Shabbat Shalom. Please open in your Bibles today. We are going to continue in our ministry meeting in the study of the book of Zechariah. Zechariah chapter 5 is the chapter that we are going to deal with in this ministry meeting today. And as we remember very well, Zechariah received from God many, many visions in order to share them with the nation of Israel. And I would like today to deal with two short visions, but very, very important visions. The vision 6 of the flying scroll, and the vision 7 of the woman and the eifah. Very interesting visions that Zechariah received. So please follow me. There are only 11 verses here.

Chapter 5, verse 1. And I turned and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, a flying scroll. 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 is ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goes 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 the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof, and the stones thereof. Then the angel that talked with me went forth and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goes forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an eipah that goes forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And behold, there was lifted up a talant of lead. And this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the eipah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the eipah, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and behold, there came out two women. And a wind was in their wings. For they had wings like the wings of a stork. And they lifted up the eipah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the eipah? 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. This is the end of the fifth chapter of the prophet Zechariah. Now, if you and I would read this passage without to get some enlightenment and help from the Spirit of God through other passages from the Word of God, we might very well can say that we don't grasp such an amazing chapter.

We might say, I can't understand what is the Lord is seeking to speak to Zechariah and to communicate this to the nation of Israel. I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that in these six chapters, we have eight visions. Every vision was given to Zechariah to present for the restored remnant of Israel who came from Babylon. And now they are continuing to build the house of the Lord in Yerushalayim. They were discouraged, needed an encouragement. And you notice that, if you remember, in the first four chapters, we had five visions. And every vision was a vision that encouraged the nation of Israel with the assurance of God's faithfulness.

That he is going to restore them. He loves them. He said, he that touches you touches the apple of mine eye. He forgave the nation of Israel. He restored the people of Israel. We see it in picture or in a prophetic message. And he takes us all the way to the end of the tribulation, when the Messiah will come back. And he will ultimately restore the nation of Israel. We looked at those verses, beautiful verses, and we continue to look at them. He was looked upon as the capstone. He was looked upon in many other views being presented here in these passages in the scripture.

But now, in the last three visions, God teaches us a very important principle. You know, God is love. And because of his love, 1 John 4, he was willing to send the Messiah, Yeshua, to die on a cross, on the tree, for sinful men. But we also need to understand, 1 John 1, God is light. God is holy. And because God is holy, he must remove and judge that which is not right. So, we find out now that in those two visions here, in chapter 5, that God shows Zechariah and tells Zechariah to tell Israel. Listen, God is speaking through his word, and those who will not accept his word, he will ultimately have to judge.

That's what he is saying. Yes, I am a God of love, 1 John 4, but I am also a God of light, 1 John 1. Yes, I love my people Israel, and I was willing to restore them to myself on a basis of the sacrifice. But I am holy, and those from among the nations that will refuse to accept the Messiah will end up to be judged. But he is not only saying it to the people of Israel. You will notice in chapter 6 that he is saying the very same things to the nations of the world. I have sent the Messiah, Jesus, Yeshua, and if you will refuse him, you will ultimately will have to be judged.

You know, there is a principle in the Bible that says, "Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap." In fact, I want you to just turn with me to one verse in 1 Peter chapter 4. Peter, this Jewish believer, says this in verse 17, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." And if, listen, beloved brothers and sisters, if it began at us, this is the house of God, the believers, "What shall be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?" If God is going to deal with his very own people, what do you think is going to happen to those who refuse to accept him as the Messiah?

He says in verse 18 of 1 Peter chapter 4, "And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" If the righteous will be dealt with, if God is dealing with his very own people with discipline, and as if it were judgment upon the very beloved nation Israel, and in our case, God deal with us as believers in Yeshua the Messiah, what do you think is going to happen to the world that have refused to accept Yeshua the Messiah, the unsaved world? Well, go back to Zechariah, and look at the two visions. The first vision is called the vision of the flying scroll.

