Evil Purged

A study on Zechariah

Evil Purged

Zechariah 5

Theme: God purges evil from the earth

Introduction: This passage of Scripture focused primarily on the land of Israel. There are two parts to this vision: the flying scroll and the special ephah. God performs a cleansing operation as He deals with the sin of the nation.

God is using His prophet to show the nation that God will not allow evil and wickedness to continue. We know ultimately God will make a new heaven and a new earth. While the nation itself is in view, God is showing us that He will one day deal with the sin in our world. God will judge all sinners who have rebelled against God

“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 14–15)

As we examine carefully this prophetic vision, God shows us how evil is purged.

I. The sin of the people vv. 1-4

A. The meaning of the flying roll vv. 1-2

1. The large flying roll is a large open scroll that is 15 feet by 30 feet floating in the air.

2. On one side is the writing of the third commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)

3. On the other side is the 8thcommandment” thou shalt not steal.

4. The roll represents the law of God that brings a curse on all who disobey it.

5. The Law is God’s standard of truth.

B. The message of the flying roll vv. 3-4

“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17)

1. The law shows us that man cannot save himself, but he needs a Savior.

2. The question comes why these two commandments: is it because the nation had been guilty of these two infractions?

3. The third commandment is central to the first table of the law and the 8th is central to the second table the Law, this roll represents the Law and James shows us we are guilty before God

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” (James 2:10)

4. Obedience to one law doesn’t negate disobedience to another law.

5. The Law applies to every household not just to a select few-God is reminding them of their sinful condition and their need of making it right.

6. Lawlessness abounds today and the only commandment many people worry about is “thou shalt not get caught.” It seems the Ten Commandments are only dusty artifacts in the museum of morality.

7. Please notice God sees and God knows what evil is going on in this world.

II. The purging by God vv. 5-11

A. The meaning of the ephah vv. 5-8a

1. Not only will individual sin be judged but wickedness itself will be removed from the land.

2. Wisdom is personified by a woman since the Hebrew word for wickedness is feminine in the Hebrew.

3. Ephah was a common measure in Israel which here was a dry measure basket probably about a half bushel or five gallons of dry material.

4. This ephah was likely a large basket in which the woman attempted to get out of so there was a heavy lead cover which weighed a talent (75 to 100 pounds).

5. In order to understand the vision: what did the Jews bring to their land from Babylon after captivity? It was commercialism. Many of them were born there and they become competitive commercialism because the ephah and the talent were measure of commodities.

6. This doesn’t imply that the people of Israel were guilty of bad business practices or that it is wrong to earn money in business. But for them they were using worldly commercial spirit that can infect believers which will ruin their values, confuse their priorities, and crave wealth and position.

7. This passage reflects the nature of Christ’s rule in righteousness in the millennial period as the severity of His dealing with sinners once the day of grace is ended and the day of wrath and judgment is ushered in Rev. 5.

B. The removal of the ephah vv. 9-11

1. The two women with stork-like wings placed the ephah on. Abase in a special house in Babylon which suggests that commercialism was worshiped as one of the Babylonian gods.

2. This land of Shinar is location of the ancient city of Babylon mentioned in Gen. 10:10 as a part of Nimrod’s empire. The picture of a conquering ruler forging himself a kingdom at any cost and defying the Lord in the process.

“And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” (Genesis 10:10)

3. Just as in the ancient world and even today, money has become a god around the world and, like a god money is trusted by people thinking it can solve their problems and bring happiness.

4. The angel shut the lid over wickedness as a picture that God will purge away the wickedness in our world in His time.

Conclusion: God gives us a warning that His commandments are still in force, though we are guilty of breaking the Law, this points us Jesus who fulfills the Law. This also shows us God will deal with sin and the injustices in the world in the future. This will set our mind in motion towards the Tribulation Period. We will learn more into future as we study this book.