Vision of the Flying Scroll
“Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll. And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
“I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts; “It shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones.”
Vision of the Woman in a Basket
Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.” So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a basket that is going forth.”
He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. So I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?” And he said to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar(Babylon); when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
Just in case you thought everybody who is returning from Babylon is coming to build the temple, think again! While some individuals truly want to be part of this marvelous work, there are others who are hoping to make out better in Judea than they have in Babylon. These people are faking their faith, and as soon as they reach Judea, they are grabbing land, building houses with cedar panels, and enslaving their fellow returnees. The ridiculous aspect of this is that God knows exactly who those people are who want to worship Him and who are the opportunists. And God is taking names and is about to seriously kick butt!
In Zechariah’s first vision, he sees an enormous flying scroll 30 feet by 15 feet. Why is the scroll flying? God is watching everything that goes on and He is sending His curses to those who are only pursuing their own evil ends. “Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
“I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts; “It shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones.”
It’s mind-boggling that the evil ones among the returnees are failing to appreciate God’s ability to perceive their spiritual state. After all, it was the sins of their ancestors that resulted in their being carried off to Babylon in the first place. These people are blessed that their families even survived at all when many others were killed. But logic appears to have little place in these people’s thinking. All these people can think of is grabbing as much as possible as quickly as possible. Notice there are two sides to the scroll. The one side bears curses against thieves. The other side bears curses against perjurers, those who are denying the presence of the One True Living God. Thieves and perjurers will both be expelled.
Continuing to sin steals the praise that should go to God and denies God’s presence, rendering one both a thief and a perjurer. But in addition, these curses will enter the houses of these evil people and will remain in the midst of those houses until the houses are consumed along with their timber and stones. How is this likely to happen? Israel has several earthquake faults running through it. The same fault that runs through the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea continues down through the continent of Africa, where it expresses itself as the Rift Valley. Given this seismic instability, it’s quite possible that houses of stone might crumble.
What about the woman representing wickedness? God is promising to rid the land of wickedness and to send the evil spirits far away into the land of Babylon, a land that has never truly worshiped Him.
APPLICATION: “OK, “you say, “but what does this scroll and this evil woman in a basket have to do with us?”
A holy God cannot tolerate wickedness, thievery, or injustice. God ordered Moses to warn the Children of Israel not to take His Name in vain, “for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.” Swearing by God when one does not mean it demonstrates a total lack of respect for God. Such an act is taking God’s name in vain.
God is in the clean – up business and will help anyone who turns to Him for assistance. But for those who persist in evil and delight in it, these curses still apply. God has promised to live with anyone who will honor Him. Jesus told his disciples in John 15:4-5, “Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without aiding in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much feuit. However, apart from Me you can do nothing.”
Do you want a life that will be satisfying, a life that God can approve? Commit yourself to following Jesus Christ; ask Him to forgive your sins and to clean you and give you new life.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, we confess that we are sinners and that we cannot deliver ourselves from the evil we do. Lord, save us from ourselves. Give us Your new life and help us to follow hard after You all the days of our lives. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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