Know You Not What These Be? - Zechariah 4:5

In the book of Zechariah, Zechariah shared how the angel asked him, “What see you? 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. So I answered and spoke to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?”, and in chapter four and verse five of Zechariah, Zechariah shared how the angel asked him, “know you not what these be?”where we read,

Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, 

Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. 

The verse reads, “Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, ...” Zechariah began with the words, “then the angel” or “at that time the spiritual messenger and envoy” “that talked with me” which means “who made declarations, spoke and conversed with me, Zechariah” “answered and said unto me” or “began to speak, responded and uttered, declared and proclaimed to me, Zechariah”, the following words. Zechariah shared how the “angel” who spoke to him began to respond with the following words. 

The verse goes on to say, “... Know you not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.” Zechariah continued with the words, “know you not” or “do you, Zechariah, in no way or manner perceive, discern and recognize” “what these be” which means “whatsoever the two olive trees are”? “And I said” or “and I, Zechariah, uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “no, my lord” which means “not in any manner, my master”. Zechariah shared how the “angel” questioned him as to whether he was unaware of what the two olive trees were, and he responded that he did not.

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn through Zechariah how the “angel” responded to his question by asking him a question. Though Zechariah was unaware of what the two olive trees were, he persisted with simply stating that he did not know what they were. The “angel” will reveal what the two olive trees were in our next verses, but for now let us be reminded that Moses wrote, “the secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law” (See Deuteronomy 29:29), and sometimes God will reveal things to us and other times He does not. We may know this for certain, God loves us, and He proved His love to us when He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. When we yield our lives to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put within us a desire to perceive what He knows through His Holy Spirit and to trust Him when the “secret things” belong to Him and Him alone. 

Next time Zechariah shares how Jehovah God says, “not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the LORD of hosts”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".