Zechariah 5

The flying scroll (vs. 1-4)—Zechariah’s next vision was of a flying scroll (v. 1). It’s length and width, 30 feet x 15 feet (v. 2), was the same dimensions as the temple porch (I Kgs. 6:3), where the law was usually read, thus seemingly implying that the scroll was divinely authorized. The scroll was flying (its curses were swiftly to visit the transgressors?), and it was open, thus none could be excused for not knowing its contents, viz., no one can be excused for not knowing God’s laws. The angel told Zechariah that the scroll contained “the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth” (v. 3). This seems to indicate universal judgment, though the ASV’s “land” very possibly limits it to the Jews or the Babylonians. Regardless, there will be punishment for malefactors (v. 3). Verse 4 is largely a repetition of verse 3, only that the Lord speaks openly, rather than through the angel. Whether this is intended as universal or local (Babylon or Judea), the message of full judgment against sin is clear—“it [the curse] shall remain in the midst of his house and consume it, with its timber and stones”—totality (v. 4).

The woman in the basket (vs. 5-11)—Zechariah is then commanded to “lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth" (v. 5). Zechariah sees a basket with a woman in it. The KJV and ASV use the word “ephah” instead of “basket,” and this is a little more accurate; the ephah represented an ordinary measure of grain. A lead disc (NKJV; “talent of lead,” KJV, ASV) is placed over the basket to secure the woman inside (vs. 7-8). The angel tells Zechariah that the woman (or the whole thing) represents wickedness (v. 8). The “wickedness” almost assuredly was the impiety and iniquity of the Jews (v. 6); the “earth” (NKJV, KJV) or “land” (ASV) means Judea, and again, the ASV may have the better sense here. Zechariah then spots two women, “coming with the wind in their wings, for they had wings like the wings of a stork” (v. 9), and they pick up the basket and haul it off. “Where are they carrying the basket?” Zechariah asks the angel in verse 10. “And he said to me, "To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base" (v, 11). This is a little obscure, but I think the following may be the fundamental thought. “Shinar” is “Babylon,” which symbolizes here all the foes of the people of God. Sin will be taken away from His people and dwell among those who oppose Him and His cause. The intended purity of God’s followers is being illustrated. Get sin out from among us and into the world where it belongs.