I have found the Old Testament (OT) is rich with the testament of God’s love for mankind. Unfortunately most people believe the Ot is only full of bloodshed and revenge.
Recently I was reading Zechariah and wanted to share my thoughts on the following verses:
Zechariah 5
Then I lifted up my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty [a]cubits and its width ten cubits.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going forth over the face of the whole land; surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side.
4 I will make it go forth,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and consume it with its timber and stones.”
One could read these verses and say that was interesting but what does it all mean? How does this reveal God’s love and salvation?
Let me give you the key words that open up the whole vision. It is found in Verse 2 where it describes the scroll as “its length is twenty cubits and width ten cubits”. You are probably asking why is that so important.
If we search for similar size objects in the Bible we find the Temple porch is the same length and width as the flying scroll. (1 Kings 6:3)
We know what happened on the Temple porch. It was where the Priest would put the blood on the scapegoat to be sent off into the wildness. Importantly the Law was read out on the porch.
So what does the scroll represent. I have already given you a clue.
Remember it is an open scroll and therefore has two sides, the verse tells us that too. So the scroll represents the 10 Commandments, that is the Law. You see that the Law is flying over the earth which is really about judgement. Anyway, lets dig a bit deeper.
Interestingly, the scroll has two sides and remember Jesus gave us 2 commandments – “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Have you ever thought God in the OT gives 10 commandments and Jesus gives 2 in the NT. This vision brings the two together and explains the connection.
One side of the scroll is our relationship with God and the other side is man’s relationship with man. The two sides of the scroll. Jesus explains two commandments in the NT which also reveals the two sides of the Law.
So we see the flying scroll representing God’s commandments because of the one clue of the length and width. It then illustrates the two sides of the commandments which Jesus describes in the NT.
Let me put it simply as follows: The first three of the 10 commandments are about giving our heart, mind and soul.
The fourth commandment (the Sabbath) is about giving time to God.
The last 5 commandments is what will the Holy Spirit will do in us if we give our heart , mind and soul and time to God that is the first 4 commandments).
If we look back at verse 3: “surely everyone who steals will be purged away according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears will be purged away according to the writing on the other side”. One side is about stealing from God what is His. That is, a relationship with him (Commandments 1-4) and the other side is about those who swear or have behaviour at odds to what the Law demands.
The Good News is that if we submit (100%) to God our hearts, mind and soul and give time to Him the Holy Spirit will do Commandments 5-10 in us.
There is so much more to these verses and could write so much more but I will leave that for you to discover.
My Biblical Thoughts 