Mike Bickle emphasizes God's zeal for the cleansing of Israel's people and land as depicted in Zechariah 5. He explains that the visions reveal God's commitment to confront both individual sins and systemic wickedness in Israel, especially as moral darkness increases before the Lord's return. Bickle highlights the significance of the flying scroll as a public proclamation of God's judgment and the basket representing the removal of wickedness to Babylon, symbolizing a global economic system rooted in idolatry. He encourages believers to recognize the urgency of repentance and the need for a pure offering to God in light of His swift judgment. Ultimately, the sermon calls for a deeper understanding of God's heart and His plans for Israel and the nations.

Father, we ask you for help to understand your heart. Holy Spirit, we ask you that we could see the things you see and feel the things you feel about this book. I ask that you would alert us as well as instruct us from this amazing chapter 5 of Zechariah. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Well, Zechariah 5 is an alerting chapter. Paragraph A, just to remind again of the context of the 8 visions, 8 visions one night. But the core message of which all 8 visions are to be interpreted through this lens, it goes back to chapter 1, verse 14. The Lord says to Zechariah, proclaim this message. I'm zealous. I'm zealous for Jerusalem. And he gives 8 visions that all show different aspects of God's zeal. So it's important that we don't separate any of the 8 visions from the revelation of the zeal of God for Jerusalem. Because if you do, you'll end up kind of seeing that vision through a different context than how God gave it to the prophet. Now, the Lord's, in His zeal, is going to fight against all the enemies of His purpose for the city of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel. He's going to fight the political oppression of the Gentile nations, but He's also going to fight the spiritual compromise of the Jewish people. Any enemy that rises up against His purpose for that city and those people, the Lord Himself will zealously confront it. Paragraph B, the first 3 visions, the glory of God coming to the city of Jerusalem in full blessing. The fourth and fifth vision, God's going to cleanse the leadership and equip them and anoint them. The sixth and seventh visions, the session here, Zechariah 5, 2 visions that go together, the cleansing of the people and the land of Israel. Not the leaders, but the people and the land. Scripture makes it very clear that right before the Lord appears in flaming glory in the sky, there will be a period of moral darkness in Israel, but in all the nations of the earth that will surpass any time of history. The prophet Daniel comments on it. Daniel chapter 8, verse 23, he said, there's coming a time, speaking about the Antichrist, when a king will arise, Daniel 8, 23, I don't have that in the notes. And when that king arises, sin will reach its fullness. Beloved things have been bad at various times of history, but sin has not reached its fullness yet. That's where the earth is going. But the good news is, while sin reaches its greatest heights in Israel and in the nations, the glory of God among the people of God will reach its greatest heights at the same time in Israel and in the nations. So the light will be lighter, the dark will be darker, and they'll be happening simultaneous. Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 13, he said, the wheat and the tares will mature together at the end of the age. They will both come to fullness at the same time. Paragraph C, well the two visions, the sixth and seventh vision of Zechariah 5, they go together, as we've seen several of the visions have been paired strategically. The sixth vision deals with removing individual sins and sinners from the land of Israel. The seventh deals with removing systems of sin from the land of Israel. Not the individuals and their individual sins, but systems of sin from the land of Israel. That's what these two visions are addressing. Now of course Zechariah 13, verse 1 to 6 talks about when the fountain will be released and opened up in the grace of God and the land will be cleansed entirely, preparing for the Messiah's reign of the earth from that city. Paragraph E, now Malachi touches and describes a very significant time frame in Israel related to the coming, the return of the Lord. It's a very important prophecy that's often overlooked. He talks about God cleansing the people in the land in proximity to the timing of the coming of the Lord. And the purpose is that they would be able to offer godly pleasing offerings to the Lord that move His heart, that are in accordance with His plan for that nation. But the key phrase in Malachi 3 is the word swift. God is going to have a season in Israel where He will be a swift witness against sin. Meaning when a person disobeys the Lord, the Lord will break in suddenly and quickly because His mode of operation through history is patient. He patiently waits. Matter of fact, one of the great complaints of Israel, intercessory complaints, is, hello, you're silent. And when they mean you're silent, what He's saying is, you're not intervening to confront the enemy. You're giving them so much time to play out. All the things that are in their heart. Why are you silent? Silent means, why aren't you intervening on a global level to confront