Zechariah 5:1-4

CHAPTER XXXII

A VISION OF A FLYING SCROLL

Zechariah 5:1-4

RV. Then again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole land: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off on the one side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off on the other side according to it. I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name; and it shall abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

LXX. And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked and behold a flying sickle. And he said to me. What seest thou? And I said, I see a flying sickle, of the length of twenty cubits, and of the breadth of ten cubits. And he said to me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth: for every thief shall be punished with death on this side, and every false swearer shall be punished on that side. And I will bring it forth, saith the Lord Almighty, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name; and it shall rest in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, and the timber of it, and the stones of it.

COMMENTS

WHAT THE PROPHET SAW. Zechariah 5:1-2

Zechariah lifted up his eyes. This is the phrase which introduces four of the prophet's eight visions. In the present vision what is seen is described as a flying scroll measuring thirty feet long by fifteen feet wide.
The angel again asks what the prophet sees to which the prophet answers very literally by describing the flying scroll. Unlike the previous visions, the angel makes no attempt to get Zechariah to interpret this one. Whether this be because of the prophet's inability to understand the others, or because of the extremely onerous nature of the meaning of the flying scroll we cannot be sure.

WHAT THE VISION MEANT. Zechariah 5:3-4

At least in this instance Zechariah seems justified in not being able to understand. Here, for the first time, the Law is depicted as a curse.

The overwhelming significance of this truth and of its appearance in the Old Testament Scriptures cannot be overstated. For centuries both Jews, in attempting to justify their rejection of the Christian faith, and liberal theologians in their attempt to discredit the New Testament, have held that the evaluation of the law as a curse is the peculiar theology of Paul. (cf. Galatians 3:13) That Paul is not the originator of this thought becomes apparent here!

The curse of the law is that it makes no allowance for human infirmity. By it comes the accurate knowledge of sin, but by it comes no remedy for sin. By it comes the just wrath of God upon the sinner, but by it comes no forgiveness of sin. (cf. Romans 7:7-24)

The curse of the law is not limited to the Jew alone. The scroll goes forth over the whole earth.

Paul will make this universal indictment of God against all men crystal clear. In Romans 2:14-15, the apostle shows that all men are in fact under the law, aside from Christ. The Jew because he has the written oracle of God. The Gentile because, while not having the written law, he became a law unto himself. This is because every person has in his conscience the awareness of right and wrong. True, the Gentile without the revealed Law of God does not know what is, in fact, right or wrong. Nevertheless, he is aware that there is right and that there is wrong. He stands guilty because he does not live up to what he believes is right and wrong and in this failure violates the fundamental principle upon which the Law rests.

This is seen in the modern sociological fad called the New Morality. Based upon a philosophy called existentialism, the New Morality is the practical expression of situation ethics.
In simple terms, this amounts to the denial of established right and wrong as written in the Ten Commandments. It is at its root the denial of the authority if not the very existence of God. But the New Morality does not deny the basic principles of right and wrong. It simply says there is no pre-determined right and wrong. Right and wrong must be determined subjectively within the framework of the existing situation.

Paul would say that the situationist stands guilty of breaking the law in that, having become a law unto himself, he proceeds to violate even his own understanding of right and wrong.
No individual, whether he accepts the written law or becomes a law unto himself, consistently does in every situation of life what he believes is right. Thus the curse of the law covers the whole earth.
In Zechariah's vision, two particular commandment violations become the target of God's wrath expressed in the curse of the law symbolized by the flying scroll. They are the infraction of the eighth commandment, Thou shalt not steal, and the ninth commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. (cf. Exodus 20:15-16)

The latter, swearing falsely in the name of God, is an affront to the majesty of God. The former, entering a neighbor's house to steal his personal property, is a violation of the dignity of the neighbor's humanity! Jesus will teach that the very foundation of the law is the recognition of these two sacred truths.
According to Him, the whole law hangs on the first and second commandments, i.e. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God and thy neighbor as thyself. (Matthew 22:34 -ff) To swear falsely in God's name or to steal another's personal possessions is to strike at the very foundation of morality as it is revealed by God in the Law.

The effect of this curse is deadly. The sinner himself will be cut off, and his household will be destroyed. The phrase cut off is a covenant term. (cp. Exodus 17:14; Exodus 12:15; Exodus 12:19, Leviticus 7:20-21; Leviticus 7:27; Leviticus 17:4; Leviticus 17:9; Leviticus 17:14, etc.)

To violate the commandments of God is to be cut off from the covenant relationship with Him. A Jew in this condition was no different from a Gentile who was completely ignorant of the covenant. (cf. Ephesians 2:11-12) Hence. there is no distinction. (Romans 3:22)

Not only does the sinner suffer as a result of his own disregard for God's majesty and human dignity, his family suffers also. Zechariah pictures the curse of the law as entering and abiding in the sinner's home, even to the consuming of the wood and masonry.

The same principle is stated in Exodus 34:6-7. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

If we consider this in terms of the family being held accountable for the father's sins, we shall miss the point altogether. What is intended is the self-evident truth that what effects a man effects his family also, and nothing effects a man more adversely than his own sin.

We deceive ourselves if we believe that the effects of our sinning are confined to ourselves. Deuteronomy 8:15-18 spells this out in great detail. But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee; Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.

Conversely, obedience to God brings blessings on others than ourselves. Proverbs 3:33 says, The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just.

The man who deliberately, habitually blasphemes God's name and/ or disregards the human dignity of his neighbor through the violation of his property rights brings the curse of God not only upon himself but those with whom he lives.

Chapter XXXIIQuestions

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

1.

Describe Zechariah's sixth vision.

2.

How is Zechariah justified in not being able to understand this vision?

3.

What is the significance of the depicting of the law as a curse in this particular passage?

4.

Discuss this in relation to Romans 2:14-15.

5.

How is the universal acknowledgement of the fact of right and wrong demonstrated in the New Morality?

6.

How do such people break the law of God?

7.

What two commandment violations are the target of God's wrath in the vision of the flying scroll?

8.

What is the effect of the curse symbolized in this vision?

9.

Compare Zechariah 5:1-4 and Exodus 34:6-7.

10.

Are the effects of our sins confined to ourselves?