Zechariah is given a series of eight visions by the Lord and it’s interesting these visions deal with how God is working in the nation of Israel, how he’s going to work in specifically in Judah, those who have returned to Judah and to once again reestablish the temple and the city of Jerusalem and the walls of Jerusalem. What is the influence that occurred in Judah that resulted in God’s chastisement and judgment coming upon that nation? It was the influence of yielding to Satan’s wickedness and the worship of that which stood against God. The occultic influence within the nation of Israel was so great that they began to do things that were a total abomination to the Lord.
They even began to be involved in sacrificing their children, even much as the Canaanites had done to their god Moloch and others. They set up false worship centers, they offered sacrifices to pagan gods and demonic entities and God judged them for it and took them into captivity. As he brings them back into the land, the pagan influences are still there.
We saw that on Sunday afternoon that God pronounced the fact from the flying what was referred to by in the vision of Zachariah as a flying scroll. Now he said that that flying scroll it gives the dimensions of it and I mentioned on Sunday afternoon the dimensions of that were the exact dimensions of the portico that stood before the temple and it was the place where oftentimes that the priest would give, he would speak out his truth, the truth of God’s Word or others would give teachings there and we see that this flying scroll was brought and it came to proclaim what was going to happen in the nation of Israel. And we begin seeing in verse 5 the fulfillment of God beginning to work in the nation removing the influence of the occult and the wicked and evil things.
With what’s happening in Israel today we know there’s still a division amongst the Jewish people, some desire for walking in the truth according to God’s Word even though many of them would not be believers in Jesus as Messiah but yet their hearts are being turned towards God. And the Bible says that under the vision that we see in Ezekiel the dry bones coming back into the land that then those flesh that was going to come upon the bones and then God would cause those bones to move and then he would cause he would breathe into them life. We know that as I’ve shared with you there are ministries in Israel today where you’re beginning to see life breathed into the Jewish people as many Jewish people especially younger Jewish people are coming to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and the true Messiah.
Well there’s still a strong influence in Israel for the occult. One of the things that you’ve probably heard with some Jewish people that are movie stars or famous people that they’re involved in Kabbalah. One of the things that I forget the name of a famous singer she’s heavily involved in Kabbalah and Kabbalah is the bringing together of the occult and mixing it with some Jewish tradition and saying that that’s true Jewish belief and the following of the God of the Jews and it’s not at all.
It’s occultism and nowhere it has its roots back in Babylon and one of the things you see is as you look at the even as we’re coming on Halloween this upcoming weekend the influence of Halloween is its roots in Babylon. The worship of that which is evil and really desiring to exalt wickedness evil and death. Well that influences even in as I mentioned in Israel today through Kabbalah and through other activities New Age movement where many people are involved just like they are in the U.S. in Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and other false religions.
Well what’s God got to say about this and he gives a vision to Zachariah where the Lord is going to do something. Let’s take a look at beginning at chapter 5 verse 5.
Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. 6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.
Now I want you to know what an ephah is. It’s it was a basket that was used for measuring or containing or transporting things. It would be in our culture one of the things you could probably think of was like a bushel basket except it would be a different size than a regular bushel basket but it would be a basket in which things were transported or carried. It says that there’s an ether that is coming and it’s going throughout the whole earth.
Well what’s contained within this? Well as we’re going to see that’s contained within this is the wickedness and evil that Satan has generated beginning at the Tower of Babel in Babylon and it’s spread throughout the whole earth. If you know if you’ve studied any history at all one of the things that has been discovered is how that there are ziggurats all over the whole world. There are ziggurats in Mexico.
There have been ziggurats found in North America. There are ziggurats in Africa. There are ziggurats that have been found in almost every continent.
What’s a ziggurat? It’s a pyramid type shape structure and if you go back to the Tower of Babel and look at the temples that were constructed around there you will find many ziggurat type places that are there that were centers of worship in the Tower of Babel. The Inca Indians and the Aztec Indians had ziggurats and they worshiped their false gods. They also the Aztecs offered human sacrifice and would literally take the heart of a person when they were living as a sacrifice.
That’s how wicked and evil they were and they do it to their false gods. Well these religions which really as I mentioned can be traced back to Babylon were all over the whole world. How did they get spread? Well how did the wickedness get perpetuated throughout the whole United States? Well we see the people begin to desire power, to desire money, to desire things of this world more than they desire God and when that happens their hearts are open to the occultic things.
