Zechariah 5 reminds me of the expression “to throw the book at someone”. We usually think of this term being used in a courtroom situation where a judge adds every possible charge to a defendant that is acting with contempt. Reverence for God can mean many things, but among them is respect for His perfect right to judge according to His perfect standards. Today’s chapter begins with another vision, this time the prophet describes “a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide“. Important documents were written on scrolls and rolled up for storage. This one is open for all to see, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land“. This banner says, “on one side, every thief will be banished… on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished“. I believe there is a subtle jab at those who say, “I’m basically a good person, I’ve never killed anyone”. We tend to make a distinction between really bad sins, and the ones that are not too bad. God’s Standard is perfect. Please understand that you too show contempt for God if you think you are innocent and do not deserve a penalty. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it“. It is only the guilty that call for mercy.
God declares of this scroll of guilt, “I will send it out… it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by My name… and destroy it completely“. In John chapter 8, it is to the judgmental that Jesus said, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stoneat her“. Even those of us “caught in the very act” will receive forgiveness and protection, if we ask Jesus Christ to be our Public Defender. By faith, He took our punishment. In holy tenderness He declares, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin“.
The chapter ends with something similar to Pandora’s Box. Inside a basket “is the iniquityof the people throughout the land“. He continues, “the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!” She is symbolic of all temptation. Surely different things tempt different people, but any man that believes he is beyond temptation is in real danger. All temptation falls into one of three categories, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). The chapter continues, “This is wickedness“; and notices how it is defeated, “and He pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it“. Have you been thinking that you can handle temptations on your own? Boastful pride is the one that keeps us from accepting our need for a Savior. Christ alone is able to defeat temptation. Finally this basket is lifted up and taken “To the country of Babylonia… When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place“. I believe she is the same woman mentioned in Revelation 17 when all hell breaks loose on earth during the end times. For now, according to Hebrews 4, we are to “receive mercy and find grace… For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are yet he did not sin” Friend, have you shown contempt for God by trusting in your own goodness? Basically good is not good enough.