Zechariah's Seventh Vision: Wickedness Removed Series

Today we come to one of the strangest passages in Scripture. It is recorded in Zechariah 5:5-11. Here Zechariah sees a vision of a basket, a woman in the basket, and two women with wings carrying the basket to Babylon. What does the basket represent? What about the woman in the basket? Are the two women with wings angels or evil spirits? Those are some of the questions we need answered for a sound understanding of the revelation in this text.

Zechariah 5 contains two visions that are closely related. Both visions deal with the removal of evil from Israel so that the blessings promised in the previous visions can be realized. I want to read the whole chapter so that we can see the connection between vision 6 and vision 7. I am reading from the New International Version because it captures the meaning of both visions accurately.

“I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll. 2 He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.” 3 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. 4 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.’”

Now we come to today’s text:

5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.” 6 I asked, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a basket.” And he added, “This is the iniquity of the people throughout the land.” 7 Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! 8 He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it. 9 Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth. 10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me. 11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”i

In our last message, we dealt with the vision of the flying scroll. That vision revealed God’s removal of rebellious Israelites so that blessing could come upon the nation. It is something God does with groups, churches, nations, etc. The ultimate fulfillment of the vision happens at the end of the age when Messiah returns and leads Israel into the golden Millennial age. It is an end-time prophecy which had partial fulfillment in Zechariah’s day and has timeless application throughout the ages. God judges sin. Just as Achan was removed before Israel could defeat Ai, just as Ananias and Sapphira were removed in judgment in Acts 5, one side of God blessing a nation or group is the judgment of hypocrites and rebels. The vision of the flying scroll focused on the individuals (represented by the thief and perjurer) who would be destroyed for their persistent sin.

In this vision of the basket, the focus in on the collective evil influence that must be removed. This vision addresses the evil system of greed and deception that drives the iniquity. We will deal with our text under three headings.

I. The Basket in verses 5-6

II. The Contents of the Basket in verses 7-8

III. The Destination of the Basket in verses 9-11

I. The BASKET (vs 5-6)

In verse 5, the Interpreting Angel alerts Zechariah to something that is appearing on the horizon and moving toward them.ii Zechariah sees something coming, but at that point cannot tell what it is. So, he asks the angel, “What is it?” The angel replied, “It is a basket.” The Hebrew word translated basket is ‘ephah: something similar to our bushel basket.iii Some versions simply translate it ephah (KJV, RSV). The Christian Standard Bible translates it “measuring basket.”iv Since the word here points to a container used to measure the sale of grain, it probably communicates the idea of commerce.v The other measurement for commerce in this vision is the talent (vs 7) which was a weight measurement. It too was symbolic of business and trade.vi The significance of this basket is not found in the material it is made of, but in its common use as a standard measurement for business transactions in the agrarian society.