Zechariah 5:5-11
We are coming to the end of the vision Zechariah had one night 2,537 years ago. This is quite amazing to me.
I had a dream this week that I was with my grandmother who died when I was ten years old. In this dream she was wondering who had taken a glass from her cabinet and I tried to figure out what was so special about this glass that had made her bring someone to investigate. I leaned over to her and told her that what helps me is to remember that when I die everything will be left behind so the loss of a glass is really not that important. She told me that was very wise.
The only reason I remember that dream is because I was having it just when my alarm went off. I may remember the dream longer than normal because I mentioned it to a friend I exercised with early in the morning and because I am telling you about it now in this sermon. But still, will I, will anyone remember this dream a year from now?
But this 2,537 year old dream was more than a dream for Zechariah. This was more than his sub-conscious stirring. This was God speaking to him and it is for that reason that we are talking about this vision so many years after it occurred.
The vision Zechariah had that night was recorded in a chaism. I mentioned this a few weeks ago. A chiasm is a literary device in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order. So this vision is presented in the form of ABCDDCBA. The focus in a chaism is on the center, the DD. In Zechariah’s vision, the center, the focus, is on scenes 4 and 5.
1. Myrtle Trees – Peace among the Nations in the Earth (1:7-17).
2. Four Horns – Judgment of the Nations for their Evil against Israel (1:8-21).
3. Measuring Line – The Habitation of Jerusalem (2:1-13).
4. Joshua – Restoration of the Priestly Line (3:1-10).
5. Zerubbabel – Restoration of the Royal Line (4:1-14).
6. Flying Scroll – Judgment of Sin in Israel (5:1-4).
7. Woman in a Basket – Removal of Sin from Israel (5:5-11).
8. Four Chariots – Peace among the Nations in the Earth (6:1-8).
The scenes begin and end with peace among the nations. The first peace, however, is a false peace. In contrast the final peace is the result of God’s renewal of his grace toward Israel and Jerusalem.
The second and seventh scenes focus on Israel. While the first scene judges the nations for their malicious treatment of God’s people, the seventh scene sees the removal of the wickedness that prepares for peace on the earth among the nations.
The third and sixth scenes focus on Israel in their land. The resettlement and prosperity of Jerusalem in the third scene is connected to the judgment of sin in Israel in the sixth scene.
The fourth and fifth scenes are the restoration of the royal and priestly lines to Israel. These two central scenes point to Jesus. In the time of Zechariah his vision was understood as the restoration of the Temple and the renewal of God’s presence with the Jews. But we see it with New Testament eyes and understand that these fourth and fifth scenes in the vision of Zechariah point to Christ and his work on the cross. Because of the work of Jesus the false peace of scene one becomes a true peace in the nations in scene eight. Because of the work of Jesus the nations that were judged in scene two now have their sin removed from them in scene seven. Because of the work of Jesus the Jews and all those from the nations who come into Zion to prosper in scene three have God’s law clearly proclaimed to all in scene six.
In scenes 1, 2, and 3 hope was given to the Jews who had returned from exile in Babylon.
In scenes 4 and 5 the means of making the hope become a reality were presented.
In scenes 6, 7, and 8 we see how the hope will become a reality.
These last three scenes are closely related and have the common theme of the cleansing of sin from Israel and the nations.
Cory spoke last week about the flying scroll which addressed the continuing lawlessness in the land. The flying scroll was a giant billboard, perhaps the first billboard mentioned in the Bible. It was 30 meters wide and 5 meters high. It was difficult not to see this.
Israel had been severely judged for their idolatry and disobedience. Now they had returned from exile and one of the questions they had was what was to prevent this from happening again. They understood their ancestors had worshiped false idols and allowed greed to overcome God’s concern to treat people fairly and justly, caring for the foreigners, widows, and orphans among them.
Now they were back in Jerusalem but there were still people who were not being honest, who were working for their own selfish gain. Not everyone had their focus on loving and obeying God. Would God get fed up and send them off once again into exile?
The flying scroll scene told the Jews that God would continue to judge sin. Sin would not be overlooked. The flying scroll had writing on both sides. (Zechariah 5:3)
And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.
“Every thief will be banished.” This is a summary of the law given to Moses that we are not to do wrong against our neighbor, the theme of the second part of the ten commandments. “Everyone who swears falsely,” using the name of God, summarizes the first part of the ten commandments which focuses on honoring God.
In this vision God is reminding his chosen people that sin is still sin. The ten commandments are still God’s law and there will still be judgment for sin. No one could plead ignorance of this.
With modern technology we can take a text and increase the font size as our eyes become weaker so we can read what is written. The font size on this scroll was gigantic. What was written was so large that all could clearly see and no one could escape the judgment for sin.