It is presented to us here in verses 1 and 2. And it says here, verse 1, "Then I turned, and I lifted up mine eyes, and I looked, and behold, a flying scroll." And he said unto me, "What seest thou?" And I answered, and I said, "I see a flying scroll, the length thereof is 20 cubits, and the breast thereof is 10 cubits." Now I want you to notice immediately that this is not a dream, it is a vision. It was something literally that Zechariah had seen. It says in verse 1, "And I turned, and I lifted up mine eyes." He didn't have his eyes shut, he had his eyes open.

"And I looked, he literally saw a vision from the Lord." So what does he see? Very interesting. He sees a flying roll in King James, it says. Now it is so important to know the Hebrew, because the Hebrew says here Megillah. It's called in Hebrew Megillah Afa. Megillah is a scroll. It simply means the book. Historically, when our own people, the Hebrew scribes, used to write the scripture, they didn't write it on a paper like you and I have this today. They wrote it either on the skin of an animal, or either on the bark of a tree. And they were rolling it, and it became like a scroll.

In Hebrew, the word is Megillah. In fact, I want you to see that to help you. Turn to Psalm chapter 40, in verse 7. Yeshua, the Messiah, prophetically speaking through David. And we read in verse 6. "The sacrifices and offering you did not desire. My ear have you opened. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then said I, "Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God, Yea thy law is within my heart." And he says, "Lo, I come. In the volume of the book." What did he mean? "In the volume of the book it is written of me." In Hebrew it says, "Be megillat ha-sefer katov alai." The word for volume, the book, Megillah is the scroll of the book of God's word.

It is written concerning me. And so the word Megillah, the word for scroll, has to do with the word of God. And so Zechariah is looking. And he see a Megillah, a scroll, but this time the scroll was open. And as it says here in verse 1 of our chapter, Zechariah chapter 5 and verse 1, You see the Megillah, you see the swiftness of the flying of the scroll of the word of God. To see a picture of it, it's amazing. When you can see a picture of a scroll that is open, Megillah, it is swiftly flying in order to convey its message. That's what Zechariah, he sees.

By the way, we're talking about scrolls. We just read today in Revelation chapter 5, if you remember, in verse 1, "And I saw in the right hand of him that was sitting on the throne a book or a scroll." Written within, on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Revelation chapter 5, we see the Messiah, the Lamb of God, is there in the midst of the throne. And we see a scroll, a book is in the hand of God. And the question was, "Who is worthy to open that scroll and to look upon that scroll?" The scroll is speaking to us of the word of God, of God's law and God's command.

This is in verse 1, we can see this flying scroll. The very fact that it is flying, it suggests speed and swiftness where God is going to communicate his word with Israel, the nation, and with the nations of the world. So in verse 2, we find out the size of that scroll. It says, "And he said unto me, 'What sea is that?' And I answered, 'I see a flying scroll, and the length of it was 20 cubits, and the breadth of it was 10 cubits.' Interesting. Now some suggest, and I think it is very important, the length of that scroll. It must have been a huge scroll, not the normal scroll that we have in our hands like a book.

Apparently, it was 20 cubits by 10 cubits. A cubit is longer than a foot. It's about 18 inches long. If you figure out, you will find out that it is about 15 feet wide by 30 feet long. Now these numbers are very interesting as well, because if you will read the scripture very carefully, you will notice, when Moshe received the requirement to build the tabernacle, the size of the tabernacle, this is the tent of meeting, not all the structure outside, but the tent of meeting, the size of it was 45 feet long by 15 feet wide. And it was divided into two sections. The holy place was 30 by 15, and the holy of holies, Kodesh HaKodeshi, was 15 by 15 square.

And it's interesting that it is there, in a holy place, is where we have the menorah, that shed light, the light of God. We have the bread that was on the table, and we have the altar of incense. In fact, what we really see here, that the measurement represents to us the holiness of God and his requirements for mankind. In fact, if you will read in the book of Kings, you will notice in 1 Kings chapter 6, that Solomon's porch at the temple that he built was the very same size of 30 by 15, or as it says here, 20 cubits by 10 cubits. The word for cubits in Hebrew is Amah.

