Let us turn to God's Word and
the chapter we were reading in Zechariah chapter 4 in many ways a strange chapter like so much
that we find in the minor prophets not easy to understand or to
interpret nonetheless it is part and parcel of that Word of God
that is profitable, we're told, for doctrine, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness. Well, might the Lord be pleased
to help us as we come to this chapter for a while before we
turn to the Lord again in prayer. And I direct you to words that
we have here at the end of verse 10. Zechariah chapter 4 and the
end of verse 10 where we read of those seven, they are the
eyes of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth. Those seven, they are the eyes
of the Lord which run to and fro through the whole earth. Before we actually come to the
the words I've just read, let's just remind ourselves as to the
circumstances, the historic situation in which this man was the Lord's
prophet. It was of course in the days
of Ezra the scribe. was the end of that period of
captivity when under Cyrus the Jews had been permitted to return
to Jerusalem and to engage in the rebuilding of the Temple
of the Lord. And we see mention made of these
men in the book of Ezra then. Ezra recounts something of that
great historic time when they returned and they began to engage
in that work of rebuilding after God had visited a terrible judgment
upon Jerusalem with the destruction of the Temple of the Lord. And
there in the book of Ezra in chapter 3 And verse 8 we read, In the second
year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in
the second month began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua
the son of Josedach, and the remnant of their brethren, the
priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of
their captivity unto Jerusalem, and appointed the Levites from
twenty years old and upwards to set forward the work of the
house of the Lord. Zerubbabel was the prince and
Yeshua was the priest at that time the leaders amongst those
who came back from the captivity and we see what great rejoicing
there was at the commencement of that work in verse 11. Ezra 3.11 we're told, All the
people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because
the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites
and chief of the fathers who were ancient men, old men, that
had seen the first house that was the temple of Solomon of
course when the foundation of this house was laid before their
eyes wept with a loud voice and many shouted aloud for joy or
they were those who remembered something of the glories of Solomon's
temple and so the people couldn't discern between the noise of
the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people
well that's something of the situation, the circumstances
in which Zechariah is ministering and so these are the sort of
matters that he's addressing as we saw as we read through
the chapter. In verse 9, the hands of the
rubber bull have laid the foundation of this house. His hand shall
also finish it. And thou shalt know that the
Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you, says Zechariah, he was the
prophet. as Zerubbabel was the prince
and Joshua was the priest. Those three offices in there,
even at that time. Now, Zerubbabel is an interesting
man because his name appears in the genealogy of the Lord
Jesus Christ there. in the opening chapter of the
New Testament, in Matthew chapter 1 and verses 12 and 13. The rubber
bull is an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, he's one
of Christ's principal ancestors, because we're told there in Matthew
1.17 that the generations are counted,
14 from Abraham to David, then 14 from David till the time of
the captivity, the time when Zerubbabel was there after the
captivity, and then 14 generations from the captivity till Christ. And so he's certainly a man of
some significance. And his name, Zerubbabel, it's
a Babylonian name that he bears, and it literally means a shoot,
of Babylon, the shoot of Babylon. Doubtless he was one who had
been born there when they were in exile in Babylon, but he was
in the line of the kings, of the princes. And he's significant
not only because he's in Christ's genealogy, but also because he's
really a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, the shoot of Babylon. And we read of Christ back in
Isaiah 11 as that one who is himself, as it were, a shoot,
a stem. The opening words of Isaiah 11,
we read of the stem of Jesse and the branch that's going to
grow out of his roots. Jesse, the father of King David,
of course, and the Lord Jesus Christ is that one, the stem
of Jesse, the branch out of his roots. When we come to the last
chapter in Scripture, there in Revelation 22, we read of Christ
the root and the offspring of David. And this man is a shoot
out of Babylon. And he's spoken of here, this
Zerubbabel, as that one who is the branch in chapter 3 and verse
8. I will bring forth my servant
the branch. And then again in chapter 6 and
verse 12, Speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts,
saying, Behold, the man whose name is the branch, and he shall
grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of
the Lord. Historically, the reference is to His tombs are unrobable. He's going to build that temple,
that physical temple that was to be rebuilt. It will be there,
of course, even at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. But
who is the one who is really the branch, God's servant, the
branch? It's Christ. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ himself, the root, and the offspring of David. And so, even when we come to
