Shalom, everyone. Welcome to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures and Israel. We are so thankful to be able to study the Word of God together, and we pray that the Lord will bless us and will encourage us, especially as we're studying such a book here, the book of Zechariah. We need the Lord's help to understand the visions that Zechariah received from the Lord concerning the gods dealing with his people Israel throughout the ages, including the tribulation period and ultimately the kingdom that is yet to come. And by application, we can learn as believers of the church age many, many lessons. So let's pray together, commit the meeting to the Lord. Hopefully you have your Bible with you, and turn with me to Zechariah, chapter, five. So our God and our Father, we ask your help as we study the Word of God in the prophecy of Zechariah. We ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name.

Amen, amen. And so my dear friends and dear brothers and sisters, I would like to read the whole chapter in Zechariah chapter five, verses one to eleven. There are two visions that are found in this, fifth chapter. Let's see if with the help of the Lord we'll be able to cover that chapter, these eleven verses. There's so much to, to say about this, so we'll trust that the Lord will help us. And so let's read, Zechariah chapter five and verse one. Zechariah continued to say, And I turned And lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll, or scroll, in Hebrew it's called megillah. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll. The length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. For every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side, according to it, and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side, according to it.

I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it Shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name, and it shall remain in, in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stone thereof. Verse 5. Then the angel of, the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said, Moreover, this is their, resemblance through all the earth. And behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead. And this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness.

And he cast it into the midst of the ephah, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Then lifted I mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar, and it shall be established. And set there upon her own base. And I will stop here, the, the reading here, beloved brothers and sisters, right now in verse 11 of Zechariah, chapter 5. Now, if you read this chapter on your own without to get some help from, the Lord, of course, The help from other passages in the Word of God, in Scripture, and of course the help of others that have studied these, passages of the Word of God and thanked the Lord for others that have learned from the Word of God and help us to understand it. So we need really the help of Scripture to compare Scripture with Scripture. We, we need the help of the Spirit of God to help us understand it.

And obviously we are thankful for any who taught on these messages to help us to glean, to glean some lessons that will help us in our spiritual growth. Now remember we are studying, of course, the prophecy of Zechariah, and I'm just reminding you that in Zechariah chapter 1 verse 7, all the way to the end of chapter 6, we have eight visions that, the Lord have, given to Zechariah to see. Remember we have already covered, beloved Brothers and sisters, quite a few of these, of these, various, visions. We covered in chapter one, verses seven to seventeen, the vision of the horsemen. Chapter one, eighteen to twenty-one, the vision of the four, horns and the four, carpenters. We have covered chapter two, the vision of the man with the measuring stick. The, chapter three, the vision of the, of the clean garment, for Joshua, Israel's high priest. We have covered the vision of the lampstand and the olives.

And now we arrive to vision number six, and actually number seven, that is found in Zechariah, chapter five, verses one to eleven. In fact, beloved brothers and sisters, Zechariah, chapter five, verses one to four, we have the vision of the flying scroll. In Zechariah chapter 5 verses 5 to 11 we have the vision of the woman and the eiphah. Two such an interesting visions that Zechariah have seen and God again to remind you dear brothers and sisters that in these visions Zechariah receive information from the Lord concerning concerning Israel and the whole period of time that Israel will ultimately experience various difficulties and ultimately it takes the nation of Israel to the final days of the restoration of the nation of Israel.

So when God is speaking to Zechariah he is showing him visions concerning his dealing with his people Israel and how he will ultimately redeem them and restore them but he will also Discipline his people. He will judge his people. Whomsoever the Lord receives, he judges. He disciplines everyone that comes and belongs to him. In every dispensation, God receives the people for himself, but he also desires them to live for him, and he will be, as a father, discipline his own children. Now, in these last two chapters, this is chapter five and chapter six, Zechariah, received from God revelation concerning the way whereby God will deal with his people Israel, and that when they sin, he will punish them, when they repent, he will restore them, and he will ultimately bless his people, but not without disciplining them all along, throughout Israel's history. It is the same for the church today. We know very well, as we are learning from the, letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor, in Revelation chapter two and chapter three, and all the epistles that the apostle Paul and John and Peter wrote, we learn that God does deal with his people out of love for his people, he disciplines his people, and he desires them to live for him.

