seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Zechariah 5:1 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
2 He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.[a]”
3 And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. 4 The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’”
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
6 I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity[b] of the people throughout the land.”
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia[c] to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”
a. Zechariah 5:2 That is, about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide or about 9 meters long and 4.5 meters wide
b. Zechariah 5:6 Or appearance
c. Zechariah 5:11 Hebrew Shinar
I for one am very happy there is more than one commentary this morning. They all said basically the same thing.... but enduringword.com said it best.
A flying scroll: In this vision Zechariah sees a scroll flying through the air, apparently open to read because Zechariah can see how large the scroll is.
Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits: The scroll was approximately 15 by 30 feet. These were the dimensions of the holy place in the tabernacle and of the porch of Solomon's temple.
Every thief shall be expelled … Every perjurer shall be expelled: This indicates that the text on the scroll contains the Ten Commandments. To steal was to injure your neighbor; to perjure was to dishonor God, because you had sworn in his name.
It is a basket that is going forth: The basket was an ephah, it and the lead disc were units of measurement and symbols of commerce.
This is Wickedness! The woman, the basket, and the weight are associated with wickedness. They personify greed, materialism, and dishonesty for profit.
The Hebrew word for Wickedness is feminine. This is probably why a woman personifies evil in this vision.
Zechariah prophesied to those who returned from the Babylonian exile. God's people came back from Babylon with a materialism problem, and this vision speaks to this problem.
He thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth: God first demonstrates his authority over evil then removes the wickedness from Jerusalem.
Where are they carrying the basket? God will cause this evil, materialistic spirit to be returned to its starting-place: Babylon. There it will eventually be destroyed.
When it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base: The word for base has the thought of a pedestal for an idol. The storks set the idol of materialism where it belongs.
Two women … they had wings like the wings of a stork: This means that the women in Zechariah's vision had big wings, strong enough to take this basket back to Babylon. Some regard these women as agents of evil because storks were unclean animals, but here they seem to do the work of God in sending the wicked woman back to Babylon
Ouch twice...... first of all.... I can really imagine a scroll that is 15' X 30'. It wouldn't fit in my house..... so if it came flying at my place.... my goose is cooked.Also.... a woman is used to signify an evil, materialistic spirit. Hey.... I was just talking about how I'm not materialistic. I'm good with what I have. Why do the commentaries put women and materialism together so easily.
This is from bibletrack.org.
So, how about a huge flying scroll about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide for the sixth vision? It is not stated why, but it is said that this scroll is for judgment against two of the ten commandments, stealing and swearing falsely. The linkage with the rebuilding of the temple is not well established here. It would appear that these four verses serve as an indictment against the people for allowing sin to block the temple-rebuilding effort.
Wickedness moves out of town in this seventh vision. All through the Old Testament, worshipping other gods was symbolized by an adulterous woman. This vision seems to symbolize this adulterous woman being taken out of the land and securely deposited away from Israel in Shinar (Babylon). In other words, this prophecy looks to the time when evil shall be removed from Israel. The women and their mission in verses 9-11 is a mystery.
Isn't it interesting..... the scroll was after the thieves and liars.... and then the woman is a materialistic witch. It seems to me that this is a lot simpler than it looks but the story was told in an odd way to protect the guilty. I think people were stealing what supplies they had to rebuild the Temple. I think people were lying about the work they did and the supplies they used. I think the people were taking the good stuff for themselves..... as they learned in Babylon.... a "me first" mentality would have been learned in slavery. In Babylon they had to watch out for themselves above everything.... even the ten commandments. They had learned to steal and lie. They knew the value of things and whenever the slight of hand was quick enough... they took the materials necessary for rebuilding the Temple to rebuild their own homes. I can imagine there were a lot of people who were price gouging too.I can just hear it now.... "Rob, cheat and lie.....You can take that attitude right back to Babylon with you!"