darkness and to free us? Well, the Lord's going to answer that prayer. But He's going to begin, judgment begins in the house of God, 1 Peter 4, 17. He's going to begin even in the city of Jerusalem. That principle can be applied geographically to the land as well as the body of Christ. There will be a swift witness within the people of God. And then eventually the whole earth will be cleansed. That glorious man Christ Jesus will drive Satan off the planet. And evil and all the demons will be thrust into the pit. It's a glorious day. Well, here's what Malachi says. He's going to purify the sons of Levi. We're talking about the Jewish people and even specifically the sons of Levi. But here it is, verse 5. Here's what the Lord says. I'm going to draw near to them in judgment. I'm going to confront openly and swiftly their rebellion against me because I love them. This is a zeal, a manifestation of a zeal. He goes, I'll be a swift witness. It won't be the season where I patiently wait. I mean, even right now, in this hour of history in the last 2,000 years in Revelation 2, Jezebel. It says in Revelation 2, 22 and 23, she's teaching immorality. The Lord in his kindness gave Jezebel time to repent. I mean, if you're giving Jeze time to repent, I mean, that's patience. That's like remarkable. Like a what? She's corrupting the church. He goes, yeah, but I love her as a person. I'm giving her a chance, every opportunity to come to her senses. But there's a moment where the zeal of the Lord will say, okay, I'm picking up the pace. And I believe that pace will pick up even as we get closer to that day. But there's an hour, I mean, some years leading up to the final appearing of the Lord where the swift witness of judgment, that's going to be part of how the church is cleansed. I call it a paragraph F, an Acts 5 moment, an Acts 5 season for Israel, and I believe even for the body of Christ. But here, Zechariah 5 is talking about Jerusalem throughout the entire book. It doesn't specify Jerusalem, but that's the context of every single chapter of the book. So I know that Jerusalem is in focus. Well, it was back in Jerusalem, back in Acts chapter 5, when the early church was first established, one of the men, Ananias and Sapphira, we know the story, he lied, struck dead instantly. There wasn't a prophet that said, Zechariah, go pray about that and come back tomorrow and tell us your final version. Wink, wink, the Lord's eyes are on you, Ananias. You better give the right answer tomorrow. No, it wasn't like that. Instantly struck dead. And the fear of God filled the city of Jerusalem, at least among the believers. Well, it's the same thing in Jerusalem happening again. Now the context in terms of the darkness, because there will be a glorious church emerging in Jerusalem in the hour of darkness with two really amazing forerunner messengers called the two witnesses doing miracles that far surpassed the book of Acts right there in the city of Jerusalem. We don't want to just talk about the darkness. It will have the brightest sons of oil in history in that city preaching Jesus. Oh, it's glorious. But at the same time, I don't know how it all works. Jesus, the great prophet, yea, more than a prophet, Matthew 24, 15, he says, when you see the abomination of desolation set up in Jerusalem, get out of town. Matthew 24, 15, that abomination of desolation we know from Daniel is that anti-Christ worship system. I don't want to go into that right now, but it's developed in Revelation 13. It's the great abomination that leads to desolation of the people who buy into the abomination of worshiping the anti-Christ as though he's God in the city of Jerusalem. Well that would be in Jerusalem. I'm asking something, isn't it? This abomination of desolation is there, the two prophets are there, but something happens where the city is surrounded in a siege because they can't get in the city to take it over. I don't think they want the bad guys, I don't think they want to destroy the city, I think they want to capture and own the city. Someone says, why don't they use, you know, drop a few bombs and just take care of the problem. No, they want that city, it's sacred to them. But there's a drama going on. The witnesses are there, the two witnesses with power, there are apostolic believers in a church emerging in the land in might and strength in that hour. The nations are gathering, the abomination of desolation is there. I tell you, it won't be boring, not one moment of one day. Top of page 44, let's look at, I want to give you the context of Jerusalem for a moment of the good and the bad, the intensity of darkness, the intensity of light. But the Lord's zeal, remember chapter 114, it's zeal for that city that is the backdrop for interpreting each of these eight visions. He sees the vision of the flying scroll. Paragraph A, he sees this large scroll flying across the sky. Now that scroll is representative of the word of God. We'll see that in a moment. And on that are the demands of God's word for obedience, and that word will bring judgment to everyone who says no to him. So, he sees this open vision of the word of God, in essence, particularly the curses we find in verse 3. It's the curses for rebellion against God, God saying, it is now the hour for the swift witness of Malachi 3, verse 5. The scroll is large, the scroll is open, it has writing on both sides, so we know it's open, and all can see the contents