In our study of Zechariah chapter five, we look at his eighth and ninth visions which tell of coming judgement. In this chapter, God uses a scroll and a basket to tell of the coming judgement on those who have turned away from God's Word because of their love of money.
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Again I raised my eyes, and I saw in front of me a flying scroll.
Once again, the prophet is awake and looked up to the sky where he saw this scroll. The scroll represents the Word of God. This is like the scroll that was given to the prophet Ezekiel (see Ezekiel 2:9). It is also like the scroll that was given to John for him to eat (see Revelation 10:9 & 10). On this scroll was written the Ten Commandments with the laws concerning man's relationship with God on one side and man's relationship with their fellow man on the other side.
He said to me, "What do you see?" I replied, "I see a flying scroll thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.
This scroll was twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide (one cubit is about eighteen inches). This scroll is the same size as the porch that was on Solomon's Temple (see 1 Kings 6). This was the place where people met to talk about the things of God. It is also the size of the Holy Place. It is amazing to see how God is in charge of even the smallest of details.
Then he said to me, "This is the curse that goes out over the face of all the land; for [according to what is written] on one side, everyone who steals will be swept away; and [according to what is written] on the other side, everyone who swears will be swept away.
The word for "curse" here speaks of judgment and the vision speaks to the fact that the Ten Commandments written on this scroll is the standard by which the people will be judged. We see that it is a curse for those who are under the law but we, who are under the grace of God through Yeshua Messiah, are not judged according to the law (see Romans 6).
'I will release it,' says ADONAI-Tzva'ot, 'and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name; it will stay there inside the house and consume it completely, even its timbers and stones.'"
This verse describes the two sides of the scroll as one side has on it the commandments concerning man's relationship with man (the thief). The other side has the commandments concerning man's relationship with God (swears falsely by my name). God says that the scroll (law) will be sent out and it will condemn those who are disobedient. This is bad news for those that trust in the law to save them from God's wrath. As the verse says, their house will be destroyed because of their disobedience. We have to admit that, even on our best day, we cannot keep the Law.
Then the angel speaking with me went forward and said to me, "Now raise your eyes, and see what this thing is, passing by." I asked, "What is it?" He said, "This is the eifah-measure [a one-bushel dry-measure] passing by." Then he added, "This is their eye in all the land."
Zechariah's ninth vision rapidly follows the eighth and this time it is of a measuring basket or ephah. This basket was used in commerce to weigh stuff for sale and tells of the fact that God's people had turned away because of their love of money. This also speaks of the commandment to not covet your neighbor's possessions. The thing about loving money is that, just like drugs or alcohol, you never have enough. God's people had learned the ways of commerce from Babylon while they were captives there and they had embraced it. Today, this is more relevant than ever before as it seems that the world worships "free markets" and "global trade". Greed has caused some of the greatest damage to people's lives and even made many groups of believers turn their back on the widows and the poor. It is going to get even worse, as we see in Revelation 13, and this love will even cause men to follow the beast.
Next I saw a lead disc lifted up to reveal a woman sitting in the eifah. He said, "This is Evil." He threw her down into the eifah and pressed the lead weight over its opening.
Lead is a very heavy metal and is even used as shielding to prevent the spread of radiation in a nuclear reactor. This basket is a container that is holding the wickedness of the love of money. The woman is a sign of adultery and the people have turned away from God to worship money and the things that it can buy. That is why Yeshua Messiah warned us that we cannot serve both God and money (see Matthew 6:24). That is also why Paul warned us that the "love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (see 1 Timothy 6:10).
I raised my eyes and saw two women coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like those of a stork. They lifted the eifah up between the earth and the sky.
Now, the prophet sees two women and we remember that, throughout the Bible, two is the number of required legal witnesses for anything to be established. Here, they are lifting the basket in the air to carry it away. The stork has big strong wings and is a migratory bird (travels long distances).
I asked the angel speaking with me, "Where are they taking the eifah?" He answered me, "To build it a shrine in the land of Shin'ar. When it's ready, [the eifah] will be set down there on its base."
The basket is being taken back to Babylon where the commercialism started which is the modern nation of Iraq. Today, we may ask how the words of this passage can be true as the city of Babylon is mostly in ruins. The fact of the matter is that the city is being rebuilt just as it says here about building a house for the basket. It is being rebuilt as a tourist destination.
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