"And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, And said unto me, What do you see? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and its 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 spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Do you no know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel you will become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you. For who has despised the day of small beginnings? For they will rejoice, and will see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? And I answered again, and said unto him, What are these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? And he answered me and said, Do you not know what these are? And I said, No, my lord. Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah 4:1-14.
Questions that arise to understanding this prophecy.
What do the golden candlestick, the bowl, the 7 lamps, and 7 pipes represent? What do the 2 olive trees, the 2 branches, the 2 golden pipes, and the golden oil represent? (N/A yet) Click here to learn more.
The Two Olive Trees
"And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they will prophesy a 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devours their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will." Revelation 11:3-6. (See 1 Kings 17:1; Deut. 28:15, 24; for Matt. 8:8 for examples.)
The two olive trees represent the Word of God and the Spirit of Prophecy. (See Rev. 1:2, 9; 19:10.)
In all the Bible, ever since the time of Moses, there has been the established Word of God and the lastest revelation that God had given. The first established the later. For example in the days of Christ the Old Testament was the established Word of God and the New Testament was the testimony of Jesus, or you could say the Spirit of prophecy. The New was predicted and established by the Old. The 2 witnesses in Revelation 11 represent the Old and New Testaments during the time of the dark ages. In our time we have the Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy as manifested in the the prophetic writings of Ellen G. White. These were predicted by the sacred scriptures in the prophecy of Elijah's coming before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Isaiah 40 & Malachi 4:1-6 are dual prophecies, meaning they are fulfilled before both the 1st and 2nd comings of Jesus. John the Baptist was the Elijah (the forerunner) of the 1st coming. The Apostles finished the work taking the gospel to the entire known world after being empowered with the Holy Spirt on the day of Pentecost. According to my study Ellen White's writings do the Elijah work of preparing a people to meet their God before the 2nd advent of Christ. The Spirit-filled commandment-keepers of the last days finish the work by taking the final message to all the world. The writings of Ellen White are not to be put on the same level as the scriptures. Why? Because like Elijah, Ellen White did not write any books of the Bible. Elijah had no new message; he only was to call Israel (God's people) to repentance, reformation, and revival from their backslidings and apostasy. (He did though write out messages - 2 Chron. 21:12) The prophetic gift is to be poured out on all of God's commandment-keeping people in the last days at the time of the latter rain. Joel 2:28-32. In my understanding they will be minor, non scripture writing prophets (mouth-pieces for God), whereas Ellen White is the major, last day, non-scripture writing prophet. Her writings are only the lesser light pointing to the greater light, the Bible, in the same way that we, as God's children, are to be the lesser light pointing to the greater Light, Christ. Therefore, the prophetic gift remains in God's remnant church now and until the end. The prophetic gift and those who trully posses it's spirit do not contradict the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. They only call the people's attention to their true importance and application for our time. They lead the people back to their neglected and unheeded Bibles.
Olive Tree Ministries' mission is simply to preach the Word in the power of the Spirt. May God so help us all to do this both in our lives and in our doctrine. May God richly bless you with an understanding of His Word and a saving knowlege of Himself.