1992 issue 5 - sermons on zechariah: the woman in the ephah - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1992 Issue 5 - Sermons on Zechariah: The Woman in the Ephah - Counsel of Chalcedon

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2/4

We must keep in mind that this

prophecy is more or less Palt Two of

the preceding one. And in Zechariah

5: 1-4 we saw

clearly that

Israel

was

being dealt With. So why not

here?

Also the sinners of Israel mentioned

in verses 3 and 4 clearly seem alluded

to in verse

6:

This is their appear

ance, after which the woman appears

in verse 7. Funhermore, he says that

this is their appearance through

all

the eanh. In our last

message

we saw

that this phrase through all the eanh

could better

be

translated through all

the Land," I.e., the Promised

Land

of

Israel.

Thus, Israel is before us in this vi

sion. But in the previous vision was

presented individuals in lsrael: "one

that stealethand one that sweareth.

Here, however, the scattered indi

viduals are collected into

one

symbol:

a unified woman. Whereas the previ

ous vision pointed out Widespread sin

in lsrael, this one sees that sin

as

in

fecting

Israel

as a nation,

as

a unified

system. The first vision looked at the

trees; this one looks at the forest,

as

it

were

.

2. The Significance of the Ephah.

Now

we

must move

from

a consid-

eration of the identity of the woman to

the significance of the ephah. The

ephah was a common measure of dry

weight in ancient Israel. As such it was

generally associated

With

the basket

that was actually used to measure an

ephah. Its measure was roughly

equivalent to a bushel of

grain,

or

some other such dry goods.

We

might

call the ephah here a bushel basket.

In the vision we discover the woman

hidden inside the basket,

verses

6-7.

For a very imponant prophetic reason

Israel

is

pictured

as

in the measuring

basket. We should note that when the

heavy lead lid is lifted

up

to

reveal

the

woman in the basket, the interpreting

angel does something. His action here

is crucial

for

the interpretation of the

vision. Unfonunately, its significance

is

obscured in the

New

American

Standard Bible . The NASB translates

verse

8:

Then he said, 'This is Wick

edness '

And

he threw her down into

the middle of the ephah. The King

James

reads:

"And he said, This is

Wickedness.

And he cast It into the

midst of the ephah. Should

we

read

''it'' or "she" in this verse? The NASB

translators noted that the pronoun in

question

is

a feminine pronoun; hence,

the translation her. Nevenheless, I

believe that this view is mistaken for

the folloWing reasons:

First, the pronoun should refer

back

to the nearer noun Wickedness' C .

6),

ratherthan the noun fanher away,

"woman"Cv. 7).

The noun

Wickedness

happens

also

to be feminine and would

require a feminine pronoun.

Second, in verse 7 we see the woman

sitting in the midst of the ephah

."

Nowhere do

we

see her

get

out. Con

sequently, how could she be cast into

the midst of the ephah, when she

is

already there?

Now

let me attempt to bring out the

idea of this action. Israel is in this

measuring basket. The

idea

clearly

is

that she

is

being measured.

But for

what? We should note that there

is

a

strong negative connotation in the

whole picture of the woman in the

vision, particularly in regard

to

the

angel's action in verse 8.

Let us consider several references

using "measure" in the sense I believe

is represented here. Then we Will

come back to the vision itself and how

it specifically relates to Israel.

In Genesis 15 :16 we read of the

delay of God's judgment on the

Amorites: Not until the fourth genera

tion of Abraham's

family,

would his

descendants come to the Promised

Land, forthe iniquity ofthe Amorites

is not yet

full."

The evil the Amorites

had in Abraham's day had not reached

its full matUlity and ultimate fruition

calling

for

God's final judgment. In

Romans

2: 5 sinners in general said

to store up sin for Judgme

nt Day:

"After thy hardness and impenitent

hean treasurest up unto thyself wrath

against the

day

of wrath and revelation

of the righteous judgment of God.

Sin may be considered

as

measured.

When it reaches full measure, judg

mentcomes.

It is more than a little interesting to

consider how the measuring up of sin

is applied to the Jews in the future

from Zechariah's time, that is, in the

New Testament. In the Old Testament

God sent prophets to lsrael;

ut

Israel's

leaders persecuted them. In Matthew

5: 12 Jesus said: Rejoice, and be ex-

ceeding

glad:

for

great

is

your

reward

in

heaven:

fOTso

persecuted

they

the

proph-

ets

which

we

re before you.

In Matthew

21:35 He teaches that the Jewish lead

ers took God's prophets and beat one,

and killed

another, and

stoned

another.

Thus,just before His own final rejec

tion by the Jews, the Son of God, the

Great Prophet.Jesus Christ said to the

scribes and Pharisees: Fill

ye

up then

the measure of your fathers (Matt.

23:32).