So we have here two visions in chapter five, we have another vision in chapter six, but in these first four verses of Zechariah chapter five, we have the vision of the flying scroll. In Hebrew, it is called HaMegillah She'afa, the scroll that is flying, swiftly flying. Now you notice we begin, first of all, in verse one and two, the vision itself. Very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, we do read in verse one and two, And I turned and I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a flying scroll.

In Hebrew, megillah afa, a scroll, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's made out of, some sort of paper, of course. In ancient day, it was made out of, leather and so on, and it was rolled, it was a scroll, and on that scroll, you would write. And so Zechariah, notice that he said, I lifted up my eyes. By the way, you notice, he always see visions with his eyes open. Just to remind you, if you turn to chapter one and verse eight, we learn in verse eight, and I saw by night, notice he saw by night, behold, a man riding upon a red horse. Notice verse eighteen of chapter one, we read, and I lifted up mine eyes, and I saw. Notice that? He's opening his eyes with an open eye. It's not a dream. It's not a chalom in Hebrew, it's a vision, it is a chazon.

chazon is you see while you awake, chalom you receive while you have your eyes closed and you are sleeping. And notice that we also read in chapter 2 and verse 1. Again, chapter 2 and verse 1, and I lifted up mine eyes again. Notice chapter 3 and verse 1, and he showed me Joshua the high priest and so on. See, he sees visions. He sees vision. chapter 4 we read in verse 2, and there we read, and he said unto me, what seest thou? And I said, I have looked and behold. Notice that? He sees, Zechariah sees visions, chazonot, chazon, he sees visions.

And so in verse one, I turn, chapter five, verse one, I turn and I lifted up mine eyes and I looked and behold a flying scroll. He this time sees a scroll, and I would like again to mention that the Hebrew word for scroll is megillah. The word of God is often, if you have been ever in the Beit HaKnesset, in the synagogue, you have the Torah, the scroll is being opened, it's taken from the ark, and the scroll is open. It is not a book the way you and I have it today, but it is in a scroll, it is in a scroll shape, megillah, the word megillah come from the word round and round, legalgel, to roll, and then the word of God is written on that megillah.

In fact, I would like you just for a moment to turn with me to the book of Psalm. And in the book of Psalm, we do read, beloved brothers and sisters, in Psalm 40 and verse 7, David said, Then I said, Behold, I have come. He said, It is written about me in the volume of the book. The volume of the book is coming from the Hebrew word in the volume of the scroll, Megillat HaSefer. In the volume, bimgilat hasefer katuv alai. In the volume of the scroll. That has to do with the word of God.

In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 7, the apostle who wrote, or the writer who wrote to the Hebrews said, Then said I, Behold, I have come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God, quoting Psalm 40 in the letter that was written to the Hebrew believers. And the volume of the book, of the volume of the scroll, come from the Hebrew word Megillat HaSefir. That has to do with the word of God. So Zechariah sees a roll, a scroll, Megillah, but not only he sees a Megillah, a scroll, but he sees the Megillah flying. And the thought is, Apha in Hebrew, it's not only Tasa, but Apha, it's going fast, swiftly. He sees a scroll that is flying swiftly. Fast.

Very interesting as he sees that vision. He continue, beloved brothers and sisters, not only that he see the flying scroll, the Megillah, which is really the word of God, that is flying swiftly. In other words, God's word is going to be executed swiftly. God's word is going to be to get its way as God had given it swiftly. But you notice what he read in, we read in verse two, we read of the sighs. Of the Megillah, of the scroll. Very unusual, you know, when you open the Megillah, when you open the scroll today in the synagogue, in Beit HaKnesset, or any place that the, the, the, the Word of God is being in a scroll shape, in, written on, on a, on a, on a skin and, and rolled together.

what you see, the size of it was huge. It was not a normal size. It was ten by twenty cubits long. Ten by twenty cubits long, ten cubits is really fifteen feet, and twenty cubits is about thirty feet. A cubit is about eighteen inches. So it's basically nine meter long by four and a half meter tall. You see this, I'm reading this now in verse two, we do read, and he said unto me, what you see? And I answered, I see a flying scroll.

And the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof is ten cubits, fifteen by thirty feet long. And that's also very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, that according to the scripture, the size, this size, ten by twenty cubits, which is fifteen by thirty feet, is the size, beloved brothers and sisters, of the holy place in the tabernacle.

