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Scripture Reading: Zech. 5
In the first five visions which Zechariah saw (1:7—4:14), God spoke a comforting, consoling, and encouraging word to Joshua, Zerubbabel, and the people. God said that He would be with them and do something through them. In this way He encouraged them not to stop the building work on the temple, but rather to continue to finish the building of the temple under the priesthood of Joshua, the high priest, and under the kingship of Zerubbabel, the governor. Whereas the first five visions were positive, the last three visions Zechariah saw (5:1—6:8) were negative, because they concern God's universal judgment on the evil people and the evil on earth. These three visions are the vision of the flying scroll (5:1-4), the vision of the ephah vessel (vv. 5-11), and the vision of the four chariots (6:1-8). In this message we will consider the two visions recorded in chapter five.
"Then I lifted up my eyes again and I saw, and behold, there was a flying scroll. And he said to me, What do you see? And I said, I see a flying scroll" (5:1-2a). The flying scroll signifies God's righteous law and its justice (just judgment). Without judgment, there may be righteousness, but there will not be justice. When a particular case is subject to righteous judgment, then there will be justice.
The length of the flying scroll is twenty cubits and the breadth is ten cubits, signifying the testimony of the law by two squares of ten cubits by ten cubits. The number two is the number for testimony, and the number ten signifies completion in fullness. Therefore, the law of God is a testimony to the whole world, and the two squares of ten cubits by ten cubits is the completion in fullness of the law.
Verse 3a says, "Then he said to me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of all the land." The curse signifies God's punishment in judging sins according to His righteous law. God's law is righteous, and this righteous law does not tolerate unrighteousness. The fact that God's judgment is a curse indicates that it is a very serious matter. This scroll will be the base of God's thorough judgment over all the sin on earth.
Verses 3b and 4b speak of those who steal. Stealing signifies sins toward man, which are the issue of covetousness. Stealing issues from greed and covetousness. Today is an age of stealing. Business and trade involve stealing. Everyone is greedy and full of covetousness. The apostle Paul could keep many of the Ten Commandments, but he could not fulfill the commandment concerning coveting (Rom. 7:7-8).
Zechariah 5 also speaks concerning those who swear falsely by Jehovah's name (vv. 3c, 4c). Swearing falsely by Jehovah's name signifies sins toward God, which are the issue of a wrong relationship with God. Those who swear falsely in this way are not honest, faithful, and sincere with God. They may claim to speak and act in the name of God, but their claim is a falsehood. Such falsehood is surely an offense to God.
The law of God given to Moses is of two sections. One section concerns the relationship between man and God, and the other concerns the relationships among men. God requires that we be right with Him and also right with other people. To be right in this way is to be righteous. Those who are not right with both God and man will suffer God's judgment.
Speaking of God's judgment, verse 4 says, "I will cause it to go forth, declares Jehovah of hosts; and it will enter the house of him who steals and the house of him who swears falsely by My name; and it will lodge overnight within his house and consume it, both with its timbers and its stones." From this we see that the exercise of God's judgment of sins will be most serious and also very thorough.
Verses 5 through 11 describe the vision of the ephah vessel, which is the measuring vessel, a container able to hold one ephah, used for purchasing and selling in business.
"Then the angel who spoke with me went forth and said to me, Lift up now your eyes and see what this is that goes forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the ephah vessel that goes forth; and he said, This is their appearance in all the land" (vv. 5-6). A large percentage of the world's population is engaged in business or commerce. The appearance of business is not that bad; rather, in all the land commerce seems to have a proper appearance. But as we will see, actually today's commerce is totally wicked.
"This is a woman sitting within the ephah vessel. Then he said, This is Wickedness" (vv. 7b-8a). This reveals that the woman sitting within the ephah vessel signifies the wickedness contained in commerce, such as covetousness, deceit, and the love of mammon. The seller loves money and tries to get money out of the buyer's pocket; the buyer also loves money and tries to obtain the things he wants at a low price, thereby saving money.
The vision in Zechariah 5 corresponds to that of Babylon the Great in Revelation 18. These visions show us that in the sight of God the wickedness contained in commerce is a kind of idolatry and fornication. Business is an adulterous woman desirous of making money.
In Zechariah 5:7 and 8 we see that a lead cover, a lead weight, is thrown over the opening of the ephah vessel. This signifies the restriction of the wickedness in commerce by God's sovereignty. Wickedness is hidden and concealed in international trade. If commerce, especially international trade, could be restricted, the whole earth would be holy.
"Then I lifted up my eyes and I saw, and behold, there were two women going forth" (v. 9a). The one woman becoming two women signifies the double effect of commerce once it becomes free of the restriction.
The two women had wings like the wings of a stork, and the wind was in their wings. They lifted up the ephah vessel between the earth and the heavens (v. 9b). All this signifies the rapid spreading of the wicked commerce.
"I said to the angel who spoke with me, Where are they taking the ephah vessel? And he said to me, To build a house for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place" (vv. 10-11). This signifies that God's sovereignty will cause the wickedness in business, which the people of Israel learned of the Babylonians in their captivity, to go back to Babylon (the land of Shinar). Let this wickedness return to Babylon. All the people among God's elect should be honest and simple in their living.
