This is truly the day for the Living Word, for every seal to be taken off His Book, for every barrier to our understanding to be lifted. It is a day for our faith to be aggressive, for it to be demanding and insistent. It is a day for us to believe, to expect and anticipate, and to refuse disappointment.
Let us examine Zechariah chapters 3 and 4. These two chapters deal with two men who lived in the days when the Temple at Jerusalem was being rebuilt, during the time of restoration after the Babylonian exile. Zechariah 3 deals with Joshua, the high priest at that time; and Zechariah 4 concerns Zerubbabel, who was the civil head, the governor. What is represented by these chapters? What do these two men represent?
The Scriptures give us clear proof concerning this. In Revelation 11:3–4, we read: “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses …” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. This is a direct reference to Zechariah 4:2–3, 11–14, which speaks of Zerubbabel. And the third chapter of Zechariah says of Joshua and the men who stood before him, “Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you-indeed they are men who are a symbol …” Verse 8. These men were a symbol (sign).
Here then are two scriptural proofs of the true significance of these men. When we talk about Joshua, we are not talking about a historical character only; we are also talking about a man who stood out as a symbol, a sign, an illustration of a company of people that would eventually come forth. Zerubbabel is also mentioned in the fourth chapter, where the reference to the two olive trees and the two lampstands is; and this is what the book of Revelation interprets as the two-witness company that is to come forth before the Lord in the earth (Revelation 11:3–4).
Realize that what is said about Joshua and Zerubbabel does not describe two individual men; it is speaking about a company of people who will come forth in this day. We must read these passages as though they were speaking directly to us today, because we are included in this.
Whenever you find this end-time company coming forth, you notice that the people are not progressively raised up by a step-by-step procedure in which they mature and finally come forth. All the members of this company are in a category which we could call “instant prophets.” God is going to have an instant Kingdom, instant people. You must believe this. Zechariah 3:9 says, “I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.” The book of Isaiah says that a nation will be born in a day, that a kingdom will come forth in a day (Isaiah 66:8). Also, there will be instant destruction for Babylon in one hour (Revelation 18:10). One hour! You must believe that God can raise up people instantly.
The best wine is the miracle wine (John 2:1–10). The wine served at the wedding feast in Cana was not wine that had taken a long time to ferment.
The servants simply filled up six water pots with water, drew some out, and took it to the headwaiter. Can you imagine how much wine that was? Each water pot held thirty gallons, so that made 720 quarts, or 900 fifths, of wine. That wine was instantly created! It was an instant creation. It did not take a long process of time.
What I am trying to show you is this: We are believing for things to happen, and to happen suddenly. “It is the time to break up the fallow ground,” the prophet Hosea tells us, “until the Lord comes and rains righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). The suddenness of God’s moving upon us will be something that will happen so quickly. Get ready to change, and to change fast. Be expecting! Be anticipating! Things are going to be different for your life. We have to believe this; there is too great a majority of Scriptures about this for us to waver on it.
We do not have enough time to progress and develop gradually by a slow process of growth. But if we are willing to mature, if we are willing to change, if we have faith to change, if we are insistent upon changing, then we will change—and rapidly.
The account of this whole procedure starts unfolding in the third chapter of Zechariah, with Joshua the priest standing before the angel of the Lord, wearing filthy rags. His garb was filthy from head to foot! It indicates the unworthiness of the end-time ministry. And if you look at what God has picked, you see that surely He did not pick the Pharisees, and He did not pick a lot of the religious people, to move forward into the Kingdom. What He has really picked is us.
Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. (That is the devil, always standing there to fight us.) And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?” Zechariah 3:1–2.
Joshua was a brand that had been plucked out of the fire so that he would not burn up. Like Joshua, we were as good as judged, we were as good as lost; but the Lord plucked us from the fire. This was the motto that John Wesley had inscribed on his stationery: “a brand plucked from the burning.” When he was quite young his family’s house burned down, and he was pulled from the fire. He narrowly escaped; therefore he called himself “a brand plucked from the burning.” And we are that too.
Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments and standing before the angel. And he spoke and said to those who were standing before him saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Zechariah 13:3–4a.
The angel said to the company that was there, “You take the filthy garments off him.” This is similar to what we read in John II, when Lazarus was raised from the dead and the wrappings of death were upon him. Jesus said to those who were there, “Loose him. Unwrap him, and let him go” (John 11:43–44). Ministries will come forth who are chosen of God, but a great deal of the ministry that helps them be freed from the filthiness comes from their brothers and sisters round about them.