of it. In other words, nobody can claim ignorance of what's going on. Nobody can say, well I didn't really understand what God wanted, because this scroll symbolizes the word is being preached in power in that city with great clarity. Now the vision is symbolic of what's happening in the spirit, but in the natural, the word of God will be known in clarity in that city. The messengers, the forerunners will successfully make the word known. Well this scroll is personified, the curse is on it, he goes on, we'll read in a minute, the scroll, the curse of the scroll, it enters into the house of everybody who says no to God. That's an interesting, a terrifying thought, and that curse enters the house, and Zechariah was just horrified when he heard it, and the curse will remain until the house is consumed and reduced to nothing. Wow. God will get the attention of everyone. Let's look at now a little of the details. Paragraph C. I turned, I raised my eyes, sees his vision, there's a flying scroll. He doesn't quite know what it is at the very beginning, but he figures out pretty quickly, and he said to me, the angel, Zechariah, what is it? Oh no, here we go again. He asked him that three times in chapter four, okay, come on, let's not stay with this thing. Three times in a row in the last vision, and you've already, the opening scene of the vision, we're starting this dialogue again. Well, I just put a little humor in it, but here's interesting, that six times in the eight visions, Zechariah asked the question, what is it? And he gets a direct answer. Not the full answer, but a direct answer, six times. Only two times does the angel say, you tell me, Zechariah. Only twice. Chapter four and chapter five. When the angel on these two occasions, we did it three times in chapter four, and once in chapter five, when the angel asked him, no, you tell me what it is. That's code for, this relates to the temple, you're a priest and a prophet, you could know the answer. The other six, the angel never asked him the question, he just gives him the straight answer. Or the man with the measuring line is one of those occasions I'm throwing with the angel. So when the angel says, what do you see? When you've studied all the responses, again, that's code for, Zechariah, this applies to the temple, this applies to Jerusalem, you should, or the temple specifically, you should know this answer two out of the eight times, only when it relates to the temple per se. So that's already a hint that he's talking about the city of Jerusalem in particular. So he goes, well, it's a scroll, it's flying in the air for all to see, and it's wide open so everyone can read the contents. In other words, the message is to become very public, it's not whispered in a corner, it's a public proclamation of the truth of God's demands. With his offers as well, I mean, we find in Revelation 14, verse six, that the gospel, the angels are going forth preaching the eternal gospel, I mean, angels are preaching, people are preaching, chariots are moving in the spirit, demonic principalities are accusing, I mean, there's all kinds of things going on at the same time. Well, he sees this scroll, paragraph three, he sees that it's 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide. That's strategic, that's not an accident. Zechariah knows what that means, he knows what those numbers are. That's the size of the holy place in Moses' tabernacle. That's where the lampstand was in Zechariah 4, the last vision, he knows that scene well. It's also the size of the porch at Solomon's temple, that's where God met his people, that's where the priest would gather and pray and meet with God, between the porch and the altar, says in Joel chapter two. So that detail of size, I don't believe is accidental or insignificant, the brevity of details in every one of these visions makes clear every detail has great significance with lots of implications when comparing the scripture with the scripture to get the more full message. So don't read this and say, well, that's kind of a little whisper, no, it's supposed to be a whisper, and the Spirit's saying, I gave you the whole Bible, compare the scripture to the scripture, get the more full message if you're hungry for it, I'll give you the hint in the visions. The way that the kingdom of God runs on the principle that God gives more to the hungry. I like to say it this way, if you can live without it, you will go without it. If there's something in God you can't live without, I mean, you will lock in, you will get it to a measure. Paragraph D, the interpretation of the symbol of it. Verse three, the angel says, well, let me tell you exactly what this flying scroll is. It's a curse. It's going out over the face of the whole earth. He goes on to say, he specifies two particular sins. This is very strategic or very important to notice. The thief shall be expelled, judged. According to one side of the scroll, the perjurer will be judged according to the other side. So we know the scroll is open because they can see both sides. Verse four, the angel says, make no mistake about it, God is sending out the curse. This is the curse of the law to a nation that says no to God and God's in covenant with the nation. Now, again, to those that say yes, it will be the most glorious thing imaginable. But God's zealous for the land and the time has come. The swift witness mode is now in operation. And I believe that