Remember, the tabernacle had two, had two compartments. The holy place was larger than the Holy of Holies, and the size of it really, according to Exodus chapter 26, it is the size of the holy place, thirty by fifteen feet long and wide. In other words, it's really representing the, the size of the tabernacle, of the tent of meeting, of the holy place, HaKodesh, in the tabernacle. Also what we learn from these beloved brothers and sisters, because in the tabernacle, if you remember, in the holy place you have the menorah, the lampstand, you have the, the table of showbread, and you also have the altar of incense.

In other words, it's really representing the presence of the Lord in the midst of His own, and the Word of God is there, and God's presence, and God's will in the midst of God's people. The menorah, the table of showbread, And the altar of incense, and the high priest will enter in and light the menorah and replace the bread and raise their incense to the glory of God, representing the prayer and the praises of the people of Israel, repenting and praising God. Such an amazing size of the scroll, flying scroll, and representing the word of God that will swiftly fly in order to accomplish God's will. And so, beloved brothers and sisters, as Zechariah, by the way, Solomon's porch, according to 1 Kings chapter 6 and verse 8, where the law was read, is the same size of 30 by 15 feet, 10 by 20 cubits.

Now that you see that vision, strange, you know, kind of very strange vision. What do you see? So now in verses three and four, which is the second half, what is the meaning of this vision? Well, the angel of the Lord is helping beloved brothers and sisters to give instruction to Zechariah. So in verse three, the meaning, we notice that here, notice what it says here. In verse three, then said he unto me, the angel that spoke to Zechariah, giving, conveying him a message on behalf of God towards his people Israel. And he's saying to them, this is the curse. In other words, this is the word he's, ha'ala, this is the zot ha'ala, this is the curse, this is the judgment, the judgment that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth. Now again, to remind you that the Jewish people returned now from Bavel after the seventy years of captivity. They were now in the land, they were rebuilding the temple, there was a time that they were discouraged and they stopped to rebuild the temple, there was opposition from without, there was friction from within, and God is telling to the people of Israel through Zechariah, through this vision, that God is holy and judgment has to come upon those that will not submit to his authority.

And so he's telling to Zechariah, you see, you know what this is? That Megillah, the scroll that is flying, And the size of it is, fifteen by thirty feet, ten by twenty cubits. This is, notice that this is the curse, ha'ala in Hebrew, zot ha'alah, that goes forth over the face of the whole earth, or the whole land.

For everyone that stealeth shall be cut off, as on this side, he say. According to it, in other words, according to the word of the Lord that is written in this scroll, in this megillah, God will judge as it is written in his word. The one that stealeth, he will be cut off, it is written on that side. Of it, and everyone that sweareth shall be cut off as it is on that side according to it. The it here is the word of the Lord written on that scroll. Now, it is interesting, if you just turn with me back for a moment to the book of Exodus, and in Exodus chapter 20, when God gave the law to Israel, remember, Israel still was under the law, and God demanded, when he gave Israel the Torah, he demanded submissiveness to the Torah, to the law. And if you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, we do read in Exodus chapter 20, just read with me, notice it says in verse 15, remember the law was given to Israel in twofold ways, that which relate to God.

The first commandment that relate to God and the commandment that relate to one another, to the nation, among themselves, between men and men. And so we read in verse 15, thou shalt not steal. Lo tignov. This is what is written on the scroll, on the one side of the scroll, in relationship to the judgment of God that will swiftly fly upon those that behave in such a way. But then notice a little bit earlier in verse 7, notice what it says in verse 7, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In other words, what we really see that God's law demanded obedience. Thou shalt, thou shalt not.

And so what we really learn from this verse, beloved brothers and sisters, of Zechariah chapter five and verse three, that this is the curse, the judgment that will fall upon those that violate the law of the Lord. Now this is amazing, you know what it teaches us? That because God is holy, and sin must be judged, it tells us why it was necessary for the Messiah to come, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All of us deserve to be judged by God. The law never was given to the people of Israel to save them or to redeem them, but it was given to Israel to show them the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.

No wonder the apostle Shaul Paul said in Romans chapter seven, the things that I want to do, that I don't do, and the things that I do not want to do, this I do, all wretched man that I am. In fact, God want us all to come to a point in our life that we realize that God's law is so holy, and we by nature are sinful, and that's why we need the sacrifice that pointed to the Mashiach, to the Messiah who came. In fact, if you turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 27, in verse, the last verse, verse 26, God said to Israel, cursed, that's the same word, arur, cursed he be that confirmeth not all the words of the law, of this law, to do them, and all the people shall say amen. In other words, God demanded obedience, full obedience to all the law that he had given to his people. But could they accomplish this?

