Secrets of the Secret Place - Part 11 — Bob Sorge

Welcome to session 11 of our Secrets of the Secret Place class. It's great to have you with us here, great to have you with us on DVD. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for the privilege of coming together to consider the secret place.

We ask that our hearts might burn within us tonight as we look into your word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Well, there was an event in the history of God's people that when this event took place, the prophetic writings exploded.

The Babylonian Captivity and Its Place in Scripture

All of a sudden, a spirit of prophecy came on the biblical writers, and we have this massive volume of scripture surrounding a single event in the Bible. I'm referring to the captivity, the exile. The 70 year period when God's people were taken captive to Babylon.

When you put together all the scriptures to the captivity that say it's coming, that say here's what God's going to be doing through it, and that talk about what happened in it. You put all those scriptures together, and you have close to a third of your Bible.

Some of the other scriptures that in my mind kind of connect with it, like Job, he's a captive. John was a captive in prison. Paul was a captive. When you start putting the scriptures that are birthed out of captivity, and you're approaching half of your Bible, and yet there's so little that is said about it.

The captivity, perhaps you can understand my personal connection with this topic, because I've been in a prison of sorts for 17 years, with this vocal affliction, waiting for the Lord's release. And so captivity kind of has some personal interest for me.

Persevering When Captivity Lasts Longer Than Expected

Now here's a couple things I've learned. Number one, captivity is sometimes longer than you expected. The prophets were saying in two years' time, the Lord is going to break the back of the king of Babylon.

He's going to break his yoke, and everybody is coming home. And Jeremiah goes, 70 years. Somebody says, I rebuke that word in Jesus' name. Well, you can rebuke 70 years all you want, but if God says you're doing 70 years, guess what you're doing?

70 years. Well, by the time you've done 70 years in Babylon, you've had kids, you've had grandkids, you now own the house with the two-car garage and the white picket fence, you have a business, you've got a database, you've got a clientele, you are established.

After 70 years, Babylon has become home. And this young 20-something-year-old kid, roughly 25 years old, this young upstart, his name is Irrevoable, he has this idea. He says, guys, I have an idea.

How about if we go back to Jerusalem, you know that place where they burned, they torched the city, burned it to the ground, removed every stone, and now it's a pile of rubble and a home of jackals, you know that place?

Let's go back to Jerusalem and rebuild it. What do you say? And they look at Irrevoable like, what planet are you from? Now that we've finally gotten ourselves a little bit established here in Babylon, you think we're going back to that train wreck to rebuild that mess?

And the fact is that not all the captives come home. But God didn't send you into captivity for you to make Babylon your home. He sent you into captivity to rewrite everything about your DNA, to take you apart piece by piece and put you back together, an entirely transformed person in the grace of God, and then in order to bring you back to the city of promise and establish you in His purposes for your life.

God forbid that I should be in this prison so long that I start to call it my home. I say with the psalmist, if I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. If I forget that God has promised a deliverance over my life, God forbid I should be in this thing so long that I forget.

I will not forget His promise. I might be in prison, but I'm declaring to you, I'm coming home. And that's God's intention in captivity. So here comes Irrevoable. He comes back to Jerusalem, back to the nation of Israel, and he's got 50 ,000 people in tow.

Now you say to yourself, 50 ,000 people, well that's not so bad. That's kind of a lot of people. Not when you're resettling a whole nation. 50 ,000 people get swallowed up just that fast when you have to resettle a whole countryside.

And so Irrevoable's looking at his resources, this little flock of goats that's coming back with him to resettle the nation. He's getting a little bit discouraged with his resource base, but he's saying, okay, we're going to do this thing.

Rebuilding the House of Prayer in Jerusalem

They start to rebuild the first order of business, rebuild the house of prayer. They start in on it. They get the foundation laid. Resistance rises up. The work comes to a stop. And around 15 or so years later, a prophetic spirit comes on, Zachariah and Haggai.

And under a prophetic unction, they begin to prophesy to Zerubbabel and the nation, it's time to finish what you've started. It's time to finish the house of prayer. And under their prophetic gifting and anointing, the people of God rallied together to finish the building of the house of prayer, the temple in Jerusalem.

Zechariah's Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees

With that as our backdrop, we now come to our text for this and the next session. Come with me, please, to Zachariah chapter four. Turn in your Bibles to Zachariah chapter four. Zachariah is prophesying about the rebuilding of the house of prayer.

I'm going to read the whole chapter. Here we go. Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me as a man who was wakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, what do you see? So I said, I am looking and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it.

And on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left. So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me saying, what are these, my Lord?

Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. So he answered and 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.

Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel, you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, the hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple.

His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see the palm line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

They are the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth. Then I answered and said to him, what are these two wall of trees at the right of the lampstand and at its left? And I further answered and said to him, what are these two wall of branches that trip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the gold and oil drains?

Then he answered me and said, do you not know what these are? And I said, no, my Lord. So he said, these are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. Now, what I would like to do tonight is draw for you my best shot at what I think Zachariah saw.

