Praise YHWH our Elohim as we come together here tonight, and may we all be encouraged and strengthened by the joy of our deliverance in our Master Yahushua Messiah, aměn! It is often that we find it so easy to lose focus or lose sight of where we are going and what lies ahead. The busyness of the world’s systems and even religious programmes of man can cause us to even lose sight of the reality of the Word of Elohim and so find ourselves seemingly in the dark or in ignorance of His wonderful truth – the very Living Word made flesh – Yahushua Messiah! I would like for us tonight to be able to have our eyes checked in a sense and through Scripture be able to see in our minds eye some of what YHWH revealed to His prophets in order that we will be continually equipped in fixing our eyes on the Prince and Perfector of our faith. As I was going through the Word this week I came across a chapter in Zeḵaryah again that we briefly spoke about a week or so ago on a cell evening, and so I was stirred to dig in and see what this chapter is revealing to us and how we see these visions described herein progressively becoming more and more apparent and understandable for us today as we see the Day of YHWH approaching. I have a message called, “Look up and see!” and I would like us to do just that in the word tonight as we capture the Truth of a couple of the visions that Zeḵaryah saw. Please turn with me to Zeḵaryah/Zechariah 5. (Read)
It is here in chapter 5 that we catch up with Zeḵaryah in his continued visions he was shown by YHWH. This was the 6th vision he saw, and in this book we see the incredible forgiveness and compassion and depth of love that YHWH has for His people, with the promise of restoration to a people who had been held captive as slaves in Babylon, who are returning to rebuild their lives, their faith in YHWH and their country. We know that Zeḵaryah means YHWH remembers or remembered by YHWH as is a wonderful reminder to us that YHWH is attentive to our cries and HE remembers His Covenant with His chosen and will restore His treasured possession unto Himself! As we look a little closer at the 2 visions contained in this portion let us be challenged to continue to keep our eyes on the Truth. The previous 2 visions were about 2 key leaders – in chapter 3 it is regarding Yehoshua the high priest and speaks of the restoration of the priesthood and how the priesthood is to be pure and set-apart as we His royal Priesthood are to be pure as He is pure and set-apart in Him as we will rule and reign with Him in the purity of His Word in the Millennial Reign, and in chapter 4 in reference to Zerubbaḇel it speaks of the restoring and completion of the temple, speaking to us of the restoration of His people as an assembly or body built together in Him – by His Ruach working in and through us. The 6th vision and 7th in this chapter we have just read takes up collectively the theme of the removal of sinners away from YHWH’s people, which is accomplished by means of a curse on evildoers, according to His Torah! Zeḵaryah is shown a massive flying or hovering scroll, which represents YHWH’s curse on sin; and its ability to fly or hover shows the impossibility of escaping divine judgement. This is followed by a vision of an enlarged measuring basket that contains a woman who symbolizes wickedness. In his vision Zeḵaryah sees the basket and its content lifted up and taken to Babylon. The removal of wickedness from the Set-Apart Land, and its concentration in Babylon, sets the stage for history’s final conflict between good and evil, and the rest of his visions clearly portray to us what is lying ahead in that judgement is coming and both the offices of priest and king will be united in Yahushua!
So what is this chapter 5 all about? It can seem confusing from some translations, particularly the Scriptures edition I read from, as it seems at first glance that it is saying evildoers will go unpunished!!! Let us look at these verses and learn the depth and insight these words give to us for us who are living today!
Zeḵaryah lifted up his eyes again, clearly a picture of a man who was accustomed to looking to YHWH! And here he sees a giant scroll, and this indicates to us that there will be severe judgement on those who neglect the Torah, as this very scroll contains the curses for disobedience, signifying that lawbreakers or Torah-breakers will be judged according to His Word!
Verse 2: In verse 2 we are given the dimensions of this open scroll – declaring that what is written upon it has been decreed – and it was 20 cubits in length and 10 cubits wide. This is not some ordinary number – it is specific and clear, and from Scripture we know that this is the exact measurement of the Temple porch that Shelomoh built, the place where the Torah was usually read, as well as being the exact measurement of the Set-Apart place in the Tabernacle, the first room that the priests entered in the Tabernacle and this scroll may clearly then correlate to that room. It was this very room that was opened when though veil was torn at the death of Yahushua and through Yahushua there is now open access to that room. These words from the scroll are straight from YHWH.