Could they fulfill, could you, could I, could anyone, the only one that fulfilled the law, as we have read in Psalm 40, thy law I came to do thy will, O God, thy law is within my heart, the Messiah Jesus Yeshua said. But all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So God says you are cursed if you violate the law of God, and surely we all have, as Israel have.

All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. In fact, if you just turn with me to the book of Galatians for a moment, listen to what the Apostle Shaul Paul is doing here when he's writing to the Galatians, and he says to the Galatians in Galatians chapter 3, verses 10 to 13, he says, Paul is saying to the Galatians in chapter 3, and he said to them in verse 10, and I'm reading verse 10, For as many are or as are of the works of the law, they are under a curse, a judgment, because God is holy, and all of us deserve to be judged because we fail to fulfill the law. Israel did. You and I feel, all men have failed. He continues, says, For it is written, and he's quoting the Deuteronomy 27 and verse 26, For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

And he continued in verse 11 and 12, But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith, and the law is not of faith, but the men that doeth them shall live in them. And then he says, of course, in verse 13, But the Messiah, Christ, Mashiach, He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, as it is written, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, back to Zechariah chapter 5 and verse 3, when Zechariah sees that scroll flying, and he asked, what is it? He said unto me, this is the curse, this is the judgment that all deserve because of failure to live uprightly before the Lord. And we all deserve, we are all under the curse by nature. And so we read in verse 3, Then he said unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth, for every one that stealeth shall be cut off, as it is on this side according to it, that scroll, and every one that sweareth shall be cut off, as on that side according to it.

And now that he explained to him, That the whole land, the whole earth, the whole population, whether it is Israel, God's own people, and whether it is the nations of the world, we are all under curse because we have all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Even Israel, the nation that came back, now returned, they were still sinners who needed constantly to offer sacrifices on the altar, and on, and the basis of the sacrifice, God could forgive their sins. You and I today, because of the work of Christ, of the Mashiach, our sins are once and for all dealt with because the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, have finished the work of redemption. But he's speaking to the nation of Israel through Zechariah.

And so now, in verse four, he is reminding and he's saying to him in verse four, I will bring it. In other words, I will bring it forth, I will bring the judgment of God, says the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name, and it shall remain in the midst of his house and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stone thereof. In other words, what God is saying, I am going to judge.

Even my own people, I will discipline them. I will judge them. You know, the psalmist in Psalm, 20, When he was speaking concerning, Psalm 22, I should say, when David was speaking concerning the coming of the Messiah, Jesus, when Yeshua came, the Psalmist of Israel, David was speaking prophetically on behalf of the Messiah, and the cry was, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why did God forsake Christ, the Messiah? David was never forsaken by God, although he felt forsaken. But God had to forsake the Mashiach, the Messiah, the Lord Jesus, the Lord Yeshua. Why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not. And in the night season, and I'm not silent.

And here's the reason why God forsook the Messiah. In verse three, But thou art holy, thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Because God is holy, sin had to be judged. And that's why Christ, the Mashiach, David prophetically was speaking on the, about the sufferings of the Messiah, of whom we read in Matthew chapter 27 and other passages in the New Covenant of the sufferings of the Messiah and the glory that will follow. And so he had to be forsaken because God is holy. So beloved brothers and sisters, we continue, go back to our chapter. And in Zechariah chapter five and verse four, the curse of God will consume all those who sin against him. Notice what he said, it will go forth, says the Lord, and it shall enter, notice it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name.

God will judge, sin has to be judged. And he continue and he said, he says to him, it's not going to also only enter in, but it will ultimately consume the one with the timber and the stones they rove. Judgment has to come. Let me remind you that Peter wrote Many years later, of course, during the early days of the church age, in 1 Peter chapter 4, Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 4, and there, listen to what we read. In fact, turn with me there for a moment to 1 Peter chapter 4 and verse 17. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.