same kind of mode is going to be happening in the church the closer we get to the Lord's return. Not just the church in Jerusalem, where it started with Ananias and Sapphira, but the church worldwide. The Lord, verse four, he builds out this or develops this idea more, he goes, I'm sending a curse out. Wow. Well, it's not just a casual curse. It's going to enter the house of every thief. That's the first sin. And every perjurer, or this time he describes the perjurer in different language, the one that swears falsely in my name. And he goes, when this curse reaches the house, the very place where the one who rebels against God thinks he's safe in his own house and the privacy of my own home. My home is my castle. Even God can't get in here wrong. The curse will enter the house. That's terrifying. But look what the Lord says. It will remain and consume the house in its entirety. Timber and stone will reduce everything about the house to nothing. Oh, this is terrifying. This is the man we love. This is what he's capable of. And he never changes his personality. Beloved, we know this. He doesn't change. We do. People can do all kinds of theological gymnastic tricks to try to get rid of the God that confronts sin in the New Testament. He never changes, ever. No Bible verse is going to trap God in a corner from being God. I know we know that. Top of page 45, God says, this is the curse. It's my curse on the land. It's the curse that is found in the law of Moses. Now, God has two ways to confront sin and to remove it. He offers grace and the greatest sinner, if they will accept it and come into relationship under his leadership, not just a chummy relationship or yeah, I'll take free forgiveness if you're offering it. No, he's offering relationship, but relationship on his terms, which means relationship under his leadership. That's the relationship he freely offers. Some people think he offers free forgiveness with no response that he wants to be our buddy. He doesn't want to be our buddy. He wants to be our Lord. So the offer's free, but it's to awaken a response back to him. It's pleasing to him. Well, he offers grace and the worst sinner can receive it, but to the ones that say no, there's judgment. Again, it starts in Israel. It starts in the house of God and the body of Christ, but this judgment will eventually touch all the earth. There's just a sequence to it in terms of its intensity. Number two, the new King James, the translation I'm using says, this curse will go to the whole earth. This word earth is a important word because in the Hebrew, the word, the same word can be translated earth or land, meaning the land of Israel. Many times it means specifically the land of Israel and other times it means the whole earth. It's the exact same word and the way that we determine which it is, which almost always you can determine a few times, you're kind of still left in the dark, is by the context. And I believe that the word land, meaning the land of Israel, is what he's talking about for several reasons. One reason is that all the eight visions are an expression of his zeal for the city of Jerusalem. That's the context of every one of the eight visions. That's reason number one. Reason number two is that the curse falls on the families or the houses that swear by the name of the Lord, Yahweh, Jehovah, and the Gentile heathens, they don't swear by the name of the Lord. That's something that a Jewish family would be familiar with. Even a secular Jewish family would be familiar with the concept. So that term, that's the second reason that the sin is those that are swearing and violating the truth and they're swearing in the name of the Lord. Third, when the scroll is open, there's writing on both sides. Again, Zachariah the priest, he would understand that. In Exodus 32, there's only one time God ever wrote, that he ever wrote on the tablets. In Exodus 32, he wrote the law. I remember he wrote that one time on the wall in Daniel 5 and terrified the leadership of Babylon, but let's just put that aside for now. But God wrote with this figure one time in history to his people. And when he wrote, he wrote on both sides of the tablet. Exodus 32, verse 15, and I have the verses in the notes here. So Zachariah goes, I get what both sides and the curse of God and the scroll, that's very familiar to me. I get what that means. I was raised in that environment to understand what that language means, it's talking about the word of God. Number three, significant, this is pointed out by many commentators. This is not, I mean, I read it over and over and it just seems, it strikes me as true. It's a logic, you know, it's a reasoning by silence, but I still believe it's, the conclusion is right. He specifies two sins, the perjurer and the thief. Incidentally, of the 10 commandments, the five on one tablet, the five on the other, it's the middle commandment on each tablets of the two tablets. And again, the fact that the angel said, Zachariah, tell me what it means. He only did it two times out of eight when he's saying, you should know about this because this means it's about the temple. Paragraph four, the perjurer, that's the third commandment on the first tablet, which summarizes loving God. Number five, the thief, it's the middle commandment, the eighth on the other tablets summarizing loving man. The message is the violation of the word of God in this symbolic visionary form. And that's