So, what does this tell us? Of course, that here we have God's word, the scroll, the Megillah, flying swiftly, and a huge size, 30 feet by 15 feet. And now, here in the next verses, the angel begins to give to Zechariah the information concerning the Megillah, and what does it mean? It tells us in verse 3 and 4, the meaning of the vision. The fly Megillah, now, look at this, it says in verse 3, The curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth. It should be really the first of the whole land, because the context in this passage is the land of Israel and the people of Israel.

And it says, Now, apparently, beloved brothers and sisters, upon this Megillah, there was many, many writings there. And these writings were God's judicial requirement for men, and the judgment that will fall upon, even among the nation of Israel, if they will refuse to accept what he has in mind for them. It's written inside, and it's also written on the other side, on the outside. And the message was in twofold way to men in general, who did not accept the grace of God, and men that did not rise up to submit to God's law. It says, The one that stealeth shall be cut off as it is on this side written, and the one that sweareth falsely, or swears, shall be cut off as it's written on that side.

Now, this is also an extremely interesting stealing and swearing. If you remember, beloved brothers and sisters, that when God gave our nation the law, especially the Ten Commandments, you will notice that four of them were in relationship to God, and the six of them were in relationship to men. In other words, God demanded from Israel, the nation, to submit to his law, and if they will not submit to his law, he will deal with his nation. That's why he provided the sacrificial system, because no one from among the nation of Israel, neither you nor I, could ever fully adhere to the requests of the Ten Commandments.

In Exodus chapter 20, he says in verse 15, Thou shalt not steal. This is in relationship to men. But earlier, he says, that which is in relationship to God, he says in verse 7 of Exodus chapter 20, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. In fact, what we really learn here is this, that God demanded 100% obedience to his word. And since we could not fulfill 100% of God's requirement, that's why there was the provision of the sacrificial system. But when we don't receive the sacrificial system, in type, the Messiah, Yeshua, then what is remaining?

Nothing. Then man will have to be judged exactly in accordance with what God expected from man. Because if man will not obey totally God's requirement, God will end up judging man in accordance with his word. Now, Paul took that very same thought. And Paul, if you remember what Paul said in Galatians, turn with me to Galatians, please. In Galatians chapter 3, Paul said, as he was writing to those Galatians believers, who were saved on the basis of grace, but wanted to live on the basis of law. And he said to them in Galatians chapter 3, verse 10, for as many as are of the works of the law, they are under the curse.

For it is written, listen, and he was quoting Deuteronomy chapter 27. It is written, cursed is everyone that continues, not in all the things which are written in the book of the law to do them. You see, what we really grasp here from this passage, in Galatians, Paul understood the principles of redemption on the basis of the work of the Messiah. And he's saying, okay, beloved brothers and sisters, you were saved by grace because of the Messiah's finished work. But now do you think that you're going to seek to live your life on a basis of law keeping? Then he tells them, okay, it is said many that are of the works of the law, they are being under the curse.

For it is written, listen to this, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all the things which are written in the law to do them. And that's why he turned their mind to the person of the Lord. But he says, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. As it says in verse 11, verse 12, and the law is not of faith, but the man that does them shall live in them. But then he says in verse 13, the Messiah, speaking about Yeshua, he has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.

For it is written, cursed is everyone that is hanging on a tree. You see what, Paul takes this and kind of elaborate about this, but Zechariah received a message from the God of Israel for the nation of Israel. He says, okay, those that will not accept what I have offered for them through the sacrifice, they will have to bear the consequences of not submitting totally to the law. Because no one can ever submit totally to the law of God. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Man had failed and God by his grace provided for us forgiveness through the Messiah. So he's saying to them in Zechariah chapter 5 and verse 3, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole land for everyone that still shall be cut off as it is written on this side.

And everyone that swears shall be cut off as it is written on the other side. God wrote in his book, and we have it in scripture, if a man does not obey totally the word of God, he will consequently have to be judged. Israel, the nations of the world, we all came under the judgment of God, but God had made a way whereby we can receive forgiveness and not be judged at all. But if we refused it, it's written on the inside, it's written on the outside of this huge Megillah, huge scroll that is flying. And I want you to notice, beloved, it is flying swiftly.

