Zechariah 5:5-11; Matthew 5:1-17

Sennon on the Mount. Matthew 5

opens with the beatitudes for the con-
solation of the humble and contrite of
hean."Blessed are the poor in Spirit for
theirs Is the kingdom ofheaval. " "Blessed
are the pure in heart: for they shall see
God." Words of grace and comfon!
BUt He is an Holy God; thus He moves
directly into the demands of the Law.
"Think not that r have come to destroy the
Law.' "Except your righteousness shall
exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall In no case alter
into the kingdom of heaven. " These words
speak of righteousness and holiness
before God.
In our last message we noted that as
we enter Zechariah 5 there is an evident
change of tone: a change from conso-
lation to warning: Here we leave the
vision of the white robes of innocence
for the high priest, as in chapter 3.
Here we no longer see the miraculous
impanation of the pure oil of the Holy
Spirit as in chapter 4. The represen-
tations of the Gospel hope vanish from
view. In this chapter the people are
brought face to face with the demands
of the Law and the potential curse it
threatens against the lawless. Our
covenant theology understands the
significance of the prophets as stand- As we noted in our last message, so
ing for God's lawyers, representing note we here: God willjudgeiniquity.
God and His legal suit against Israel. Wickedness is incompatible with the
So they necessarily demand law obe- favor and blessing of God. A major
dience. debate rocking Christianity today is
You see, Zechariah not only urged that between two views of the Gospel
the rebuilding of the Temple, but also message, one called the Lordship View,
confronted the national conscience re- the other called the Free Grace View.
garding the awful nature of its sinful- The Lordship View says when you
ness. He begins with words of COllsO- accept Christ as Savior you also accept
lationandgrace,speaklngthewonders Him as Lord. The Free Grace View
of God's love. But as a true prophet of says you may accept His salvation and
God he cannot forget the demands of reject His Recent books by
God's righteous Law. Soothing words john MacAnhur (a Lordship advocate)
are protected against abuse. and Charles Ryrie and Zane Hodges
(Free Grace advocates) have engaged
In doing such, he follows the same this imponant debate. Our study of
pattern as our Lord Jesus Christ in the Zechariah demonstrates that salvatioll
20 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon '!'May. 1992
and habitual, willful sin are incompat-
ible. Israel is to learn the lesson once
again from Zechariah. We side with
the Lordship advocates in the debate.
Letusonce again consider the impli-
cations ofIsrael's sin from Zechariah's
ministry. Who is the woman here?
WhatisthisEphah? Whyisthewoman
taken in the Ephah to Shinar?
L The Identity of the Woman
At first Zechariah does not see the
. woman; sheishiddeninside theephah.
But the woman appears before him in
verse 7. Now what does this woman
represent? A little Old Testament
background here is quite suggestive.
As a matter of fact, Israel is often
represented as a woman in Scripture.
For instance, she is spoken of as the
"wife" of God. Isaiah 54:5-6 says of
Israel: "For thy Maher IS thine husband;
the Lord of hosts Is his name.... For the
Lord hath called thee as a woman for-
sakal and grieved in spirit, and a wife of
youth. "jerpniah31:32 speaks similarly
of Israel: "My COValant they brake, al-
though I was an husband unto them, saith
ihe'Lord." Ezekiel 16:32 does the sarne.
In addition, and very important for
understanding our present study, the
prophets often called Israel the wife of
God whenrepresenting her sin against
Him. We mUSt remember that in the
prophecies to Israel before and du ring
the Babylonian Captivity, God called
Israel a "harlot" for chasing after for-
eign gods. In Isaiah 1:21 we read of
jerusalem: "How Is the faithful city be-
come an harlot!" In jeremiah 3:1 we
read of Israel: "thou hast played the harlot
with many Iovers;yetreturnagaln tome,
saith the Lord. "Ezekiel 16:15 says: "But
thou didst trust ill thine own beauty, and
playedst the harlot because of thy re-
nown. "Hosea 4: 15 reads: "Though thou,
Israel, play the harlot... >i
So the wOman could easily be sug"
gestive of Israel. But there is more
specific infonnation in our very con-
. text. . .
We must keep in mind that this
prophecy is more or less Palt Two of
the preceding one. And in Zechariah
5: 1-4 we saw clearly that Israel was
being dealt With. So why not here?
