Zechariah 4:6 is one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. What most people never consider is that these words were spoken to a governor overseeing a massive construction project.

The backstory

In 597 BC, the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and took many of its leaders and craftsmen as captives to Babylon. In 586 B.C. the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple and took captive many more of its people. This is what’s often referred to as the Babylonian Captivity.

Thereafter, the Persians conquered the Babylonians, and in 538 B.C., Persian ruler, Cyrus the Great, allowed the Jews to return to Israel. Zerubbabel led the return. He would become the governor of Judah, and Joshua was its priest.

Upon return, Zerubbabel oversaw the laying of the temple foundation. The foundation was completed in 536 B.C. But in the face of opposition and discouragement, the work stopped.

Then in 520 B.C., the Lord commanded Zerubbabel and Joshua to complete the rebuilding of the temple (Haggai 1:7-8, 12-14; Ezra 5:1-2).  

As governor, Zerubbabel was to oversee this construction project, which would be carried out under the watchful eyes of the Persians in the midst of a city that still lay in ruins. It would require exceptional leadership, wisdom, and project management skills. Zerubbabel had already tried once, sixteen years earlier, and had failed. There was no reason to believe this time would be any different.

The vision

That brings us to Zechariah and chapter 4. The Lord gives Zechariah a vision of a gold lampstand with a bowl and seven lamps on top (4:2-3). On two sides of the lampstand are olive trees, each with a branch functioning as a pipe to fill the bowl with oil to light the lamps (4:11-12).  

The olive trees are “the anointed ones” (4:14), most likely Zerubbabel and Joshua (3:1-7), and the oil is the anointing, the power of God.

After receiving the vision, Zechariah asks the angel what the vision means. Then God gives the central meaning of the vision:

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.” — Zechariah 4:6

Then three verses later, this from the Lord:

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. — Zechariah 4:9

Working empowered by the Holy Spirit

The Lord had called Zerubbabel. Now He was promising to empower him. This didn’t mean Zerubbabel played no part in what was going to happen. 

The Lord had instructed Zerubbabel to work (Haggai 2:4-5). This was a joint venture, not unlike the one the Apostle Paul would describe 500 years later to the Philippians when he was describing the process of sanctification:

So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure —  Philippians 2:12-13 

Zerubbabel was to work and the Lord would work through him. And the result would be something Zerubbabel could never have achieved in his own strength. This is what it means to work empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 No secular and sacred

I’ve written much here about the dangers of dualism when it comes to work. I’ve argued that all called work is sacred, regardless of whether it is so-called secular work or ministry work. 

Here, Joshua is the priest, and Zerubbabel is a governor. Both are anointed, and both are mediators for God’s work on the earth. 

 Jesus is both King (Revelation 19:16) and Priest (Hebrews 4:14)—the Branch whom Zechariah describes as one who “will sit and rule on His throne” and “will be a priest on His throne” (Zech. 6:12–13). The division between so-called secular and sacred callings is nonexistence in the callings of Joshua and Zerubbabel, and it is destroyed in the Person of Jesus.

The takeaway

But here is the takeaway for us. 

Zerubbabel was not in a ministry position; he was a governor. And when God speaks to this governor about accomplishing his work, He says: “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit.”

This is noteworthy for the Old Testament because God’s Spirit was poured out selectively. In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit becomes available to all Jesus-followers to guide and empower them in all things.

Even with work things, like Zerubbabel. GS