a chapter such as we have here before us tonight, As we dig
into this chapter, we are not to be surprised that we find
Christ there, because Christ is everywhere. Christ is there
in all of the Scriptures. But not only Christ, when we
come to the words of our text, those seven, they are the eyes
of the Lord which run to and through the whole earth. The reference here is to the
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit. And we see him
again in this chapter. We see him previously in verses
2 and 3 where we have the seven pipes and the seven lamps. When the angel comes to Zechariah,
he says, what's this sound? and Zechariah says I've looked
and behold a candlestick all of gold with a bowl upon the
top of it and the seven lamps thereon and seven pipes to the
seven lamps which are upon the top thereof and two olive trees
by it one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon
the left side thereof as we have the seven eyes so we have also
the seven lamps and the seven pipes And all of this
is speaking of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as I trust we'll
presently see as we come more particularly to our text. But
we not only have the Spirit in the seven eyes of the Lord, and
the seven lamps and the seven pipes, but we also have mention
of the two olive trees there in verse 3. and then again at
the end of the chapter remember and the prophet again asks of
the angel what are these two olive trees upon the right side
of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof and I asked
again and said unto him what be these two olive branches which
through the two golden pipes emptied the golden oil out of
themselves and he answered me and said knowest thou not what
these be And I said, No, my Lord. Then said he, These are the two
anointed ones that stand by the Lord of the whole earth. But what are we to make of these
anointed ones, these two, standing by the Lord of the whole earth? Well, these refer to Christ in
his two offices as that one who is both the king and the priest. He's also the prophet, of course.
There's a threefold office of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
Covenant, but in particular here we see these two offices being
spoken of where he is the king and he is the priest. As I've said, historically, he's
a rubber bull, he's the prince. and Joshua is the priest. And we know there was a distinction
between all the offices in the Old Testament and one was not
to intrude out of one office into another. Uzziah the king
did that very thing. He took upon him the priestly
function of making sacrifice and he struck down with leprosy
because he presumed to do what he should not have done. He was
the king, he was the prince. He was not the priest. The offices
are quite distinctive throughout the Old Testament. None but the
sons of Aaron are to serve in the priestly office and they
belong to the tribe of Levi. But there is another in the Old
Testament that we read of that mysterious character Melchizedek. And he is a priest, but he's
also king in Salem. And he is that one, of course,
who, as it were, foreshadows the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's
Christ who is here, set before us again by this reference to
the two olive branches. It's Christ in his offices as
the as the king and as the priest. These are the
two anointed ones. Christ is that one who is truly
the anointed. The very name Christ reminds
us of that. Standing by the Lord of the whole
earth, how he is that one who constantly ministers grace, and
how does he minister grace? He ministers that grace by and
through the work of the Holy Spirit. And so we have the seven pipes,
the seven lamps, the seven eyes, the spirit, but all of this ministry
coming by and through these two anointed ones. Well, let us come
to look more particularly at what's stated here in the words
that I read for a text. Those seven, they are the eyes
of the Lord which run to and through the whole earth. And first of all to say something
with regards to God, the Holy Spirit, the third person in the
Trinity who is represented by this particular figure. And we
have to recognize that whilst Christ is in this chapter, as
Christ is in all the scriptures, so also here we are directed
to the necessity of that ministry of God, the Holy Spirit. And
how is it that I'm so definite in asserting that the reference
here in our text to the seven eyes of the Lord has to do with
the Holy Spirit? Well, the reason for that is
found, not surprisingly, in the New Testament. because as we've
said many a time, we can only rightly understand the Old Testament
Scriptures in the fullness of that revelation that we have
in the New Testament. We have to read our Bibles, as
it were, from the end to the beginning. We read from the New
Testament back into the Old Testament. And remember what we're told
in the very last book of scripture there in Revelation chapter 5
and verse 6. Seven eyes, we're told, which
are the seven spirits of God. Seven eyes which are the seven
spirits of God and Revelation really is full of so much detail
that is taken out of the Old Testament. John was familiar
with the Old Testament Scriptures. And John's writing under the
inspiration of the Spirit and he tells us there in Revelation
5-6 that the seven eyes are the seven spirits of God. John addresses
himself in the Revelation to the seven churches. And as John
addresses himself to the churches, so he sends greetings. Doesn't
Paul do this when he writes his epistles to various churches?
