|
The Two Olive Trees
Footsteps of Messiah
Have you ever encountered something...in Bible study or any area of life...and within a day or two, bam! You run into it again!
Often it is noticeable because it is now in our conscious thought where it wasn't before. In that sense, it's not really a coincidence. Sometimes, though, you know the odds are pretty remote that you'd encounter the same thing twice in such a short period of time. That happened today, so I think this would be a good prophecy insight to share.
The prophecy is Zechariah’s vision of the High Priest Yehoshua and the governor Zerubabbel after the return from exile in Babylon:
-
“Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. 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.” (Zech 4:1-3)
This particular prophecy is the subject of many interpretations, each offering a different possible fulfillment of the prophecy. In this case, we’re looking at its significance through ancient eyes. It is important to have the historical timeline in mind when reading the Prophets. Aside from the proto-prophecy of the Torah which guides all prophecy, the prophets either prophesied before the destruction of the first Temple and the Babylonian exile or afterward. For instance, Ezekiel prophesied before Judah was conquered by Babylon. His vision extends even until the Messianic era, but regardless, the actual lifetime of the prophet is important. Typically, the prophecies will address both: the prophet’s immediate lifetime or very near, and then a future time, often as far as the Messianic kingdom.
In Ezekiel’s lifetime, Judah had fallen into severe apostasy like the Northern Kingdom. The Temple services were conducted by a corrupt priesthood failing in its appointed service. That generation is referred to as “copper, tin, and dross.” Zechariah’s prophecy after the exile in Babylon, however, describes Israel (the lampstand) as pure gold. The Midrash Rabbah (Shir HaShirim to Chapter 4) explains the prophecy of the menorah and two olive trees:
-
“The verse’s plain meaning refers to the Second Temple; however, the Midrash take it to be metaphorically describing Israel in the Messianic era...Ezekiel 22:18 refers to Israel as ‘copper, tin, and dross’, yet Zechariah describes them as pure gold in the Messianic era.”
Zechariah sees a troubled community as pure gold after its return from Babylon. In spite of the filthy garments worn by the high priest, symbolizing the uncleanness of exile in Babylon, he is re-clothed in clean linen garments, symbolizing the purification of Israel and its priesthood.
Like Balaam saw Israel without blemish even though clearly Israel had some sin blemishes in the wilderness, so Judah’s return is seen as a step toward its ultimate purification in the Messianic kingdom. They were seen not as they were, but as they would be, like Father Abraham, justified by faith as they returned until the ultimate circumcision of the heart.
In their present return from the exile (Zechariah's time), Judah was messy and even God-forbid...political? Look at the pattern. Ezra and Nehemiah were up to their eyeballs in messy when the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile. This should sound familiar:
- Marriage to idolatrous spouses and painful divorces
- Political intrigue and accusations instigated and stirred by Arabs
- Terror attacks by Arabs while Jews restored Jerusalem’s walls
- Selfish individualism instead of a willingness to work together to rebuild the Temple for gathering
- Blatant Shabbat and feast-breaking
“Zechariah the prophet said, ‘I saw all of the house of Israel as pure gold.’ and behold-there is a menorah made entirely of gold with its bowl on its head [veh-gulah al rosha], etc. There are two olive trees over it, etc.’ Zechariah’s prophecy is directed at Zerubbabel who lived in the time of the Second Temple and not in Messianic time. The Midrash takes ‘Zerubabbel (v. 6) to be King Messiah, whose progenitor* he was.” (Shir 4§16)
*Substituting the ancestor’s name for a descendant is common in Scripture, such as “my servant David” standing for King Messiah, the offspring of David. It can also be used to describe the Divinely-gifted spirit of a particular individual appearing in a later generation, such as John the Baptist coming in the “spirit of Elijah.”
Why two olive trees? This is oblique, and open to multiple ideas, and the sages offer a homiletic (preaching/teaching) interpretation of the word gulah from gulah al rosha “a bowl on its head.”
