The Scroll
This is a curse which God says he is sending out to those who are thieves and to those who swear falsely by his name. God says that the scroll will enter their home and destroy it. Two questions come immediately to my mind: why a flying scroll, and, why those who thieve and those who swear falsely?
The word of God was written on scrolls. A scroll would be an image that Zechariah would be familiar with. He would have seen a scroll and immediately seen it as the Word of God. Scrolls were not the old fashioned form of a book. Zechariah would not have been used to settling in for the evening with a good novel written on a scroll. The written word was rare and used for scholarly purposes and the Word of God. So this is clearly Gods word, or judgement.
As to my second questions, I really don’t have an answer. I can understand those who swear falsely but why thieves? Why did these two sins make God so made? There are eight other commandments. I can’t believe that these were the only two that were being broken. I have done some research and found no answer to this question. If you have one please post, I would really like to know.
The flying scroll was Gods judgement and it was going to be serious, it was not being sent out to convict it was being sent out to destroy, and not just a little bit of destruction, but complete destruction.
The Woman in the basket
The woman in the measuring basket is wickedness. She is being lifted up by two women with wings like a stalk. Zechariah was concerned about where they were taking the basket. He knew that this was a prophetic vision from God and so naturally wanted to know where wickedness was being taken. Wickedness was being taken to Babylonia.
Three main theories exist regarding this vision.
- Babylon was the place of the Jews captivity and so this may be denoting what the cause of their captivity was – wickedness.
- The wickedness is that which was carried out towards the Jews whilst they were in exile.
- The wicked being separated out from among the Jews and the return to Babylonia would be Gods judgement upon them.
We can only speculate as to the exact interpretation of this slightly peculiar vision. One thing that does stand out to me is that although wickedness is being taken to Babylonia, which implies some kind of devastation or judgement (whatever it is it will not be nice), it is being carried there by two ladies with wings. This is not an image of destruction or doom. This image suggests to me that God’s judgement is a pure thing. God’s judgement is always right and fit, therefore he does not need to either explain himself or come in a fit of rage, but it is almost a pragmatic thing that must be carried out because God is just.
These parts of the Bible always bring me back to a little reality of who God is. He has the power to give life and take it away and sometimes we forget that our life, our very existence, is entirely dependent on God. Christians can often paint a very nice picture of God as a friendly grandfather figure, and there is truth in this, but we must not forget that God is all powerful and all supreme and will pass out his judgement, because he is a just God.