In other words, God does discipline his people. He disciplined Israel, the nation, his own people, with discipline. It's not here an issue of salvation right now in the context, but it's an issue of the judgment of God that will come upon the one that will continue on and carry on in their own way. Very strong vision concerning the judgment of God in Zechariah chapter 5, verses 1 to 4. In fact, brothers and sisters, you remember what the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 10, he said, for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

In other words, even the believers, though we are forgiven and redeemed, but God will evaluate the life of his own people at the judgment seat of the Messiah, of Christ. In fact, let me just read you one more verse. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians, chapter 3. And, if, if it, if this, judgment of God's people Israel is so clearly seen here in, Zechariah chapter 5, it's not mean that because we are believers that we can escape to carry on in our own way, in our life, and, and say, well, you know, God is not going to deal with me. But God wants his people to live for him. God wanted Israel to live for him. And that's why he says, here's that scroll, the word of God that's swiftly flying, representing the, the, the commands of the Lord for his people. And if his people will continue in their own way, he will discipline his own people.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 12, we read, Now if any man build a Upon this foundation, let me just read from verse 11. For other foundation no man can lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah. If any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stone, wood, hay, and stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sought it is. He's speaking to the Corinthian believers, the saints at Corinth, reminding them that they need to turn away from the wrong way to repent and to be restored to fellowship with the Lord. And so in the first vision, beloved brothers and sisters, we learn of the vision of the flying scroll, which really representing the fact that God chose Zechariah That he's the one, even though he loves his own people, and he promised his their restoration to himself and the final blessing that he has for them, but he will punish sin in the life of his nation.

God will discipline his own people, whomsoever the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and he scourges every son whom he receives. Now notice that we are moving from one, vision to the next vision. These are two short visions together that really representing for us now the, the way whereby God will discipline even his own people when sin continued on and not being judged and repent of and confessed.

And so now in the next verses, in verse 5 to verse 11, we have another vision, and that is a vision of the woman and the eiphah. The woman and the eiphah. Very interesting. And I'm reading in verses 5, 6, and 7 of Zechariah chapter 5, we have the vision itself. And so the angel of the Lord is requiring, requested from Zechariah once again to look and see, look and see. He's saying to him in verse 5, he said, Then said the angel that talked with me, He went forth and he said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes and see what is this that goeth forth. Again, look and see that vision. So he says, You raise up, lift up your eyes, look and see, what do you see, Zechariah?

And so we read, beloved brothers and sisters, in the next verse, in verse, six A, Zechariah sees an ephah, and he asks, what is it? You know, ephah is a measurement. In Hebrew, the word ephah is a measurement. It's like a, like a bushel. It's like a, a certain measurement, whether it is a bushel of, or a, a certain gallon, the cu, the size of one cubit foot, and so on. It is a bushel. It's the size, of a, of a bushel, of a measurement. Really, it's representing a measurement. The woman, is going to be seen here now sitting in a basket, or, or, and representing an ephah, a measurement. So we read in verse six, and he said, what is it? and he said, this is an ephah that goes forth. So that word for eifah is simply a true measure of weight or a, a, a measure of, of, quantity of something.

In days of old, in Israel's history, that was representing a, a, a true measurement. In other words, when you would go to the market and you will buy something, a grain of wheat and so on, what you will have to put it on a scale and you will have to see the true measure. This is a measure that is called eifah. It is a true measure, no more and no less. And so in verse 6a, Zechariah sees that eifah, and he asks, what is it? And again, to remind you that eifah is a True measure of quantity of something that you would buy, and you would pay the cost of a certain of an, a fow of grain, and a fow of wheat, and a fow of something. There's a measurement. It is a true measurement, and you pay for it a certain amount of, money, of shekels, and so on. Well, it says now in verse 6b, the angel of the Lord gave him an answer, because he's, he asking what it is.

So he said unto him, he said, Moreover, he said, This is the resemblance, or their resemblance, in other words, this is Israel's resemblance through all the earth, or through all the land. In other words, this is really the measurement of what Israel truly is, or Israel's behavior. This is what the behavior Of Israel, this is the behavior of a people, this is the behavior of mankind. And he continued, he said, Behold, he said, I was, I lifted up, now again, my, my eye was lifted up, and what did I saw? I saw a talent of lead. Now we see something that is lead, that is heavy. And this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. In other words, what he really see here is a true measure that was really corrupted.

A lead, heavy, heavy measurement that really corrupted the true measure of a, a certain weight. In other words, there was a improper, the balance, it's like you would go to a market and you will ask for a bushel or for an ephah of grain. And somebody will say, okay, I will give you the ephah of grain, but they will put a little bit of lead inside. And then the scale will go down as if you receive a true amount of ephah, but you really did not get the true measure of the weight that you're supposed to receive and you pay for. It was a falsehood.

