The Super Bowl (Superbowl)

THE SUPERBOWL

Zechariah 4:1-14

1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep,

2 And 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:

3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof.

4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord?

5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

6 Then 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.

7 Who 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.

8 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

9 The 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.

10 For 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.

11 Then 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?

12 And 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?

13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the LORD of the whole earth.

I guess I am going to have to be the one to break it to the NFL (National Football League) but they were not the first to have a “Super Bowl”.  No!  God has had a super bowl in Heaven long before this world came up with theirs.  Their super bowl is temporal – ours is eternal.

Zechariah was a prophet sent by God to help in the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and in this process he had a number of different visions.  In this particular vision we read about a great golden bowl that was full of oil with two olive trees on either side.  From the golden bowl were golden pipes that ran down to the candlestick so the fire would continue to burn.

The significance of this vision was impressed upon the prophet and all that he shared it with.  God was going to send His anointing (the oil) for the people of God to finish the task of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem.  No matter how difficult the task, God was going to have a candlestick “all of gold” and no matter how big the mountains standing in the way it is “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts”.  God will make a way!

Here are four facts about this “Super Bowl” that we need to know:

(1)             The Super Bowl is of Heavenly origin, signifying a Divine Supply.

When Zechariah saw this vision of the “Super Bowl” he knew that this was no ordinary bowl.  It was a bowl designed by God.  Because God is the Divine architect of the bowl we must know that the one supplying the anointing is God.  Men may fail but God has no such option.  God will do what He says He will do.  As in the case of those Israelites rebuilding the Temple, God did supernaturally assist them and the task was completed.  God will take care of us.  Our supply is not of this world but it is of a greater world.

Philippians 4:19

19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Again we are reminded of the source of the supply.  If the supply had of been of this world then we would have all been in trouble.  Because the supply is “according to his riches in glory” then the need can be met.

Philippians 1:19

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

Here is another scripture in Philippians that re-emphasizes the source of the supply as being from God and in the case it is “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ”.

(2)             The Super Bowl is made of gold, signifying Pure Supply.

The second thing that we notice about this “Super Bowl” is that it made of gold.  In the Bible, gold always represents purity, glory, and divinity.  Since we have already spoken of the divine, we need to look at the aspect of purity. 

Purity is sought out by all people.  We want the purest water, the purest foods, and the purest detergents.  Purity is a valuable quantity but is often so rare.  So is the case with gold.  When gold is mined from the earth it is usually mixed with some other base metal or mineral.  These additives have little to no value so the gold must be refined to remove the impurities.  Once this is done the gold becomes purer than it originally was.  Sometimes it takes multiple processes to remove all of the impurities.  The end goal of all of this heat, pressure, and refinement is to make the purest possible gold.

What Zechariah saw was “Super Bowl” made of gold.  This means that God is going to supply our needs only through pure sources.  God will not send his anointing from a dirty bowl, no, God will send His anointing through a pure bowl of gold.

Exodus 30:22-38

22 Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels,

24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:

25 And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.

26 And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,

27 And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,

28 And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.

29 And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.

30 And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.

31 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

32 Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.

33 Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.

34 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

35 And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy:

36 And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy.

37 And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.

38 Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.

(3)             The Super Bowl has two trees on either side, signifying a Limitless Supply.

The third thing that Zechariah noticed in this vision was two trees on either side of the bowl, and these were not just any trees, they were olive trees.  The addition of the trees clearly stated to Zechariah that no matter how much anointing they used from the bowl there would always be a source to refill it up. 

The two olive trees were a sustainable living source for the oil.  They could replenish the bow.  No matter what other spiritual significance you tie to these two olive trees, you must acknowledge that they spoke of a continuation of the oil.  God does not want to “Leave you high and dry” but he wants to renew and refresh your anointing.

Psalms 92:10

10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.

(4)             The Super Bowl is connected to the candlestick by pipes, signifying an Available Supply.

Last, Zechariah noticed golden pipes running from the bowl to the candlestick.  This indicated to Zechariah that there was a means to get the oil to the lamp (candlestick).  Without the pipes all the oil in Heaven would do no good.  Without the means to get the oil to lamp the lamp would be useless.  The Divine help that God was sending to Zechariah was not untouchable but it was available.  God had the supply and He also had the means to get the supply to Zechariah.

In the Bible, Candlesticks/lamps are a type of the Church (the people of God).  Look at these scriptures:

Matthew 5:15-16

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Revelation 1:20

20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

God has the anointing.  That anointing is pure.  That anointing is limitless and that anointing is available.  God not only has what we need but he has the means to get what we need to us.

The golden pipes represent prayer.  As long as was we stay connected to the golden pipes then, essentially, we are part of the golden bowl.  We are a part of the “Super Bowl”! 

The Holy Ghost is the “Super Bowl” of the Church and the only way we can stay connected to Him is by prayer! 

Notice this great theme throughout: the bowl is gold, the pipes are gold, and the candlestick (lamp) is gold.  All three are the same substance.  I am in no way implying that we are the same as God, but what I am saying is that when we are attached to Him we can become what He is.  The Holy Ghost is pure and as long as the pipes are kept attached, He will make us pure!

There is only one area where failure can occur in this vision: it is with the golden pipes.  If there is a problem then it will be a problem with the pipes.  If there is a breakdown in the life of the Church it will be in our prayer life.  As long as the pipes are kept open the oil will flow.  If we allow the pipes, our prayer life, to become clogged up with the things of this world and neglect then the oil will stop flowing.  

As long as we keep the golden pipes open and attached then we can be a part of the “Super Bowl”.