Zech 5-?

Chad Myhre

Zechariah • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Zechariah 5:1–4

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Intro:

Chapters 1-6 stand apart from the rest of this book, because they deal with visions that require some form of interpretation.

There were horsemen in chapter 1. Four colors are mentioned, but it’s not clear if there were actually just 4 horsemen.... -They are recorded as going on a recon-mission… They came back and reported, that all the earth was at rest..

What does that mean? Well, when the earth was not at rest, God was generally stirring up wars and conflicts to bring out His instruction or discipline on behalf of Israel. But now, that work is done… The punishers have punished and they’ve been punished… the earth is at rest… so, in the next vision… the attention turns back to Jerusalem..

The Angel of the Lord asked, “Can we start showing mercy to Jerusalem and Judah again?”

And the Lord responded… - Yes… these cities will again, overflow with prosperity and be comforted by the Lord again…

And then… the vision of the horns… which was a common form of symbolism in ancient times. Horns represented power and authority… in this case, they were the powers and authorities that conquered Israel… both north and south… and they were powers and authorities that were going to be overcome by other nations, represented by four craftsmen…

IN chapter two… the vision is of a man measuring Jerusalem. Why? Because it is about to be inhabited by a lot of people. It would sprawl beyond it’s natural border wall… and the Lord would be a wall of first for it. Those dispersed by captivity are called back and dwell in this place with God.

Then, in chapter 3… the vision of Joshua, the high priest… who is depicted as being in filthy clothes and standing under the accusations of the Devil.. was presented as one who was made clean… and then told of the One… the Messiah… the one called a Branch… who would come and remove the iniquity of the land in a single day..

Then chapter 4… this vision is amazing. The lampstand that had an autofill feature… the oil filling them directly from a bowl… and the bowl being filled directly from two olive trees. -the message to Zerubbabel, the king… - “even though you have spent 14 years completely stalled in the process of building the temple… 14 years consisting of over 5000 days of small things, which should not be despised… - Even though you feel like it’s a hopeless task, and you don’t have will, manpower or resources… know this… it’s not by might or by power… but by my Spirit that this will get done.

The strange visions continue for two more chapters before the messages become a little bit more, direct.

Let’s pick up in chapter 5:

Zechariah 5:1–4 ESV

1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” 3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. 4 I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.”

Zech 5:

This scroll represents God’s Word, going out amongst the people… - the size of it is interesting.. and to a people who were in the middle of the stalled temple project… these dimensions would have been familiar. 20 cubits… by 10 cubits...

Didn’t we see that on a blueprint somewhere? Didn’t we mark out a foundation with these dimensions some years ago?

Yes… - this is the exact same measurement as the temple porch ( )… the place where the law was usually read..

This flying scroll contained… at least, the 10 commandments… for it addressed those who steal… and those who give a false testimony…

We are not told specifically what’s in it…but it could simply represent the establishement of the Torah, once again, in the live of the people of Israel.

I like what the second half of verse four says… - this scroll… this law… this judgment and instruction from the Lord … it will enter the house of the thief and the slanderer… and then, it will stay there...

It will consume the house… both timer and stone.

This is how the Word of God should be in our life… - It should reveal our errors and our sins… it should change us… and it should take up habitation in every part of our life.

Every day decisions should bring Biblical principles to mind.

As we consider how to act… how to react… and how to not act… may we do it with the wisdom of the scriptures flowing through our heads.

In , in the acrostic poem which focuses solely upon the Word of God… the Psalmist says in vs. 105:

Psalm 119:105 ESV

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

His Word gives us direction… but it also gives us protection...

Proverbs 30:5 ESV

5 Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.

Prov. 30.

If the Word of God consumes your home… your life… then you will see, with wisdom where you are going… and you will know… that in these precepts, you will find protection from the judgments our errors would bring upon us.

Zechariah 5:5–11 ESV

5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” 6 And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. 9 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “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

Nehemiah 5:5–10 ESV

5 Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.” 6 I was very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 I took counsel with myself, and I brought charges against the nobles and the officials. I said to them, “You are exacting interest, each from his brother.” And I held a great assembly against them 8 and said to them, “We, as far as we are able, have bought back our Jewish brothers who have been sold to the nations, but you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us!” They were silent and could not find a word to say. 9 So I said, “The thing that you are doing is not good. Ought you not to walk in the fear of our God to prevent the taunts of the nations our enemies? 10 Moreover, I and my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Let us abandon this exacting of interest.

Zechariah 5:5–10 ESV

Neh 5.

There was iniquity in the land… the previous vision spoke of those who were thieves and those who brought false witness against others.

When we look at other things that were happening in this time period… in the writings of Ezra and Nehemiah… we see that the people were taking advantage of one another financially. Even as they failed to finish the temple… or build the wall… they were still building up their own little kingdoms..

and by doing so, in selfishness… they were taking advantage of others, and they were also neglecting their financial responsibilities to the temple… for the Levites were forced to grow their own food and raise their own flocks, rather than fulfill their duties to the Lord..

In the big picture here… we see, that this iniquity is on par with idolatry. How do we get this? Well, when the wickedness is locked in the basket and carried off to Shinar, which is Babylon… it is going to be place on a base.

