A FLYING SCROLL AND A WOMAN IN A BASKET (5:1-11)
Neal Pollard
Two more visions are recorded in chapter five, and both are extremely interesting. Whereas the previous visions could be described as comforting, we would have to say that these visions contained veiled threats for those who would disobey God’s will. That message is delivered in the vision of a flying scroll and a woman in a basket.
The Scroll (1-4). To understand the vision, we must pay attention to the particular symbols.
There is the scroll itself, which suggests communication. There is the writing on the scroll, which is divine communication.
There is the size of the scroll, 20 cubits long and 10 cubits tall (approximately 30 feet by 15 feet). That is humongous! As Klein comments, “It bears more resemblance to a modern billboard than to an ancient scroll” (NAC, 170).
There is the content of the scroll, a curse on those who steal and those who swear falsely. That warning is written one on each side (in gigantic letters?). Probably, stealing stands for the whole of the ten commandments dealing with one’s relationship with other people while swearing falsely represents the sins in the decalogue against God.
There is the flying of the scroll, suggesting that it came down from God and might suggest the rapid speed whereby its warning comes to pass.
There is the work of the scroll, depicted in an incredible image in verse four. It carries the curse within the households of the disobedience and bears judgment on the guilty. Being consumed speaks of destruction and punishment.
The Woman In The Basket (5-11). There are three symbols in this vision, that of an ephah, a leaden lid, and a woman.
“The ephah was the largest of the dry measures used in commerce by the Israelites” (Smith, OT Survey Series, 550). It approximates to the bushel. If it is used in commercial enterprises, then it seems best to represent the business affairs of Zechariah’s contemporaries in Judah.
The cover of lead suggests to us that it is heavy. It is keeping in place what is inside. Someone (the angel?) lifts the lid to show what’s inside.
A woman is sitting inside the ephah (7b), and her name is Wickedness (there is no slam intended against the fairer sex, but wickedness, like wisdom in Proverbs 8, is a feminine noun) (8a). After revealing her presence, the angel closes the lead lid back onto the ephah (8b). She is carried off to Babylon by two winged women. The vision does not indicate whose “side” they are on–the woman’s or God’s. But they take her away where she will be worshipped in the temple they build for her in Shinar (i.e., Babylon, Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2). John will later use Babylon to speak of the Roman Empire and, by extension, those earthly kingdoms which stand against Christ (Rev. 17:3-5). There is also the idea that sin is being carried far away from God’s people to a place far away! Even with judgment there is a hopeful promise of sin’s removal.
The Point. Sin wreaks havoc on those who serve it (Rom. 6:23). God’s word warns against sinning against Him and those made in His image (Mat. 22:37-40). We are foolish to choose the wrong master, and money makes a terrible master (Mat. 6:24). We are wise to be godly in our business dealings and our occupations, and we are blessed that by God’s grace sin can be carried far away. God’s mercy and kindness are conditioned upon our obedient faith.
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