Also the sinners of Israel mentioned
in verses 3 and 4 clearly seem alluded
to in verse 6: "This is their appear-
ance," after which the woman appears
in verse 7. Funhermore, he says that
this is their appearance "through all
the eanh." In our last message we saw
that this phrase "through all the eanh"
could better be translated "through all
the Land," I.e., the Promised Land of
Israel.
Thus, Israel is before us in this vi-
sion. But in the previous vision was
presented individuals in lsrael: "one
that stealeth" and "one that sweareth."
Here, however, the scattered indi-
viduals are collected into one symbol:
a unified woman. Whereas the previ-
ous vision pointed out Widespread sin
in lsrael, this one sees that sin as in-
fecting Israel as a nation, as a unified
system. The first vision looked at the
trees; this one looks at the forest, as it
were.
2. The Significance of the Ephah.
Now we must move from a consid-
eration of the identity of the woman to
the significance of the ephah. The
ephah was a common measure of dry
weight in ancient Israel. As such it was
generally associated With the basket
that was actually used to measure an
ephah. Its measure was roughly
equivalent to a bushel of grain, or
some other such dry goods. We might
call the ephah here a "bushel basket."
In the vision we discover the woman
hidden inside the basket, verses 6-7.
For a very imponant prophetic reason
Israel is pictured as in the measuring
basket. We should note that when the
heavy lead lid is lifted up to reveal the
woman in the basket, the interpreting
angel does something. His action here
is crucial for the interpretation of the
vision. Unfonunately, its significance
is obscured in the New American
Standard Bible. The NASB translates
verse 8: "Then he said, 'This is Wick-
edness!' And he threw her down into
the middle of the ephah." The King
James reads: "And he said, This is
Wickedness. And he cast It into the
midst of the ephah." Should we read
''it'' or "she" in this verse? The NASB
translators noted that the pronoun in
question is a feminine pronoun; hence,
the translation "her." Nevenheless, I
believe that this view is mistaken for
the folloWing reasons:
First, the pronoun should refer back
to the nearer noun "Wickedness' C v.
6), ratherthan the noun fanher away,
"woman"Cv. 7). The noun Wickedness
happens also to be feminine and would
require a feminine pronoun.
Second, in verse 7 we see the woman
sitting "in the midst of the ephah."
Nowhere do we see her get out. Con-
sequently, how could she be cast "into
the midst of the ephah," when she is
already there?
Now let me attempt to bring out the
idea of this action. Israel is in this
measuring basket. The idea clearly is
that she is being measured. But for
what? We should note that there is a
strong negative connotation in the
whole picture of the woman in the
vision, particularly in regard to the
angel's action in verse 8.
Let us consider several references
using "measure" in the sense I believe
is represented here. Then we Will
come back to the vision itself and how
it specifically relates to Israel.
In Genesis 15:16 we read of the
delay of God's judgment on the
Amorites: Not until the fourth genera-
tion of Abraham's family, would his
descendants come to the Promised
Land, "forthe iniquity ofthe Amorites
is not yet full." The evil the Amorites
had in Abraham's day had not reached
its full matUlity and ultimate fruition
calling for God's final judgment. In
Romans 2: 5 sinners in general n ~ said
to "store up" sin for Judgment Day:
"After thy hardness and impenitent
hean treasurest up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God."
Sin may be considered as measured.
When it reaches full measure, judg-
mentcomes.
It is more than a little interesting to
consider how the measuring up of sin
is applied to the Jews in the future
from Zechariah's time, that is, in the
New Testament. In the Old Testament
God sent prophets to lsrael; but Israel's
leaders persecuted them. In Matthew
5: 12 Jesus said: "Rejoice, and be ex-
ceeding glad: for great is your reward in
heaven: fOTso persecuted they the proph-
ets which were before you." In Matthew
21 :35 He teaches that the Jewish lead-
ers took God's prophets "and beat one,
and killed another, and stoned another.'
Thus,just before His own final rejec-
tion by the Jews, the Son of God, the
Great Prophet.Jesus Christ said to the
scribes and Pharisees: "Fill ye up then
the measure of your fathers" (Matt.