וְגֻלָּהּ עַל־רֹאשָׁהּ
In that explanation, they interpret gulah as golah, or “an exile.” One said that the word is to be expounded as it was written, go’alah, which means, “its redeemer.”
The Midrash adds:
-
“The one who said ‘exile’ was referring to the fact that when Israel went into exile in Babylonia, the Divine Presence went with them. And according to the one who said ‘its goel,’ meaning ‘its redeemer,’ for it is written, ‘Our Redeemer, Whose Name is HASHEM, Master of Legions, etc.” (Is 47:4).
Using their teaching application, Israel is the one who went into exile, and Adonai is the “bowl” on their head, the anointing of the Ruach HaKodesh watching over them. In the first explanation, Adonai went with them into exile, and in the second explanation, He redeemed them from exile. This is why Zechariah saw two olive trees. The redemption from "Babylon" would occur in two separate time periods: once in Zechariah's generation and again in the future return from Babylon as also prophesied by John.
This is how they explain,
-
“You are entirely fair, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you.” “Although the Midrash says that the word gulah refers to Babylonian exile, it means to include as well the current exile. It interprets the Zechariah verse where this word appears to be speaking of the Messianic era, which will follow the current exile. Although the Isaiah passage speaks of redemption from the Babylonian exile, it serves to teach about the Future Redemption as well, that is ‘Jews’ becoming pure gold in Messianic times.” 4§17)
The information above was the subject of our Torah classes this week. It’s specific information relating the return of the exiles into the Messianic kingdom from “Babylon,” the place of their exile. Even John’s prophecy “Babylon the Great is fallen, fallen,” refers to two time periods: the fall of the historical Babylon, and the future fall of Babylon, all those Babylonian systems that extend across the earth in the clay and iron feet and toes of the Beast’s image.
Just as the first return from Babylon was very messy, so the second will be characterized by a people in need of cleaning up their devotion to Adonai. Nevertheless, Zechariah sees them as pure gold, the same pure gold lampstand standing before the Throne in Revelation. (Re 1:4, 20) They are gathered through seven sacred convocations (the moedim), a pure gold menorah anointed by the bowl of anointing oil and Messiah's redemption on their heads. Hallelu Yah!
The text below is excerpted by permission from today’s Ulpan-Or email newsletter [12/29/23], a Hebrew language school in Israel:
This Shabbat we will read the Torah Portion "Va'Yehi", which concludes the book of Genesis.
This Torah portion contains the famous blessing bestowed by Jacob on his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasseh, which has been used over generations as a blessing of father to his sons.
יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה
"May G-d make you like Ephraim and Manasseh." (Ge. 48:20)
Jacob's blessing to his grandsons is the only scene of grandfather giving blessing to his grandchildren in the Torah. And the Torah describes the circumstances under which this blessing was given. Jacob asks Joseph to bring the two grandchildren near so that he can bless them.
Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left, and Manasseh (the firstborn) in his left hand towards Israel’s right, and brought them near him.
But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
Joseph was displeased when he saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head. So he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head and said to Jacob,
וַיֹּאמֶר יוֹסֵף אֶל-אָבִיו, לֹא-כֵן אָבִי: כִּי-זֶה הַבְּכֹר, שִׂים יְמִינְךָ עַל-רֹאשׁוֹ
“No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
וַיְמָאֵן אָבִיו, וַיֹּאמֶר יָדַעְתִּי בְנִי יָדַעְתִּי--גַּם-הוּא יִהְיֶה-לְּעָם, וְגַם-הוּא יִגְדָּל; וְאוּלָם, אָחִיו הַקָּטֹן יִגְדַּל מִמֶּנּוּ, וְזַרְעוֹ, יִהְיֶה מְלֹא-הַגּוֹיִם
"But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.”
וַיְבָרְכֵם בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, לֵאמוֹר, בְּךָ יְבָרֵךְ יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר, יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה; וַיָּשֶׂם אֶת-אֶפְרַיִם, לִפְנֵי מְנַשֶּׁה
He blessed them that day, saying:
"By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh."