Verse 3: In verse 3 we can quickly become confused by the play on words, as it seems at first that thieves and profaners go unpunished, and this is where it gets very interesting. He tells us the curse that is going over the face of the whole earth – all the earth and gives us a picture here as to who is giving out a false message of grace. As we know the word catholic means universal or whole and what we see happening in this passage here is a false message of hope going out over the earth, presumably from the temple of YHWH that is teaching a false grace that gives licence to sin or be lawless or rather without the Torah. What we see here is an extreme grace that is no grace at all. Many today are so trapped by this lie that they simply believe that no matter what they do, they are under grace and do not need to follow the Torah, not realising that their lives are not representative of grace but rather they are a disgrace in the eyes of the Almighty!
Verse 4: Here is verse 4 YHWH declares it plainly – He will send it out – send what out – the very curse that those words or instructions of disobedience brings! The two sins pronounced on the scroll speak of one’s relationship with others and one’s relationship with YHWH. Yahushua tells us to love Elohim and love our neighbour – for the Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commands and by others by stealing from them and by profaning the Set-Apart Name of YHWH they are breaking His Torah and as a result the curse of Torah will fall on the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by His Name. The thief is also one who is represented as one who has ‘stolen’ His favour or grace and used it as a licence to sin by swearing falsely in His Name, bringing His Name to nought and misrepresenting the True character of YHWH through their lawless acts, supposedly in His Name under the false banner of His Name. The ridicule of His true grace is still all done in His Name or rather falsely in His Name as a counterfeit Name and titles have been substituted as a gross misrepresentation of the Almighty and so have stolen away His Appointed Times in an attempt to change them!
This my friends is a passage which clearly pictures for us today what we have come to understand as a false gospel message preached by a lawless religious system that has been constructed by man, picturing for us the false assembly, or rather church as we have come to know it by name! They have so profaned the message of grace as it is being offered to a people who know nothing about set-apartness and cause them to think that they can do whatever they want and just say sorry on their deathbed and all be well thereafter! This is the curse as its teaching goes against the Torah of YHWH.
Yahushua brought amnesty to those who would return to the Covenant, and even though we may not always get everything perfectly right as we live in exile, that is what His grace is for – to lead us to His Truth that we may walk in his ways – hear – guard – do, not as a licence to go back to our selfish ways and get off scot-free! Why do I make these bold statements – well let us look further?
Zeḵaryah is to once again look up and see and what does he see? He sees a “ĕphah-measure” – what is that? Well Shemoth/Exodus 16:36 tells us that an omer is 1/10th of a ĕphah and according to Shemoth/Exodus 16:16 an omer is that amount that was needed to feed one being for one day. An omer then could in this sense represent 1 man, and an ĕphah being 10 omers could represent 10 men and symbolise for us a quorum or a body or complete congregation. So this measuring basket can certainly represent for us a congregation just as the flying scroll does, making it clear that this chapter is in one sense a picture for us of a counterfeit Bride or tabernacle which is overemphasising YHWH’s grace, twisting it to their own destruction and underemphasising the purity and set-apartness that YHWH requires wherever His presence is to dwell. This can also be a picture of Rabbinical Judaism that has too twisted the Torah for the convenience and a lust for power.
Verse 7: Are you with me so far? Let us carry on – in verse 7 we see a lead cover that is lifted up from the ĕphah measure or basket and also carries with it a clear picture. The word cover or also in other translations translated as ‘round talent weight’ is the Hebrew word ‘kikkar’ and simply means ‘talent or loaf or round, meaning round loaf of bread or a round weight talent – symbolising a coin of sort. This round talent can represent for us the sun-disk which is a common pagan symbol, which was sadly adopted by the Church in emphasising the day of the sun! This verse tells us that it is a woman, a feminine singular. In Ḥazon/Revelation 2 we see how in the assembly of Thyatira it is a woman who had been allowed to teach and lead people astray to whoring. This is the spirit of Izeḇel/Jezebel who exalts herself over her husband and claiming the right to change the Sabbath and Feasts of YHWH. Today we clearly see this in the church who also has exalted herself above her Husband and stolen Yahushua’s authority. ‘A’ woman – signifies a unified woman – which is in contrast to what YHWH is building – in Eph’siyim/Ephesians 2:15 we see that YHWH is building a unified man. Please note this is not a discrimination against women – it is the language of Scripture and what it illustrates to us. The counterfeit is illustrated to us as a whore in contrast to the True Messiah!