What we really learn here that the usage here is very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters. It's very interesting because it uses here the word a woman, the lead representing a woman that's sitting in the midst of the ephah and do not give a true measure, a true weight. To the ephah, corrupting the ephah. Now why does he use the word woman? Why doesn't he use the word man? Because always in the word of God, whenever God compare his people in relationship to him, Israel the nation is called the wife of Yehovah.

The church is called the bride of Christ. God's people always looked upon in a feminine way, and he's look, representing himself as a masculine, the Messiah, Christ, loved the church and gave himself for her. God said to Israel, I have loved you with an everlasting love, and he says, you violated the law, even though I was a husband unto you.

Jeremiah chapter 31. So God's people are looked upon here as those that have gone astray and are not truly representing a true measure of submissiveness and obedience to the Lord. And so you notice this, here is an, an, a fire that is going forth, and he says in verse 6b, this is their, notice their, their resemblance, they are resembling an a fire that is corrupted, and they are resembling a people that should have been in a right relationship with me, but they were not.

And you see, no wonder when we We read in the prophets of Israel that often time, beloved brothers and sisters, when God is presenting his people, he's always presenting them as a wife or as a bride, but when the bride, when the wife have gone astray, she's presented as a, as a prostitute, as a, as, as an idolatress. You remember what we read in Hosea? Turn with me for a moment to the prophecy of Hosea in chapter three. Verse one, Thus says the Lord, Go yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord towards the children of Israel. Who looked to other gods and loved flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver.

So God said to Hosea, you go and you go after my people Israel. I love my people Israel, but they've gone a-hooring. They became like that a fire that has this talent of lead that's representing a woman which corrupted, sitting inside a fire, they're no longer true to me, they're no longer obedient to me, and therefore I will have to discipline them and judge them.

Look with me for a moment to Revelation chapter three, concerning the church, when the church is corrupted. herself in relationship to the Lord Jesus. Look what we read in Revelation chapter three about the church of the Laodicean in Revelation chapter three. It's the same principle remain in every generation in relationship to the God of, to the, to the Lord himself who, taken a people for himself and have gone, when they gone astray, they are seen as a, as a prostitute gold that goes somewhere else. But it's always looked upon in a feminine way because we together, whether it is Israel, the nation, or the church, or the assembly, the ecclesia, we looked upon and presented in the word of God in a feminine way.

The bride that belonged to Christ, the wife that belonged to Jehovah. In Revelation chapter three and verse fourteen we read, And to the angel of the church of the Laodicean write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of the creation of God, I know thy works, that thou art neither hot nor cold, I would, would that thou would cold or hot, so that because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich and, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, but you do not know that thou art wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. And he says later, later on, concerning the, church of the Laodicean, that they've gone astray, and they seen, beloved brothers and sisters, in the word of God, as the false church.

Now, this is very interesting as we are moving along to the end of this, second vision of chapter five, the vision of the woman, and the ephah. So the vision itself is in chapter five, verses five, six, and seven. In verse five, the angel of the Lord is requesting from Zechariah to look and see. In verse six, A, Zechariah sees the ephah, which is a true measure of a quantity, but what happened in verse six B, what does he see? The angel of the Lord is showing to him that this ephah symbolized the, the reality of the condition of mankind and in the context here of the spiritual condition of Israel, although they return now from Babylon.

And so now notice that in verse seven. He's saying, and behold, now that he saw in verse, in verse six that Ephah, and it said that this is really the resemblance of the nation. In verse seven it says, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead, and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the Ephah. No longer true measure, no longer true weight, but falsehood. Corrupted, corruption have gone in, and represented in a feminine way, because the people of God is always seen, whether it is Israel or the church, always seen as the wife, the bride in a feminine way. Corruption have gotten in.

Falsehood have been creeping in. No wonder the, the, the, the apostles always warn God's people to, not to allow false teaching and false practices to enter in among God's people. Why? Because Satan always desired to corrupt the things of God and to lead God's people astray. No wonder God said, love not the world, not the things that are in the world, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, it is not of the Father, the system of the world that draw us away from the things of God. That's what happened in Israel's history. No wonder Israel had to be taken captive by the Babylonian.

So if Israel is going to be restored in the context of Zechariah, they must repent. Turn to the Lord and accept the Mashiach, Yeshua, ultimately. And this generation to whom Zechariah was preaching was already in preparation of the need to repent. But listen to what we learn here. It is amazing. Because what Zechariah is taking us here, or I should say what God is taking Zechariah and through Zechariah to Israel, is taking, is carrying Israel, really, because they do not know of church truth. They do not know of the mystery of the age in which you and I live in today, which was a mystery that was hid in God and was not revealed to the sons of men in days of old, and only to the prophets of the New Testament and apostles of the New Testament was revealed by God. So what really happened, beloved brothers and sisters, God knew very well that things will become worse and worse and worse until the days of the tribulation period.

