Not By Force But By Spirit

Zechariah 4:13-14

“The children sing
The children dream
And their tears may fall
But we'll hear them call

And another song will rise!
Not by might and not by power,
But by spirit alone,
Shall we all and live in peace.”

These words from Debbie Friedman's prayer-song (performed here in 1990)  evoke the seven mysterious words that Zachariah the prophet heard in his famous vision of the seven-branched menorah - an image that would enter the major league of semitic symbols. Very few know that those words and that vision represent the State of Israel today as its official seal. It’s clearly aspirational.

But what do the seven words have in common with the seven branches of the lampstand, and the seven eyed stone that he saw in the first part of the vision?

It all seems dreamlike but is actually a concrete political endorsement that the prophet uses to prop up the aspiring but mostly powerless leaders of the slowly rebuilding Judaic nation in Jerusalem, circle 520 BCE. 

Zachariah doesn’t just share the visions - he also describes the process of his comprehension - taking us backstage as if to decipher these riddles right there with him: 

וַיָּ֕שׇׁב הַמַּלְאָ֖ךְ הַדֹּבֵ֣ר בִּ֑י וַיְעִירֵ֕נִי כְּאִ֖ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יֵע֥וֹר מִשְּׁנָתֽוֹ׃ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י מָ֥ה אַתָּ֖ה רֹאֶ֑ה וָאֹמַ֡ר רָאִ֣יתִי ׀ וְהִנֵּ֣ה מְנוֹרַת֩ זָהָ֨ב כֻּלָּ֜הּ וְגֻלָּ֣הּ עַל־רֹאשָׁ֗הּ וְשִׁבְעָ֤ה נֵרֹתֶ֙יהָ֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ שִׁבְעָ֤ה וְשִׁבְעָה֙ מֽוּצָק֔וֹת לַנֵּר֖וֹת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־רֹאשָֽׁהּ׃ וּשְׁנַ֥יִם זֵיתִ֖ים עָלֶ֑יהָ אֶחָד֙ מִימִ֣ין הַגֻּלָּ֔ה וְאֶחָ֖ד עַל־שְׂמֹאלָֽהּ׃

The angel who talked with me came back and woke me as if someone had woken from sleep.

He said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl above it. The lamps on it are seven in number, and the lamps above it have seven pipes;

And by it are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and one on its left.”

וַ֠יַּ֠עַן הַמַּלְאָ֞ךְ הַדֹּבֵ֥ר בִּי֙ וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלַ֔י הֲל֥וֹא יָדַ֖עְתָּ מָה־הֵ֣מָּה אֵ֑לֶּה וָאֹמַ֖ר לֹ֥א אֲדֹנִֽי׃

וַיַּ֜עַן וַיֹּ֤אמֶר אֵלַי֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר זֶ֚ה דְּבַר־יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־זְרֻבָּבֶ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר לֹ֤א בְחַ֙יִל֙ וְלֹ֣א בְכֹ֔חַ כִּ֣י אִם־בְּרוּחִ֔י אָמַ֖ר יְהֹוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת׃

“Do you not know what those things mean?” asked the angel who talked with me; and I said, “No, my lord.”

Then he explained to me as follows:

“This is the word of YHWH to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit —said YHWH of Hosts.

Zechariah 4:13-14

The dialogue between the angel and the prophet continues through the chapter as Zachariah slowly deciphers the meaning of the pictures he is shown and how it all fits together. The seven branches of the menorah seem to depict the ancient one that was at the center of the first temple even though commentaries continue to argue whether the design is the same. The two olive branches, or trees, likely represent the two leaders, Joshua the High Priest and Zerubabbel, the Davidic heir who won’t be king but still gets to be the people’s leader. 

But what’s the meaning of the message that in Hebrew has exactly seven words - Not by Might nor Power but by Spirit? 

Most consider this to be the humility directive to the people’s leader - who at any rate has no political power as a ruler on behalf of the Persian empire, and no armed forces.  Throughout the ages, when Zerubbabel and Zechariah’s descendants were in charge of communities but not in charge of their own collective fate  - these words were reminders of limits but also of internal strength. 

In 1948, though not directly quoted, Zachariah’s vision would become the official symbol of the new State of Israel, designed by the two Shamir brothers who won the national competition.  Their design includes the two olive branches as tokens of peace, and echo the looted temple menorah that is depicted on the Titus Arch in Rome. The verse with seven words of promise or warning was inscribed on the base of the Knesset_Menorah, designed by Benno Elkan in 1956. 

While this war continues to ravage and ruin so many lives, hopes and dreams in the land and region that has already seen so many battles -- we can only hope that these words will not be mere decoration but a motivation for the next, better, kinder chapter, with wiser leaders attuned to the spirit of things, and not just to reliance on military force. 

Zechariah’s got one more scene coming in this nocturnal vision, and this one is all about the justice and moral duty that will justify the lighting of the new menorah of the future and help keep the nation’s inner light on.

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