Verse 8: We are told who this woman is in verse 8 – it says, “This is Wrongness!” or ‘Wickedness’ which is the Hebrew word ‘rish‘ah’ which can also mean ‘lawlessness’. This woman is the Lawless One:
Tas‘loniqim Bět/2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the secret of lawlessness is already at work – only until he who now restrains comes out of the midst.”
The secret of lawlessness already at work is held back at present – but when it is revealed it will be judged!
THE WOMAN:
Let us take a look at this woman – this mystery of lawlessness. We are told that she is ‘sitting’ in the ĕphah. Sitting in Hebrew is ‘yashaḇ’ which means to sit down, or be settled or establish a dwelling place or remain seated in a relaxed position’ – this ‘woman’ is sitting relaxed in the ĕphah measure. Now this ought to tell you something – just how relaxed is Satan in the church today? He has settled down and remains seated very comfortably!!! The woman in the basket is dwelling in the basket/ ĕphah seemingly enjoying the luxury and wealth by which the commercial system provides for her and therefore denotes for us her intimate contact with worldly wealth and commerce by which she is well supported!
In Diḇre haYamim Bět/2 Chronicles 24:7 Izeḇel (Jezebel) was given the name ‘wicked woman’ coming from the same root as ‘wickedness’ mentioned here. This woman in Zeḵaryah 5 is the great whore spoken of in Ḥazon/Revelation 17.
As one reads Ḥazon/Revelation 17:1-6 in describing this great mother of whores, we see why she is called the whore as she has broken the Torah of the Groom she is supposed to be engaged to and represent to us religious systems that is engaged in compromising worldly positions and seeking political power as she sits in Babylon through which she has been made wealthy and given great prominence because of her immorality. False religion is the great promoter of evil and she has not only made the nations drunk with her maddening adulteries but she has made herself drunk with the blood of the set-apart ones – just think about all those early ‘Crusades’ that were done in the Name of the Lord!!! They were nothing but brutal acts of wickedness against the set-apart children of the Most High!
This woman we are speaking of here represents the ecclesiastical Babylon which rides in power and prestige in a religion state union using her religious powers to employ political power for her immoral deeds – hence even the Lausanne movement being part of her move for united power over the universal church becoming as one!
But just does this system come about – this immoral religious system?
Sha’ul tells Timotiyos (Timothy) in:
Timotiyos Bet/2 Timothy 4:3-4 “For there shall be a time when they shall not bear sound teaching, but according to their own desires, they shall heap up for themselves teachers tickling the ear, 4 and they shall indeed turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.” – What myths are the ‘church’ following today!!!
People want their ears tickled with flattering words rather than the unadulterated Truth!
Tas’loniqim Bet/ 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 “For the secret of lawlessness is already at work – only until he who now restrains comes out of the midst. 8 And then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Master shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth and bring to naught with the manifestation of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, 10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, in order for them to be saved. 11 And for this reason Elohim sends them a working of delusion, for them to believe the falsehood, 12 in order that all should be judged who did not believe the truth, but have delighted in the unrighteousness.”
Mattithyahu/ Matthew 24: 9-13 “Then they shall deliver you up to affliction and kill you, and you shall be hated by all nations for My Name’s sake. 10 “And then many shall stumble, and they shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. 11 “And many false prophets shall rise up and lead many astray. 12 “And because of the increase in lawlessness, the love of many shall become cold. 13 “But he who shall have endured to the end shall be saved.”
This religious system comes about because of the apostasy of the church which has not only conformed to the godless commercial and political world system but gives its special stamp of approval by justifying its system through its lawless or rather Torahless teachings and actions! Remember that Izeḇel had her own prophets!
