4:1And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,
4:2And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
4:3And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.
4:4So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?
4:5Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
4:6Then 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.
4:7Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
4:8Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
4:9The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
4:10For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall 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.
4:11Then 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?
4:12And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?
4:13And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
4:14Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
The patrol reports peace, and the angel immediately asks for mercy. That is the unsettling turn. The earth's rest has not meant Jerusalem's restoration; the nations are comfortable while the damaged cities of Judah remain the subject of a seventy-year lament. A quiet world is not necessarily a world put right. The vision distinguishes the absence of disturbance from the presence of justice.
The answer is more than reassurance that heaven has noticed. God declares his return with mercies, names his house, and promises a measuring line over Jerusalem. The scale moves from the whole earth to the practical dimensions of a city being rebuilt. Nor does the use of foreign nations in judgment excuse their cruelty: they helped forward the affliction. Their ease receives displeasure; Jerusalem receives comfort. The same report sounds different depending on whose ruins lie beneath it.