what I believe it's clearly saying. Number seven, I give you the verses there where God wrote on both sides. It's the only time he ever wrote a message that I, at least I can remember to the nation of Israel in a supernatural way and he wrote on both sides. Number eight, this curse enters the house again, the very place a man thinks he's safe. He's not. Number nine, top of page 46, it consumes the judgment, stays in the house and builds. Oh, that's terrifying to me. Every facet of the man's house, the stone and the timber, even the construction itself will be affected by the curse, the judgment on that home. No solution, no deliverance, except for repentance, repentance, you get deliverance, but deliverance on God's terms. There's no way out of it because God's the source of it and God has zealed to cleanse the city and the nation. Paragraph E, Jesus became a curse. When he went to the cross and he says, I'll make a way out for anybody who doesn't want the curse, freely come in relationship under my leadership, there will be no curse. I bore it for you, I understand the curse. It hurt me, I felt the pain of it, I know what this is about, I'm the only one qualified to administrate the judgments because I came under the judgment, I get it. And I paid with my own life the price to give you freedom from judgment if you want freedom from judgment. Well, let's move to the seventh vision. So the sixth one, he's dealing with individual sins and individual sinners in homes. The seventh one, he's dealing now with systems of sin, not individual sins and sinners and families. Paragraph A, it pictures now in a symbolic form, a national cleansing of wickedness from the land of Israel. Again, chapter 13, 1-6, really develops that more, as does chapter 2-12 and 3-9, I have some verses there. So he sees this vision, he sees a wicked woman trapped in a basket. Well first deal, he sees a basket, he doesn't get what the basket's, what's going on. He sees this basket flying in the air, these two women with wings like storks flying with this basket. He goes, what is this? It's on the seventh vision, it's near morning. He looks again, he goes, yeah, it's a basket, it's two women, and they're taking the basket from the land of Israel, and there's not a certainty, but there's several theories, and I won't go into it right now, as to how that basket was located there for a season. Several different views on that, that's not my point, the real point is it's being taken from the land of Israel to the land of Shinar, which is Babylon. That was Babylon's ancient and first name. Zechariah knew that was Babylon, everybody knew that was Babylon, paragraph B. Now John develops what this vision's about far more than Zechariah understood, because John had the advantage of that apostolic prophetic new covenant lens of truth by the Holy Spirit, seeing the strategy at the end of the age, and he sees an evil, global, economic system that is rooted in counterfeit worship. So it's a strange combination, it's economic-based to control nations through economic, but with a dimension of worship, because beloved, Revelation 13 makes it clear, Satan wants to be worshipped, he doesn't just want to control your life to make your life miserable, he wants worship. At the end of the day, the conflict at the end of the age are two houses of prayer. The Jesus house of prayer, and the Antichrist house of prayer, only one man's, only one is going to be worshipped, the Antichrist or Jesus, one man will get the worship of the earth, and the other will be destroyed, and we all know the answer. Well it's an economic base, but it has a worship dimension to it, and we find it in Revelation 17 and 18, incidentally, the longest prophecy in the New Testament is about this harlot, this woman in the basket of Zechariah 5, the counterfeit to the bride of Christ is the harlot, in the book of Revelation. Well economics is clearly the main source to control the nations, the harlot Babylon includes an alliance of apostate Judaism and corrupt Christianity, I took that right out of David Barron's book, I just love that phrase, pursuing a false peace and luxury in abundance, there's a lot there in that sentence. This system is symbolized by the basket or the ephah, paragraph D, let's look at the vision, the angel who talked to me, he came out, that's interesting, of the eight visions, this is the first time the angel ever came out, came out from where, I don't know. We know back in chapter 2, when the man with the measuring line was measuring the land, he went out to the boundaries of Jerusalem, the angels went after him and the other angel said, hey angel, get back, run back and give Zechariah the message, so we know he kind of went another direction back in chapter 2, but he went out again, where'd he go? I don't know, there's some kind of pause in the revelatory unfolding of this evening, maybe Zechariah needed an hour or two to kind of just back to the natural realm, you know, just his physical limitations, I don't know, but he came out, curious about that one, well he came back, he said, okay Zechariah, lift your eyes, now this is only twice in the eight visions does the angel take the initiative in the vision, back in chapter 4, he woke up, Zechariah, Zechariah wake up, I got a vision for you, like okay, we're here in the next, the seventh vision, he tells him, he goes, look up, there's a vision, you're missing it, Zechariah goes, oh, I'm