Although they had no idea of the age in which you and I live in, we only know it because we have the complete canon of Scripture. And so notice what we read here. In verse 7a, we read, Zechariah sees the talent of lead. In Hebrew, it says kikar of ferret, which really represent a false measurement. If a fire on its own representing a true measurement, a true Proper godly obedience to the Lord, what happened with the adding of the talent of land representing a, a, a false weight, a false, a corruption that corrupted the ephah, a false measurement. And so in verse 7b, notice what we read, and the angel explained what it is, and he says in verse 7b of our chapter, he says, this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah, and this representing corruption of the true measurement, corruption of the truth of the word of the Lord.

And so now, beloved brothers and sisters, in verses 8, 9, 10, and 11, the angel is giving the meaning of that vision to Zechariah, so Zechariah can give it to the people of Israel and warn them, and tell them, Israel, you need to change your ways, you need to repent and trust the Lord and obey Him. And so notice in verse 8, we read that a woman representing a false measure, a false practice, a false religious system. And notice what we read, and I'm reading verse 8. And he said, this is wickedness. See, the Word of God interpret itself. That woman that is seen as a talent of lead in the vision inside the ephah, representing wickedness.

In Hebrew, the word is rish'ah, rasha, evil. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. Sinfulness, disobedience, rebellions, wickedness that have crept in among God's people. He is explaining in verse eight that this, he said, this is wickedness. And as in the vision, Zechariah see that, that a talent of lead coming into this ephah measurement and giving a false measurement, a false measurement. Beloved brothers and sisters, in every generation there was always rising false, falsehood, those who claimed to be something and they were not.

In fact, in Israel's history there were always those. Who crept in and violated God's word and led the nation astray. In the church age, it's the same thing. There's the true church and there's the false church. That those who claim to belong to the Lord, but they're really not belonging to him. As we read in Matthew chapter seven, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, as Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah was speaking in Matthew chapter seven, not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of the Father which is in heaven, many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name, have cast out demons and in thy name, have done many wonderful works, then I will confess unto them and I will say, I never knew you. And you know it is very interesting, because in every generation you have the people of God that have gone astray, yet they belong to the Lord, and those who claim to be the people of God and have led the people astray, who would never really belong to the Lord.

In the church age it's the same, you have the people of God that have gone astray and have gone wrongly and live in a way that is not pleasing the Lord and need to be repenting and turning back to the Lord, and you have those who claim to belong to the Lord, but they were never, never born of the Spirit of God. Except a man be born again, he will not enter into the kingdom of God. Now just bear with me.

Now we can see that the, the truth here that this is wickedness, but it's going to get worse. Because in verse nine, we don't only see one woman that representing that talent of lead, but we see two of them. Notice it says in verse nine, And I lifted up my eyes, and I looked, and behold, there came out two women, not only one, and the wind was in their wings, and they, for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. So what we really see that corruption and disobedience and turning away from the Lord will only get worse and worse before it's going to be restored. In other words, what we really see here, as Zechariah is receiving this vision, that things will not get better.

And that's why he is challenging Israel to return back to him, to stay put and to focus on the Lord. And you and I learn from that as well, because the, the, things are getting worse and worse as we even see this in our own life today. No wonder we learn from the word of God that we are called always to repent and turn back to the Lord, to confess our sins and, and to turn back to him and to have fellowship with him, relationship with him. We need that because we are, we are attacked by the enemies on an ongoing basis. And so, finally, listen to this. And look how it's so interesting, because just in conclusion, you can see how from the time that Zechariah was sharing with the people of Israel at about 500 and, and, and, 20 BC. He's carrying them all the way to the tribulation days.

Years have will pass by as far as far as we are concerned, and, two thousand years since the church was born. When Zechariah was preaching to Israel, it was about five hundred, five hundred and fifty years before the church was born. Imagine, twenty five hundred years ago when Zechariah received a message from the Lord through the angel. And so in verses, nine, these two women and their wings really representing the influence of the world and its system, and, and, and godless lifestyle and disobedience to the Lord. In other words, it's additional, additional, wickedness, because if one talent of lead represent a woman, it says this is wickedness, the two women here representing double wickedness. And again, to remind you, it's not that he's putting women down and men up, it's simply representing those that profess to become the Lord, to belong to the Lord, representing whether it is Israel historically as the wife of Jehovah, or whether it is the church as the bride of Christ, representing before us the fact that you claim to belong to the Lord, but look where you are.

