#1181 Zechariah 5 The Stork Brought It

 

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.

9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.” Zechariah 5 ESV

Zechariah 5 What About The Ungodly, What Happens To Them

…25‘Cursed is he who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ 26‘Cursed is he who does not put the words of this law into practice.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Deuteronomy 27: 25-26

…13The LORD goes forth like a mighty one; He stirs up His zeal like a warrior. He shouts; yes, He roars in triumph over His enemies: 14“I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant. 15I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.… Isaiah 42: 13-15

…20You sit and malign your brother; you slander your own mother’s son. 21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face. 22Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:… Psalm 50: 20-22

I see a flying scroll - Before books there were scrolls, some using animal skin for the canvas, others using Papyrus. We are given it's length and width, and let us remember the imagery we have been using thus far in the visions: Joshua the High Priest, Zerubbabel of the Judaic line and we have discussed the golden lampstands at length. Now we are given a flying scroll, and it's dimensions, which are the same as the Holy Place (Set Apart Place) of the Tabernacle, which is the room right before the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies), where the Ark of the Covenant is, and where only the High Priest could enter one day a year, The Day of Atonement. In the Holy Place, before the Holy of Holies, look what we find, the golden lampstand, the table for the bread of presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat, and the altar of incense. There is only one entry into the Tabernacle, and the priest would enter the Holy Place to clean and refill the lamp, burn incense every morning and evening and replace the Showbread.

A footnote as we look at these visions. Dr. Ironside says “It is noticeable as we go on with the series of visions, there is less and less given in the way of interpretation. It is as though the Lord would give enough in regard to the earlier visions to lay a solid foundation for the understanding of the later ones.” End quote. And the reason I say that is because I want you to understand that we are interpreting them as we go, built upon what we’ve already known because there isn’t much interpretation given. - J Mac

The tabernacle built by Moses and, later, Solomon’s temple were divided into the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (or Holy of Holies). To understand these places, it will help if we first understand the concept of “holy.” At its most basic meaning, holy simply means “set apart” or even “different.” God is holy because He is absolutely different, completely set apart from everything else. He is completely different from all other things that are called “gods.” He is also completely set apart from sin, which is probably the concept that most people associate with God’s holiness. This example may help explain the concept further: the word bible is simply from the Latin for “book.” Although the word Bible has become a technical (or semi-technical) term for the Word of God, the term itself just means “book.” There are many books in the world. That is why on the cover or the title page we often see the official title as “Holy Bible.” In other words, there are many bibles (books), but this Book (Bible) is holy; that is, it is different, set apart from all other books, because it is the Word of God. - Gotquestions.org

This is the curse that goes out - What curse? Look above at Deuteronomy 27:26, this is a scroll, which has writing on it, it is the same size as the Holy Place in the Tabernacle, the room that was lit with the lamp. What was written on it? On one side it says, "everyone who steals shall be cleaned out", and on the other side it says, "everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out." Thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. This is the ten commandments, one law is on the side of man's relationship to man, and the other is in view of man's relationship to God. Since we are made in the image of God, then it all ultimately goes back to God, our sins are against Him. Verse 4 further clarifies it by listing the "house of the thief", and "the house of him who swears falsely by My name."

…14You shall not commit adultery. 15You shall not steal. 16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.… Exodus 20: 14-16

…6but showing loving devotion to a thousand generations of those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.… Exodus 20: 6-8

…20So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’…

23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ 24Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.… Matthew 7: 20-25

…36“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?” 37 Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment.…

…39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 41While the Pharisees were assembled, Jesus questioned them:… Matthew 22: 36-41

Now, notice that two of the commands are mentioned; stealing and swearing falsely. You know why those two are mentioned? I tell you why. The law had two sides, God wrote His law on one side of this table of stone and on the flip side He wrote the rest of it. There were five laws on one side and five laws on the other side. On the front side, the command about stealing, that’s the third command, the middle of the five. On the other side, swearing falsely is the third of the five, the middle of the five. By referring to the middle one on both sides of God’s law, He is encompassing the whole law. Half of the commandments define a man’s sin against God and the second half a man’s sin against his brother.

And so, we find that by taking one command from each side of the Mosaic Law, the middle command, He is representing the whole Law and He is simply saying that if a man defiles God’s law on one side or God’s law on another side, he’ll be cut off. Now, who would fall into that condemnation? Would you? I would. Did you ever lie? I did. Did you ever covet? I did, do. So you see, we all fall into that.

But you see, some of us have been saved by God’s grace through the shed blood of Jesus Christ because we received Him by faith, and His blood is applied to our sin and we’re no longer condemned. But if a person doesn’t have the salvation of Jesus Christ, he must stand condemned by those acts of violating God’s law. And it says he will be cut off. You say, “What does that mean?” Naqah. That is a word that it means just that, to be wiped out. And it is used in Isaiah 3:26 of a city that was totally destroyed. He will be destroyed. Notice the totality and the completeness of judgment. The criterion is the word of God, the completeness means everyone who sins will be totally wiped out of any possible blessing. - J Mac

Basket Case

The second vision, verse 5, deals with God’s judgment on sin itself. Not the sinner so much as sin, although the sinner is inextricably connected. This again, is clearly millennial in its ultimate interpretation. It has a present condition in Zechariah’s time. The Jews had recently returned from Babylon. Outwardly, they had put away pagan idolatry. They really had. It never rose again. But inwardly in their hearts they had become materialistic. They had hung around Babylon just long enough to get sucked into materialism. - J Mac