This woman is representative of its apostate religious movement from its inception in the ancient Babylon of Nimrod right through to the final one controlled by the beast and the false prophet! After a season of her lawless and adulterous teaching and leading astray many to the destruction of their souls through her seductive attractiveness and luxury she will be judged, no longer able to repent and escape her deserved end.
Ḥazon/Revelation 22:11 says that he who does wrong let them continue to do wrong and he who is righteous, let him be more righteous. The clear divide between the set-apart and the profane is happening as we speak!
Please understand at this point that I am not attacking people, but rather a ‘system’ that is being run by a whore!
Verse 9: In verse 9 we see a picture of another 2 women, with wind in their wings, like wings of a stork and lifted the ĕphah up. Who are these two women? We know that a stork is an unclean bird, and the word for stork comes from the word ‘ḥāsı̂d’, which means faithful or pious. These 2 women represent for us those of both the houses of Yisra’ĕl who are returning to the Covenant while they are still unclean and are in exile. The Word tells us in:
Yeshayahu/Isaiah 40:31 “but those who wait on YHWH renew their strength, they raise up the wing like eagles, they run and are not weary, they walk and do not faint.”
The faithful Bride will renew their strength in YHWH and raise up the wing of an eagle – able to put to death wickedness and immorality – holding fast to the commands of Elohim!
Lifting them up between the heavens and the earth signifying that there is no place for the whore anymore, and when asked where they were taking her, Zeḵaryah was told that they were taking her to Shin‘ar, which is Babylon – where the tower of Babel was – the very seat of the first unification of mankind against YHWH after the flood. They were taking her to where she belongs, not to move from here now place of captivity. Babel was built with the view of having a place that would not again be affected by a flood and corresponds to the picture of the church system that has set itself up to be above and immune to judgement, placing itself higher than the Word of YHWH and claiming higher authority than the Torah which even Yahushua Himself did not claim for Himself! Back to where she belongs, and as Babylon is also referred to being a woman in Ḥazon/Revelation, can also relate to Satan being bound for 1000 years.
Ok, so now you have some more insight into Zeḵaryah 5, but what has that have to do with me, you may ask?
Well, clearly a whole lot! As you look up and see…. What do you see? And when you look up, who or what are you looking at? Whose instructions or commands are you following or believing? Are you or have you been listening to the false grace message saying that you are free to live outside of His Torah with no ramifications? Or do you look intently into the Word that keeps you safe – is your eyes fixed upon Yahushua Messiah, or have your eyes feasted upon the luring adulteries of the great whore that is stolen and presented a fake gospel and profaned the Set-Apart Name of YHWH?
It is time for the Bride to make herself ready and to ensure that we do not sit settled into a world system of worship that is in fact not worship unto YHWH at all! It is a matter of worship – will you wait on and place your trust in YHWH and renew your strength in Him and let Him cleanse you to have wings of and eagle able to soar above man’s traditions and doctrines and follow after YHWH with your all – serving Him with great joy – fleeing from the whore and here luring tactics. Let us realise the encouragement this chapter brings – a message of hope and security in YHWH – Elohim of Hosts and all who call upon His Name and walk in His ways.
What this chapter shows us is clearly what is fitting for the people of YHWH – worship and not wickedness. Wickedness or pagan worship in any means has no place in the community or assembly of the children of the Most High El. May we too be encouraged to put away all form of sun-worship that we can freely look to the Son that sets us Free, aměn!
It is time to lift up and take ‘Babylon’ the wicked out of our lives and put her where she belongs! Is there still some ‘Babylon’ or ‘wickedness’ in you? Do not believe the false message that has gone out – look at the Truth and choose to walk obediently therein! The curse for not walking in the Torah will fall upon those disobedient wicked ones! Yahushua became the one to take the curse due to us upon Himself – taking our sin upon Himself – that is for us who have come to Him and now walk faithfully in His Covenant and so we praise Him that we who are obedient in Him are free from any curse!!!
As you reflect on this chapter, see the craftiness of the enemy and how he has many fooled, we too who sit here were fooled but have now been called out of darkness into the marvellous light of the kingdom of Yahushua – as for that may we give Him praise – holding fast to walking daily in Him as we look up and see where our help comes from and fix our eyes on our source of life – Yahushua – HalleluYAH!
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