Remember #5

 Read Zechariah 5

Background: In this chapter Zechariah shares two visions God gave him to encourage His people. First, he saw a flying scroll.  This of course means he was to consider the Word of God, but there was something unique about this scroll - it had the same dimensions as the Holy Place in the Tabernacle.  God was going to examine His people to the full extent of His Law and He was going to purge all evil from the land accordingly, leaving the land and its people holy for His use.  The second vision was that of a woman in a basket.  We are also told the basket was full of evil.  The woman represented all the wickedness of goddess worship which could be found in the land.  Once again, God was going to purge His land and His people by dumping the woman, and the evil, out of the basket.  Two angels were going to take her back to Babylon and cast her out there, purifying God's land.  

Key verses:

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[b] 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.”

Thoughts:  Though God was judging evil and removing those who refused to repent and change, the real emphasis was on this as a promise: God was going to restore and revive the land, bringing it back to full use for His glory.  It was to encourage them that God indeed was at work.