23:32). And then four verses after
calling them to "fill up the measure" of
sin he said: "0 ]eru.saJem,] erosa/em, tlwu
that killestthe prophets, andsWnest them
which are sent unto thee." These verses,
along With Acts 7:52, 1 Thessalonians
2:15, and Hebrews 11:36, show Israel
had constantly striven against Godand
His prophets; they were filling up the
measure of their sins throughout the
Old Testament and into the New.
This is why Paul speaks as he does
about Jewish opposition to the Gos-
pel: They 10rbid us tv speak tv the
Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill
up theirsins a/way:for the wrath is come
upon them tv the uttermost" Cl Thess.
2:16).
Now with this in mind, let us move
back to the vision.
May, 1992 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ 21
In the fiISt pan of the vision in verses
3 and 4, the scattered sins of individu-
als are mentioned. In this portion of
the vision, Israel as a nation is being
measured. And "wickedness" is put in
with her in the measurement. This
would seem to imply the final measure
of sinful wickedness is thrown in the
basket with Israel to make a full mea-
sure of her sins.
Up to Zechauah's time, Israel's full
measure of sin had not been reached.
True, she was not bunging inthe appro-
puate measure of tithes for the rebuild-
ing of the temple, but there was a delay
in judgment. She had nOt been finally
rejected as a disqnct, na- ' ... ".,."
tional people. BUt Zecha- ' .. , ....
nah foresees her wicked-
ness as being measured in
the ephah. The prophet
foresees the fearful last
measure being put in (v. 8).
Undoubtedly, the last
measure of Israel's wick-
edness is her rejection of
Christ. In Matthew 21
JeSuspresentsthatheinous
act as the last straw, after
which God will take the
kingdom of God and give
it to a nation that will bear
the fruits thereof. . In Ro-
mans 11 Paul calls her re-
jection of Christ "the
transgression," that causes
her national doom (Rom.
11:11). In Revelatiort l7and 18lsrael
appears as the Great Harlot dwelling
in the Great City Jerusalem, who is
filled With the blood of the saints. In
. Revelatioh 18:4-5 we read: "And I heard
anothetvoic?fromheaven, saying, Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and thatye receive
not of her plagues. For her sins have
reached unto heaven, and God hath re-
membered her iniquities." Her sins at
. that time will be taken into account as
. being filled to heaven.
This leads us to consider:
3. The Destiny In Shinar.
With the last measure of wicked-
ness added to Israel'spredicarnent (i.e.,
the future rejection of Christ), we see
the lead lid put on the measuring
ephah (v. 8). At that time her doom
will be sealed. Israel is shut up to
endure the consequences of her sin.
In the first pan of the vision, her
homes are seen destroyed (v. 4b). In
this pan an additional aspect of God's
judgment is predicted.
Here we witness two women ap-
pearingontheseen(v. 9). Theyliftup
the ephah containing Israel and catty
It off. It would seem that the reason for
these being "women" is nothing more
than being appropriate to the fact they
are canying off a woman, Israel. That
there were two of them is explained by
the fact that such an ephah load would
require two persons to haul it off.
They represent the powers employed
by God to cany away this sinful people.
These women have large wings,like
those of a stork. They lift up the ephah
with Israel in it and cany it away (v. 9).
22 TIlE ,OUNSEL of Chalcedon , May, 1992
This obviously ponrays another de-
struction and deponation for Israel in
her future, not unlike the Babylonian
captivity. But a few elements of the
vision will indicate its much greater
consequence.
Obvionsly the place where she is
taken is of significance, because of her
destiny's being highlighted by the
question in verse 10 and 'the answer
given in verse 11. InA.D.30Jesussaid
this destruction would occur in the
generationofHis hearers (Matt. 24:34).
In the A.D. 50s Paul recognizes that
"the wtath is come upon them to the
uttennost," which indicates its being
very near. We know from
history that the final de-
struction and scattering of
Israel wasurtderthe Romans
in A.D. 70. Since that time
lsraelhasnothadhertemple
and has not been blessed of
God.
But why is her scattering
said to be unto "Shinar"?
And whatis the significance
of the building of the house
there?
"Shinar" is an old historic
name going back almost to
the days Noah. In Genesis
10:10 and 11:2 we f)nd it
mentioned as the place
where the tower of Babel
was built. The tower ofBa-
bel waS a religious structure
called a "ziggurat" that was builtin
direct defiance to God by men who
refused to spread out over the earth.