You know, people think, well, God doesn't deal with us right now. We'll continue on our way. We'll carry on in our own way, but we don't realize that God must judge sin. Sin has been judged in the person of the Messiah when he died on the tree. And if one refusing, he must judge sin because he's not only a loving God, he's also a holy God. And so it says in the next verse, as he gives us the meaning of this vision, in verse 4, it says that the curse of God, ultimately we consume everything in this world. Everything. And notice it says in verse 4, I will bring it.

The word for it here has to do with this scroll and its judgment. I will bring it forth. And listen to this. He says, and it shall enter into the house of the thief and into the house of him that swerves falsely in my name. In other words, you see what God is saying in a judicial judgment upon the human race? That ultimately it must come and it will fly swiftly. For us, it seems to take a long time. But when God begin his judgment, it will fly swiftly. And it will not only fly swiftly, it will enter into the homes, as it says here.

And notice not only to enter, as it says in verse 4a, it says in verse 4b, Let me mention here something, brothers and sisters, that we need also to learn from this. While this applies to unbelievers, you and I have to realize that even us as believers, one day we are going to stand at what is called the judgment seat of the Messiah. Second, Corinthians 5.10 said, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of the Messiah. That everything that has been done in our life as believers will be judged and burned because God will never allow sin to enter into his presence. And everything that we have done as believers will have to be burned by fire.

It tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that God is going to evaluate the life of the believer, not with respect to our salvation. No, we are saved because of the work of the Messiah. But God is going to evaluate how did we live as believers. It says, every man's work shall be made manifest. 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 13. And you know, how many times we fail the Lord? How many times we dishonor the Lord as believers? How many times we sinned against him? We know it. I know my heart. You know it's yours. Do you think that God found pleasure in this? Not at all. Do you think that God is going to brush it underneath the carpet?

Not at all. Even those sins that we have committed as believers are going to have to be removed totally from the presence of the Lord. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Every man's work. Verse 13 of 1 Corinthians chapter 3. 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 sort it is. God will have to remove this because he is holy. Do you remember when Yeshua cried on the cross? Matthew 27. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? If you read Matthew 27 in connection with Psalm 22, we have the answer.

Why God forsook him? He said, David spoke prophetically of the Messiah. Elohi, Elohi, Elohi, lama shvaktani? Why you forsook me? And he answered. He said, for thou art holy, thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. We are not holy. He is holy. We are not just. He is just. We are sinful. He is pure. And that's why he had to discipline his son, to judge his son for the sin of the world. The just for the unjust that he will bring us sinners to God. That's the beauty of the gospel. We all deserve to be punished. But there's grace available for us because we have accepted Yeshua, the Messiah.

And so he's saying here, he says, that law of God, that is pure, will fly swiftly and will end up to curse, to judge those who do not accept him. And he said, it's going to go enter into the house. And then not only that it will enter, it will remain in the midst of the house, but ultimately it will totally consume it. As it said at the end of verse 4, with the timber thereof and the stones thereof totally will consume. Why? Because sin had to be totally removed from the presence of the Lord and from among the nation of Israel. Because ultimately that takes us to the kingdom age when God will totally remove sin from among the nation of Israel.

What a day that will be when the Messiah will restore Israel to himself and those that disobeyed him and refused going to have to be dealt with. So this is vision number 6 is the vision of the swiftly flying scroll, the Megillah, that God's law is written on the inside, on the outside. The size of it is the measure of the size of it is the measure of the holy place, the measure of Solomon's porch where the law was read. God's requirement for men with the standard remains high because God is holy. So now he's moving on. And it gives Zechariah an additional vision. And notice this, beloved brothers and sisters.