We’ll also know like in our own culture there have been actors, actresses, musicians that have literally made a pact with the devil if Satan would give them power and give them a position of fame and fortune and wealth they’d give their soul to him. There’s a video that was put out by a man by the name of Joe Schimmel.
He actually entitled the video I sold my soul to rock and roll and it talks about how many of the rock and roll artists literally made pacts with Satan and if you listen to the words of many of the rock and roll songs they deal with things that are very occultic. They’re anti God, they’re anti family, they’re anti Christian value and they exalt self-centeredness, they exalt power, they exalt money, they exalt drugs, they exalt everything that God’s against and we see that this basket of evil had gone throughout the whole world but what it had gone to Israel as well gone to Judah and we saw that that’s why God chastised and came upon them because they who had the truth and were to be the light to the world and embrace the lies.
Zechariah 5:7
7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.
Now oftentimes when we see a woman referred to in this sense it’s a picture of evil. You have the woman who rides the beast in Revelation and the woman who rides the beast there is the symbolism of evil in this world who is trying to control the beast which is really Satan and the Antichrist and this woman which really can be equated to the Roman Catholic Church in many ways that there’s a book out there the woman who rides the beast by Dave Hunt and he brings a lot of that truth and shows how that that’s true and how that the Catholic Church has embraced the occult and how that they will be instrumental in identifying with the one world government and bringing it to helping to bring it to power and they think that they can control it and that’s what the whole concept of a woman who rides the beast she thinks she can control this beast but the beast will ultimately consume the woman.
Well this woman that is pictured here in Zechariah is riding in this ephah through this bushel basket that’s filled with the demonic and evil and what are what is the Lord say he says in verse 8.
Zechariah 5:8
8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.
So the wickedness that the Lord is going to cast this wickedness and evil into this bushel where this woman is riding that he’s going to deal with this wickedness.
Zechariah 5:9-11
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.
10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? 11 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.
So all of this wickedness that was really literally found in Israel or Judah was going to be removed by the Lord is going to be taken back to the land of Shinar.
Now what is the land of Shinar? The land of Shinar would be the land of the Chaldeans. What were the Chaldeans? The Chaldeans came out of the out of Babylon and they were from what is today Iraq.
Where the land of the Chaldeans would have been located remember Abraham was called out of Ur of the Chaldeans. If you look at Abraham’s father he was involved in the worship of idols he was involved in false worship; yet, Abraham who grew up in that home believed in the true and living God and when God called him to leave that all behind and lest we think that would have been easy for Abraham to do he was called to go to the land of Canaan.
Which he knew nothing about didn’t know what was there yet he believed and did as God said. He left Ur of the Chaldeans. Ur of the Chaldeans was a very progressive city at the time it had a library. It was also in the area where Nimrod had built up Babylon. It would have been I believe a little south and east of there more towards the sea but we see that that Abraham was willing to leave it. Why? Because, of the wickedness and evil. In fact, that he was turning to the true and living God.
God is saying, okay, I’m going to send all of this wickedness back to the place of its origin the Ur of the Chaldeans where Satan deceived people so much that they were willing to not follow God but they were willing to follow Nimrod. The lies that he presented which exalted Satan. Exalted Nimrod as God.
The people hold the all the earth began to follow of Nimrod. That’s when God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel. God caused the people to be dispersed. The were formed. The thing is we’re seeing that God is going to reform this and it’s going to be formed around Babylon again.
One of the things that you find in the book of Revelation is that Babylon is the center of the last days. There’s an economic Babylon there’s a religious Babylon. There’s a political Babylon. The Bible says that it’s all going to be occurring in Babylon.
Now some people have all have argued that New York is the economic Babylon. No I believe that Babylon is Babylon today in the Middle East. They are attempting to rebuild Babylon.
Did you know that the largest US embassy in the world is located in Iraq close to where Babylon was. Why would we do that? We don’t even have hardly any relations with Iraq. I believe it’s because those that are involved in the promotion of one world government and one world will eventually make their headquarters in what once was Babylon. God says we’re going to bring it all that wickedness back there.
These women that are carrying this basket is going to result in the world being turned to follow Satan. The choices will have to be made are you going to believe and follow God are you going to believe and follow Satan? All of those things are revealed in the book of Revelation.