Why did Jacob favour Ephraim over Manasseh?
Jacob knew two things, and it is here that the explanation lies. He knew that the stay of his family in Egypt would not be a short one. Before leaving Canaan to see Joseph, G-d had appeared to him in a vision:
וַיֹּאמֶר, אָנֹכִי הָאֵל אֱלֹהֵי אָבִיךָ; אַל-תִּירָא מֵרְדָה מִצְרַיְמָה, כִּי-לְגוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשִׂימְךָ שָׁם
אָנֹכִי, אֵרֵד עִמְּךָ מִצְרַיְמָה, וְאָנֹכִי, אַעַלְךָ גַם-עָלֹה; וְיוֹסֵף, יָשִׁית יָדוֹ עַל-עֵינֶיךָ
Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes. (46: 3-4)
This was the start of the long exile which G-d had told Jacob's father Abraham would be the fate of his children.
The other thing Jacob knew was his grandsons’ names, Manasseh and Ephraim.
These have specific meanings in Hebrew, as the Torah describes:
וַיִּקְרָא יוֹסֵף אֶת-שֵׁם הַבְּכוֹר, מְנַשֶּׁה: כִּי-נַשַּׁנִי אֱלֹהִים אֶת-כָּל-עֲמָלִי, וְאֵת כָּל-בֵּית אָבִי
וְאֵת שֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִי, קָרָא אֶפְרָיִם: כִּי-הִפְרַנִי אֱלֹהִים, בְּאֶרֶץ עָנְיִי
"Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh, saying, 'It is because G-d has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.'
The second son he named Ephraim, saying, 'It is because G-d has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.'" (41: 50-52)
In Egypt Joseph had risen to greatness. In Canaan, he had been the youngest of eleven brothers in a nomadic family of shepherds. Now, in Egypt, he was at the centre of the greatest civilization of the ancient world!
The past was a bitter memory he sought to remove from his mind. Manasseh - מנשה ( The Hebrew root is נשה) means “forgetting.”
By the time his second son was born, Joseph undergone a profound change of heart. He had all the trappings of earthly success – “G-d has made me fruitful” and he called his second son - Ephraim - אפרים
(The Hebrew root is פרי) - means "fruit".
But Egypt had become “the land of my affliction.”
Why?
Because it was exile.
Jacob knew that these were the first two children of his family to be born in exile.
Knowing too that the exile would be prolonged and at times difficult and dark, Jacob sought to convey a message to all future generations that there would be a constant tension between the desire to forget - to assimilate and the promptings of memory that our real home is somewhere else.
Jacob blessed the "child of forgetting" Manasseh - מנשה
However, the blessings of a child Ephraim - אפרים, who remembers the past and future of which he is a part, should be greater.
(Based on Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' lesson).
And now a little bit of Hebrew:
It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word for 'exile' is:
גולה (GOLAH)
And the Hebrew word for 'redemption' is:
גאולה (GEULAH)
The difference in spelling of these words is the addition of the letter "Aleph" - א to the word גולה
Letter "Aleph" represents the creator אלוף (ALOOF)
If one inserts an aleph into the word גולה (exile), exile is empowered and transformed into גאולה (redemption).
And the name Ephraim אפרים starts with the letter Aleph, possibly alluding to that transformation.
**
So you be the judge: is it just a coincidence or a sweet kiss from Heaven that our weekly study focused on the return from exile and it is synchronized with Ulpan-Or’s Hebrew lesson? We can become fruitful in the places of our exile, shedding the sins and uncleanness of Babylon. King Yeshua will gather us back to the Temple clean, without blemish, to forget all the sins and afflictions by which we were purified with Salvation's (Yeshua's) clean garments of righteousness.
Look up and listen closely. I think I hear the Footsteps of Messiah.
Shabbat Shalom!
| 