He is shown in verse two, a lampstand of solid gold. Excuse that I'm using a black marker for the lampstand. It was actually gold. It's a lampstand. So I'm going to put a little saucer at the base of each flame because we need something to hold the oil.

It's not a wax candlestick. It's an oil-fed lampstand. And now, since I have a red marker, I'm going to put a flame on each of these. One, two, three, six. He says a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top.

You say so. Top of it. Right. Two olive trees are by it at the right and at the left of the bowl. And I have green to satisfy your aesthetic sensibilities. And this is where my artistry just really shines.

An olive tree and the left. Okay. Verse 11, verse 12. Excuse me. There's two olive branches. Oh, I missed something. I'm sorry. I missed in verse two that there are seven pipes to the seven lamps. I forgot that part.

Let's go back. Verse two. There are seven pipes to the seven lamps. So we have a pipe feeding this flame. Here's a pipe feeding this flame. Number four, number six. I almost forgot the pipes. Okay. Now let's go to verse 12, which is that are dripping into two receptacles.

Okay. So we have an olive branch coming off this tree. Isn't that beautiful? And we have an olive branch coming off this tree. That's beauty at its height. Then this is supposed to be gold, but there's a receptacle here and here.

And then there's a pipe that drains the oil. Inches are dripping oil continually collected by two receptacles channeled into a bowl. And then from the bowl coming down to seven flames of fire. Right there.

Interpretations of the Lampstand's Symbolism

Your first question is probably what does the lamp stand represent? A little bit of exegesis on it and do a little bit of scholarly background so that you can relax as we go where we're really going to go.

Okay. Number one, the historic interpretation. If you read a standard textbook on this, here's what they do with it. They say the lamp stand is the nation of Israel. Israel was called as a nation to be a light to the Gentiles.

And under that interpretation, the two olive trees are Joshua, the high priest, Zechariah chapter three, and Zerubbabel, the governmental leader, Zechariah chapter four. That's the standard classical interpretation being that the anointing that's on Joshua, the high priest, and on Zerubbabel, the governmental leader, their anointings combined will set the nation of Israel on fire to be a light, as God has called them to be, to the nations of the earth.

Now, I'm going to suggest that there are, I see at least three additional interpretations. And so I want to take you through them real quickly. Point D of your outline. Another way to look at this is to see the lamp stand as a local church.

Jesus in Revelation chapter one, verse 20, gives us this interpretation. He says, the lamp stand is a local church or a citywide church. So if the lamp stand is a church, a local church, then what are the two trees?

Well, my best answer on that would be that the two trees, if the lamp stand is a local church, the two trees would be the minister, the governmental ministry of the pastoral office, the ministry of the word and the priestly ministry of worship, the ministry of the worship leader.

When you have an anointed word ministry combined with an anointed worship ministry, those two anointings together will set a local church on fire. It's another, that's a second valid interpretation. Now, point E of your outline.

There's a couple other ways to look at it. And to see them, we need to come to Revelation 11, verse four. Let me place to Revelation chapter 11, verse four, and I will give power to my two witnesses and they will prophesy 1260 days clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. Virtually all scholars agree that Revelation 11, verses three and four are a direct reflection of the vision.

Zachariah had in Zachariah chapter four. Revelation 11, four is going to give us actually two distinct interpretations. I used to get confused by Revelation 11, four, because it talked about the two witnesses as being to all of trees and two lampstands.

And I didn't know how to put it together. And then I had an insight. I believe it was from the Lord that there are actually two interpretations given us in Revelation 11, verse four, one revelation. One interpretation is to see the two witnesses as the tool of trees.

The second one is to see the two witnesses as the two lampstands. So the first one, number three of your outline, the two witnesses are the two olive trees. Well, if the two witnesses at the end of the age are the two olive trees, then what's the lampstand?

My understanding then would be the lampstand would be the global church of Jesus Christ at the end of the age. When though, when God releases his anointing on those two witnesses, they are going to have such an anointing on their life.

That together, they are going to set the church of God on fire. The end time church of Jesus Christ is going to be so encouraged and made strong and bold because of the power of the anointing that's resting on the two witnesses.

So that's another interpretation. Now we're going to come to the fourth one we're looking at tonight. And this is the one we're staying with. To see the two witnesses as the lampstands. F of your outline.

This is the interpretation that I want us to look at in this session and in the one following. I would like you to consider with me the interpretation. The lampstand is the two witnesses. Let me say it another way.

The lampstand is in the context of Zechariah 4. The lampstand is a rubble. Let me say it another way. The lampstand is the servant leader of God. Let me say it yet another way. The lampstand is you. The lampstand is me.

The Believer as a Lampstand Burning Before God

Longest time I never saw the lampstand as representing my life because I was thrown off by the seven lamps. I knew I had my spirit. Very clear. Proverbs 20 verse 27. But I had no understanding of multiple lamps.

But then I was reminded of the words of Christ. Jesus said, let your waist be girded and your lamps burning. Jesus says, you've got multiple lamps. So then I said, how many lamps do I have? And to answer that, I think we need to come on over to Revelation 4 verse 5.