This idea of a base… would be the platform, or the pillar, that they would put an idol on.

So basically… the vision declares… that these selfish deeds… these wicked deeds… were idolatry. The people who came back to Jerusalem to honor the Lord… had changed over time… and had built up some prosperity… and upon the backs of the poor… they continued to build up their prosperity..

To these people… this wickedness of greed and this love for money… was an idol.

Now, most forms of idolatry are hard for people in our culture to understand… but the idolatry of money… is not hard. That one is easy.

It becomes very easy for us to obsess over money… for it to consume us… We can just as easily be enslaved to amassing it, as we can to going into debt over it.

In this vision… the prophet sees where this kind of thinking belongs. Not in Jerusalem. Not amongst God’s people… But rather, back in Babylon sitting on an idol’s base.

Zech 6.

Zechariah 6:1–8 ESV

1 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black horses, 3 the third white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong. 4 Then I answered and said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 And the angel answered and said to me, “These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after presenting themselves before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses goes toward the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward the south country.” 7 When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, patrol the earth.” So they patrolled the earth. 8 Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward the north country have set my Spirit at rest in the north country.”

The last time we saw the four horsemen… or actually.. the un numbered horsemen of four different colors… they did not have chariots and they were merely going to make a report...

But this time… they have chariots… and chariots are almost always symbolic of military strength. These horsemen are coming to do more than just give a report.

Many commentators try to tie these four horsemen to the four world powers that are described by Daniel… and some say that they are the same 4 horsemen of revelation. They might be the second, but pairing them to the monarchies listed in and 7 just don’t fit.

In the simplest form, they are God’s agents through whom God is going to pour out His judgment on Israel’s enemies.

Their location… since the vision was given in Jerusalem, and the mention of ‘between two mountains’, most likely places their entry into the vision between Mount Moriah and the MOunt of Olives…

There is sometimes symbolism tied to the colors… Red represents war… Black represents calamity… White represents victory and joy and the dappled horses represent plagues and pestilence…

Those are common representations, symbolically of the color… but I don’t bank much on that. This vision is a hard one… because there’s no mention of where the red horse goes… the white one goes to the south… maybe to the lands of the Edommites or the PHilistines… who have not been in the picture for quite some time..

This traveling to the north probably refers to Babylon, which wasn’t technically in the North, but they had to go north to get to it…

If the Black horses went first and brought calamity… it might represent a revolt that happened in Babylon in the 5th year of Darius which devastated the country. The white horse to follow might represent God’s satisfaction that His business with the Babylonians and the Persians was complete.

There are a lot of ideas floating around these horses and their chariots, but it is probably one of the more difficult visions to make sense of.

Zechariah 6:9–15 ESV

9 And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah, and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, and set it on the head of Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there shall be a priest on his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” ’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as a reminder to Helem, Tobijah, Jedaiah, and Hen the son of Zephaniah. 15 “And those who are far off shall come and help to build the temple of the Lord. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

Zech 6.

So… three guys came from Babylon with gold and silver. They brought it, because God ordained it. God had a plan for it, and a message to communicate through it.

Zechariah brought a defined purpose to this gift… - they were to make a crown, and put it on Joshua, the priest’s head.

Now, right off the bat, this seems strange. Kings wore crowns… but not priests. We don’t see these two positions crossing over in the OT except in great disobedience. When a King took it upon himself to step into a priestly role, it did not go well. Saul and Uzziah are prime examples of this.

So why… if these roles are not to cross over… was a crown placed on Joshua’s head?

When we look at the whole vision… we see something bigger than the temple that was being built at that time. We also are given a direct reference to the Messiah in verse 12 with the word Branch.

Joshua wasn’t to continue wearing the crown. Vs. 14 says that it was to be placed in the temple as a reminder to those who brought it… - It’s almost as, this vision was for the men who brought the gift, and Joshua primarily.

When Joshua wore the crown, he was symbolically declaring a message of the king-priest that was yet to come. A king priest who, as vs. 13 says, will sit on a throne. Just as there will be peace and union with this priest king… there is also to be a counsel of peace between Joshua and Zerubbabel.

Pretty much every commentator agrees… that this is a Melchizedek-type reference… of the Savior, who would be a priest and king, in the order of Melchizedek.

Whose building the temple in this vision? Vs. 12 tells us, it’s the Branch. This temple can be seen in two ways… - First off… in a way which is yet to be fulfilled… this could speak of the temple which will exist in the Millennial reign of Christ… - Ezekiel gives us a picture of this in chapters 40-43.

And secondly… in a way that has already been fulfilled… this can speak of the temple which Christ has already built.

1 Corinthians 3:17 ESV

17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

2 Corinthians 6:16 ESV

16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

This vision looks forward to a fulfillment that we experience every day. Jesus resides, as King and priest… and ruler, and as an advocate to His Father… not only in our midst as the corporate church… but also, in our lives as individuals.

When He rules in our life… and when we walk in the grace that His shed blood affords us… we experience what verse 13 speaks of… we experience ‘the counsel of peace’ that living in submission to Him provides.