Now how does this impact Israel and at this particular time. How does it impact Israel as Zachariah is speaking specifically to those that had come out of Babylon and had come back to to the nation of Israel. We’re not seeing the fulfillment of the temple being rebuilt. Zachariah has been given, I believe, this this vision to show who’s ultimately in control. God is going to drive these wicked spirits out this evil is going to be sent back to its origin. Instead Israel will have the opportunity to be delivered from out from the control of Satan. That’s exactly what Jesus said would happen in the last days but he said there’d be a lot of things that would happen before that occurred. Ultimately Jesus would return to earth and judge the wickedness of this world and he would establish his kingdom once again in Judah and Jerusalem. Righteousness would reign from the Temple Mount. The Lord would have his temple established once again in the Temple Mount.
So we see the two dichotomies that God is presenting to us in the visions of Zachariah. On the one hand, the restoration of Israel. On the other hand, the judgment of wickedness and sin. Ultimately the evil spirits that influence people to do that the demonic and ultimately Satan himself.
I want you understand this battle is intensifying in the day in which we live. Never has it been I don’t remember growing up as a kid never saw or heard the things that people are saying. There was no such thing as transgenderism. Homosexuality, was viewed as being wrong. The family was the strength of our country and the ability to pass values from one generation to another. Even people who weren’t Christians in the town that I grew up in knew who Jesus was. They would make sure that their children went to church even though they may not have a personal relationship with Christ. it’s so different today.
Today people would rather have their kids exposed to all kinds of wickedness and evil. They think that’s cute this coming weekend you’re going to see on Halloween kids. Little kids taken all over by their parents dressed up in various costumes some of them wicked and evil and celebrating a a holiday. That is really established to endear people to the occult and wickedness.
That’s what’s being taught to children just listening one of the radio stations this last week they were talking as I was driving home and they’re saying what the scariest and most horrible movie that you ever saw. I thought wow that’s a really great discussion to encourage people to remember the most horrible horror movies that they saw movies that talked with death and the occult and all. They were calling in this one and that one another one and I’m going why would we want to exalt that because that’s where people have gone their depravity is what we view it would have been viewed as deep as depraved is.
Now viewed as normal and it’s being promoted in in the public schools. It is being promoted in the colleges. This last week there was a man who had been a professional basketball player and he came out. He spoke on if it was transgenderism. It was a moral issue that he spoke against and the NBA is some of his teammates. Kevin said well it’s been nice knowing you but you’ve just committed suicide. You’re never going to be playing in the league again. He had been with oh I know what he did he came out and said that the president of China was a dictator and was a cruel person who attempted to suppress his people didn’t give him freedom. The NBA is very big in that in China and so they came out and told this guy you’ve just committed basketball suicide well he was playing for the Boston Celtics.
Had been playing a lot for them and all of a sudden he wasn’t playing anymore and then all of a sudden he was traded to the Houston team and the minute he was traded he was cut from the league and he was never able to sign with anybody again because he had spoke the truth and now he was speaking out against things like transgenderism and different things that they’re doing for the kids and he’s getting death threats because he’s doing that and if you look at for the sake of money in the sake of promotion of athletics and for the sake of promotion of of all kinds of these things if you stand up for truth you’re the one that’s persecuted and the one that was is promoting the evil is exalted well the day is coming where this is coming to an end and the Zechariah is seeing this vision where all the Lord is going to gather this evil and take it back to Babylon and it will be dealt with we know in the book of Revelation that that economic Babylon is destroyed we know that the religious Babylon is destroyed and we know that the political Babylon is destroyed and we know that ultimately the the the Antichrist and the false prophet shall be judged and thrown into the lake of fire the very ones that are Satan’s tools to be used to bring the whole world and rebellion against God and they shall not be able to stand Zechariah is given the vision of that and it’s hope for the nation of Judah that there is hope in this in the face of the fact they still had pagan around them that were persecuting them God’s going to be with them pray for the nation of Israel today as they have wickedness all around them and they have wickedness within that’s attempting to destroy Israel but we know that God says it will never happen and so please pray for them and pray that this day will come where God shall take the wickedness back to Babylon and ultimately destroy it there let’s just close in just help us to understand these truths help us to see what Zechariah was speaking of about these women that filled the basket and filled the ether full of the wickedness and carried it back to Babylon the beginning of wickedness and Satan’s influence in all the nations of the world and help us to desire to have the righteous influence of your son come and long for that day when we shall hear the Trump sound and the dead in Christ arise first then we should be caught up in the air and seven years later we shall return with the Lord to establish his kingdom upon the earth and wickedness will be dealt with this we ask in Jesus name Amen