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Who/what are the two olive trees in Zechariah 4?
Our theme for this week (4th Week of March 2022) is “the LORD of new beginnings“. Our scripture is Zech 4. During our MagSchool time @Etcetera asked who/what were the two olive trees. Good question. Let’s work on that together:
The angel who talked with me came again, and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I have seen, and behold, a lamp stand all of gold, with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it; there are seven pipes to each of the lamps, which are on the top of it; 3 and two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl, and the other on the left side of it.”
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11 Then I asked him, “What are these two olive trees on the right side of the lamp stand and on the left side of it?”
12 I asked him the second time, “What are these two olive branches, which are beside the two golden spouts, that pour the golden oil out of themselves?”
13 He answered me, “Don’t you know what these are?”
I said, “No, my lord.”
14 Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”
Post replies to this thread with your ideas, explorations and study strategy. Thanks!
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5 Replies
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@Etcetera specifically asked how you research something like this, especially if you don’t yet have vast scriptural knowledge. Here’s a basic process I recommend:
1. First read the text at least twice and highlight any clues in the text itself. Then write down any questions or possible answers you can come up with.
2. Do a scripture search for more clues in scripture, for example, in this case I would search “olive tree” and read all the passages that come up. I’d especially pay attention to the prophetic literature where olive tree is used symbolically. What is it a symbol of? After this search, you can do a search on the internet to see if anyone else has asked the question before.
3. Based on your research, form a hypothesis of what you think it means. Try to figure out a way that this could be translated into something actionable that you could test out in your own life and spiritual practice. If you need help, this is the perfect time to speak to a mentor, coach, of spiritual leader.
4. Once your hypothesis has been tested and confirmed (repeat 3 if it is not), you have an interpretation or answer that you should share with others.
(This process is an application of the [4] Four Layers of Meaning framework.)
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I have spent a long time trying to figure this out and have come up with nothing more than that the two olive trees represent the two anointed ones after looking for both references to the anointed ones and olive trees, I’ve found next to nothing but as I continue to read the bible I’ll keep on looking. And I suppose I’ll have to work on this with others to see what they think.
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Summary the anointed ones may be the witnesses of Reve 11:3-5 or it could refer to
Zerubbabel and Joshua. In Reve, it refers to Zech 4 and calls the two witnesses the two olive trees and the two lampstands as to who the witnesses are, it’s never really mentioned.
I’m going to enclose a document that has some of the research I did as well as links to sites where people hypothesize about who the Witnesses are.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by Etcetera.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 7 months ago by
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Please post your conclusions about the symbolism of the two olive trees. In our conversation, you were saying the Judges 9:7-15 passage gives some insight (talking about olive trees symbolizing the highest level-leader/king), but that Zech 4 and Rev 11 are probably talking about the same two symbolic figures.
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You’re moving into the second part of step 2 in the process: “do a search on the internet to see if anyone else has asked the question before”. The best way to keep track of this is to write a quick summary of any source you think is authoritative or particularly helpful/insightful. A summary should include:
- Author and Title of source with link.
- What they said.
- What it means for the overall question.
- Why you think this is right/helpful/insightful (could include information on what type of authority they are).
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