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Chapter 5
The Two Olive Trees
Copyright 2010 by Raul E. Lopez, MD, MDiv
The first part of this book dealt with the timing of the rapture and a short description of the things which might await humanity during the last seven years before the coming of Christ. The author stressed that one of the principal purposes of prophecy, and especially the book of Revelation is to motivate Christians to prepare. The next step is to determine what must be done to prepare.
We have seen that a time of testing lies before us. We have shown that it seems very likely that Christians will have to go through that time of testing. However, hope is offered that if we prepare for this time of testing we will be victorious through it. In fact, it seems possible that those who are best prepared will not even have to take the test. In the school my children attend, those who have all A's (the highest grade) in all the tests of a given class do not have to take the final. The rest of the book will examine how we can prepare now to skip this test. We will find a hint in the Old Testament prophecy of Zechariah.
The book of Zechariah shares many similarities with the book of Revelation. Four chariots with horses of four different colors are described. These have the same colors as the four horses of Revelation 6. There is also an emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit overcoming the smallness of God's people just as Jesus praised those of Philadelphia who have a little strength (Rev. 3:8). God gave Zechariah a message for the governor of Judah "This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6) and "for who hath despised the day of small things" (Zechariah 4:10). This spirit which takes the place of human power and might is represented in this passage by the oil which flows into the seven branched lamp stand where it burns brightly. "And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all [of] gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his 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." (Zechariah 4:2-3). This is similar to the lamp stand among which the Lord walked (Rev. 2:1) and the depiction of the Holy Spirit as seven flames of fire by John in the book of revelation. "and [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." (Revelation 4:5b). Connected to the lamp stand are two olive trees who represent "the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth" (Zechariah 4:14). Anointed literally means "sons of oil." It seems that in this passage the presence of the Holy Spirit is being mediated by two special individuals.
There is some debate as to the identity of these two individuals. Some think it represents the two post exilic prophets Zechariah and Haggai and by extension the two end time prophets of the book of Revelation. However, the book of Zechariah focuses heavily on the role of Joshua, the high priest at that time, and Zerubbabel, the current governor. It is more natural to assume that these are the two individuals pictured in this passage since these were the two individuals who had the responsibility for restoring the temple worship which is one of the principal themes of the book of Zechariah. These two individuals were the heads of the "church" and the state. The high priesthood and the monarchy were two of three offices whose occupants were anointed.
These are also human counterparts of two of the three offices of Jesus Christ. It is appropriate to note that the term Christ means anointed one. The anointing received by the king and the high priest represents a special filling of the Holy Spirit which some of them had. We see this in the case of David, "then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward" (I Samuel 16:13). This passage seems to teach that spirit filled men can mediate an increased presence of the Spirit by the effective use of ecclesiastical and political authority.
In the rest of the book we will see how the churches and the state can be used to protect us during the seventieth week. In order to prepare the church to protect us during the seventieth week we need to strengthen it. We are calling for the founding of a new denomination which will combine the best elements of Fundamentalist Baptists and Reformed Presbyterians. We call this reforming fundamentalism and preserving the things that remain. We will explore some of the strengths of the Christian fundamentalist movement which are worthy of emulation by other churches. We will next suggest some changes which will make this movement more effective.
In the final section, we will see how government can be used to help the church in its task to evangelize the world. One of the most important ways a government can help the church is by making its laws conform themselves as much as possible to the standard contained in the Old Testament. We will analyze the laws of the Old Testament to determine what part of that law is eternal and universal and what part was specific to Israel under the Old Covenant. Since most governments are to one degree or another opposed to the church we need to establish small nations in the form of city states with such righteous governments. In the final section we will discuss how such cities of refuge could be established.
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