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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.
He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long
and ten cubits wide.”
And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out
over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief
will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who
swears falsely will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it
out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who
swears falsely by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it
completely, both its timbers and its stones.’”
Zechariah 5:1-4
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks
be to God.
A man on a red horse among
myrtle trees with more horses behind.
Four horns and craftsmen.
A man with a measuring line.
A high priest in filthy
garments.
A gold lamp stand between two
olive trees.
What do all these have in
common?
They were all centrally
featured in visions we have seen Zechariah have in this book, the next to last
book in the Old Testament.
As chapter five opens, we find
yet another vision take center stage, the sixth of eight. As we will see, this
vision centers on a flying scroll. Look again at these four verses here:
I looked again,
and there before me was a flying scroll.
He asked me, “What
do you see?”
I answered, “I see
a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”
And he said to me,
“This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what
it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it
says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. The Lord
Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the
thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in
that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.’” Zechariah 5:1-4
God had given His people
specific commandments within the law and His expectation was that His people
would comply with His wishes. Unfortunately, many of the Israelites opted to
sin instead, something God would have no part of. It’s this truth that is at
the center of the sixth vision of Zechariah.
Note that the large scroll,
which in the vision flew unfurled in plain sight of Zechariah, contained
commands which if violated would result in punishment (represented by the curse
mentioned in the passage). Of interest, the stone tablets, which were handled
by Moses and contained God’s commandments, had writing on each side:
“Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the
covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.”
Exodus 32:15
If you looked at those
commandments, you would have found the following:
“You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15
Obviously, stealing violated
the eighth commandment God issued and yet as we find within the vision, there
were some Israelites who didn’t care:
“Every thief will be banished… it will enter the house of the thief… It
will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its
stones.”
God told His people not to
steal and yet there were still thieves within the Israelite community and the
Lord wasn’t going to tolerate them, promising judgment would come.
But thievery wasn’t the only
transgression singled out by God in this scripture excerpt. We also find Him
calling out those who would swear falsely by the Lord’s name:
“Everyone who swears falsely will be banished… it will enter the house
of anyone who swears falsely by my name… It will remain in that house and
destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.”
You see, swearing falsely by
the Lord’s name violated the third commandment found in the 20th chapter of
Exodus:
“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will
not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.” Exodus 20:7
So we know that the people of
God committed at least two transgressions against Him but the broader meaning
of this vision was centered on the general inclination of the Israelites to
disobey His commands and instead opt to sin. Given that, the overall message
would apply to us as well.
When is that overall message?
It’s pretty simple.
For God will not stand for sin
and anyone who chooses to violate His will is going to find themselves in the
throes of His judgment. In the end translation, God despises iniquity and will
always take action when anyone thinks they don’t have to follow His rules.
As we close this devotion, I
hope the vision of the flying scroll is one that will remain unfurled and
visible in our minds, a banner representing either one of two things:
1. A reminder of what God
expects in regard to how we live.
or
2. A condemnation and declaration
of judgment for any sinner who violates God’s expectations for right and righteous
living.
Let’s all commit ourselves to
making sure it’s always the former and never the latter.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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