And

then four verses after

calling them

to "fill up

the measure of

sin

he

said: 0

eru.saJem,]

erosa/em,

tlwu

that

killestthe prophets, andsWnest them

which

aresent

unto

thee. These verses,

along

With

Acts

7:52, 1Thessalonians

2:15, and Hebrews

11:36,

show Israel

had constantly striven against Godand

His prophets; they were filling up the

measure of their sins throughout the

Old Testament and into the New.

This is why Paul speaks as he does

about Jewish opposition to the Gos-

pel: They

10rbid us tv speak tv the

Gentiles that

they

might be saved,

to fill

up

theirsins

a/way:for the

wrath is

come

upon

them

tv the uttermost l

Thess.

2:16).

Now with this in mind, let us move

back to the vision.

May,

1992 TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon

21


3/4

In the fiISt pan of he visionin verses

3

and

4

the scattered sins of ndividu

als are mentioned. In this portion of

the vision, Israel

as

a nation is being

measured. And wickedness is put

in

with

her

in the measurement. This

would

seem to imply the final measure

of

sinful wickedness is thrown

in

the

basket with Israel to make a full mea

sure of

her

sins.

Up to Zechauah's time, Israel's full

measure of sin had not been reached.

True, she was not bunging inthe appro

puate measure of tithes

for

the rebuild

ing of the temple, but there

w s

a delay

in judgment. She had nOt been

finally

rejected as a disqnct,

na-

' ... .,.

tional people. BUt Zecha- ' ..

nah foresees her wicked

ness as being measured in

the ephah. The prophet

foresees the fearful last

measure being

put

in v. 8).

Undoubtedly,

the

last

measure of Israel's wick

edness is her rejection of

Christ. In Matthew 21

JeSuspresentsthatheinous

act as the last straw, after

which

God will take the

kingdom

of

God

and

give

it to a nation that will bear

the fruits thereof. . In Ro

mans

11 Paul calls

her

re

jection of Christ the

transgression, that causes

her

national doom (Rom.

11:11). In Revelatiort l7and 18lsrael

appears as the Great Harlot dwelling

in the Great City Jerusalem, who is

filled With the blood of the saints. In

. Revelatioh 18:4-5 we read:

And

I

heard

anothetvoic?fromheaven, saying,

Come

out

of her, my people, that ye be not

partakers of

her sins, and

thatye

receive

not of

her

plagues. For

her sins

have

reached unto

heaven, and

God

hath re-

membered her iniquities.

Her sins at

. hat time will be taken into account as

.

being

filled to heaven.

This leads us to consider:

3. The Destiny In Shinar.

With the last measure of wicked

ness added to Israel'spredicarnent (i.e.,

the future rejection of Christ),

we

see

the lead lid put on the measuring

ephah v. 8). At that time her doom

will be sealed. Israel is shut

up to

endure the consequences of her sin.

In the first

pan

of the vision, her

homes are seen destroyed (v. 4b). n

this pan an additional aspect of God's

judgment is predicted.

Here we witness two women ap

pearingontheseen(v. 9). Theyliftup

the ephah containing Israel and catty

It

off. t

would seem that the reason

for

these being women is nothing more

than being appropriate to the

fact

they

are canying off a woman, Israel. That

there were two of them is explained by

the fact that such

an

ephah load would

require two persons to haul it off.

They represent the powers employed

by God

to cany

away this sinful people.

These women have large wings,like

those ofa stork. They liftup the ephah

with Israel in it and

cany

it away v. 9).

22 TIlE OUNSEL

of

Chalcedon , May, 1992

This obviously ponrays another de

struction and deponation

for

Israel in

her

future, not unlike the Babylonian

captivity. But a few elements of the

vision

w ll

indicate its

much

greater

consequence.

Obvionsly the place where she is

taken is of significance, because

of

her

destiny's being highlighted

by

the

question in verse 10 and 'the answer

given

in

verse 11. InA.D.30Jesussaid

this destruction would occur in the

generationofHis hearers (Matt. 24:34).

In the A.D. 50s Paul recognizes that

the wtath is come upon them to the

uttennost, which indicates its being

very near.

We

know from

history that the final de

struction and scattering of

Israel wasurtderthe Romans

in A.D.

70. Since that time

lsraelhasnothadhertemple

and has not been blessed of

God.

But why is

her

scattering

said

to

be unto Shinar ?

Andwhatis the significance

of the building of the house

there?

Shinar is an old historic

name going back almost to

the days Noah. In Genesis

10:10 and 11:2 we f)nd

it

mentioned as the

place

where the tower

of

Babel

was built. The tower ofBa

belwaS a religious structure

called a ziggurat that was

builtin

direct defiance to God by

men who

refused to spread out over the earth.

Now this is interesting. Israel's be-

setting sin in Zechariah's day was

her

refusalto build a

od

-ordained temple.