Now this is interesting. Israel's be-
setting sin in Zechariah's day was her
refusalto build a God -ordained temple.
Her sin in Jesus' day was her response
toJesus' statement inJohn 2: "Destroy
this temple and in three days I will raise
it up" (speaking of His own body). So
as Israel comes under judgment for
rebellion against building and main-
taining God's house, God promises
that she will be sent out of the land to
dwell in the city of man, rather than
the city of God. Just as if she were
actually to be resettled in Shinaritself.
Away from the house of God to the
house of man.
But this time her deponation, unlike
the Babylonian deportation, will be of
lasting consequence. Never again
would she be a favored nation by God.
In the Hebrew the verb action is quite
intensified in verse 11, when it says
that Israel will have built for her a
house that is "established and settled
on its base" (literally). As a nation she
is to have built for her a house outside
of the Promises of God in the land of
man. This will not be a tabernacle-tent,
but a permanent, well-settled house.
Since they have so little concern for
God's House and its rebuilding, God
will have them carried away where
they can have a more appropriate
house: outside His kingdom. Jesus
spoke ofthis in Matthew 8:11: "Many
shall come Jrom the east and west, and
shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven."
Conclusion
There are three lessons I would like
for us to gain from this message.
First, despite widespread belief
among modem Christians that Israel
will be blessed of God as a nation aud
will be allowed to rebuild the temple
as a sign of God's favor, God's Word
teaches a different truth. There are
missions to the Jews today that mis-
construe the promises of God for Israel
by teaching that we must favor them
for God's sake. But Jews are like any
other people: they need to respond to
the Gospel of Christ and be let in as
individuals to the Church of Jesus
Christ. There is no special future for
Israel as a nation.
Too much modem day Jewish evan-
gelism is mistaken in its approach,
though we appreciate its zeal in at-
tempting to reach the Jews. We must
understand that in Christ all races are
accepted on an equal basis. Galatians
3:28: "There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is
neither male nor Jemale: Jorye are all one
in Christ Jesus" (cp. Rom. 10:12; Col.
3:11).
Second, as with our last message we
as Americans must learn that God is
not obligated to deliver our nation "no
matter what. .. There have been nations
in the past who were blessed of God
while faithful, but against God turned
when they rejected Him. Let us pray
for our nation in these troublesome
times, that she might be reclaimed
before her sins "reach up to heaven,"
before she "fills up the measure of sin."
Let us think and act like Christians in
society -- promoting biblical truth, not
pragmatic principles.
Third, we must recognize the concept
of"fillingupsin." Ifweever live in sin
and do not appear to suffer God's
judgment for it, this could be a danger
sign: God is allowing us to "fill up the
measure" of sin for a great judgment.
You cannot "sin and get away with it."
Let us not tempt God.n
.+. We believe in the jUll aUlhori9' of the Bible as expressed in the Westminster
Confession of Faith, the Heidelbelg Catechism, the BelgiC Confession, and the
Canons of Dart We are Reformed in theology.
.:- We tead! a comprehensive BibUcal Worldview in all areas of study. God's
word is the foundation of all knowledge.
.+. We haYe a high view revealed law in both Old andNew Covenants,

as a basis for sodal and political ethics.
.:- We beUevein theultimate triumph of God!ssoyereigngracewhich will impact
the world.
+!+ We believe in very limited consUtutionaJ civil government and a free enter-
prise economic
.:. We believein and encourage Christian home-education (and enthusiasticalry
accept homeschoolers), as well as Christian schools.
.:. We offer a Bachelor degree in Theology, Philosophy, History, Political
Economy, and Christian Education. Students may also take coursework (e.g.
Acccunting. Business, Modem Languages, Sciences) at nearby Uberty
Universi(y, a Christian school.
+:. Board ofT rustees: Dr. Greg L Bahnsen, MDiv., ThM, Ph.D.; Dr. Kevin L
Clauson,MA.,J.D. Dr. Carl Curtis, MA., Ph.D.; Rev. RichardE.
Knodel,M.Div. (HEAV Boarq); Dr. RodMays, MEa., D. Min.; Rev. Donald
H. Post, M Diy. Many nationalry..known Christian scholars Involved.
Current resident facul(y of siJc men .
May, 1992 THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 23