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A Vision of a Flying Scroll
5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! And 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.” Then 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. I 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
Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And 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.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.
Then 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. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He 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)
Zechariah 5 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
Even though the Jewish people were brought back to their land, were forgiven of their sins, and were inspired by the Holy Spirit to complete the temple, God still had standards for them.
What should we say then? Should we continue in sin so that grace may multiply? 2 Absolutely not! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
Romans 6:1-2 HCSB
All of this did not mean they could “go on sinning.”
“No place, time, nor circumstances can alter this law. It is “from eternity to eternity.” It is the revelation of God, and the standard of rectitude in all nations and ages. Unchangeable in its nature, demands, and design, it is designed to educate conscience, to keep alive a sense of sin, and to lead to repentance and faith.”
Preacher’s Homiletical
The other reminder for the people here was that their spiritual standing with God and physical presence in the land He had given them depended on their relationship to Him. They could only live in safety and prosperity by living in Him. It was not obtained by their own works, but by faith, and it would be through obedience that it would be maintained. That obedience was the fruit of their faith. It is the fruit of our faith as well.
“The inheritance was never ‘of the law;’ was never held by any legal tenure—by any kind of desert—any right arising out of the doings of those who occupied it.” Only in Christ are we free from condemnation. We are saved by grace, not by works. “Not of works, lest any man should boast.””
Preacher’s Homiletical