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"What are these, my lord?"

Text: Zechariah 4:4

AN UNUSUAL SIGHT

As Zechariah looked carefully at the Vision, he noted something unusual.

“Two olive trees are by it,
one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.
So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying,
‘What are these, my lord?'”
Zechariah 4:3-4

1. Zechariah’s knowledge of the temple

a) Zechariah came from a priestly family.

b) He would thus be familiar with the holy artifacts of the Temple.

2. “Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left”

a) This would be something very new.

b) Zechariah must have tried to understand what the olive tree symbolized.

3. “So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me”

a) Zechariah must have been engaged in his conversation with the teaching angel.

b) The teaching angel must have kept prodding Zechariah to observe and to interpret the significance of the golden lampstand.

c) Zechariah must have been able to answer questions raised by the teaching angel.

4. “What are these, my lord?”

a) Zechariah did not forget that his teacher was an angel.

b) Thus, he maintained a very high regard for the angel.

c) He addressed him as, “my lord”.

i) The word “lord” was a term of great respect and regard.

ii) Zechariah also recognized his limitations as a human in comparison to an angel.

d) He could not figure out the meaning of the two olive trees.

e) At this point, he was wise to ask the teaching angel to explain and to teach him.