Wickedness in God’s House

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Zechariah 5:1-11 (text); Revelation 17:1-6, 15-18; 18:1-8

October 9, 2011 • April 12, 2015 (Pasig Covenant Reformed Church and Trinity Covenant Reformed Church)

Introduction

Dear Congregation of Christ: Metro Manila is world-famous for its horrible traffic through congested roads and highways. EDSA is not only famous for its traffic congestion, accidents, and the People Power change in government in 1986 and 2001, but also for its gigantic billboards. Not only are the billboards gigantic, some of them have sexual content that distract drivers from keeping their eyes on the road.

Imagine then a billboard at EDSA that says, “You will be destroyed because you are thieves!” The Bible too has a gigantic billboard, but one that is totally different from Manila’s billboards. But rather than built on top of or sides of skyscrapers, this scroll flies! Instead of content printed only on one side, the writings on the scroll are on both sides, “back-to-back” in Filipino lingo. On the other side of the scroll is another judgment, “You will be destroyed because you are liars!” This scroll is not for entertainment or amusement, or for promoting products. No one is entertained or amused by its contents, because it proclaims a curse on the whole nation. And as it goes throughout the land, it enters the houses of thieves and liars to destroy them and their possessions.

Having just returned from exile in Babylon and Persia, the people were just beginning to put their lives together by rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, their homes, and their fields. After laying the foundation to rebuild the temple, they met powerful resistance from their enemies so discouragement had set in. But God reaffirms his commitment to his people by reminding them that he is keeping watch over and in control of all things (Chs. 1-2). He has prepared a high priest who would serve in the temple (Ch. 3), and his Spirit is mightier and more powerful than their enemies (Ch. 4). If they would turn and repent of their sins, God would grant them peace and prosperity. If they would not, God threatens destruction and exile once again here in Chapter 5. But ultimately, covenant-breakers will be destroyed and sin would be removed from the land.

Many interpreters speak of Zechariah’s eight night visions instead of seven, because Chapter 5 is counted as two visions: the sixth is the flying scroll and seventh is the woman in the basket. But others say the chapter is a two-in-one vision, because the introductory formula, “I saw and behold” is only found in verse 1, but not in verse 5. Not only is the unity evidenced by this single introductory formula; there are also some close parallels. The phrases “the whole land” and “all the land” are found in both parts.[ref]Meredith G. Kline, “Anathema,” Kerux 10/3 (December 1995).[/ref] Most intriguing is that the two parts portray God’s judgment against Israel. The first part about the flying scroll is a picture of the destruction of the people’s homes, fields, and everything they owned. The second part, the woman in the basket, symbolizes the people’s exile in a foreign land. The two main motifs then of Chapter 5 are: (1) Judgment Against the People; and (2) Cleansing of God’s Holy Land.

Since the woman in the basket is carried by stork-women to the land of Shinar, where Babylon is, another intriguing connection goes all the way to Revelation 17-18’s endtime “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” Just as the Lord called his people Israel to leave Babylon and Persia and come back to the Promised Land, he calls us today, (3) “Come Out of Her, My People!” lest we share in God’s judgment against her for her multitude of sins.

Judged

What does the scroll represent? “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land.” When the Bible speaks of a “curse,” it is usually in relation to God’s covenant with his people. They receive blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Scrolls were used by the prophets to warn the people of coming judgment against sin (Jer 36:1-3; Ezk 2:9-10).

Like the tablets of the Law of Moses, this scroll is inscribed on both sides (Exod 32:15). On one side is the indictment against those who steal, and on the other side, against those who swear falsely. As the two tablets of the Law are the commandments related to God and to neighbor, so do the two sides of the scroll. Stealing is a crime against other people, and lying is ultimately swearing falsely in the name of God (verse 4; Lev 19:11-12). These two offenses were prevalent during the time of Zechariah, and are always closely connected: a person perjures himself to cover up his theft.

The curse-scroll “goes out over the face of the whole land,” just as the covenant curses will strike everywhere, everyone, and everything (Deut. 28:16-19). The houses of all covenant-breakers will be destroyed by the flying scroll-curse. We find this penalty in Ezra 6:11, where the house of one who breaks the law “shall be made a dunghill.” Their houses were made of wood and stone, the same materials that they made idols from. Although not mentioned in Zechariah 5, idolatry was one of Israel’s heinous sins, and exile and false religion were prophesied by God upon them in Deuteronomy 28:36, “And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.”