Always remember that the Body ministry comes into action to see a ministry prepared and purified. If there is an apostle, there will also be many people interceding for him. They will be helping him-helping him out of his limitations, helping him into the ministry.
And he spoke and said to those who were standing before him saying, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have taken your iniquity away from you and will clothe you with festal robes.” Then I said (remember that Zechariah was watching all of this, so it was Zechariah who spoke here), “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by. Zechariah 3:4–5.
The angel of the Lord did not clothe him; it was all those others who were around who did the whole thing. Remember that this is happing in the spirit realm of God’s kingdom first, then it manifests in the natural realm. This is fantastic.
This is one of the reasons why there will be young churches come forth so beautifully. We do not send someone who is qualified to pastor a church; instead, someone starts out who has a burden to have a Bible class. His education for pastoring is probably very inadequate by denominational standards, but he goes out and the people start ministering to him and praying for him and helping him; and before long we have a very qualified ministry moving along in the Lord. What produces that? They help each other. They minister to each other. This is the way it happens.
And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘If you will walk in My ways, and if you will perform My service, then you will also govern My house and also have charge of My courts, and I will grant you free access among these who are standing here’ ” (meaning the whole company). Zechariah 3:6–7.
There was to be a liberation to the ministry of Joshua if he would be obedient and would walk with the Lord. He was to be put in the place of authority. In each case authority was ministered—both to him and to Zerubbabel.
“ ‘Now listen, Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you (all these who helped to get him into the new clothes and to put the turban on his head) —indeed they are men who are a symbol, for behold, I am going to bring in My Servant the Branch.’ ” Verse 8.
“My Servant the Branch”—this is a strange title that is given to Christ. It is one of the names of the Messiah, and it recurs a number of times in the Scriptures (Isaiah 4:2; 11:1; Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15; Zechariah 6:12). “I am going to bring in My Servant the Branch” (Zechariah 3:8).
Zechariah was quite free to predict some other things that would take place. Chapter 12 gives us one example.
“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me, whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.” Zechariah 12:10.
This is a prediction of how the people are going to behold the Lord, and they will see the One whom they have pierced; and they will weep over Him because the Lord has opened up a fountain of grace.
“In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity.” Zechariah 13:1.
Zechariah had a real vision of what Christ is to be to take away the sin and to remove the iniquity from the house of God. In the vision in Zechariah 3, the Lord told him, “You and your friends with you are a symbol (sign), for behold, I am going to bring in My Servant the Branch.”
Keep in mind the fact that Joshua the high priest and his friends represent a company of believers in the end time; and as they walk, they are going to “bring in My Servant the Branch.” In other words, they are going to bring in the presence of the Lord. It is part of the Parousia that this is talking about-when Christ is going to be glorified in His saints (II Thessalonians 1:10). They will bring in the ministry of Christ to the people of God.
“ ‘For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of hosts, ‘and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.’ ” Zechariah 3:9.
Once again we see the instant thing that God is going to do in the end time. Time is no longer to be a factor in what God accomplishes. Time is not to be a factor. The faith-factor is what we must consider, and this is very crucial. It is easy to believe for something to happen in the “sweet by-and-by.”
It is easy to say, “The Lord is going to work it out, eventually, in my life.” But it is a different matter for you to look up to the Lord today, right now, and to say: “God is going to do this for me right now. No more delay—He is going to do it right now. I am going to change, totally and completely. I am going to see eradicated from my nature things that have been bred into me from Adam on down. I am going to see things broken. I no longer accept the legality or effectiveness of any limitations that are not divinely imposed upon me. I am going to believe that the promises of God, with unlimited access to God and to His grace, are really mine; and I am going to have them right here, right now.”
To believe this becomes a tremendous thing. You really strive to have that kind of faith. That is the faith which will supersede the time element in bringing things forth for you.
Through appropriation or impartation, the time will come when we can impart to our little children superior capacities and abilities. I think a great deal is lost with little children when we bring them to a certain age and then we teach them that they must follow a memorizing process in order to learn, instead of having an impartation. If we could open their spirits to just believe and receive, how much could be readily conveyed to them!
With what faith we ought to believe to change things! Believe to change things!
“And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day. In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ” Zechariah 3:9b–10.
Zechariah 4 presents another man—Zerubbabel. Joshua and Zerubbabel represent the priesthood and the governing rule. When we come to the end time, we have a kingdom of priests. We are priests and we are His Kingdom (Revelation 1:6); we are a warring priesthood.
