Scripture Daily

Context No. 1632 of 4322 · Zechariah

Context · Reflection

Zechariah 5:6-11: in context

6I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land— 7and behold, a lead cover weighing one talent was lifted up—and there was a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.” 8He said, “This is Wickedness;” and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the lead weight on its mouth. 9Then I lifted up my eyes and saw, and behold, there were two women; and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky. 10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are these carrying the ephah basket?” 11He said to me, “To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.”

Zechariah is shown a strange vision: a large basket, and in it, under a heavy lead cover, sits a woman. The angel says, this is Wickedness, and thrusts her down into the basket and claps the lead weight over its mouth, sealing her in. Then two winged figures lift the basket up between earth and sky and carry it off. Where are they taking it, Zechariah asks. To the land of Shinar, the angel answers, to build a house for it there, where it will be set in its own place. Wickedness is sealed up and carried away out of the land.

The vision is a picture of God removing wickedness from among his people. Wickedness is not merely rebuked or tolerated; it is contained, sealed under a heavy lead lid so it cannot get out, and carried away out of the land to a place of its own. God does not leave the evil among his people to fester; he removes it, seals it, and takes it away. There is hope in that for those who long to be free of the sin and evil that cling to them and their communities. God's purpose is not simply to forgive wickedness while leaving it in place, but to remove it, to cleanse his people of the evil among them, sealing it up and carrying it off. This points forward to the fuller cleansing God accomplishes in Christ, who came not only to forgive sin but to deal with it, to remove it, to make his people clean. The vision of wickedness sealed and carried away is a promise that evil does not have a permanent home among God's people; he will remove it, contain it, take it to its own place, which is not among them. There is comfort in that for anyone weary of the sin that clings, in themselves or in the community of God's people. God is not content to leave wickedness lodged among his own; his purpose is to remove it, and one day it will be sealed up and carried away for good, to its own place, and his people will be clean.

Do I long to be free of the wickedness that clings to me and to God's people, and can I take hope from this vision that God's purpose is not merely to tolerate evil but to remove it, sealing it up and carrying it away, so that his people will one day be clean?

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