with you, a little higher, oh, look up, you didn't see it Zechariah, there's human dynamics all the way through this, I just am intrigued by the human dynamics in the supernatural realm with angels, I mean not intrigued, go read some book on it, I don't mean that, I mean just in the context of these six visions, say something like that, somebody give you a book on angels and I don't want that book, I'm a bible guy, the angels came out, wherever he was, he came back, he told Zechariah, come on, get with it, you're missing a vision, okay, see what it is that's going forth, there's this plan that's unfolding, there's a strategic shift that's going on, it's going forth and you're missing it, I want you to see it, I want you to write it, so that the people of God have record of it, okay, this young man, he says, okay, I'll do it, verse 6, he goes, what is it? Same old question, what is it? But again, only twice did the angel said, you tell me, in essence, the other six times, he doesn't, so the angel gives him a straight forward answer, it's a basket, it's going forth, it's a basket that there's a purpose of God related to this basket that's unfolding under the authority of God but it's a wicked plan to expose darkness and confront darkness in the earth, prepare for the Messiah's kingdom, which is coming in chapter 6, the next session, glory to God. Then the angel said, this basket is a resemblance or some translations put the word an appearance, this basket represents sin that's going to have a resemblance or an appearance of the same sin in principle, meaning it's based in economics and it's to woo people and seduce them into a counterfeit worship of a false God, it has that resemblance, that likeness, that assemblance and it's going over all the earth, every nation will have its own application but in principle, it will resemble what the woman in the basket represents, because this is a wicked woman, in a minute, we're going to find out, the angel says, she is wickedness, she is the picture of wickedness in that basket, and that basket speaks of an economic system, and that economic system with wickedness is going to be somehow involved in a, in a significant way in Israel for a season, we don't really know all the, again several different ideas what it might be, but it's going to be taken to the land of Babylon, Shinar, and again Shinar is significant because that's where the tower of Babel was, Genesis 11, that's where the whole Babylon false religion rebellion, the first organized religion, the first organized rebellion against God started in Genesis 11 in the land of Shinar and it's going to go back to that, all of history has been a collision of two cities, Babylon and Jerusalem, and I believe it's when Jerusalem was, the nation of Israel was established as a state and Jerusalem came under the control of the Jewish people, shocked the world, well the prophets said it, two thousand years, it looked like it would happen, suddenly it happened, well I believe that the city of Babylon is going to have the same sudden emergence as a city that the nations are not thinking it's going to happen at all, and the two literal cities will be in collision again, I got a little bit on that, that's a big subject, Babylon is a spirit, a global network, but it's actually a context, a city as well, paragraph two, the basket is the English translation to the word ephah, this was the standard commercial measurement, you go to the marketplace, you could say, hey I want to measure my grain, it was a measurement and it was a container, King James will say ephah, the other translations will say basket, the words interchangeable, but it was the common symbol of commerce, because it was where the transactions, the goods, the grains, etc. were measured in this basket and contained in the basket. Again we might not know the full ramifications of this, but John comes along in Revelation 17 and 18 and he fills in the blanks, he gives significant details, he says it's global, all the merchants of the earth will buy into it, it will be motivated and empowered by sorcery and demonic worship, it will persecute the saints, and it's real, and it's global, and it's economic based. Page 47, this, page 3, this measuring basket, the ephah, spoke of God measuring judgment, because it would be half a basket, a full basket, you would pay for whatever you had in the basket, and it's symbolic of God is going to measure out judgment according to the measure of sin that a people or a nation participate of. Now John makes that very clear in chapter 18, he emphasizes, particularly in verse 6 and 7, it's according to the measure of her sin, she will get a measure of judgment. She has, using the basket analogy, a half a basket, she'll get a half a sin, she gets a half a basket of judgment. It's going to be measured according to what she does. This is nations, cities, families, individuals. Number 4, the basket's going forth, meaning it's influencing the nations. Now we know when the word says the whole earth, it's not the land of Israel here, John confirms it in Revelation 17 and 18, it's the whole world involved. And my little tip off, again, you can't build a case on this, the angel doesn't ask John, hey John, you ought to know about this one, it's not talking about the temple now, it's talking about a global economic system, not the temple in Jerusalem. The angel doesn't ask Zechariah, you ought to get this one