Daily Devotional

The Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem, in which Christ was betrayed by His disciple Judas, still stands today. Translated as “The Olive Press,” it is made up of groves of olive trees, several of which are recorded as being about 900 years old, some of the oldest in the world.

The olive tree has a lot going for it. It is an evergreen; its leaves never die, no matter the season. It is incredibly hardy, particularly resistant to drought. Its fruit was an indispensable commodity in the ancient world.

One of its common purposes was to provide light. Once its olives were harvested, they were then pressed to produce olive oil. The oil was then used as fuel for lamps, from the simple saucer in a household to the sacred seven-branch candlestick in the Holy Place of the earthly sanctuary. Olive oil also burns brighter than other types of oils.

Most significantly, olive oil in the Bible symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Indeed, today’s verse is a direct reference to another vision of “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” (Zechariah 4:2, 3); they have “two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains” (v. 12). This lamp is undoubtedly the seven-branch candlestick of the sanctuary.

The two olive trees are also identified as “the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth” (v. 14, emphasis added) and are further defined as “the word of the LORD …: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit’” (v. 6). Just as the trees supply the oil to the lamps, it is through the Word of God that we know to ask for and receive the Holy Spirit. It is by the Holy Spirit that we also are witnesses for God (Luke 4:18).

Why are there two? The Scriptures are divided into two parts: the Old and New Testaments.

Light of Life, may I be anointed with the Holy Spirit to be “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14) to those lost in darkness.

For Further Study: John 6:63; Acts 10:38; Revelation 1:12