And He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Revelation 1:6.
The priesthood takes on a different aspect completely. When David was fleeing from Saul, before he came forth into his kingdom, he went into the house of God and took the sword of Goliath which was stored there. He took it because he needed it (I Samuel 21:8–9). God is bringing us to a similar act of appropriation today. We, too, are coming to the house of God and taking the sword. The sword that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord will be our weapon, a Living Word that comes from the Lord.
And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:13, 15–16.
In the end time we have both the priesthood and the reigning kings. Christ is the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords. And we are the kings and the lords that are spoken of in the imagery of Joshua and Zerubbabel.
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned, and roused me as a man who is awakened from his sleep. And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” Then I answered and said to the angel who was speaking with me saying, “What are these, my lord?” So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” And I answered the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” So he answered me saying, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:1–5, 11–14.
Again this passage brings us back to Joshua and Zerubbabel, but we do not really see what it is talking about until we go back to Revelation 11:3–4, which we read at the beginning of the message. That passage refers to the two witnesses who come forth in the end time, and ties back to Joshua and Zerubbabel by saying that these are the two olive trees and the lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. Revelation 1 records John’s vision in which he saw the seven golden lampstands and Christ moving up and down in the midst of them (verses 12–13). Zechariah says, “These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth” (Zechariah 4:14). In the imagery of Revelation, the Lord of the whole earth is walking in the midst of these lampstands. Revelation 1:20 says that these seven lamps are the seven churches, bringing it back again to the witness of the churches.
The imagery and the picture in Zechariah 4 is strange. Why are there two olive trees and then the golden lampstands with pipes going from the trees to the lampstands? Normally things do not work that way. Normally the olives grow on the trees until they are ripe; then the olives are pressed and the olive oil is taken home and put into lamps. Finally the lamps are lit and the oil burns. A similar process takes place with grapes. You do not normally produce wine by putting water into a barrel and then pouring it out and serving it (John 2:3–10). First you have to grow the grapes; then you crush the grapes, ferment the juice and season it for a time, and then you serve the wine.
But we are dealing now with instant things—things which will come forth in one day. The imagery is still here. It is not going to take a long time to see all of this working. We just make a pipe that goes from the olive tree directly to the lampstand, and a miracle flow occurs.
You say, “But that wouldn’t work. You could not burn the sap.” That is absolutely right—but this time it works. Instead of first producing the olives, then the olives producing the oil and the oil being put in the lamps, we have something coming from the tree right to the lamps.
What does this imagery indicate? When we come to the end-time ministry, we are bypassing all the elements of time and process to come into instant ministry, instant anointing, instant channeling of divine omnipotence and omniscience right through our lives, to the glory of God.
Zechariah 4:5–7: So the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” Then he answered and said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. ‘What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring forth the top stone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
What does this passage indicate? Nothing will stand before the anointing of the Lord that is going to rest upon Zerubbabel. Nothing will stand. As Zerubbabel stands before the mountains, they become a plain. There is instant release. There is instant cleansing for Joshua. The iniquity is taken away from the land in one day. There is an instant flow directly from the Lord, right into our lives. “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.” There will be unlimited channeling of the Spirit of God through our life.
Also the word of the Lord came to me saying, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.” Verses 8–9.
That is just the way it will be. Because the time element in normal process is bypassed, no longer will a man or woman live out their life only to start something that they cannot finish (Isaiah 65:17–25). He will not start something that he cannot complete. There may be many things that we think we cannot do, but God grant that the spirit of Zerubbabel come upon us!
This is the spirit that God blesses us with. He says, “You started this, and you are going to finish it. You have laid the foundation, and you are going to walk in the completed thing.” This is what we ought to believe for in this day.
It would be so easy for us to miss God, because our faith does not anticipate this timeless quality of fulfillment. God does not intend for things to take as long as they do—not at this period in time. We believe for impasses to be broken. We believe for things to come forth.
Delay is to no longer be, according to Revelation 10:5–6. The angel swore, “There shall be delay no longer!” Things are not going to be held up, and they are not going to be held back; we are going to press into every one of them.
Are you disgusted with how long it takes you to appropriate a promise of God and to change? Within every one of us ought to be something which cries out, “Lord, You have broken the time barrier for us, and You have enabled us to come before You and say, ‘Yes, I want to change! I want something to happen!’ ” Time is doing nothing but killing us. Let’s kill time! Forget the way people usually use that term. Drop it out of your thinking. Let’s see that God has something else for us.