Zechariah, what is it? Now he just gives him the straight answer, I'll tell you what the basket is. It's a measuring basket of a commerce centered system of wickedness in the earth. Number 5, this is the resemblance. I've already said it but I'll just go through it again. All over the earth, in principle, the sin represented by the woman will be walked out, the application will be different everywhere, but in principle it will be commerce based control but with a view to woo them into a counterfeit worship of the Antichrist. Idolatry, John makes it clear in Revelation 18, verse 23, the merchants, the most powerful merchants and financiers in the earth buy into it. The whole world, they're seduced by the sorcery, the demonic element of it. It's fascinating to them. Now, so far, all Zechariah saw was a basket. I mean in the 6th vision he sees a scroll in the air, now he's in the 7th vision and he's in a basket and two women with wings like storks are flying it. What's going on here? But then suddenly the mystery unfolds. There's a woman inside the basket. She's her name is wickedness. She's being trapped. She's being restrained and she doesn't like being hemmed in in that basket. She wants global dominance right now, her way, her time, but the Lord under his government, he traps her in. There are boundaries and she ends up serving the larger purpose of God even by causing, giving occasion for wickedness to come to its fullness. If men choose wickedness, they get to choose it. There's a lead covering. Let's read paragraph E, verse 8. The angel said, this woman, there's a lead, heavy lead covering on the basket. They pick this lead covering up. This woman pops out. The wicked wisdom, witch of the east times 10. She's tough. This lady comes. She's a witch of the east. Zacharias, whoa, this heavy, the lead means heavy. That's the, I mean, that, I mean, that's the meaning. I mean, that's the application of the lead. Boom, traps her down in there again. Don't let her out. She's like a wild animal. So verse 8, the angel thrust her down. I mean, he picks that lead up. She pops out that angel, puts her back in there, slams the lead back down, throws the lead down on her. In other words, she is trapped. She doesn't like it. She is contained in the will of God. That's the language there. Thrust down into the basket, through the lead covering, whoo, get her out of town quick. Get her to Babylon right now. When she goes to Babylon, it signifies a shift in the divine calendar. When she finally goes to Babylon, there's a shifting of the season of the global plan of God because when she gets based in Babylon, new dynamics happen in wickedness. But he wants her out of Israel when this happens. Remember the vision is his zeal for Jerusalem. He says she won't be there. She was there temporarily, but she won't be there. I don't believe she was there in her fullness. She was there in some form, but she's taken away. Paragraph F, I raised my eyes. There's these two women. They've got wings with wind under their wings. Wow. They have wings like a stork. They lift the basket up into the sky. Number one, I believe that that lifting with the wind of the wings speaks of divine assistance. The Lord wants that basket, that base of operations of a global system of sin in Babylon. He doesn't want it in Jerusalem. He doesn't want it anywhere but in Babylon. I believe they're doing the will of God with the wind of the spirit helping them fulfill the will of God. Number two, some commentators will point out, and I think it's a reasonable argument, but I think it's the wrong conclusion, but it's reasonable. Because a stork is a unclean animal, they say the stork is helping the system of sin. But I believe that the point of the stork is they were known to be strong birds, and they could fly long distances. I believe if it was an unclean animal, I mean it is an unclean animal in the Old Testament, if it was an instrument of sin, I think these women would have helped that woman out. She doesn't want to be trapped. She wants out. That's just an idea. I got it from one of the books. Okay. I liked it. I go, yeah, I can't, I read so many books I can't remember where. I probably got it from West Hall. Okay. If it ends up wrong, I'm going to somehow trace it back to Ovner. Ovner, you're going to have to bail me out of that one. Okay, page 48, verse 10, I asked the angel, where are they carrying, where are those women with the wind of what I believe to be divine assistance carrying this basket? Verse 11, where they're building a house for her. There's a intentional purpose plan in another place in Babylon, Shinar. To build a house means a permanent residence is a house. There's an intentional purpose in building it, but it's a plan that takes time. The house was not yet built. The set, the stage was not set globally for that base of operation to be there to the strategic hour. Number three, when it's ready, there's a strategic timing, God's calendar. There's development of wicked men and nations and systems that God gives them their liberty to make their own free choices with under the boundaries of his own sovereignty. But when those choices play out, things will be ready in the timing. Number four, it's set on a base. There's an organized system. It's not a kind of haphazard thing. It's a, it's a global operation with a base. Again, every phrase, I believe because of the brevity of all these visions, every phrase needs