Day 264 (Zechariah 5-9) - Year 8
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What is the significance of Zechariah’s flying scroll vision?
Hey Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble and I'm your host for the Bible Recap. We ended yesterday halfway through Zechariah's strange night of multiple visions. Today we pick up where we left off with vision number six. In this vision, he sees a giant flying scroll, roughly the size of a billboard. And we know it's a papyrus scroll, not an animal skin parchment, since it has writing on both sides. It's flying over the city, bringing judgment to everyone who disobeys God's laws. While there are only two laws mentioned in the vision, It seems they may represent the two types of sin. Horizontal sin, sin against our neighbor, and vertical sin, sin against God. If that's the case, that would mean they ultimately represent all of God's laws.
The angel calls this scroll a curse. Some say this means the scroll only held the curses for breaking the covenant, not the benefits of keeping it.
How does Vision 7’s basket and woman illustrate Babylon’s evil?
And others say the fact that it's called a curse just serves to remind us all over again that the purpose of the law is to reveal that we all deserve death. Only in Christ do we find life. Only in Christ are we redeemed from the curse of the law, like Galatians 3:13 says. In Vision 7, I had a hard time not picturing a hot air balloon ride, but that's apparently not it at all. First, we see a woman who represents wickedness in a basket. The angel seals her up in the basket before she's carried away by stork-like women to Babylon, where they'll build a house for her and the basket. First, we should address that this isn't an actual woman. The basket referred to here isn't even big enough to hold a woman.
It's about the size of your kitchen trash can. Some believe this woman represents the pagan goddess Asherah, and others say she's just a symbol. Second, the whole image seems to speak to the fact that Babylon is the new representation for evil.
Why do the horse visions serve as bookends to Zechariah’s night of dreams?
After all, it's where evil's home is being built. The Book of Revelation spends a lot of time talking about the wickedness of Babylon. In vision number eight, we get more horses, just like in vision number one. These horse visions serve as bookends on Zack's strange night of dreams. Horses symbolize power and strength, and as these four chariots go to the four corners of the earth, it demonstrates that Yahweh's great power extends over the whole earth, even in the directions associated with his enemies. Chapter six wraps up with God telling Zack to get some gold and silver from a few of the exiles, fashion a crown out of it, and set it on the head of Jeshua the high priest. Then Zack gets a bonus vision, and this whole section is filled with a mixing of royal and priestly imagery.
First of all, they're putting a crown, which is for kings, on the head of a priest who traditionally wears a turban. Second, there's a priest sitting on a throne. Third, there's a crown in the temple. All this blending together is a foreshadowing of Jesus, the messianic king. We also saw this blended imagery in Isaiah six one, when he recounts his vision of God on a throne in the temple.
What does the mixed royal‑priestly imagery foreshadow about the Messiah?
And here, Jeshua the high priest is a branch that is the forerunner of the branch. And here's something you may have picked up on already. The names Joshua and Jeshua are actually the same name as Yeshua or Yeshua, which is the way you pronounce the name of Jesus in Hebrew. They even share a name. In chapter 7, some men come to Zechariah to ask for advice. They've been in the habit of fasting for two months out of the year, and they're like, should we keep this up or not? Commentators speculate on their motivation behind asking. Either they want to be praised for the fact that they're still fasting so regularly, or they're looking to get a pass on keeping up their religious practices, since things in Jerusalem aren't quite up to their standards, and just checking the boxes is starting to seem fruitless.
Zack replies with a story comparing them to their ancestors. God basically says, When you fasted, you weren't fasting with me in mind. And when you ate, you weren't eating with me in mind. Everything you do is self-serving.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the significance of Zechariah’s flying scroll vision?
0:01–0:58
2
How does Vision 7’s basket and woman illustrate Babylon’s evil?
0:58–1:50
3
Why do the horse visions serve as bookends to Zechariah’s night of dreams?
1:50–3:00
4
What does the mixed royal‑priestly imagery foreshadow about the Messiah?
3:00–3:55
5
How does God rebuke the people’s self‑serving fasting and eating?
3:55–5:00
6
What promises of restoration does Zechariah give to a hurting people?
5:00–5:59
7
How does Chapter 9 describe the coming King and the hope for Israel’s enemies?
5:59–6:46