This is the basket that is going out - Another translation of this would be "Ephah", which is one of the larger forms of measurement back then, a container, like we would ship things in barrels. It was used to measure grain. These images are images of trade and commerce, this was their new god, the god of materialism, this was their hope, where their faith rested, buying, selling and trading. Greed drives the world system today, and there are subsystems of this that formulate their theories and politics in one way or another, based upon materialism, even so called "science". We have capitalism that does not deny greed, encourages competition, but we don't see pure capitalism anywhere really today. We have socialism, the cute, cuddly infant of communist tyranny, that also acknowledges greed, but then offers a false messiah as the cure, big government, which just moves the wealth from people good at creating and managing it to politicians. We use greed politically, saying, "those people have because they are greedy, and you have not because they are greedy, and the answer to this is to either vote to steal their money by means of those who govern, or have an insurrection and take it by force." The problem is politicians are greedy, rich are greedy, and the poor can also be greedy, plus the line of poverty moves depending upon who you are talking to, and what they think they should have. In the future, these world systems will be taken away.

…16You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” Exodus 20: 16-17

The leaden cover was lifted - This lead is also a symbol of commerce, how they weighed things, and profit had taken a high place over honesty, integrity, compassion, so often the merchants would use false weights and balances within this system. 

…34You must treat the foreigner living among you as native-born and love him as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. 35You must not use dishonest measures of length, weight, or volume. 36You shall maintain honest scales and weights, an honest ephah, and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.… Leviticus 19: 34-36

Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. 2 Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. 4 Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. 5 You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. James 5: 1-6

There was a woman sitting in the basket - This has to do with the religious system incorporated with the materialism, and it is a difficult concept for people in our time, because we are tied at the hip with a secular culture that does not even like to acknowledge the scientific differences between men and women. Go back to the garden, the one in Eden, where this all started. Satan didn't come to Adam, so he usurped God's order first, deceived Eve, but Adam did not do what he was supposed to, which was protect. It says that Eve was deceived, but that Adam willfully sinned, he chose Eve over God, God Who made her from Adam's side. It goes on to tell us that her desire will be toward her husband, or contrary toward her husband; she would seek to be what God has told him to be, the spiritual leader. There were never any female priests in Judaism, only in pagan religions, and today we see a lot of women calling themselves pastors because they "feel like" they were called. This is not so different from Babel, where this is headed to, Nimrod's wife some believe to be the priestess of that early, first humanistic religion that also tied itself to the occult. 

You say, “There’s only one confusing part of this whole deal, and that’s that woman. What’s she doing in there?” Well, there’s always one confusing thing in every one of these things. This is a woman that sits in the midst of the ephah. And he said, “This is wickedness and he threw that in with the rest of it. It’s simply this. The grain in the barrel symbolizes the system, the economy, the materialism; the woman symbolizes the evil of it. And I don’t know how to say this nice. Nicely, to made it an adverb, but woman is used symbolically in Scripture for religious evil. But before you panic, the church is also called the bride of Christ.

And so, whenever there is a false church she is a prostitute and religious prostitution is pictured as a woman. We see that in the 17th chapter of Revelation, where the false religious system is called Babylon, the mother of harlots. And so, she is wickedness, she is a symbol of sin. And so, we see that the whole system, the whole ecclesiastical Babylon, the whole economic Babylon, the whole false church, the whole false materialistic economy is going to be thrown in the same basket. God’s lead lid is going to be slammed on the top and God is going to move out in judgment. And so, God will deal in judgment on the sinner and God will deal in judgment on sin and He’ll heap the whole thing in one basket. - J Mac

…33For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace—as in all the churches of the saints. 34 Women are to be silent in the churches. They are not permitted to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35If they wish to inquire about something, they are to ask their own husbands at home; for it is dishonorable for a woman to speak in the church.… 1 Corinthians 14: 33-35

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.  1 Timothy 2: 11-14

1This is a trustworthy saying: If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3not dependent on wine, not violent but gentle, peaceable, and free of the love of money.… 1 Timothy 3: 1-3

They had wings like the wings of a stork - Two more women come forward, and some commentators have, and I will be kind here, thought these were angels, yet we never here of any holy angels being called women. Now they are storks, and this is a bird with large wings as some have pointed out, they think to carry this heavy load of sin and false system that God is sending away, okay, sure, but who is this vision being given to, Zechariah, a Jew, familiar with the law of God. Storks are listed as unclean animals, and read these two passages:

…18the white owl, the desert owl, the osprey, 19 the stork, any kind of heron, the hoopoe, and the bat. 20All flying insects that walk on all fours are detestable to you.… Leviticus 11: 18-20

1After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. 2And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast. 3All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.”… Revelation 18: 1-3

To the land of Shinar - Where it all started, this is an ancient name for the land of Babylon, wherein was the tower of Babel, and from which place Ziggurats have made their way across the earth, with every other form of false religion and evil system.

To build a house for it - This will be the final world system, and the religion that will be first embraced and then crushed by antichrist, desiring to rule over all and take the worship to himself. Religion will become popular again, but it will be apostate, and the cry will go out, to come out of her.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

Babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

... Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.” Revelation 17: 1-6; 15-18