Zechariah 5
v.1
I looked again—and there before me was a flying scroll!
v.2
He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. “
v.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.
The message and meaning of the scroll are revealed. Those who persisted in breaking the covenant (Ex 20) would experience the curse (punishment) for disobedience and unfaithfulness (Dt 27:26). Since the scroll was apparently inscribed on both sides, one side must have contained the curse against those who violated the third commandment of the law while the other side contained the curse against those who broke the eighth commandment. The thief broke the eighth commandment, and whoever swore falsely violated the third commandment. These two representative sins—perhaps theft and perjury were the most common ones at this time—stand for all kinds of sin. The point is that Israel was guilty of breaking the whole law (cf. Jas 2:10). “Banished” (GK 5927) amounts to the notion of “purging” the land from chronic covenant-breakers. God has always required adherence, not only to the letter of the law, but also to its spirit.
The text suggests a connection between theft and oath breaking. What oath could be made that, if broken, would constitute theft? One possibility is that individuals had made pledges of funds to accomplish the building of the temple and were now reneging on their oaths. In that case they would be guilty of stealing (it had been pledged and, therefore, no longer belonged to them) and of oath breaking. The sanctions (represented in the scroll) are now going forth to ferret them out and bring the consequences down on them. The problem of investing in their own houses instead of the temple is referred to in Haggai 1:4; the accusation of theft for holding back that which has been pledged is seen to be a postexilic problem in Malachi 3:8-10.
v.4
The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.‘”
“It” refers to the curse. There can be no hiding, no escape, from the judgement of that curse. God’s word, whether promise or threat, is efficacious. “It” will enter and destroy the homes of the guilty. Even the privacy of their homes will afford them no refuge from divine judgement. The word “thief” recalls Ex 20:15, and “him who swears falsely by my name” recalls Ex 20:7. To judge from the materials used in the houses (cf. Hag 1:3-9), it was primarily the wealthy who were guilty of committing these sins.
v.5
Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is appearing.”
v.6
I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a measuring basket. ” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
The removal of wickedness is now vividly depicted. Not only sinners, but the whole sinful system must be removed—apparently to the place of its origin (Babylonia)… The basket represents the people’s iniquity or crookedness that pervades the land.
v.7-8
Then 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 the lead cover down over its mouth.
The import of the measuring basket is now fully revealed: When the cover of lead was lifted from the basket, wickedness is exposed, personified by a woman (cf. Rev 17:3-5). Like the basket itself, the woman represents the sin of the people in Palestine, whose measure or cup of evil was full. The whole evil system was to be destroyed. The Hebrew word for “wickedness” (GK 8402), denoting moral, religious, and civil evil, is feminine, which may explain why the wickedness of the people is personified as a woman.
v.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.
The fate of the woman (i.e., wickedness) is portrayed: She is to be removed from the land.
v.10
“Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
v.11
He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”