Her sin

in

Jesus' day washer response

toJesus' statement

inJohn

2:

Destroy

this

temple

and in three days I will raise

it

up

(speaking of His own body). So

as Israel comes under judgment for

rebellion against building and main

taining God's house, God promises


4/4

that she will be sent out of the

land

to

dwell in the city

of

man, rather than

the city of God. Just

as

i she were

actually to be resettled in Shinaritself.

Away from the house of God to the

house of man.

But this time herdeponation, unlike

the Babylonian deportation, will be

of

lasting consequence. Never again

would she be a favored nation by God.

In the Hebrew the verb action is quite

intensified in verse 11, when it says

that Israel will have built

for

her a

house that is established and settled

on

its base (literally).

As

a nation she

is to have built for her a house outside

of the Promises of God in the land of

man.

This will

not be a tabernacle-tent,

but

a permanent, well-settled house.

Since they have so little concern for

God's House

and

its rebuilding, God

will have them carried away where

they can have a more appropriate

house: outside His kingdom. Jesus

spoke ofthis in Matthew 8:11: "Many

shall

come

Jrom the east and west, and

shall

sit down

with

Abraham, and Isaac,

and Jacob,

in

the kingdom of heaven."

Conclusion

There are three lessons I would like

for

us

to gain from this message.

First, despite widespread belief

among

modem

Christians that Israel

will be blessed of God as a nation aud

will

be

allowed to rebuild the temple

as a sign of God's favor, God's Word

teaches a different truth. There are

missions to the Jews today that mis

construe the promises of God

for

Israel

by

teaching that we must

favor

them

for God's sake. But Jews are like any

other people: they need to respond to

the Gospel of Christ and be let in as

individuals

to

the Church of Jesus

Christ. There is no special future for

Israel as a nation.

Too much modem day Jewish evan

gelism is mistaken in

its approach,

though we appreciate its zeal in at-

tempting to reach the Jews. We must

understand that in Christ all races are

accepted on an equal basis. Galatians

3:28: "There is

neitherJew nor Greek,

there is neither bond nor free, there is

neither male norJemale:

Jorye

are all

one

in Christ

Jesus

(cp. Rom. 10:12; Col.

3:11).

Second,

as

with

our

last message

we

as Americans must learn that God is

not obligated to deliver our nation no

matter what. There have been nations

in the past who were blessed of God

while faithful, but against God turned

w

hen

they rejected Him. Let us pray

for

our nation

in

these troublesome

times, that she might be reclaimed

before

her

sins reach

up

to heaven,

before she fills

up

the measure ofsin.

Let us think

and

act like Christians

in

society -- promoting biblical truth, not

pragmatic principles.

Third,

we

must recognize the concept

of fillingupsin.

Ifweever

live

in

sin

and do not appear

to

suffer God's

judgment

for

it, this could

be

a danger

sign: God is allowing us to fill

up

the

measure of sin for a great judgment.

You cannot sin and get away with it.

Let

us not

tempt God.n

. . We

believe

in thejUll aUlhori9' of

the Bible

as

expressed

in the Westminster

Confession

ofFaith, the Heidelbelg Catechism the BelgiC Confession, nd the

Canons

of

Dart

We

are Reformed in theology.

.:- We tead a comprehensive BibUcal Worldview

in

all areas ofstudy. God's

word

is the foundation of

all knowl

edge.

. .

We haYe ahigh

view f G o d ~ revealed

law

in

both Old

andNew

Covenants,

as

a

basis

for

sodal and political

ethics.

.:- We

beUevein

theultimate

riumph

ofGod ssoyereigngracewhich wi

ll

impact

the

world.

+ +

We

believe

in

ve

ry

limited consUtutionaJ civil gove

rnment

nd

a ree

enter-

prise economic

~ s t e m

:

Webelievein and encourage Christian home

-

education (and enthusiasticalry

accept homeschoolers), as

well

as

Christian schools.

:

We

offer

a

Bachelor degree in Theology, Philosophy

History, Political

Economy, and Christian Education. Students may also take coursework (e.g.

Acccunting.

Business, Modem Languages

Sciences)

at nearby Uberty

Universi(y, a

Christian

school.

:. BoardofT ustees:

Dr.

Greg

Bahnsen, MDiv., ThM,

Ph.D.;

Dr. Kevin

Clauson,MA.,J.D. r e s i d e n ~ Dr

.

Carl Curtis, MA., Ph.D

.;

Rev. RichardE.

Knodel,M.Div.

(HEAV Boarq);

Dr. RodMays,

MEa.,

D

Min.;

Rev. Donald

H. Post, M Diy.

Many

nationalry..known Christian

scholars

Involved.

Current

resident

facul(y

of

siJc

men

.

May, 1992 THE COUNSELof Chalcedon 23

1992 issue 5 - sermons on zechariah: the woman in the ephah - counsel of chalcedon

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