November 29, 2011
GOD TAKES OUT YOUR "TRASH"
Zechariah 5
Maggie Mayfield
Central Truth
Our wicked hearts and sinful nature are deep seeded and can only be removed by God's power.
Key Verse | Zechariah 5:3
Then he said to me, "This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side." (Zechariah 5:3)
Zechariah 5
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 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.” 1 5:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters 3 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 2 5:3 Hebrew lacks falsely (supplied from verse 4) shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 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
5 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.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket 3 5:6 Hebrew ephah; also verses 711. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity 4 5:6 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.
9 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. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 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.”
Dive Deeper | Zechariah 5
When reading through this passage of Scripture, I wondered how in the world this flying scroll and woman in the ephah (basket) relates to our world. So often when we read a confusing passage, we simply skip over it. When we take time to focus on Scripture and ask the Lord to reveal truth, we see that, even today, Zechariah's visions have application for our lives and remind us that "the word of God is living and active" (Hebrews 4:12).
Here, Zechariah receives the sixth and seventh visions of the flying scroll and woman in the ephah. The scroll represents the curse or judgment of sinners in the land of Israel. It's a clear message that sinners will be judged and purged. Then, Zechariah encounters the woman in the ephah called "[w]ickedness." She represents the sinful system that must be removed from the land so it can truly be a holy land (Zechariah 2:12). The women that appear with storklike wings are agents of the Lord who remove the "basket of wickedness."
As sinners living in a fallen world, we are like the woman in the basket who must be removed from the holy and perfect presence of the Lord (Romans 3:23). We can rely on God alone to swiftly remove the wickedness in our sinners' hearts and the sin in our lives. This is where the hope of Christ comes in! Because of God's mercy, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (2 Corinthians 5:21) We are no longer separated from God or "sent away in a basket" because Christ died to forgive our sins so we can have a relationship with God.
Just as Israel could be a holy land once sinners and the sinful system were removed in Zechariah's day, we, too, can be a "royal priesthood, a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9) because Christ removed our sin and dwells in us by the power of His Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-3).
Discussion Questions
1. Have you allowed Christ to come into your life and restore your relationship with the Lord?
2. What has the Lord been teaching you about His character and how He feels about sin?
3. Ask the Lord to reveal the sin habits in your life. Seek His forgiveness and get into accountability with other Christians.
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
ZECHARIAH 4-8 (NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2)
Read Zechariah 7.
What were the people doing in verses 5-6? Were they doing it for the Lord or for themselves?
What does the Lord tell the people to do in verses 8-10? What does He say the people before them had done? (see verses 11-12) What does it mean to harden your heart towards something? Have you ever put your fingers in your ears and hardened your heart towards something you were asked to do?
How can you keep your heart soft to God's ways? When we hear the truth of God's love and trust Him, it will soften us to do His will.
ACTIVITY: Look in verses 9-10. Choose one of the groups of people from verse 10 to show kindness to. Talk about different ideas that each of you have and when you are going to do it. Remember to share with them why you are showing kindness, to share the truth of God's love.