Revelation 4 verse 5. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. When I found that verse and I saw that phrase, burning before the throne, something inside me went, oh Lord, that's what I want to do.

I want that phrase to describe me. I want to stand before your throne, gaze on your glory, exhilarated with your beauty. I want your fire to flow into me, that Daniel 7 river of fire. I want it to course through my spirit.

I want to gaze on your beauty and burn before you with a holy fire. For that's what I want to do. Beloved, this is our inheritance. We are called. We are destined. It's your destiny to stand before the throne of God.

One of these days, that confounded veil is going to be removed. How many are looking forward to that moment? When the confounded veil is lifted from our eyes and we gaze upon the Lamb face to face. I'm looking forward to that day.

In fact, Jesus himself is looking forward to that day. Jesus said, John 17, 24, he says, Abba, this is what I'm desiring. I want my bride to be with me and I want her to see my glory. Jesus was saying to the Father, Abba, I can hardly wait to see the look on her face when the veil is removed and she sees me for who I am.

Beloved, when you see him for the first time, you're going to be amazed at who you're getting married to. We don't even really know who we're getting married to. And the Lord Jesus says, I can hardly wait to see the look on your face when that veil comes down and you see me face to face.

Beloved, when we see him on that day standing before the throne, I assure you, you are going to burn with the holy fire of everlasting affection for the beautiful Son of God. God is preparing you for fire and for glory.

In fact, we don't even really know what we're getting set up for. It has not yet appeared what we shall be. We don't even know who we are yet, never mind who he is. But one day, the veil's coming down and we are going to burn before the throne with the holy flame.

Burning Now Through the Secret Place and the Holy Spirit

But I'm grateful to God that I don't have to wait till then to burn. I can gaze on him now. Yes, it's through a glass darkly. It's a little bit fuzzy, but even so, I can gaze on the glory of God now and burn before the throne.

I'm not waiting till then to burn before the throne. I'm starting now, gazing on his glory, abiding in his word, living in the secret place, my heart aflame with love for the Lord Jesus. The love of God has shed abroad in my heart, empowering me to love him with God-sized affections.

So I'm looking at this verse, Revelation 4, 5. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. I said, Lord, could it be that if I got filled with that Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit who burns before you with seven fires, if I got immersed and filled and baptized in the fullness of that Holy Spirit, could it be that he would set me on fire with the same seven fires that kindle his heart?

I think the answer is yes. I believe that God destines for us to be filled with the seven fires of the Holy Spirit, the seven spirits of God, and burn before God with seven fires. You have seven fires.

Seeking the Source of Spiritual Fire

So I'm looking at this. Okay, Lord, what I see here, you want me to burn before you with seven fires. This is me. Well, if I'm supposed to burn like that, my next question is, if the lampstand is me, my next question is, what are the two trees?

And the reason I want to know the answer is because you look at this thing and you do the math, you can put it together. The trees are the source. And if I'm going to be on fire with seven flames, I've got to know the source.

So I want to know, what are the two trees? When you ask that question, you are asking the question. You are asking the question of the chapter. You are asking the question of the centuries. This is the question that all the greatest saints of history have been asking all down through time.

How do I find a source in God that will set my heart on fire so that I can burn before God? How do I abide in Christ? It's the question. And actually, it's the question of the chapter. Come over to Zechariah 4 again.

Zechariah's Repeated Question About the Two Olive Trees

If you've got your Bible open, we're going to stay right here. Zechariah 4, verse 3. Zechariah is shown the two olive trees. And the first question Zechariah has, after he sees the two olive trees, his first question is in verse 4.

So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, What are these, my Lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said, Do you not know what these are? See, Zechariah, he wants to know, What's the source?

And I said, No, my Lord. So the angel in verse 6 answers and says to Zechariah, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Now, I love that verse.

It's underlined in my Bible. It's one of my life verses. I love that verse. With just one problem, it doesn't answer the question. And Zechariah, he's not born yesterday, and he realizes the angel's just done a fast move on him.

And so he's not going to give up that fast. He's going to come back a second time and ask the question a second time, because it is the question. So we come to verse 11. Zechariah is going to ask a second time.

Then I answered and said to him, What are these two olive trees? And in case you're not sure, angel, which two I'm talking about, I'm talking about the one at the right of the lampstand and at its left.

And Zechariah gets no answer. The angel doesn't answer him. Zechariah is not going to give up. He's coming back for number three, verse 12. And I further answered and said to him, What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?

Verse 13. Then the angel answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my Lord. So he said, These are the two anointed ones who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth. Doesn't answer the question.

Let's do verse 15. Wait a minute. There is no verse 15. Vision's over. It's done. And the angel doesn't answer the question. What are the two olive trees? What is the source that will make me burn like this?

Time's up. This session is finished. We're going to have to come back to the next session to finish this thing. God bless you as you now go to your discussion groups. I'm sorry to leave right in the middle of this, but next.