Craig Mcelheny Christian Author

I believe Zechariah, Chapter 5, is a vision and definition of what evil is in the sight of the Lord. The vision is a “flying scroll” sent forth as a curse (Zech. 5:3) upon which, one side is engraved with the names of those who steal, and the other side contains those who “swear falsely by My (the Lord’s) name” (Zech. 5:4) – anyone who would lie. The curse is sent out to “clean out” – ESV, or “purge away” – NASB, the two types of evil engraved on the scroll (vs. 3).

Then an angel explains what the curse is. The Hebrew word, ephah, in the NKJV of Zech. 5:6 is identified as a basket in the ESV, and indeed, the footnote in the NKJV for the word, ephah, is “a measuring container”. Hence, you could make a connection between the ephah in Zech. 5:6 and the scales in Rev. 6:5, i.e. something that measures or weighs things.

The ephah is further identified, in Zech. 5:6, as “their appearance” (NASB) or “iniquity” (ESV) – the make up, or character of the two evils (stealing and lying). The basket contains the iniquity of those who lie and steal – two things the Lord despises. Here is a distinction from Rev. 6:6 in which the object that is being weighed by the scales is not evil. In fact, the oil and wine is symbolic of a person who is indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and heavenly bound – a true believer in, and disciple of, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The angel reveals a woman sitting in the basket, and characterizes her as “Wickedness” (Zech. 5:7-8). He then throws a lead cover over the basket to contain the evil within. John MacArthur comments, “Inside the basket was sitting a woman, personifying this final wickedness (cf. Rev. 17:3-5), which is not dormant, since the lead cover is required to restrain it in the basket (cf. 2 Thess. 2:6-8).”

John believes the woman in Zech. 5:7-8 is the same woman in Rev. 17:3-5 – Babylon the Great, or everything that is evil in this world, and deserving of God’s Wrath. I concur, but there is one caveat that bears mentioning. Zech. 5:4 said the scroll contains those who “swear falsely BY MY NAME”. Evil people and non-believers do not swear by the Lord’s name. Only believers swear by the Lord’s name. What could this mean?

John also referenced 2 Thess. 2:6-8, which speaks of the Antichrist being restrained (analogous to the lead cover on the basket, restraining Wickedness) until the “lawless one” is revealed. In my book, “The Rapture and the Last Seven Years”, I speculate that the “lawless one” could possibly be Satan, because the Antichrist will be “revealed” much earlier to those who know the Scriptures. We will know who the Antichrist is when he signs the agreement with the Jews to allow them to rebuild the Temple, but that is a discussion for another time.

Also in my book, I propose that the Third Seal (Rev. 6:5-6) is the requirement to take the Mark of the Beast, by the Antichrist when he takes his seat in the Rebuilt Temple, and claims to be God. This is derived from the scales in the Third Seal, measuring the “oil and the wine” – a true believer, at a time when a day’s wages (a denarius) is stringently controlled, i.e. you cannot buy or sell without the Mark of the Beast.

Thus, it seems plausible to me that the person who swears falsely by the Lord’s name, is one who doesn’t have enough conviction in his/her walk to stand up to the Mark of the Beast, and would ultimately end up as part and parcel with Babylon the Great. By the way, the Third Seal lasts for the duration of the Great Tribulation, or what is commonly understood to be the last half of the Tribulation.

The remaining verses in Zech. 5:9-11 identify the Wickedness in the basket as that of Babylon the Great, by virtue of the two women carrying the basket to “the land of Shinar”. Shinar is the Babylonian plain.

March 24 2016 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report