This is not really very comforting. I talked about this when I preached three weeks ago but let me say it again. When it becomes so clear that there is judgment for sin, we have no hope. This is what Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome. He began his theological presentation with the truth that we all deserve the wrath of God. Decadent pagans deserve the wrath of God. Those who think they are better than these pagans also deserve the wrath of God. Religious people who thing their religious obedience and piety protects them also deserve the wrath of God.
So Paul paints us into a corner where we are trapped, without escape, without hope. And then Paul tells us the good news, the great news, the amazing news. (Romans 3:21–22)
But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
What we could not do for ourselves, God did for us. When we were helpless, God rescued us with his own hands. We see this in the scene in the vision for today.
5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”
6 I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.”
The angel who has been guiding Zechariah through this vision points him toward the next object to appear. What Zechariah sees is a basket, an ephah. This was a large container used for measuring grain.
Do you remember the story of Ruth in the book named for her? Ruth was from Moab and came back to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi when Naomi’s son, Ruth’s husband, died. Because they had no means of supporting themselves, Ruth went out into the fields at harvesting time to glean. She picked up the scraps of grain that had been left behind by the harvesters. Because of the favor she received from Boaz, the owner of the field, she came home with a large quantity of grain that amounted to an ephah.
This is what Zechariah saw in his vision. But it was not grain that was in the basket. The angel told him that the basket contained the iniquity, the sin, of the people throughout the land.
This is the sin that was to be judged from the preceding scene of the flying scroll. This was the sin that doomed the people of Israel to suffer the same fate as their ancestors.
7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.
Evil is not a concept. Evil is not faceless. Evil is a physical reality. The Hebrew word for wickedness is feminine so the person in the basket representing wickedness is portrayed as a woman. There is a spiritual battle taking place between good and evil and we know that it is Lucifer, a fallen angel, Satan, the devil who leads the forces of evil in this battle. Although we have only brief glimpses into this struggle, we know it is taking place and here in this vision of Zechariah we see a picture of that struggle.
There was a lead cover on the basket and when it was raised, it was revealed to Zechariah that there was a woman inside the basket. The woman tried to escape but the angel overpowered her, pushed her back down in the basket, and put the lid back in place to prevent her from escaping.
In this struggle, who was fighting? The woman in the basket and the angel. Did Zechariah do anything other than watch? No. Did the people of Israel do anything? No. Is there anything Zechariah could have done to help in this struggle? No.
God did what the people of Israel were not able to do for themselves. God fought the battle against evil on behalf of the people of Israel.
The angel in the vision was more powerful than the woman in the basket. God is more powerful than the forces of evil. There is a battle taking place and God has purposes that are being worked out in this battle. The battle has been going on for a long, long time but the outcome is clear. The devil does not have a chance. The devil was defeated when Jesus rose from the dead. God will triumph in this battle.
What happened to the basket?
9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.
11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”
Two women, perhaps angels, took the basket and flew away with it. When Zechariah asked where they were taking it, the angel told them they were taking it to Babylonia. In this place the basket would be guarded while a temple was erected and then the basket would be set down.
Israel was building a temple where God would be honored and worshiped but there would be another temple built where this basket would be fixed in place. It would be set down. The verb tense indicates the helplessness of the woman in the basket. Once the basket is set in place it could be worshiped but it would remain fixed to the base, helpless, unable to move.
What does this mean? What is the significance of this scene in Zechariah’s vision?
Remember the problem that is being addressed. What hope was there that the sin that caused the ancestors of the Jews to be sent into exile would not also cause them some time in the future to suffer the same fate?
It is probably a mistake to take too much meaning in where the basket was taken. The region of Babylon is a far away place and that is what is significant. The point is that it was being taken away from Israel to a distant place where it would not affect them any longer.
Remember in the fourth scene of the vision where Joshua received new clothing? Zechariah prophesied: (Zechariah 3:8–9)
“ ‘Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch. 9 See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.
The hope of the restoration of God’s people rests on the work of Jesus, our high priest, who will make the sacrifice that will remove the sin of God’s people in a single day, the day we celebrate as Good Friday.
This picture of the removal of sin speaks of the truth in Psalm 103:8–12 which we read this morning as our Assurance of Pardon after our Silent Confession of Sin.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
9 He will not always accuse,
nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As far as the east is from the west. That is how far our sin is removed from us.
Jeremiah spoke of God giving us a new heart (Jeremiah 32:37–41)
I will surely gather them from all the lands where I banish them in my furious anger and great wrath; I will bring them back to this place and let them live in safety. 38 They will be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. 41 I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul.
“I will give them singleness of heart and action.” It is not something we have to achieve; God will give this to us. Look at what God promises here. He will never stop doing good to us. He will inspire us to fear him. He will rejoice in doing good for us. This is love expressed in great joy.
This is also the promise that came through Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 36:25–27)
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
We do not have to go to the New Testament to find grace. Grace pervades the pages of the Bible.
