How Am I Supposed to do That?

Scripture Reading: Zechariah 4:6

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts…”

Zechariah and Haggai were the two post-exilic prophets that God used to stir the people to complete the work of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. Haggai was older. The respect that came with his years of faithful ministry made him a credible voice to the people who had returned from Babylon. Zechariah was a young prophet. The first section of his book is filled with a series of visions, all of them received in one night.

Both Zechariah and Haggai were ministering during the time of Zerubbabel, and he became an important focal point for much of what they said. Zerubbabel was the leader of the remnant people. He was a Davidic king, having descended from the line of David. The verse I quoted above speaks directly to him. He was one of the two men upon whom the responsibility of getting the temple project done fell. The other being Joshua the high priest at the time.

In verse seven the interpreting angel who was speaking in verse six continues, declaring, “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!”  Whether this mountain represented the enormity of the task of rebuilding the temple or the obstacles in the way of doing it isn’t clear. It might be that both were in mind. Either way, the idea is that the task Zerubbabel was to complete and the obstacles in the way of finishing the work were of such a magnitude that it seemed impossible that he would be up for the task.

This is where the word of encouragement in verse six comes into play. J. Vernon McGee paraphrased that verse this way: “Not by brawn or by brains.” Others “might” as meaning great armies and “power” as referring to individual strength, whether that be intellectual prowess or political power.

Zerubbabel was being told that neither human strength or human cunning was up to the job. Instead, the work of rebuilding the temple would be accomplished because the Holy Spirit would see to it. When it was complete, when the top stone was set in place, it would be so obvious that it was a “God thing” that the people would cry, “Grace, grace to it.”

This did not mean that Zerubbabel had nothing to do. He would need to organize labor. Materials would need to be gathered. Political issues would arise and would need to be resolved. Enemies would rise up and try to put a stop to the work. He would have to navigate and solve all of these issues.

It was not that God was telling Zerubbabel to go sit on his hands and by some miracle, a temple would appear out of nowhere. No. Zerubbabel was being told that the task was like a giant mountain, but that mountain would become a plain before him, not because of his intellect or strength, but because of the Spirit of the Lord. In other words, Zerubbabel was being told to work in faith.

The temple of God, His Church, is being built stone by stone. It will be a temple made of people from every tribe, language, nation, and people group in the world. Imagine being one of the first disciples and being told that they were commissioned to go and preach the gospel to every nation. They had to wonder how they, with extremely limited resources, could do that.

This is the answer: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

This is the answer for everything and anything God has called us to do. How can we be godly husbands and wives? How can we be wise church leaders? How can we courageously and uncompromisingly walk with God in this world? How can we be a light of Christ to others?

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

It is not that we do nothing and God does everything apart from us. Instead, we work and labor in faith, believing and trusting that the work will get done, not because we are clever or because we are strong, but because we have the Holy Spirit working in and through our work.

This would be a good verse to memorize and quote often. Maybe every morning as you head out you could say it to yourself. Maybe every time you start some work God has assigned for you to do you should say, “Not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit.”