In 586 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah suffered this judgment when the Babylonians invaded and destroyed their houses, fields and cities, and then exiled to a foreign land. Deuteronomy 28 warned of all kinds of covenant curses in store for covenant-breakers:

But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD your God or be careful to do all his com­mandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field… The LORD will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you under­take to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me (Deu 28:15-16, 20).

These curses include famine, barrenness, unfruitful fields, plagues, pestilence, epi­demics, drought. Finally, death, destruction and exile will overtake them, “Yahweh will bring a nation against you from afar… You will be plucked off the land . . . and Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples” (49, 63-64).

Israel was only a tenant in God’s holy land, and when they broke God’s covenant laws, God expelled them from the land. Their tenure in the Promised Land depended on their obedience to the covenant laws. God was gracious and patient with them because he allowed them to stay in his land, even though they were repeat offenders, only obeying God each time God punished them. Like Adam, they were driven out of the Promised Land.

But this does not mean that their eternal salvation depended on their good works. Even their tenure in the land, God showed great mercy and patience since they repeatedly and continuously disobeyed. Unlike their father Abraham, they were a big failure because they did not have true faith and repentance. God showed them that like Abraham, their salvation depended not on their own righteousness, but on God’s righteousness given to those who have faith in God (Rom 4:22). Why? Because no one, not even one, is able and willing to meet God’s requirements of obedience.

Therefore, Paul says that the holy nation of Israel served only to teach God’s holy church that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (1 Cor 10:6, 11). That the Law of the Lord is meant to show and convict us of our sin, to point us to Christ as the only way of salvation, and afterwards (Gal 3:23-24), to guide our lives as Christians in this world.

The scroll-curse then is an indictment our their failure. The origin of the scroll is hinted in its dimensions: 30 feet by 15 feet, the same dimensions of the Temple’s Holy of Holies. In this Most Holy Place is the Ark of the Covenant where the covenant law was deposited. Therefore, the scroll-curse is a declaration of judgment against all covenant-breakers.

No covenant-breaker will escape judgment, because the scroll goes out over all the land. All sin will be found out and exposed by the light of God’s Word. No one can hide from God’s judgment. On Judgment Day, “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:12). Do not think that no one can see our deeds, hear our words, or read our minds, but God sees, hears and knows everything.

On what basis are we going to be judged? On the basis of God’s Word, “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day” (John 12:48). Those who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ will not be able to withstand God’s Word on the last day and they will be destroyed by the scroll-curse. This is because the God’s Word exposes all our motives, “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12).

What then of those pastors and churches who avoid preaching the law and against sin because that kind of preaching will be offensive to the congregation? They deprive the hearers of the opportunity to see themselves as covenant-breakers who need to repent of their sins. The Word of God is their only tutor to convict them of their sinfulness and point them to God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ.

They also fail to warn the people of the deadly consequences of rebellion against God. What they preach is not salvation from sin, death and God’s wrath, but salvation from the lack of self-esteem and insufficient faith in their own “free will.”

Cleansed

One feature of this dual vision is the motif of uncleanness: everyone who steals and swears falsely “shall be cleaned out”; and the stork (verse 9), a bird included in the list of detestable unclean birds that shall not be eaten (Lev. 11:13, 19).

In verses 5-11, Zechaiah saw a small basket or ephah, which is roughly 5-10 gallons. The basket has a lead cover weighing about 75 pounds (34 kilos), and when the angel lifted the cover, behold, a woman sitting inside the basket! When the cover was lifted, the woman tried to get out, but the angel pushed her down and secured the heavy cover again. The angel tells the prophet that the woman’s name is Wickedness, and she represents all the iniquity in the whole land (Zech 3:9).

Next, Zechariah sees two women who can fly because “They had wings like the wings of a stork” (Zech 5:9). The two stork-women lifted up the basket, and the prophet was told where they were taking the basket, “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” (Zech 5:10-11).

What is the meaning of this short vision? While the first part of the vision is about God’s judgment against the people for breaking his covenant, this second part is about God cleansing and purifying the people and the nation of their uncleanness. How would the Lord cleanse the whole land?

The woman in the basket, whose name is Wickedness, personifies the wickedness of God’s people. They have broken not only the laws against stealing and lying, but against the whole law. They did not love God with all their heart, mind and soul. They did not love their neighbor as their own selves. In the Bible, idolatry is often portrayed as a female goddess, e.g., Asherah (2 Chr 22:2-3). This wickedness must be removed from the land. How would the Lord do this?