Let’s take a closer look at Revelation 11. There the Lord says, “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. This goes back to Zechariah 4. Revelation says that these two companies are going to come forth. And if any one desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies (it is always out of the mouth that this comes); and if any one would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. Verses 3–5.
There can be no other way in which God will deal with the enemy in the end time except through the living fire—the Word that comes from the mouth of His people.
Even on the natural plane, God gives many of His creatures a weapon. He gives some horns; He gives other animals sharp teeth; He gives still other animals strong legs for kicking or running. And for us, our greatest defense is the Word, and our faith in it, our becoming it, our speaking it. We have the shield of faith, and the Word of God is the sword (Ephesians 6:16–17; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 19:13, 15).
These (the two witnesses) have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying (who would that be? Elijah?); and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood (Moses?), and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they (Elijah and Moses) desire. Revelation 11:6.
Does this passage mean that these men are coming back to live among us again, or does it mean that these are companies of people who will be coming forth? We have Joshua and Zerubbabel, and we have Elijah and Moses.
Zechariah 3:8 indicates that these men are for a symbol(sign); they are an indication of a company that would come. And I do not doubt that the spirits of these men will accompany those companies to such an extent that we will hardly be able to distinguish what the companies do from what the men were able to do back in Old Testament times.
And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three days and a half, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And after the three days and a half the breath of life, from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquakes and a tenth of the city fell. Revelation 11:7–13a.
The book of Revelation is very mystically written; but when you look for these things to happen, you must realize how they will happen. There should be no question about these things happening literally. You ask, “Will they happen on the natural plane or on the spiritual plane?” They will happen literally, but also on the spiritual plane first. If you are looking for this which is spoken of in Revelation 11 to happen literally on a natural plane. There could be too many things that would prevent it. Of course, television or you-tube would probably ensure that one detail happened: Through a satellite a television picture would probably be relayed to the whole world, and all the peoples and tongues could look at the dead bodies and not let them be buried—if there were just two men.
But I do not think it is just two men. When you get to the spirit of this and you realize that God is dealing with companies instead of with individuals, you see that that anointing rests upon whole companies of people.
The anointing of Samuel will rest upon the whole School of Prophets that comes forth. There is an anointing which can no longer be limited to one person.
In the future we will not look for a lot of prophets, or a lot of apostles; instead, we will look for just one anointing, one Apostle—the Apostle of the Kingdom, “Jesus the Apostle and High Priest” (Hebrews 3:1). And we will find many individuals participating in that Apostleship, because it is in the oneness that God now deals with things. It is a collective manifestation of one Apostleship.
That is why we speak about the apostolic company. Even when people begin to pray for me, when I respond I always talk about the apostolic company, because I know that the anointing is not resting over me as an individual. I am only part of that company.
My individuality is lost in that Apostleship of Christ Jesus, as yours will be too. We will walk as apostles and prophets; but as we reach into it, it will not be a distinctive thing so much as it will be a participating thing in an apostolic company.
The whole teaching of the Scriptures about the end time is that we are dealing with companies. Aren’t you glad that the Lord has included you? He swallows you up in this thing that He is doing. You become swallowed up in it. It is one of the most amazing things that any of us have ever seen.
Revelation 11:1–2: And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff; and someone said, “Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it. And leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”
In other words, the outer court, where certain restricted groups were once allowed, is left off the final temple. This makes you realize that this is not talking about a natural temple. You either dwell in the presence of the Lord, or you do not. In the temple that God is building there is no outer court at all. The one speaking said, “Leave off the outer court, because that is given to the nations.
They have defiled it.” This is referring to the religious world. They are the ones who will rejoice over every persecution. This is why he said, “When you begin to measure the real temple of God, leave the outer court off.” Only the people who are in the holy place or in the Holy of Holies are in the temple of God.
We are part of a company. Realize that you are a part of that company. Don’t say, “I’m not qualified,” because the Lord can get those filthy garments off of you right now.
Don’t say, “It will never be done.” It can happen overnight. The Lord can rain righteousness on you (Hosea 10:12). He can move on you instantly. All you have to do is to believe that you are chosen of God and begin to appropriate what He has for you. Reach into that instant change.
The best wine is the miracle wine at the last, not the wine of a long process. God can bring forth His people instantly.
Don’t be resigned to delay; be determined to see change.
I will not accept any limitations that God did not impose on me; I accept as valid the promises of His provision for me now.
Why do we not have God’s answers to our prayers “while we are yet speaking”? Could it be that we believe in delays more than we do His Word?