In this vision Zechariah saw the work of God to remove the sin of Israel to a distant place, as far as the east is from the west. The removal of wickedness, like the removal of Joshua’s dirty clothes in scene four, is an act of grace. God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. God does for us what we do not deserve, cannot earn, and can never repay. God does this for us at great cost, sending his son Jesus to die for us. God does this for us because he loves us. He passionately loves us. We are the apple of his eye. His deep longing is for us to spend eternity in his presence in his kingdom.
Earlier in the service we prayed a prayer of confession and took time to silently confess our sin. Perhaps you didn’t know what to pray, perhaps nothing came to mind. But perhaps you thought of something and don’t know how to feel forgiven.
When I was 18 years old I lived in Germany for a year and during that year, I collected a number of beer glasses and beer steins. When I say “collected” what I mean to say is I stole them. I have a wonderful collection sitting back in the US in boxes, but when I have had them on display on a shelf, I have felt guilty looking at them. I have asked for forgiveness. I cannot go back and find where I took them from. I don’t remember where I took them. I have asked for forgiveness but still feel guilty.
When I was in high school the finances in our family were very tight. My mother budgeted money and put coins in little tin boxes for food, laundry, and other things. I used to go into her drawer and take a little bit out of each one so she would not know anything had been taken. I am deeply ashamed of what I did. I made my mother’s difficult life even more difficult.
I have also asked for forgiveness for the way I treated people. In fifth grade when I was ten years old I have a vivid memory of standing in a circle around a boy named Teddy whose back was to the wall. Teddy rode on my bus to school. We were making fun of him because Teddy had epilepsy and I had seen him a couple times having an epileptic fit. We did not understand what epilepsy was but kids make fun of anyone who stands out like that. The scene is imprinted on my mind and I have tried to find Teddy but cannot remember his last name and have been unsuccessful. I want to tell him how sorry I am for the way I treated him.
I still deeply regret the way I treated him. I have asked God for forgiveness but I still feel great remorse.
I have never killed anyone. I have never sexually exploited anyone. I have not done a lot of the bad things people do to each other in this world, but I know I am not pure. I know I have done things that grieved God as he watched me do them.
As you look around at people when you enter RIC you see bright, smiling faces that sometimes hide a lot of hurt and pain. The truth is that not all of us have lived pure and wonderful lives. In fact, none of us have lived pure and wonderful lives. Those who think they have lived a pure and wonderful life just have not looked deeply enough.
We feel guilty for things we have done and said. We need to be set free. The forgiveness of God removes our sin to a distant place where it is forgotten, as far as the east is from the west our sin is removed from us.
Who were the great saints in the early church? Step into a gathering of followers of Jesus in the home of someone in the year 50 AD and you see a beautiful, graceful woman greeting people. You wonder who she is and then she comes up to welcome you. “Hi, my name is Mary Magdalene. Welcome to our fellowship.” Later you hear her story of having been a social outcast, living on the streets, rejected, despised, possessed by seven demons. And then she tells you how Jesus delivered her from those demons and in gratitude she followed him to the end of his earthly days. You meet Paul who tells you he used to put followers of Jesus in prison and stood as witness when Stephen was stoned to death.
Who did you meet when you went to the church in Corinth? (1 Corinthians 6:9–11)
Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Verse 11 blows me away. “And that is what some of you were.” This is the power of God to transform us, to take us from what we were to who he wants us to be.
Nothing has changed over the centuries. Through the doors of RIC have passed many, many beautiful, wonderful daughters and sons of God. These are people you delight in and then you hear their stories of having lived a promiscuous, drug-filled life, of having been an alcoholic, a thief, a crack addict, a male prostitute, a female prostitute. And I am amazed at the miraculous work of God that transformed this person into a beautiful, pure, delightful child of God. God creates purity out of the ashes of a defeated, sin-filled life.
None of us are better than any of the people with these stories to tell. We are all sinners who were lost and then Jesus gracefully drew us into relationship with himself. He takes our broken lives and makes us whole. He brings healing and works in us even to the end of our time on earth to make us holy and righteous.
Oscar Wilde wrote: The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.
We are all sinners with a past but we have been washed, we have been sanctified, we have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God.
There is a lot that I regret in my past. There is a lot that I am ashamed of. I wish I could go back and act differently, but I cannot. What I did has been done. I have to trust in the love and power of God to care for the people I hurt. I have to trust that God will work with them as he is working with me.
And I have to forgive myself. I have to develop sympathy for myself and see myself as God sees me. I need to accept the forgiveness God gives to me. “ as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” The person I was, the things I did, is not the person I am today.
I pray that I will be able to meet the people from my past when I come into the kingdom of heaven. I want to say face-to-face that I am sorry and ask for forgiveness. I want to celebrate the love of God with the people I meet as we share together our mutual experience of the mercy of Jesus, his grace that forgave us and gave us another chance.
Surrender to Jesus. Receive his love and forgiveness. Accept his truth that your sin has been removed from you and you are his pure child, made beautiful by his work in your life.