He normally begins by declaring a word of greeting to that particular
church. And John does the same. In the
opening chapter, Revelation 1-4, John to the seven churches retires
in Asia. grace be unto you and peace from
him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which
are before his throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful
witness and the first begotten of the dead and the princes of
the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion
for ever and ever. Amen. That's his word of greeting,
and it's a Trinitarian greeting. It's sent in the name of Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. From him which is and which was,
and which is to come, speaking of the Father, and from the seven
spirits which are before his throne, the Holy Ghost, and from
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten
of the dead, that is God the Son, God manifest in the flesh. So the seven spirits, which he speaks of again, remembering
Revelation 5, 6, They are represented by the seven
eyes. So we have the authority of the
New Testament Scriptures with regards to how we can identify
what is being spoken of here in Zechariah. Those seven, they
are the eyes of the Lord, the spirits of the Lord, which run
to and through the whole earth. Now, I suppose you scarce need
me to remind you that there are not seven Holy Spirits. There
is one Holy Spirit, one Holy Ghost. But seven, of course,
in Scripture is the number of perfection. Right from the beginning
God creates in six days, the seventh day God looks upon His
works of creation and pronounces it to be very good. It's a perfect
work. And certainly in the book of
the Revelation we have symbolic numbers constantly. And the symbolic
numbers here The number 7 suggests the idea of the perfect work. So it's the perfect work of the
Holy Spirit. And who is the one with whom the Spirit is associated? He's associated with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Again in Revelation in that fifth chapter in the
sixth verse we read of a lamb having seven eyes and then the
seven eyes are the seven spirits of God in all the earth a lamb now he
is very much the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ that's his
ministry it's the outworking of the covenant really that we
have to think of who is the one who sends the Holy Ghost. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ there on the day of Pentecost. Being by
the right hand of God exalted, says Peter, having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He has shed forth
this which ye now see and hear. Or there was that glorious coming
in state of the Spirit after Christ had completed all of His
work. After He had made the great sin-atoning
sacrifice, risen again from the dead and ascended on high. They
were to continue there in Jerusalem until the promise of the Father
came upon them. And that promise came from the
Father and came by and through God the Son. Back in John 7.39
we're told the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was
not yet glorified. Oh, he was there in the Old Testament. He's here in this chapter in
Zechariah, the Holy Ghost. But there was to be that glorious
coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, when Christ was
glorified. And when the Spirit is given,
to whom is it that God grants this best of all donations? He is given to sinners. Christ
ascended on high. In the language of Psalm 68,
He received gifts for men, yea, for the rebellious also. And what is that gift? That gift
is principally the gift of the Holy Spirit. And the Lord encourages
His disciples that they should ask God for the Spirit. If ye,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children,
how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to
them that ask? All the Father delights to give,
and that gift comes by and through Him who is the only Mediator,
even the Lord Jesus Christ. And what are the marks? What
are the marks of that ministry of the Holy Spirit when He comes? Well, are we not reminded later
in this book of Zechariah the language that we have there in
chapter 12 and verse 10? The promise is this, I will pour
upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem
the Spirit of grace. and supplications, and they shall
look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness
for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn." And are we
not there reminded of something of what that ministry of the
Spirit is when He comes? He comes very much, as we've
said, as the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the Spirit
constantly do? He directs. He directs sinners
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Back in chapter 3 and verse 9
we're told, "...upon one stone shall be seven eyes." Here in chapter 3, 9, "...upon
one stone shall be seven eyes. What is the stone? Well, the stone which the builders
disallowed, Peter says, has now become the headstone of the corner.