Turn back. Repent. Or you can see the false, those that are not really belong to the Lord, giving an appearance as if they belong to the Lord, but they really not. And so notice that. I'm reading verse 10. Zechariah is now questioning, then, then said I to the angel that talk with me, will do these bear their ephah? Why, why they are flying and where they are going? Because their wings are carrying the ephah and they are going further and further and further and further and further. Where are they going?

And so the angel give him an answer in verse 11. The answer is that fallacy and departure from the will of God will be carried on and will be moving all the way to the land of Shinar. And the land of Shinar, according to verse eleven, and he said unto me, To build an house in the land of Shinar, and it shall be established and set there upon her own base. In other words, they are carrying the falsehood all the way to the land of Shinar. And Shinar, beloved brothers and sisters, in the land is the land where the the first time we read of the rebellion against God. In Genesis chapter ten, and there we read in verse ten, And the beginning of the kingdom was Babel. This is the kingdom, his kingdom, Nimrod, was the first rebellious man that rebelled against God.

In Hebrew the word nimrod means let us rebel, nimrod, nimrod in Hebrew means to rebel. His name, by virtue of his name, representing who he is and what he did. So it says this is the beginning of his kingdom, Nimrod's kingdom. It was Bavel. And the word Bavel, notice it says here, and Erech, and Achad, and Kalne in the land, notice verse 10, in the land of Shinar.

Chapter 11, we read in verse 1 and 2, And the whole earth was one language and one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, and they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And they said, notice verse verse three, And they said one to another, Go to, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had bricks for stones, and slime, and, they had for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us build a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven. And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth.

And we read in verse five, The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men build. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language, and this they begin to do. Look what they're doing. Let us make us our own name for ourselves, never mind God. Let's get to heaven on our own way, never mind the ways of the Lord. And you remember what we learned from here? We read, we read in verse seven of our chapter, Genesis chapter eleven, verse seven, Go to, let us go down and there confound their language.

And according to verse nine, therefore the name of it called Babel. Babel mean confusion. Babel mean to be, confused and, and confusion. And God judged the, the people on that day by confounding their language. And that's why they, there many languages came in those days, because God have scattered them all over the nations of the lands of, of this world, because they have violated his word. You know what will happen? Beloved brothers and sisters, I know I'm passing the time, but I have to read one more or two more verses in the book of Revelation. And I will stop. In Revelation chapter seventeen. In Revelation chapter 18, we do read about Babylon.

The future Babylon the Great, which is the false church and the world system that will remain here on earth after the true church will be taken out of here. And during this time of the tribulation period, there will be a terrible time upon the face of this earth for mankind will depart from the will of the Lord. And listen to what we read. We read, and I'm just reading a few verses. Verse, chapter 17, verse one. This is the vision. And there came one of the seven angels, which had seven vials, that talked unto me, saying unto me, Come hither, and I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore. Again, notice the church, the false church look upon as a whore, as a prostitute, that sitteth upon many waters, confusion, the false church in the world and its system.

With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So verse three, so I, he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit in a scarlet, a, a, a colored beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven head and ten horns.

And the woman I raised in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones, and, and pearls, having golden cup, and in her hand the full of abomination and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon, the great mother of harlots, the abomination of the earth. And where was that, Babylon? In Shinar. This is exactly what Zechariah is hearing from the Lord. What will happen is that ultimately God will judge sin. He will judge the sin of his people and restore them, and he will judge the false religious system who will continue on all the way throughout the ages, all the way until the time of the great, of the tribulation days, when his full, he will unleash his full judgment upon the world, the religious system of the world, and the world that rejected him in a future day.

What a lesson we learn from these two visions, the vision of the flying scroll and the vision of the woman and the ephah, both represent the holiness of God. And a judgment that will fall upon all who do not submit to his will. May the Lord help us and cause us to be drawn closer unto him. And so, our God and our Father, we want to thank you for your word. Bless your word. Help us. We confess that we need your grace day by day, for we ask it in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. My dear friend, God bless you. Until the next time, shalom, shalom. Bye-bye.