Remember and Obey

Up to this point Zechariah had largely been an encourager for the Israelites who were faced with the task of rebuilding the temple. In the next three visions God, through Zechariah, issued reminders and warnings to Israel. We are just like the Israelites. When we are far removed from an experience of judgment, we tend to forget what brought it on.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Read and heed (the 6th Vision)

Zech 5:1-4 1.“I looked up again and saw a flying scroll. 2. “What do you see?” he asked me. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.” 3. Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, (3rd command, ‘You shall not steal’) contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished, and everyone who swears falsely (the 8th command, ‘You shall not bear false witness.’) contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished. 4. I will send it out,”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.””

The “flying Scroll” was unrolled so that it could be read on both sides. It measured 30 ft. long by 15 ft. wide…exactly the dimensions of the Holy Place in the tabernacle. John McArthur suggests that the size, corresponding to the size of the Holy Place means that it is a divine standard by which man (kind) is to be measured (the Law, specifically the 10 commandments.) It is a reference to the Torah (the first five books of the Bible which explain in depth the Law of God as given to Moses) and changes the direction of Zechariah’s prophecy. To this point Zech has been revealing what God will do. Now he turns to revealing what God expects from His people. Not only does the scroll show what God expects from His people, the flip side shows the punishment for violation of the Law. Both the blessings for keeping the Law and the curses for breaking the Law are included in the scroll. When The LORD says, “I will send it out” He means that it is going to every violator of the law so that they will know what their punishment will be. Although only two laws are mentioned here, the implication is that they represent the whole Law so that they might understand what to expect if they violated any of the Law. The sin of stealing represents man’s sin against man. (commands 4-10) The sin of swearing falsely represents man’s sin against God. (commands 1-3)

Also the warning that “it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My Name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.” means that God’s punishment will remain until the house (land) is completely cleansed from sin.

When our girls were young Rae and I attended a parenting seminar where we were told that when corporal punishment (paddling) was necessary, it should be administered until the will of the child was broken if the discipline was to be effective. That is what God is saying here. “I will not remove the discipline until your belligerent spirit is broken.”

2. Don’t turn back (the 7th Vision)

Zech 5:5-11 5.“Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Look up and see what this is that is approaching.” 6. So I asked, “What is it?” He responded, “It’s a measuring basket that is approaching.” And he continued, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7. Then a lead cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket. 8. “This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening. 9. Then I looked up and saw two women approaching with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and sky. 10. So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11. “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar,” he told me. “When that is ready, the basket will be placed there on its pedestal.””

The sin that God seems to hate most is the sin of Idolatry. The Ten Commandments begins with “You shall have no other gods before Me.” Israel dabbled in idolatry throughout her history. It is interesting that God allowed an idolatrous country to take Israel into captivity.

The vision that Zechariah had was of the kind of basket that was used to measure out grain or produce used by a vendor at the market. This basket, however, was filled to the brim with all the sins of Israel. To keep the sins from “leaking” out, the basket was covered with a heavy lead cover. When the cover is lifted, there is a woman inside the basket whom the angel called “Wickedness”. The wicked person is volatile, unpredictable, frightening, and destructive. Like a lion, the wicked know that they have power and they always use it in a destructive way. The use of a woman here goes all the way back to the garden when Eve succumbed to the wiles of the devil and then tempted Adam to join her in sin. The use of the measuring basket is symbolic of commercialism or as we would say today “worship of the almighty dollar”.

After revealing “Wickedness” in the basket, the angel pushed her back down and put the heavy lid back in place. Then two women, “with wind in their wings” approached. Their wings were described like those of a stork. The stork was considered in Lev 11 and Deuteronomy 14 to be unclean birds, and thus, according to John McArthur, must have been agents of evil, demonic forces. These women/birds took the basket to Shinar (Babylon). This was symbolic to the idolatrous Israelites being shuttled off to the very seat of idolatry. The CSSB notes that it was as if God was saying “If My Chosen People are going to be Idolatrous, they might as well do it in style back in Babylon where they will sit on a pedestal for all the world to see.” This sounds a lot like what Paul wrote in Romans 1:21-24 “For though they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became worthless, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles. Therefore God delivered them over in the desires of their hearts to sexual impurity, so that their bodies were degraded among themselves.”

This is a warning to us just as the 7th Vision of Zechariah was a warning to the Israelites. There is a line which we must not cross. Once crossed there is no going back.

3. Recon and report (the 8th Vision)

Zech 6:1-8 “Then I looked up again and saw four chariots coming from between two mountains. The mountains were made of bronze. The first chariot had chestnut (red) horses, the second chariot black horses, the third chariot white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all strong horses. So I inquired of the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?” The angel told me, “These are the four spirits of heaven going out after presenting themselves to the Lord of the whole earth. The one with the black horses is going to the land of the north, the white horses are going after them, but the dappled horses are going to the land of the south.” As the strong horses went out, they wanted to go patrol the earth, and the Lord said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. Then he summoned me saying, “See, those going to the land of the north have pacified my Spirit in the northern land.””

The 8th Vision of Zechariah once again has horses in it which connects it with the 1st vision. These are symbolic of God’s angels dispatched to reconnoiter the earth and bring back a report to God. They come out between two mountains which some commentators say are Mt. Zion and the Mt. of Olives. The mountains being made of bronze relate to the serpent of bronze in Exodus which God had Moses to prepare so that those bitten by the deadly snakes could look at the serpent on the pole and be healed. Also the altar of burnt offerings in front of the tabernacle where sins were atoned for was made of bronze. The space between the mountains was most likely the Kidron Valley and is considered to be the locale of the final judgment.

The chariots and horses seem to be a connection to those that appear during the seal judgments of Revelation 6:1-8 “Then I saw the Lamb open one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there was a white horse. Its rider held a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out as a conqueror in order to conquer. When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!” Then another horse went out, a fiery red one, and its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And a large sword was given to him. When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a black horse. Its rider held a set of scales in his hand. Then I heard something like a voice among the four living creatures say, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, but do not harm the oil and the wine.” When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and there was a pale green horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following after him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by the sword, by famine, by plague, and by the wild animals of the earth.”

God’s Spirit is pacified by the fact that the nations that had persecuted Israel have been dealt with.

Application: (What does this mean to me?)

We must pay attention to the events taking place in our world today, especially in the Middle East.

The enemies of Israel are being thwarted in their attempts to bring Israel down.

Severe earthquakes in Turkey and Syria, two nations that are thought to be part of the Magog army that will attack Israel in the last days.

Revival on American college campuses. Perhaps one last chance for our country to get it right.

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