Zechariah 5:1

 Zechariah 5:1 says,  Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.  Zechariah did not have to be awakened this time, but looked up by his own accord and saw a flying roll, or rolled up scroll.  Matthew Henry says that once a prophet is awakened, he should stay awake, and  I believe that as followers of Christ, we have been awakened to God's truth and should stay awake spiritually.  Verse two states, And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.  The angel asked Zechariah what he saw, and Zechariah responded a large flying roll, about ten yards by five yards in size. Zechariah never seemed to see more than what was physically there by his own abilities.  Verse three adds, Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.  The angel told Zechariah that the scroll contained a curse for those who were not obedient to God's will, citing the examples of stealing and cursing.  We have God's written word today that tells us of the fate of those who do not accept salvation through faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Verse four declares, I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.  God said that He would bring forth this punishment on those who stole and those who swore falsely by His name.   I believe that stealing was used as an example of failing to love and honor ones neighbor, and of course swearing falsely by God's name dishonored God.  Worse sins than stealing could have been used, but I believe that the point is that all sins bring God's punishment, and not just those that we might consider big sins.  Verse five says, 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.  This time, the angel told Zechariah to look up.  Sometimes, we may need the Holy Spirit to urge us to look up today.  We cannot become so focused on the world that we forget to look up to God.  Verse six adds, 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.  This time Zechariah asked what it was that he was seeing, and the angel answered him.  If we do not understand what God is telling us today, then we simply need to look up to Him and ask.  The angel said that what Zechariah saw was an ephah, or a measuring standard.  Verse seven states, And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.  Matthew Henry says the ephah represented the sins of the people of Israel, and the lead represented the inability of the woman sitting there to remove them from the ephah.  Likewise, we today cannot remove sin from our midst by our own abilities.  Verse eight adds, 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.  The angel explained to Zechariah about the wickedness in the midst of the ephah, and the fact that they were sealed so that they could not be removed.  As stated earlier, we are unable to remove sin from our life by our own abilities, but can only have them removed by faith in Jesus Christ.  Verse nine declares, 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.  Zechariah said when he looked up again, he saw two winged women lift up the ephah.  God sends His representatives, in this case two winged women, to do His bidding.  The ephah was suspended between heaven and earth.  Verse ten adds, Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?  Zechariah asked the angel where the women were taking the ephah.  Verse eleven concludes, 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.  Matthew Henry says this means that the people of Isreal would never be truly free from dispersion, because they would never accept the Messiah Who was to come.  Until we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will always be under the power of sin and separated from God.