“I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air. “What do you see?” the angel asked. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied. “It appears to be about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.” Then he said to me, “This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side of the scroll says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land. And this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it—even its timbers and stones.” Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.” “What is it?” I asked. He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain, and it’s filled with the sins of everyone throughout the land.” Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it. The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again. Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky. “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel. He replied, “To the land of Babylonia, where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.””
Zechariah 5:1-11 NLT
Passages such as this can be difficult to understand. What is helpful is to take the whole of scripture and let it speak. There is another place where wickedness is depicted as a woman. In John’s Revelation, there is a woman who is called the “Great Harlot.” She is a representative of Babylon and is drunk on the blood of Christian martyrs. In the end, God calls a remnant of people from within her to leave before she is judged. This woman, would seem to be the same woman here. She represents the sinful behaviors that cannot be among God’s chosen bride. They came to live among the Jews but are instead sealed and carried away to find their home among the outside nations. Their they will be enshrined and eventually ride the Beast of revelation into their own damnation. Removing her spirit from God’s people is a necessary part of making them holy and paving the way for the coming messiah. Prophecies can be hard to understand, but we can rest in the truth that they show God’s love for us.
JOSH McGARY. COM 