This vision is called the vision of the woman and the eifah. It's interesting, the word eifah in Hebrew, it is the true measure of quantity of dry, grain or wheat. Let's read these few verses here. First of all, the vision itself is in Zechariah 5, verses 5, 6, and 7. Then the angel that talked with me went forth. And he said unto me, lift up now thine eyes and see, what is this that go forth? Again, beloved brothers and sisters, he's introducing a new vision. And he's asking him again, lift up your eyes. You're literally going to see that next vision. And as he's lifting up his eyes, what does he see in verse 6?

He said, then I said, what is it? And he said, this is an eifah that goeth forth. He said, moreover, this is their resemblance through the whole earth. Now again, in Israel, among our people historically, when you want to take a measurement, when you go to the market and you sell something, you'll have various sizes. And when you sell something on a scale, on a moznaim, you want to sell the true measurement. If you sell, for example, a bushel of potatoes, you're going to give a full size of the bushel. You don't give him half size. The size of the bushel is a full, it's a true measure that has given to the people of Israel.

A true measure of quantity. I know years ago when I was helping my father-in-law farm in the Niagara area, we used to have baskets of apples or baskets of cherries. I think it was six quarts baskets. And we used to fill them. And when we got to the market and we used to sell them here in Toronto, early in the morning, we had to make sure, and everyone made sure, that when we give them a basket, the basket is full. Don't give me a big basket with half the quantity inside. So the basket, or the eipah in Hebrew, it's a true measurement of quantity. You buy something, give the true measurement, not a false measurement.

And so we find out here, that Zechariah sees this eipah. And then the Lord saying to him through this angel, in verse 6b, It is there, speaking about the nation of Israel, resemblance throughout the whole land or through the whole earth. In other words, I want to tell you something about this true measurement. Things were not right at that time with the nation. Just the same, like, things are not right in the world in which we live in. You don't get a fair measurement when you buy something, you might say. Or the things that are going on in the world are not just. That's the thought that we have here before us.

While it is, in its context, speaks about Israel, but really it's speaking to us about all the nations of the world. But now listen, brothers and sisters. The vision itself, verse 5, the angel of the Lord requesting from Zechariah to look. Verse 6a, Zechariah sees an eipah, a true measurement of quantity. Verse 6b, the angel give him an answer and he says, You see, Zechariah, this is their resemblance, very similar to all what's going on here upon the face of this earth. And so in verse 7, Zechariah sees another thing. Behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead, and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the eipah.

Now what does he see is a talent of lead. The word for lead, it's a Hebrew word, is oferit. And you know, if you want to give a false measurement, you can take the eipah, let's say the bushel or the basket, and instead of filling it up with what you're supposed to fill up with a grain or wheat, you put inside a lead that causes to be heavier. In other words, if you know that that is the measurement, in order to give a false measurement, a false weight, you put inside a piece of lead that makes it as if it were heavy, as if you really gave the true measurement, but in reality, it was false.

It was not true. We know it very well. Sometimes in markets, you know, when you go to buy some tomatoes and potatoes or something, you put it on the scale, you have to make sure that you don't have some extra lead somewhere that makes it sound or make it appear heavy, but in reality, it's not. It's not giving you the true measurement, as it says here, of quantity. It's not giving you the true quantity that you deserve. And so, here we find that Zechariah sees that, not only that he sees an eipah, he also sees the fact that there is a lead there, and then notice it's very interesting, because it used the word, this is a woman, speaking about the lead, that is sitting in the midst of the eipah.

Why the Bible use this expression, a woman? The lead represents a false measurement. The eipah represents a true measurement. And that lead represents a woman that is really, he is in the midst of the eipah, and it teaches us volume, beloved brothers and sisters. In fact, I'm going to read verse 8 for a moment. In the first part, he said, this is wickedness. Now, why does he use the figure of a woman? It is very important to understand, because the woman in the Bible is oftentimes represents either the good, the positive, the right, or that which is not positive, that which is evil. Why? Because if you remember, Israel, our nation, is called the wife of Jehovah.

When Israel is in a suitable condition, walking with the Lord, in obedience to the Lord, then Israel is, as the wife of Jehovah, represented in submissiveness to the Lord. But when Israel turned around and began to worship other gods, God often called Israel, that Israel, as a woman, went a-whoring after other gods. Instead of being truly faithful to the God of Israel, they ended up following that which is not right. And you can find it in many other passages. The prophet Hosea, you remember Hosea spoke about the fact that Israel became like a woman that had gone astray and sold herself and had gone away from the Lord.

