Gilbert House Fellowship #217: Zechariah 3-4

WE OPEN 2019 with a study of two of the shorter prophetic chapters of the Old Testament, but they are rich with multiple layers of meaning — messages that point forward to the end times, but also back to Babel and the spirits behind it.

We discuss the Angel of Yahweh, another appearance in scripture of the Second Power of Heaven; the symbolism of Joshua, the first high priest of the remnant that returned from exile in Babylon; the role of “the satan” (and whether that job has been held by more than one entity); the parallels between the golden lampstand and the lampstands of the first chapter of Revelation; and the stone with seven eyes.

Then we turn to the significance of the “great mountain” in Zechariah 4:7.

Commentators who interpret the mountain as a challenge or difficult task, Dominionists who see it representing one of the seven mountains of societal influence that must be conquered in Jesus’ name, and those who take it as a literal reference to the rubble from Solomon’s temple completely miss a historical reference that would have been familiar to the Jews of Zechariah’s day.

Remember, the Jews had just returned from seventy years in the heart of Babylonia. It’s not a coincidence that the chief god of the ancient Sumerians was Enlil, “the Great Mountain.”

In the city, the holy settlement of Enlil, in Nibru (Nippur, a city in ancient Sumer), the beloved shrine of father Great Mountain, he has made the dais of abundance, the E-kur (“House of the Mountain”), the shining temple, rise from the soil; he has made it grow on pure land as high as a towering mountain. Its prince, the Great Mountain, father Enlil, has taken his seat on the dais of the E-kur, the lofty shrine. No god can cause harm to the temple’s divine powers. Its holy hand-washing rites are everlasting like the earth. Its divine powers are the divine powers of the abzu: no one can look upon them.

Enlil in the E-kur. Translation from the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature

Note that the abzu (“abyss”) was the home of the god Enki, which Derek argues in his book The Great Inception was the site of the real Tower of Babel.

And who led the Jews to rebuild the Temple on Zion? Zerubbabel, whose name meant something like “sown in Babel.”

We also talk about the importance of sacred stones in the ancient world and explain the connections between Bethel (Hebrew ḇêṯ’êl), the betyls (stone idols) of Petra in Jordan, and the Ka’ba in Mecca, the bayt allah.


Click here for the complete archive of our New Testament Bible studies to date, and click here for the Old Testament studies to date. Or go to www.spreaker.com/show/gilbert-house-fellowship for all of the audio.


8 Comments


  1. First time listening. Love your in depth explanation of God’s word .

    1. Hi Derek, regarding your talk with Joel Richardson today and Daniel i:21, about the first king and Gecia. I found this. “Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Σμύρνη, Smýrnē or Σμύρνα, Smýrna) was a Greek city dating back to antiquity located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Since 1930, the modern city located there has been known as İzmir, in Turkey, the Turkish rendering of the same name” i.e Grecia. It is Turkey. Not Greece. You will find it under “Smyrna-Wikipedia.

  2. Hi Derek, regarding your talk with Joel Richardson today and Daniel i:21, about the first king and Gecia. I found this. “Smyrna (Ancient Greek: Σμύρνη, Smýrnē or Σμύρνα, Smýrna) was a Greek city dating back to antiquity located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Since 1930, the modern city located there has been known as İzmir, in Turkey, the Turkish rendering of the same name” i.e Grecia. It is Turkey. Not Greece.

    1. Author

      It’s interesting to consider all the implications. There were Greek settlements all over the Mediterranean and Aegean, and even up into the Black Sea.

  3. Hi Derek and Sharon, I am enjoying this series so much! I just found you and started with this book because it’s what you’re currently studying, or just finished. This morning I listened to Russ Dizdar teach about how to hear the voice of God. Russ mentioned that there were gifts of the Spirit and gave two texts that listed them: Romans 12:4-8 7 -prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, ruling, and showing mercy and then in 1 Corinthians 12:29-30 apostles, prophets, teachers, miracles, healing, tongues, and interpreting tongues. When you read Zech 3:9 I read along in the AMPC version and it says “…upon that one stone there are seven eyes or facets (the all-embracing providence of God and the sevenfold radiations of the Spirit of God)… Along with what you said about the verse, I find it so interesting the mention of facets, like on a diamond, and that they reflect sevenfold. The number of gifts mentioned in each instance of the verses Russ taught about. It’s amazing how God shows us things. Peace and blessings to you both, your sister in Christ.

  4. Had a massive laugh when you mentioned John and Zechariah together and here’s Amos aswell looking at the plumbline. Loved it.

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