to be paid attention to. And we have the scripture, compare with the scripture and we say, Lord, show us from your word what this might mean. Not that we will get all the answers exactly right, but I believe we'll get in the right direction. I sometimes liken it to being on a highway, like a four lane or an eight lane highway. And we can be sure we're in the, on the right highway going the right direction, but we might be in the wrong lane. We're going strong. They'll say, you're on the right direction. You're on the right highway. But I'm going to adjust some of your nuances. Move over to this lane. You don't have that right. And that's kind of where we are. I'm talking about the body of Christ that's eagerly searching these things out. They will become more clear the closer we get. But this is interesting that John, he talks about this, the base becoming ready. Look at Revelation 17. He says the 10 Kings of these 10 powerful nations, they will give their power to the Antichrist. Oh, that's a terrifying thing. 10 powerful nations, or a coalition of nations, possibly, could be empires of sorts, more than just an individual nation. We don't know for sure. They all come in unity and give their power to the Antichrist. They said, we're yours. We'll do whatever you want. You know, as different coalitions are raising up now today in the Middle East and, you know, the former nations of the Soviet Union and Europe and all that whole area. You know, I've heard different people say, man, all this is happening. It's the devil. I got a different view. Verse 17, God put it in their heart to be unified. I mean, these are wicked men and trust me, they have a bad spirit. They're demon worshipers. They don't like each other. They don't trust each other. It's going to take the power of God for them to get along with each other because they all think the other nine have a bad spirit. Guarantee it. You meet one of them guys, say, hey, how are you doing? Oh, those guys, I don't trust them. They're liars. Do you lie? Oh no, are you kidding? I'm totally truthful. They all have a bad spirit. They all know they do. But God puts it in their heart for a moment to be unified, which implies a little bit of trust, a little bit in cooperation. It seems right that that's the will of God with wicked men empowering the Antichrist. Beloved, the idea is when it's ready, the base will be set there in Babylon. God is allowing wicked men to walk out their wickedness within the boundaries of his larger purposes and his sovereignty because he wants the earth to choose if they want to love God and righteousness or choose if they want sin and Satan. They get to choose, but they're going to receive the fruit of what they choose. But both groups will choose fully. This is the hour to choose fully. This isn't the hour to be in the body of Christ kind of masquerading around with a doctrine of grace that empowers us to live in sin. You know, enough of God just to be miserable because enough of sin to wreck our lives. We've got our conscience inflamed because we love God or something like that, but we've got enough sin in our life because we think in the grace of God we can't. Beloved, this is not the hour to do that. God's going to let the fullness of free choice come in both camps. This is an hour for wholeheartedness. It's going in both directions. Number five, the land of Shinar. That is the Tower of Babel, Genesis 11. Then I have here just the end of 45, I mean page 48, just a few statements about Babylon. I believe paragraph B, it's actually the city of the ancient Shinar and the city of Babylon. The reason, and this is too short of an answer for a big issue, when God, through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 50 and 51, said Babylon would be destroyed, the Lord made it clear the destruction would look at paragraph B, second and third sentence, the destruction will be sudden, final, and the destruction will be total. That judgment prophesied over the city of Babylon has not happened. Babylon gradually lost its influence, it just faded. It was not a total, final, sudden destruction that kind of the whole world saw. It just faded into oblivion over centuries. The judgment prophesied in that city has not happened. That city is going to reemerge and the full judgments that were only done in part back in the ancient times will come to pass when that city emerges again. Right in Iraq. I tell you that's going to just shock the Bible-believing prophetic community of the earth in a good way when that city reemerges. We go, oh my goodness, pull out those old handouts. Let's figure out what this thing is about. I don't mean my handouts, I mean I've got stacks of them from everywhere. Amen, let's stand. Don't wait until then to start, let's start studying it now. I'm just going to pray over you. I'm going to give you 90 seconds just to talk to the Lord before somebody talks to you. Sometimes right after a meeting like this, first thing, hey where can we blah blah blah, and the Lord says give me 90 seconds with the guy. Something I want to confirm or strengthen in his spirit first. Let's just pause for just 90 seconds. Lord, speak to us. Speak to us. Lord, we're your servants. Lord, there's so much I don't understand. I'm so hungry to know what you're zealous for. If you're zealous, I want it. In Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Bless you. I'll give you 60 seconds. Okay, there you go.