Zechariah 5
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Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.
2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
Public Domain KJV text from Wordproject.org
Zechariah 5:1-11
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
1Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2And 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.” 3Then 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. 4I 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
5Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6And 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.” 7And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.
9Then 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. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11He 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.”
ESV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Zech. 5:1-11
The Flying Scroll
1I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
2He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
3And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. 4The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”
The Woman in a Basket
5Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
6I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
7Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”
NIV Bible text displayed through the American Bible Society's Global Bible Widget
Commentary
“A flying scroll” sounds like the mythical magic flying carpet. It can go inside your house and you may have unannounced visitors at an inopportune time. The difference is that this scroll contains curses against thieves and liars--thieves who rob God of His deserved glory, and liars who swear falsely by His name. To falsely swear by God’s name is to falsely claim to be His representative, to falsely pretend you are His favorite. Don’t deceive yourself. God will not allow Himself to be mocked. Such pretense will bring only shame and disaster. To claim you are connected to Him and not share in His mission for His despised or estranged children leads to downfall. However, this is not predestination. The Lord can remove the iniquity and wickedness and send it to the depth of the sea or lock it far from you in a lead container so it can no longer irradiate. He can revive you, restore you, and make you, again, an instrument in His hands. He can remove your dirty rags and clothe you in splendor. He can write your name on another scroll. He is so eager to do it today. Would you allow Him to transform you?
Cristian Dumitrescu
Professor and pastor who shares God's love among homeless people on the streets of Bucharest, Romania (as of this writing)