With respect to the church, it's the very same thing. We are called, the church is called, the bride of the Messiah. In fact, the apostle Paul said to the husbands, husbands, love your wives, verse 25 of Ephesians, even as the Messiah loved the assembly, the church, the ecclesia, and gave himself for it. We, as part of the body of Messiah believers, are really called the bride of the Messiah, the bride of Christ. But what's happened when we, the believers, don't take our place in the right way before the Lord? We are still the bride, but we behave in such a way as a wife or a bride that has gone astray.

Falsehood, that which is not right. Here, it's not an issue of putting women down and men up. That is not the issue here. But the woman in the Bible who is in a suitable relationship represents that which is positive. And a woman in the Bible who is not in a suitable condition represents the people of God who have gone astray in the world. And so what happened? He says, Look, Zechariah, you see now this eipah, and this eipah, it's supposed to be the truth that will exist among the nation of Israel. He says, But unfortunately, there is something that is not right. And I have to remove it from the nation.

I have to remove that which is wrong, that which is sinful for my people Israel. And so we see that this talent of lead is representing, this woman representing the false measurement of quantity. False, in other words, fallacy, that which is not right with God. That's what it is representing here in this passage. I want you just for a second to turn to Leviticus chapter 19. There is an interesting verse there. Leviticus chapter 19. God gave to Israel in the law a requirement to give a just balance, a just weight, a just eipah, and a just hymn. Notice that, Leviticus 19 verse 35. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meter yard, in weight, and in measure.

And then he says, you give them a just balance, verse 36, a just weight, a just eipah, and a just hymn, shall ye have, I am the Lord your God which brought you out of the land of Egypt. In other words, Israel, when you sell something, do an honest business. That's what he's really saying. When you deal, in your dealing with each other, I am the Lord your God. I brought you out of bondage. I brought you into the promised land. You are to give a just balance, a just weight, a just eipah, a just hymn. Why? Because I am the Lord your God. And I brought you out of the land of Egypt.

You treat one another, treat the others in a just way. Don't give a false measure. Don't give a false truth, a false service, and a false ministry. That's what he's really saying here in Zechariah chapter 5. So, notice what happened now to this eipah. That is represented here, the condition of the nation at that time. And then verse 8, where he's calling it wickedness. Apparently, there was such wickedness that was going on that God had to judge wickedness. And I tell you, it is the same thing that's going to happen in a world in which we live in. At some day, some point of time, God will judge the world in righteousness.

He must do so. Because he has to totally remove sin out of his own creation. So, we read in verse 8b now, and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof. In other words, what he did, he put the lead inside the eipah, and now he was going to totally remove it from the presence of the land. Because it says in verse 9, I lifted up my night, and I looked, and what did I see? Behold, there came two women, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings in their wings of a stork, and they lifted up the eipah between the earth and the heaven.

In other words, what he sees now, not only the single woman, in verse 7, he says, isha achat in Hebrew, one woman. But in verse 9, he sees two women. In other words, condition of falsehood had been prevailing here to such an extent that God had totally removed sin from his presence. And again, please listen to me, we're not talking about the male versus female, the woman versus man, but we, as believers, are representing the bride of the Messiah. Israel, as a nation, representing the wife of Jehovah. And when the people of God are not in a suitable condition, they are looked upon in a feminine way, in a way that it needs to be disciplined.

So now, in the last two verses, and look what happened, verses 10 and 11, and the angel of the Lord talked with me, and he says, with the duties bear the ephah. In other words, the two women bear this ephah between heaven and earth, verse 9, and they were lifting this ephah with the lead inside, falsehood and wickedness, and removing it, but notice to where? It says in verse 11, and he said unto me, to build for it. A house where in the land of Shin'ar, and it shall be established there and set there upon her own base. Now that is also very interesting. The land of Shin'ar, where do we find in the Bible the land of Shin'ar?

