I was reading
through Zechariah the other day and I found an interesting visionary incident.
It is puzzling, and there is no large view interpretation for it in the scriptures,
so it invites the faithful to ponder and extract important principles.
5 ¶ Then the angel that talked with me went forth,
and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.
6
And I said, What is it? And he said, This is
an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is
their resemblance through all the earth.
7
And, behold, there was
lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman
that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
8
And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the
ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
9
Then lifted I up mine eyes,
and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings
of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10
Then said I to the angel
that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
11
And he said unto me, To
build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set
there upon her own base. (Zechariah 5:5-11)
First, some
clarifications of terms.
An ephah is a dry
measurement for grain, with a size of about 6-7 gallons.
A talent of lead
would be a round disk of metal weighing about 113-125 pounds.
Shinar is another
name for Babylon.
Now, let’s get
straight what Zechariah saw. He saw an ephah container with a talent weight
used as a cover. The angel lifted the weighty cover to show Zechariah there was
a woman (symbolizing wickedness) in the ephah, then pushed her back down in and
put the cover back on. After that, two other winged women picked up the ephah
container, and the wind blew them to Shinar (Babylon), where, the angel said,
they would build the ephah a house and a special spot, like a shrine.
Some interesting
things I notice as I think about this imagery are the following:
1)
The ephah
is like a 6-gallon bucket, and to fit a woman in there would be really confining. Like squished.
2)
The weight
of the talent of lead on the mouth of the ephah container makes it so the woman
can’t get out. She’s trapped.
3)
The woman
has no control over where she is carried.
4)
The woman
in the ephah container is taken to Babylon, where she is given a place and
established in what looks like pleasant conditions, but she’s still confined in
the ephah container.
There are a lot
of commentators that say this talks about the wicked Jews being exiled to
Babylon, but I think there is more to learn from it that can warn us
today. I think it is meant to convey the
long-term spiritual consequences of wickedness.
Just like a woman
squished in an ephah container (or a 6-gallon bucket), God is trying to show
that wickedness is confining, rather than liberating. Just like the talent of
lead on the mouth of the ephah prevented the woman from escaping, to those
steeped in wickedness it often seems as if it is too hard to repent and escape
their sins. It seems like they’ve gone too far or the costs of escape seem too
great to pay. (Satan loves to use this lie, by the way.)
Then, these two
women with wings come and carry off the ephah container to Shinar (Babylon) with
the woman still in it, and the woman has no choice in the matter. The wings
often symbolize powers, and winds can represent societal forces or worldly
doctrines that blow here or there. It shows us that if someone doesn’t repent,
they will be carried about by the world’s doctrines concerning the particular sins
they indulge in. They’ve already given away their choice in the matter, so they
don’t have control at this point.
Where does it all
lead? Where is the ephah container carried to? Babylon. All sins lead to
Babylon, no matter what they are. It’s like a one-way road to a dead end.
Then it looks
like things get better for the woman in the ephah. A house is built for her,
and there’s a nice secure base for the ephah to be placed. Some people
interpret “house” as meaning a temple is made for the ephah where it is
worshipped. And in Babylon all kinds of sins are glorified and given places. That
makes me think that all the sins Israel must get rid of are the very things
Babylon and the world loves, worships, and establishes. It’s as though Babylon
is a junk yard dressing up as an amusement park, or a cesspit trying to
masquerade as a temple. But ultimately,
don’t let the appearance fool you—the woman is still stuck in the ephah.
Also, I think
this vision shows how instead of liberating, sin takes away freedom and options
until one is so confined they lose their agency. Satan tries to make us think
the wicked are strong individuals who forge their own path in life, but here we
are shown that the wicked are carried away from the church and apostatize, then
swept along by outside forces no matter how they try to fight it. Even if
outside the church they are hailed as great heroes, accepted, respected, and
given a place, they are still confined by their sins. They are not really free,
and the respect of Babylon is not worth having, since they love all the wrong
things.
All if this is so
we know the long-term consequences of sin and what it leads to without having
to actually experience it ourselves. No doubt Zechariah (and the Lord who gave
the vision) hoped that people would see the truth and choose to repent and be
free.
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