NOT BY MIGHT NOR BY POWER!

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

Fifty thousand exiles had returned from Persia to rebuild the altar and the temple in Jerusalem. When they arrived they were excited and enthusiastic about the rebuilding. But opposition arose from the neighboring Samaritans and soon the enthusiasm and interest began to dwindle.

Finally weariness set in among the exiles. It had been twelve years and when they came back they did not know how big the task was. After all these years the people were tired and discouraged and the task was far from finished. No matter what the leaders did, the people refused to go back to work and the situation began to look hopeless.

Into this dreary mess of discouragement and an unfinished task God sent a prophet with a message for the exiles. It was not just for them but it is for all who have ever faced the discouragement of an unfulfilled promise or the frustration of the inability to finish a task that looked so possible in the beginning.

“This is the word of the Lord . . . Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.”

When I was a boy, my home church frequently sang a chorus using these words. We sang the chorus often but I’m not sure how well I understood what the catchy tune was really about.

If you are like me, you have been taught to make life happen using your own gifts and talents. We have been told that the world loves winners and that we have to finish the fight in our own strength. But then God comes along and tells us that His ways of doing things are simply not the ways of the world system.

“Not by might nor by power.” The Hebrew word for might can be used to describe the strength of an army and is often used to imply financial power and wealth. The word might generally describes what the world system considers symbols of strength and the same is essentially true for the meaning of the word power.

God spoke to the exiles and said that the rebuilding would not be done or completed by human means. Abraham and Sarah had no physical way to produce a child (see Genesis 17:15-19). But God made it happen! David was an insignificant teenaged shepherd going out to face a battle-hardened giant but God gave him the victory (see 1 Samuel 17).

God comes to us in the middle of our struggle and quietly tells us that He is looking for those who acknowledge their weakness, that His rules are not the same as the world’s, and that He brings victory to those who trust Him and His ways.

“But by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” The Hebrew word for Spirit, ruah, is used extensively in the Old Testament to describe the Spirit of God. To the Hebrews this word describes the mysterious power and working of God and is used to describe the breath of life in all living creatures, but especially man.

The prophet Zechariah came with a message for the exiles about God’s way of bringing this unfinished project to completion. God makes it clear that He does not choose to always use the ways that His people may think are best. He works through His Spirit and not through the best intentions of man. It was by the Spirit that life was brought to man; it is the Spirit that brings the Word of God alive in us; it is the Spirit that becomes our Comforter and leads us and reveals truth to us. It is the Spirit that brings us power to live overcoming lives and enables us to share the Gospel with the whole world!

No wonder the apostle Paul wrote that we should “live in the Spirit” and we should also “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). We should be “led by the Spirit” (Galatians 5:18) and should show forth “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-23). If any man had a strong grasp on “not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,” it was the apostle Paul. The circumstances that Paul faced in taking the message of God’s love and grace to the pagan world were impossible to the max. For Paul, building a megachurch in Dallas, Texas, would have been like going to a prekindergarten class at Spirit-Filled University.

Why did Zechariah finish his prophetic message to the exiles with the command to shout, “Grace! Grace!” to the impossible situation? Because God’s sending His Spirit to bring life into a dead situation, to bring an answer to an impossibility, is a demonstration of His unmerited favor; indeed, it is a demonstration of His grace. So go ahead and face that difficulty; begin to worship and thank the Lord that His Spirit is alive in you and is active on your behalf. Lay down your self-reserve and shout, “Grace! Grace!” Declare God’s goodness and favor to that impossible situation.