Slices
Prepare
How much evil do we see going on around us? Does it ever bother you that nothing seems to be done to deal with it? Which evil, in particular, bothers you the most?
Bible passage
The flying scroll
5 I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
2 He asked me, ‘What do you see?’
I answered, ‘I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.’
3 And 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. 4 The 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
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, ‘Look up and see what is appearing.’
6 I asked, ‘What is it?’
He replied, ‘It is a basket.’ And he added, ‘This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.’
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, ‘This is wickedness,’ and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
9 Then 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.
11 He 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.’
Explore
Zechariah’s sixth and seventh visions, involving large identified flying objects, are about God’s judgement. First, we see the large flying scroll. Interestingly the dimensions are the same as those of the Temple porch, where the Law was usually read (1 Kings 6:3). The scroll seems to have the Law written on it, for one side mentions stealing, and on the other side swearing falsely; the eighth and third commandments (v 3; see Exodus 20:7,15). God will judge the wicked people in the land, totally destroying them and their houses (v 4).
The second object is a large basket, large enough to contain a woman (v 7). She is identified as wickedness (v 6). Two women appear and carry the basket, by air, away to Babylonia, where wickedness will be set up like an idol in a temple.
These are simple visions to imagine, but harder to understand. However, what is clear is that God is promising to judge the wicked people in Israel, and even to remove wickedness itself. We can rest assured that God takes sin seriously and is able to purge it from his people.
Respond
Give thanks to God that he is able to – and will – deal with all evil. Thank him that we don’t have to face judgement according to his standards because of Christ.
Deeper Bible study
… if [judgement] begins with us [God’s household], what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?’1
Like some great advertising banner trailed behind an aeroplane for everyone to see, the oversized scroll in Zechariah’s sixth vision flies throughout Judah, warning the returnees against breaking God’s commandments. Two offences are mentioned (theft and taking God’s name in vain, vs 3,4). Committing these offences is equivalent to breaking the whole Law and leads to divine retribution.2 Some Jews probably imagined that their participation in building the Temple meant that God would gratefully overlook their acts of disobedience. The vision issues a warning to every one of us. We must never compromise with sin and try to bargain for God’s favour.
The flying scroll spoke of God’s judgement of individual sins and sinners among the people. In the seventh vision, their sinfulness in general is likened to a basket containing wickedness (personified as a woman), which is carried off to Babylonia. The Tower of Babel once stood there, causing the region to be identified henceforth in Scripture with man’s defiance of God. The passage seems to imply Babylon’s future judgement by God (when the house being built for the basket ‘is ready’, v 11).
Babylon’s ultimate doom is graphically portrayed in the book of Revelation.3 There, as in Zechariah’s seventh vision where the woman cannot break out of the basket that contains her (v 8), we see that wickedness is limited by God’s power and it is under his sovereign control. Let us not fret when evil seems openly and triumphantly to parade before our eyes with apparent impunity! God is too holy, just and good to let evil-doers get away with it! May we take comfort in his supreme authority over all things!
The scroll and basket were signs of impending judgement given to Zechariah. Use the signs of the end times Jesus gives us4 to inform your prayers today.
1 1 Pet 4:17 2 Cf James 2:10 3 Rev 17–19 4 Matt 24
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Judges 19,20; Psalm 44
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Mission Enabler Sam Fowler as he supports Faith Guides in Essex and Hertfordshire, particularly as they continue journeying with children and young people after Easter projects. Pray for new opportunities to share the good news of Jesus in the summer months.
