Then the angel who was speaking with me went out and said to me, “Lift up now your eyes and see what this is going forth.” I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their appearance in all the land (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” Then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening. Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” Then he said to me, “To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.” (Zech 5:5-11)
Zechariah sees an "ephah." An ephah is a standard Hebrew measure, about 22 liters I found in several books. However it is quite possible that the word here simply means "large." Here is a large basket, large enough to hold a grown woman. Evil is often personified as a woman in the Bible, but lest you get your knickers in a knot, notice who it is that carries this "Evil" away and disposes of it—two [good] women. She is deposited in Shinar, "the ancient name for the district in which Babylon, Erech, and Akkad were situated (Gen 10)." (Homer Hailey) These places were associated with going against God's way. Baldwin says they were symbolic of Satan's government.
The message is this: wickedness will not be tolerated in God's kingdom. It will be removed. So how is that encouraging, especially when we know we still on occasion sin? It's the attitude, people.
Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. (Ezek 9:1-5)
In Ezekiel's vision, God is ready to slaughter the people of Jerusalem. But first he sends a man to mark those who "sigh and groan" over the sin in that city so they will be spared. These people are not perfect, but they don't sit back and enjoy watching the sin either. They don't abstain while wishing they could participate. These people hate the sin, even when they themselves slip and fall. When you have that attitude, when you have learned to love what God loves and hate what he hates—sin!—the thought of being in a place where it no longer exists is liberating.
And that is why God's kingdom ousts the rebellious. (1 Cor 5, etc.) Not the people who slip and fall, but the ones who sin and dare you to do anything about it. The ones who are proud of their sin, as well as those who approve of them (Rom 1:32).
If you hate sin, God's kingdom will be your haven. It is the place you can go to get away from the filth of this world and calm your weary heart, your sore eyes, and battered ears. This is where your soul can rest.
Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. (Ps 119:53, 158,136)
Dene Ward
Zechariah sees an "ephah." An ephah is a standard Hebrew measure, about 22 liters I found in several books. However it is quite possible that the word here simply means "large." Here is a large basket, large enough to hold a grown woman. Evil is often personified as a woman in the Bible, but lest you get your knickers in a knot, notice who it is that carries this "Evil" away and disposes of it—two [good] women. She is deposited in Shinar, "the ancient name for the district in which Babylon, Erech, and Akkad were situated (Gen 10)." (Homer Hailey) These places were associated with going against God's way. Baldwin says they were symbolic of Satan's government.
The message is this: wickedness will not be tolerated in God's kingdom. It will be removed. So how is that encouraging, especially when we know we still on occasion sin? It's the attitude, people.
Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, “Bring near the executioners of the city, each with his destroying weapon in his hand.” And behold, six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his weapon for slaughter in his hand, and with them was a man clothed in linen, with a writing case at his waist. And they went in and stood beside the bronze altar. Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. (Ezek 9:1-5)
In Ezekiel's vision, God is ready to slaughter the people of Jerusalem. But first he sends a man to mark those who "sigh and groan" over the sin in that city so they will be spared. These people are not perfect, but they don't sit back and enjoy watching the sin either. They don't abstain while wishing they could participate. These people hate the sin, even when they themselves slip and fall. When you have that attitude, when you have learned to love what God loves and hate what he hates—sin!—the thought of being in a place where it no longer exists is liberating.
And that is why God's kingdom ousts the rebellious. (1 Cor 5, etc.) Not the people who slip and fall, but the ones who sin and dare you to do anything about it. The ones who are proud of their sin, as well as those who approve of them (Rom 1:32).
If you hate sin, God's kingdom will be your haven. It is the place you can go to get away from the filth of this world and calm your weary heart, your sore eyes, and battered ears. This is where your soul can rest.
Hot indignation seizes me because of the wicked, who forsake your law. I look at the faithless with disgust, because they do not keep your commands. My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law. (Ps 119:53, 158,136)
Dene Ward
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