What is that stone? Disallowed, indeed, of men. Rejected by the builders, as
it were. Well, it's Christ. Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone. as Paul says there in Ephesians
2 too. And the seven eyes are always
upon that one stone. The peculiar ministry of the
Spirit is to direct sinners to Christ. And the Lord speaks of that ministry,
we've said it many a time there in John 16, He shall not speak
of Himself, says Christ. though he is God, though he is
the third person in the Triniton. He is equal to the Father, he
is equal to the Son, but how self-effacing he is. He doesn't
come to speak of himself, says Christ, he comes to take of mine,
he comes to show my things to men. He shall not speak of himself,
he shall testify of me. Oh, that's his ministry. We know
how it's all there in the outworking of that great covenant of grace.
In that covenant the Son comes to serve the Father. He is the
servant of the Father. His will is to do that work that
the Father has given Him to do. And as the Son serves the Father,
so the Spirit comes to serve the Son. and he directs always to the
Lord Jesus Christ. The seven eyes upon one stone. And there in John 19.37 we read
these words. Another scripture says, They
shall look on him whom they have pierced. And that reminds us again of
those words that we just read here in chapter 12 and verse
10. The pouring out of the Spirit upon the house of David, the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. And what do we see of his ministry
there in those words of that 10th verse? He comes, he's poured out, and
the consequence they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced,
it says, and they shall mourn for him as one mourner for his
only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness
for his firstborn. Oh, he comes as a spirit of penitence. He comes to work real conviction
of sin into the souls of men and women. That's his ministry. When He has come, He reproves
the world, says Christ, or convinces the world of sin, of righteousness,
and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Of righteousness, because I go
to the Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because
the Prince of this world is judged. Or it comes to work conviction
in the soul. It comes to make the sinner sad. But it's not just a ministry
of of conviction he comes also to break hard hearts it's not
just legal convictions it's that godly sorrow that worketh
repentance to salvation not to be repented of it's not just
a matter of convincing the sinner from the Holy Lord of God it's
directing the sinner to the awful sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ looking upon me whom they have pierced mourning for him
as one mourners for an only son or for a firstborn child he comes
in as that spirit of Christ he comes to work that conviction
and that repentance in the soul of the sinner he comes of course
very much as the spirit of prayer that's what we have there in
that twelfth chapter the spirit of grace and of supplications,
it says. That's the blessed work that
he accomplishes. He causes the sinner to cry,
to call, to seek. In the language of Psalm 34 and
verse 15, the eyes of the Lord, we're told, are upon the righteous.
His ears are open to their cry. or the Lord's eyes, you see.
They're upon the righteous, but not only his eyes, his ears.
His ears are open, he hears their cry. These are those seven, the
eyes of the Lord, running to and fro through the whole earth,
and how he helps them, and how, of course, we see how the Apostle
speaks of that gracious ministry of the Spirit in the language
of Romans 8, 26 and 27. and He helps our infirmities
and He makes intercession for us with those groanings that
cannot be uttered. And we're assured that He makes
intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And now William
Gadsby clearly understood the significance of it all. We sang
it just now in our opening hymn. What real prayer is, it's indicted. It's indicted by the Spirit of
God Himself. The form of words may please
a sinner dead in sin, but quickened sinners want to pray as prompted
from within. The Holy Ghost indicts all real
vital prayer and prayer indicted by the Lord. The Lord will surely
hear. Now these hymn writers like William
Gadsby, they were in the secret clearly, they knew what that
ministry of the Spirit was. Not only Gadsby, we see it again
in a man like Berridge, when he speaks of true worship in
terms of those sighs. For thee my soul would cry and
send a laboring groan, for thee my heart would sigh, he says,
and make a pensive moan. That's the ministry of the Spirit.