God would bring his messengers, represented by two women who have the wings of a stork. Although the stork is an unclean bird, this doesn’t mean that these divine messengers are also unclean. Eagles were also unclean (Lev 11:13), but Isaiah uses eagles carrying its young to illustrate the Lord caring for his people (Deu 32:11-12; Exo 19:4).

The two stork-women will then lift the basket up and carry it to the land of Shinar, where a house, or temple, would be built for it. The land of Shinar is the location of Babel, where the unbelieving people of the world built the famous tower (Gen 11:2), a symbol of their idolatry. Whereas God’s temple is in Jerusalem, the temple of idolaters is symbolically in Babylon. Thus, the woman representing Israel’s rebellious and wicked people will be expelled from the holy Promised Land, and exiled into the accursed Land of Wickedness.

God cannot and does not tolerate sin. It might appear to us today that he is not doing anything against sinners. Some even teach that God really hates sin, but loves the sinner. This is so far from the truth, because the day will come when God will throw all sinners into the eternal land of Wickedness, hell itself. And they will never ever ridicule, bother, persecute, or kill those whom Christ has saved. Because even Wickedness is under God’s control. Unrepentant, wicked people might try to escape God’s wrath, but God will keep them in his eternal wrath.

“Come Out of Her, My People!”

The combination of a wicked woman and the city Babylon has a striking parallel to Revelation 17-18’s Babylon the harlot enthroned as the queen of a false church. John’s harlot is arrayed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold and jewels. Revelation sees rejoicing among the people of God as this woman will finally fall and be judged. She will be consumed by fire for her sin and wickedness.

On Judgment Day, Babylon in Shinar, the Land of Wickedness, will be destroyed and sent to hell. We still await the day when God will exact his vengeance on his enemies, those who persecute and martyr his people. On this last day, God will finally and completely remove sin from his own house, his own people, his own church.

What do we Christians have to do while we wait for this Day? While we wait, God calls us to “come out” of Babylon, symbolizing wickedness in two areas. First, wickedness is found in the world. We are earthly people, and we are exposed daily to its ungodly and unrighteous lusts, temptations and desires. John warns us about the wicked world, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Paul also warns us, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom 12:2). And to have the mind of the world is to be in enmity against God, “friendship with the world is enmity with God” (Jas 4:4).

Second, the wickedness of the world is not only found in the world, but also within the church. Sexual immorality, stealing, and lying are found even among those who profess to be Christians. Preaching is worldly and man-centered, the most popular topics being health and wealth, politics, self-esteem, and how-tos. Many churches teach worldly Christless doctrines, and practice worldly Christless worship. In short, man-centered Christless Christianity rules in many so-called churches.

God calls us, “Come out of wicked Babylon!” We are not to be of this world. As well, we are to separate from Christless churches, because the wicked world and the false church will be judged and cleansed, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Rev 18:4-5). If we do not come out of these wicked world and false churches, we will also be judged and cleansed out—thrown out—of God’s holy house.

Beloved in Christ: Thus far, all of these are bad news: bad news to all unrepentant, wicked sinners. Judgment will surely come, and God’s patience with the wickedness of mankind is running out.

But there is also good news! The first good news is that wickedness in this present age is under God’s sovereignty. Like the woman in the basket, evil people may think that they are good in the sight of God, because of their good works. They may conclude that there is no God, no Judgment Day, since everything in the world has continued as usual since Christ said that he will return. They may even think that they can escape judgment in hell. But they are deceived by their own demonic wisdom.

Secondly, in the midst of the world’s wickedness, God will surely preserve his elect from his coming wrath! All wickedness will be removed from this earth when Christ returns from heaven. Only God’s people will remain and be blessed forever.

The third and last good news is this: God sent his only-begotten Son to die for your sins, to suffer hell and destruction in your place. He who has no sin became sin for you. Instead of you who deserved to be consumed by God’s wrath, he was the one stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God. He who came from heaven, the Most Holy Place, was led outside the holy city to Golgotha, the land of Wickedness and of the accursed, so we may not suffer the curse of God’s wrath and then enter the Most Holy Place.

Let us offer our praise, thanksgiving and adoration to God the Father of our Savior Jesus Christ, who forgave all our sins, cleansed us from all unrighteousness, and showed us the Way, the Truth and the Life that we may not suffer judgment.