THE FLYING SCROLL

                                ZECHARIAH 5:1-4

The visions Zechariah saw are interconnected! God had chosen Israel to be a holy nation! He makes that clear in Amos 3:2, “You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” He promised to come as their Messiah-King and one day rule from Jerusalem! His chosen people were to be a kingdom of priests sent forth to be a “light to the Gentiles.” But they turned their backs on Yahweh by serving the gods of the Gentiles, heaping up judgment which led to their captivity. Yet God in mercy was again bringing the remnant back to fulfill that role. However, sin had to be dealt with first. James Boise explains: “The first five of Zechariah's visions are extremely encouraging, for they point out days of blessing and prosperity for Israel. They tell of the renewed presence of God with his people; the raising up of leaders equal to every threat against the reestablished nation; the prosperity and growth of Jerusalem; the purification of the people symbolized by the purification of Joshua, their representative; and finally, the role of Zerubbabel in completing the temple, leading to a vision of the great Priest-King, the Messiah” (The Minor Prophets,Vol.2, p.511). Yet stone and mortar was not the ultimate goal! God wanted His Temple not only to be holy but His people to be a holy priesthood! So these visions are extremely personal and poignant. The lampstand in the holy place, represents Christ the Light of the world. But also points to the need of letting that Light shine forth (Matt.5:16). Psalm 119:105 states, “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

       The seventh vision goes a step further. Light exposes darkness! The flying scroll paints an awful picture of sin and its consequence! Sin must be dealt with and exterminated!

Verses 1-4 I looked again - and there before me was a flying scroll! He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.” 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. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.’”

        Zechariah’s attention is immediately focused on a flying object rushing through the air to some unknown destination. It does not say if he could see or understand what it was all about or what it said. The only thing he could tell was the size of the scroll: 30 feet long by 15 feet wide. The great expanse of this parchment probably awed the prophet. Unable to answer the angel’s query, the response came: “this is the curse that is going out over the whole land.” The “Land” is a reference to Israel. Before full blessing can be given, sin has to be purged. And only then will “the curse” be removed. Here is what Thomas MacComiskey says about this Hebrew word “curse:” “The word 'ala' may refer to an oath in the sense of a sworn agreement as well as to the penalties or curses inherent in the oath... It is clear the 'ala' in Zechariah refers to the Mosaic law because verse 4 cites two of its legal proscriptions: stealing and false swearing” (The Minor Prophets, p.1095). This flying scroll was a summary of the Mosaic law given on Mount Sinai and later placed under the Ark of the Covenant in the Tabernacle. The flying scroll was the exact measurement of the holy place in the Tabernacle where God's presence dwelt.

        Verse 3 indicates there is writing on both sides of the scroll. Two of the commandments are especially singled out: “the thief “(the 8th commandment) and “the one who swears falsely” (the third commandment). These two, form the middle commandment on either side of the Mosaic stone tablets. Thus, the two sides of the scroll represent the two tables of the law, the first having to do with man’s relationship to God (swear falsely), the other with his relationship to his fellow man (every thief). The first is God-ward; the second is man-ward. Jesus sums up the Law in Luke 10:27, “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, love your neighbor as yourself.”

        The Lord Almighty then speaks in verse 5: “I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name.” The Lord was making it clear that He was going to deal with all sin and ultimately remove it from the Land before He returns. Chapter 13 describes this time of cleansing: “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (13:1) He then proceeds to explain the cleansing process in preparation for Messiah’s reign. The assurance that Yahweh will cleanse His people in this way would have encouraged the builders of the Temple, for it meant that God had not abandoned his people to their sin. The day of ultimate cleansing will dawn when “They will look on me, the one they have pierced” (12:10). That day still lies in the future. David Baron's application to both Israel and the Christian is poignant: “there is only one way by which we can escape the curse of a broken law, and that is, instead of being 'cleansed away' with our sins by God's wrath into perdition, to be cleansed from our sins in that fountain which God has opened in the pierced side of Messiah for sin and uncleanness, and which makes the vilest 'whiter than snow'...”Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is he that hangeth on a tree” (The Visions and Prophecies of Zechariah, p.150-151

                             THE FLYING SCROLL 

                         THE PROPHET ZECHARIAH SAW
                         THE STRANGEST SYMBOLS OF THEM ALL
                         TWO END TIME SIGNS IN CRYPTIC FORM
                         REVEALING JUDGMENT’S FUTURE STORM.

                         A FLYING SCROLL OF PARCHMENT STRENGTH
                         FROM FIFTEEN FEET BY THIRTY LENGTH
                         WITH ONE COMMANDMENT ON EACH SIDE \

                         THE LAW OF STEALING AND FALSE PRIDE.

                         THE TWO STONE TABLETS OF THE LAW
                         GOD GAVE TO ISRAEL AS A GUIDE
                         WAS LIKE A TUTOR THAT WOULD SHOW
                         THE PATH OF RIGHTEOUSNESS BELOW.

                         BUT DISOBEDIENCE TURNED THEIR HEART
                         AND NATIONAL ISRAEL FELL APART
                         FOR WHEN GOD’S GLORY LEFT ITS PLACE
                         THE GENTILE NATIONS FILLED THEIR SPACE.

                         MAN’S GUILT CAN NEVER BE ERASED
                         THE BROKEN LAW IN VIEW IS TRACED
                         BUT ONLY FAITH IN CHRIST ALONE
                         CAN THROUGH REPENTANT GRACE ATONE.

                         A FUTURE DAY IS HERE IN VIEW
                         WHEN GOD AGAIN GRAFTS IN THE JEW
                         A NATION TORN BY DEEP DISTRESS
                        WILL FIND IN HIM TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

                                      Thought questions

AS YAHWEH CONTINUES TO PREPARE HIS PEOPLE, HOW WOULD THE VISION OF A FLYING SCROLL IMPACT THEM? WHAT MESSAGE SHOULD THEY HAVE UNDERSTOOD WITH ONLY TWO COMMANDMENTS VISIBLE? WHAT ARE THE TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS?


PETER REMINDS US THAT WE TOO ARE “A CHOSE GENERATION, A ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE BELONGING TO GOD, THAT YOU MAY DECLARE THE PRAISES OF HIM WHO CALLED YOU OUT OF DARKNESS INTO HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT” (1 PETER 2:9). SO HOW THEN SHOULD WE DRAW STRENGTH AND LIGHT AS WE PREPARE TO SERVE?