though awakened and set to work, is ready to fall asleep at it. So Peter, James, and John (those pillars, as they are called, Galatians 2:9), fell asleep at their very prayers, Matthew 26:40, such dull metal are the best men made of; and so weak is the flesh, be the spirit never so willing; so ill disposed is our most noble and immortal part, the soul, to supernal and supernatural employments. Meditation and prayer are the creatures of the Holy Ghost, Judges 1:20; and that we may not run out into extravagancies, or put up yawning petitions, we must watch and pray, Matthew 26:41, yea, watch while we are praying, meditating, &c., against corruption within (the sin that doth so easily beset us, Hebrews 12:1) and temptations without, whether from the world, the things whereof are so near us and so natural to us, or from the devil, who is ever busiest with the best, as flies are with sweetmeats, and with the best part of their best performances, as in the end of their prayers, when the heart should close up itself with most comfort.

IV. FOURTH VISION.—THE GOLDEN . (1) Came again, and waked.—Better, possibly, again waked me, the construction being similar to that of Zec 5:1. But it is not impossible that the angel had gone forth, as before (Zechariah 2:3), to receive some fresh instruction from a higher angel, or from God, and that now he came back again. From this verse it would appear that between some of the visions the prophet fell into a state of lethargy, and that the angel roused him; or it may be that all the visions are seen in a dream, and that he only seemed in his dream to be woke up. (See Note on Zechariah 1:8.)

CHAPTER IV The prophet, overpowered by his last vision, is roused by the angel to behold another, 1; intended also to assure the Jews of the success of Joshua and Zerubbabel in building the temple, and surmounting every obstacle in the way; till at length, by the good providence of God, it should be finished, amidst the joyful acclamations of the spectators, 2-10. The angel's explanation of the golden candlestick, and of the two olive trees, 11-14. NOTES ON CHAP. IV Verse 1. The angel - came again, and waked me] Abp. Newcome considers this vision as represented on the same night, Zechariah 1:8, with the preceding ones. See the latter part of Zec 4:10, compared with Zechariah 3:9. After some interval the prophet, overpowered with the vision which had been presented to him, was awakened from his prophetic trance as from a sleep.

The Fifth Vision. The Golden Candlestick, Zechariah 4:1-14. Roused by the Interpreting Angel from a sleep or stupor, into which he appears to have fallen, Zechariah 3:1, the prophet sees a golden candlestick or lamp-stand. Like that originally placed in the Tabernacle, it has seven lamps, but they are fed by a bowl placed above them, from which the oil is conveyed into them by pipes, Zechariah 4:2. The bowl itself is supplied with oil by two olive-trees, standing one on either side of the lamp, which empty their oil into the bowl, each through a golden tube, Zechariah 4:3; Zechariah 4:12. At the request of Zechariah, Zechariah 4:4, the Interpreting Angel, with some show of surprise that explanation should be needed, Zechariah 4:5, explains to him the meaning of the vision. It is intended to encourage Zerubbabel in the work of re-building the Temple, by impressing upon him the truth, that as that candlestick gave forth its light, in silent, ceaseless splendour, unfed and untended by human agencies, so the work in which he was engaged, of restoring the material Temple and setting the golden candlestick in its place again, and so preparing the way, first for the Jewish Church, and then for the Christian Church, which that candlestick symbolised (Revelation 1:20), to shine in the world, should be accomplished, not by human resources, but by the Spirit of God, Zechariah 4:6. The great principle involved in the symbol and thus enunciated is now applied to the case in hand. The mountain of difficulty, which stands in the way of Zerubbabel, shall sink down into a plain. With shouts of festive joy he shall set in its place the crowning stone of the edifice, Zechariah 4:7 Yet again, by a repeated assurance conveyed to the prophet through the Angel, Zechariah 4:8, Jehovah confirms the promise to Zerubbabel, that his hands which have begun shall complete the work, and prove in doing so the divine mission of the angel, Zechariah 4:9. Despicable as it might appear in its feeble beginnings in the sight of man, the eyes of Jehovah, which were not only fixed upon it with unceasing watchfulness (Zechariah 4:9), but ran to and fro through the whole earth to take cognisance of and deal with every hindering and every helping influence, rejoiced to see the progress of that house, Zechariah 4:10. Not satisfied with this exposition of its main scope, the prophet asks for information as to some of the details of the vision. What, he would fain know, is the significance of the two olive-trees, Zechariah 4:11, or yet more precisely, of the two branches of them, which through the two golden tubes empty their oil into the bowl of the lamp, Zechariah 4:12. The answer, again given with some show of surprise at the question, Zechariah 4:13, by the Interpreting Angel, is calculated by its obscurity rather to fix attention on the chief lesson of the vision, than to interpret the details to which reference is made.

The angel came again - The angel (as before Zechariah 2:3) had gone forth to receive some fresh instruction from a higher angel or from God. And awakened me - As a man is awakened out of sleep.

1. In this vision the interpreting angel appears first. Came again — The angel seems to have withdrawn temporarily; in the fourth vision he appears — if at all — only in Zechariah 3:1.