Zec 5:1-4 | KingComments | STEP | In Zechariah 4 the people are shown after the ideal of God. Zechariah 5 shows the people as they really are. Therefore, it deals with judgment, as well as the last night vision in Zechariah 6 ( ). So far encouragement has been heard, but now the judgment is announced because of the true condition of the people. In the sixth night vision, with the flying scroll ( ), the transgressors of the law are judged and thus sinners are removed. In the seventh night vision, with the woman in the ephah ( ) the land is cleansed by removing wickedness, the principle of sin. In this way the land will truly become the “holy land” ( ). Zechariah lifts up his eyes again in a vision. In the vision he sees “a flying scroll”. The flying scroll represents the active power of the Word of God, working in judgment, a judgment that is quickly carried out. The scroll plays an important role in Scripture. It contains the councils of God regarding Christ ( ), His grace which He reveals in the Lord Jesus. The scroll also contains God’s intentions with the earth. That scroll is in the hand of God and is given to the Lord Jesus, the Lamb ( ; cf. ). The main idea in Revelation is, on the one hand, God’s grace in salvation for His people, the believers, and on the other hand, the judgment of the wicked. Here in Zechariah it is the judgment of His unfaithful people.

‏ Zechariah 5:1-4

Introduction

In Zechariah 4 the people are shown after the ideal of God. Zechariah 5 shows the people as they really are. Therefore, it deals with judgment, as well as the last night vision in Zechariah 6 (Zec 6:1-8). So far encouragement has been heard, but now the judgment is announced because of the true condition of the people.

In the sixth night vision, with the flying scroll (Zec 5:1-4), the transgressors of the law are judged and thus sinners are removed. In the seventh night vision, with the woman in the ephah (Zec 5:5-11) the land is cleansed by removing wickedness, the principle of sin. In this way the land will truly become the “holy land” (Zec 2:12).

A Flying Scroll

Zechariah lifts up his eyes again in a vision. In the vision he sees “a flying scroll”. The flying scroll represents the active power of the Word of God, working in judgment, a judgment that is quickly carried out.

The scroll plays an important role in Scripture. It contains the councils of God regarding Christ (Psa 40:7), His grace which He reveals in the Lord Jesus. The scroll also contains God’s intentions with the earth. That scroll is in the hand of God and is given to the Lord Jesus, the Lamb (Rev 5:7; cf. Eze 2:1 ; 2 ; 9 ; 10). The main idea in Revelation is, on the one hand, God’s grace in salvation for His people, the believers, and on the other hand, the judgment of the wicked. Here in Zechariah it is the judgment of His unfaithful people.

The Sizes of the Scroll

The LORD asks Zechariah what he sees. Zechariah answers with an accurate description of the scroll. He sees it flying. He also gives its length size and width size because they are striking sizes.

The sizes of the scroll are the sizes of God’s sanctuary, the holy place of the temple (1Kgs 6:3). This indicates that the Word of God does not differ in anything from what is appropriate for God’s presence, but is fully in accordance with it. It is a great book, because it contains many curses because of the many sins of the people. It is a completely unrolled book, it can be read by everyone, and also long and wide, by all to see and perceive. The message of judgment is hidden from no one.

We can learn from this that God applies judgment to the spiritual state of the people according to the measure of the sanctuary. The relationship between this book of curses and the sanctuary also tells us that judgment begins with the house of God (Eze 9:6; 1Pet 4:17). With this measure all sinners will be measured. This means that they are not part of the church of God and that they will be and remain removed from the holy place where God dwells.

The Twofold, General Curse

It is a book of curses for “the whole land”, because the whole land is full of sin. The curse particularly affects the members of God’s people who are thieves and who swear falsely. Not all sins are enumerated. They are summarized in stealing, that is sin against one’s neighbor, and swearing a false oath, that is sin against God. We see this division also in the ten commandments on the two stone tables of the law (Lk 10:27). He who is guilty of one commandment is guilty of all (Jam 2:10).

Stealing is the violation of the eighth commandment (Exo 20:15). It is a sin against one’s neighbor, but also against God, because with every sin is stolen from Him what He is entitled to. Every little Christian confession that is not the work of God is stolen. For example, we steal from Him when we use time due to Him for ourselves and when we spend money due to Him for ourselves. In this way we have to apply to ourselves what is written on the scroll.

False swearing is the violation of the third commandment (Exo 20:7). It is a sin against God in which His Name is wrongfully used and connected to our own affairs. This sin occurs when a wrong thing is approved by attaching the Name of God to it. Thus, God’s Name is connected to many things in Christianity that He hates and about which He will bring judgment, the curse.

Abuse of the Lord’s Name can also be related to coming together in the Lord’s Name or expressing prophecies in His Name, like ‘so says the Lord’ in charismatic circles. If we profess to come together in the Name of the Lord, but we do so on a sectarian basis, it means that we abuse His Name, swearing false.

The Curse Goes Forth

The LORD Himself makes the curse go forth, that is to send it from His presence. He says this as “the LORD of hosts”. If he makes the curse go forth, it can be stopped by nothing and nobody. The curse goes forth and is sent straight to the house of both the thief and him who swears falsely. God knows where to find every evildoer (Jer 23:24) to give him his righteous punishment. Though they think no one sees their sins, nothing is hidden from God (Psa 94:7 ; 9).

The curse enters the house of the lawbreaker and takes its place there, “within that house”. He cannot be expelled from it, there is no spell against it. The curse spends the night there and does its destructive work from within. The whole house is destroyed (cf. Lev 14:45). There is nothing left of their own house for which they have worked so hard, while they have neglected God’s house.