You know, brothers and sisters, that the land of Shin'ar is where the first rebellion against God has started after the time of the flood. When Noah entered into the ark and went into the new world, and he began a new era with his sons and his daughters-in-law, and a new world that began, well, God had said to Noah and his family to be multiplied, to disperse all over the face of this world. But what happened? Men, in his rebellion against God, went to the land of Shin'ar, and I would like you please to turn to Genesis chapter 10, and it is in the land of Shin'ar, notice, first time mentioned in the Bible, the land of Shin'ar is in Genesis chapter 10.

It says in verse 10 of Genesis 10, and the beginning of his kingdom, the kingdom of Nimrod, Nimrod is found in verse 9, the beginning of his kingdom was Bavell, and Erech, and Echad, and Kalne, in the land of Shin'ar. In other words, Nimrod began his kingdom in the land of Shin'ar, and his kingdom was kingdom that is called the kingdom of Bavell. In Hebrew, the word Bavell simply means confusion, rebellion against God. and the word Nimrod means let us rebel. The king was Nimrod, the people were following after him, he had a kingdom that is called the kingdom of confusion, the kingdom of Bavell. Everything began after the coming of Noah and his family out of the ark, everything began in Bavell, where there was this kingdom of rebellion against God.

In chapter 11 of Genesis, they said, men said, verse 4, let us build us a city and a tower that the top of it may reach unto heaven. Let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. You see, rebellion began already then. And men said, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower that we reach unto heaven and let make for ourselves a name instead of recognizing the name of Jehovah, the name of the creator God, but they wanted to make a name for themselves. And that's a great, great lesson to remind us of the fact that everything began from Bavell, Genesis chapter 10, and will end up, beloved brothers and sisters, in the future Babylon, the tribulation period.

You see, Zechariah is taking us now all the way to the tribulation period in which all this evilness will be centered in this place that is called Babylon according to Revelation chapter 17 and chapter 18 where ultimately all this falsehood, all this evilness will end up to be centered there in that place that is called Bavell and reach out to all the nations of the world. So, the answer to his question of verse 10 is that all falsehood will be removed from the land of Israel and ultimately will be existing in its climax in the place that is called Shinar, which is the city of Babylon. Now, please allow me just to read Revelation chapter 17 and chapter 18.

I'm going to highlight a couple of verses there. In Revelation chapter 17, John sees a vision and he says in verse 1, there came one of the seven angels which has the seven vials and he talked with me and he said unto me, come hither and I will show you, I will show unto thee the judgment of the whore or the harlot that siteth upon many waters.

Again, you notice that the harlot Babylon is in a feminine way is represented in Revelation chapter 17 and then he says in verse 2 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 he carried me away by the spirit into the wilderness and what he saw look what he sees I saw a woman sit upon the scarlet colored beast full of names and blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls and having golden cups in her hand full of

the abomination and and filth of her fornication and then look we read in verse five and upon her forehead was a name written mystery Babylon the great mother of harlots and the abomination of the earth here is again beloved brothers and sisters genesis 10 babel revelation 17 18 babel in other words Zechariah received a vision from the lord to show us how ultimately the very same god who forgave the nation of Israel is the very same god who will remove sin because he must deal with sin and it will ultimately culminate in a place that is called babel confusion confounding of the languages of the human race that god have done so in the earlier

chapters of genesis chapter 11 and so brothers and sisters one thing we learn here from these two visions Zechariah communicated with the people of Israel that even though there will be a glorious day for Israel restoration there will also be a judgment of sin that had to be removed from the nation of Israel in order that Israel can function and serve god in a way that it is pleasing unto him under the headship of the messiah don't you think that you and I are to be so thankful that our sins have been forgiven through Yeshua the messiah isn't it wonderful to know that though we deserve to be punished yes because of the work of

the messiah we have been forgiven and we don't need to worry in that sense we need simply to seek to live for the lord until he is going to take us home to be in his presence may the lord bless his word and help us to grasp these visions one by one