The Danger of Harboring Sin

It seems that most dieters underestimate their weight. The opposite happens with people who suffer from anorexia. They tend to see themselves as heavier than they are. Something similar happens when it comes to how we view our own sin. Sometimes we underestimate our sinfulness. We downplay or excuse our sinful actions, concluding that they are not really as bad as they actually are. Or we overestimate our righteousness, incorrectly concluding that the good things we have done far offset the bad.

The vision of the flying scroll gave way to the even stranger sight of a woman stuffed into an ephah, which was a basket or barrel normally used for measuring grain. Zechariah’s seventh vision reinforced the message of the floating scroll. As shown throughout Scripture, God has promised to deal with sin. The angel explained that the woman represented “the iniquity of the people throughout the land” (v. 6). After being stuffed down into the basket, the woman was carried off by two winged creatures to Babylonia.

Were these figures angels or something else? The fact that they had wings like a stork seems to identify them with iniquity. In the Law of Moses, storks were listed among the “detestable” animals that could not be eaten (Lev. 11:13, 19). Their actions seem to preserve iniquity rather than eliminate its presence. They transported the basket to “the country of Babylonia” (v. 11). The Hebrew text says they took the basket to Shinar, the original location of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9). The tower was an act of rebellion against God, an example of worldliness and false worship. The “house” mentioned in today’s passage (v. 11) may be a place of worship.

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BY Dr. John Koessler

John Koessler is Professor Emeritus of Applied Theology and Church Ministries at Moody Bible Institute. John authors the “Practical Theology” column for Today in the Word of which he is also a contributing writer and theological editor. An award-winning author, John’s newest title is When God is Silent: Let the Bible Teach You to Pray (Kirkdale). Prior to joining the Moody faculty, he served as a pastor of Valley Chapel in Green Valley, Illinois, for nine years. He and his wife, Jane, now enjoy living in a lakeside town in Michigan.