And sometimes maybe we feel our prayers are such poor, pathetic
things. You know, we're not to despise
the day of small things. Even with regards to ourselves,
if there's something of the Spirit of God working in our hearts,
and we have those desires and we can't really give vent to
them, we can't find words adequate to express what we really desire,
we're not to despise that. Who hath despised the day of
small things? It says here in the text, the
beginning of the verse. Who hath despised the day of
small things? For they shall rejoice and shall
see the plummet in the hand of the rubber bull with those seven. They are the eyes of the Lord
which run to and through the whole earth. We have that word
in Job 8, 7. Though thy beginning was small,
thy latter end shall greatly increase. We are not to despise
small things, our sighs, and our cries, and our groanings,
and our poor stutterings, our broken sentences. When we come
and try to pray to the Lord God Himself, there's one in heaven
who takes those poor breathings, and presents them and they prevail
even in God's high courts. And that's what we have to learn,
isn't it? What does it say here in the chapter, verse 6? Not
by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of
hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before the rubble thou
shalt become a plain, And He shall bring forth a headstone
thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, Grace, unto it. Whatever the mountains are that
seem to stand in our way, our unbelief, our pride, the multitude
of our sins, our lust, all that we are are sinners, all these
seem to stand in the way, but the Spirit will overcome all
these things. The Spirit of Grace the spirit
of supplications, where sin abounds, grace doth so much more abound. All the shoutings are grace,
grace unto it. God is able, isn't he, to do
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. That's
a ministry of the Spirit then that's being spoken of, and it's
a perfect work. It's those seven. They are the
eyes of the Lord which want to and throw through the whole earth. But this figure that we have,
this reference to the eyes, the eyes of the Lord, does it not
remind us how God is that one who is really omniscient and
omnipresent? He knows all things. and he sees
all things, and he's in all places. Isn't the 139th Psalm really
a celebration of that fact? When we come to tell God in our
prayers, any matter, it's not that God is ignorant, but only
loves to hear our poor prayers. These are the eyes of the Lord,
it says, which run to and throw through the whole earth. Again,
in Proverbs 15, 3, the eyes of the Lord, it says, are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good. God sees everything. He beholds everything. And remember,
we've already referred to the language of Revelation 5, 6,
the Lamb having seven eyes, it says. The Lamb having seven eyes. Again in the opening chapter
of the Revelation where John is favoured with that remarkable
vision of the glorified Christ we have the description and amongst
those things that we're told concerning Christ glorified,
his eyes says John were as a flame of fire those burning, those
piercing eyes all-seeing, all-searching, He sees, He knows our secret
thoughts, our affections, He knows everything, beholding the
evil and the good. It's the Lord Jesus, the Lamb,
having seven eyes, and here we have it, the rubber ball, it
says, with those seven. and the rubber bull as we've
said is but a type of the Lord Jesus Christ what does Christ
do? well he watches over his word
he watches over his word constantly he watches over his word because
he will fulfill his word for all the promises of God in him
are yea and in him are men so as he watches over that word
He's the one who also will perfect that work that He has promised
here in His Word. Well this is the God that we
have to do with. What does it say? There at the
beginning of verse 9, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation
of this house. His hand shall also finish it.
The Lord's works cannot be aborted. Paul says to the Philippians,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. All those eyes you see, those
seven, labyrinth to and fro, throughout the whole earth. And
remember the number, it's the number of perfection. God's works
are perfect. God the Lord doesn't make any
mistake. We look at our lives and our
lives are full of mistakes, full of sins. And yet, how the Lord
overrules all things and assures us that all things work together
for good. To them who know God, to them
who are the caught, according to His purpose. And so we come
to a chapter such as this, a strange chapter in many ways. But can
we not discern something of Christ and the blessed Spirit of Christ
in these words? It's the rubber ball with those
seven. They are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and through,
through the whole earth. May the Lord grant His blessing
on His Word. Let us, as we turn from the word
and come to pray, let us first of all sing the hymn 29, the
tune Pembroke, 719. Descend from heaven celestial
dove, with flames of pure seraphic love, our rubbish breast inspire. Fountain of joy, blessed paraclete,
Of course that's the word that we're familiar with in those
chapters in John which is translated Comforter. Comforter. Warm our cold hearts with heavenly
heat and set our souls on fire. In number 29, June 719.