Zechariah 5:4

4 I sent it out, says the LORD of heavenly forces. It will come to the house of the thief and the one swearing lies in my name. It will lodge in their house and destroy the wood and stones of that house."

Zechariah 5:4 Meaning and Commentary

Zechariah 5:4

I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts
The roll was come forth, and was flying abroad; but the curse and wrath of God, signified by it, is what God would bring forth out of his treasures, according to his purposes and declarations, and execute upon sinners; which shows the certainty of it, and that there is no escaping it: 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;
when wrath is gone forth from the Lord, there is no stopping it; and where it takes place it will remain, there is no getting rid of it; it makes an utter desolation of goods and estates, and entirely destroys both body and soul in hell: there seems to be an allusion to the plague of the leprosy, ( Leviticus 14:45 ) . So the son of Sirach says,

``a man that swears much shall be full of iniquity, and the plague shall not depart from his house:''

and again,

``if a man swears in vain, he shall not be innocent or justified, for his house shall be full of calamities ^F25.''

So the oracle in Herodotus ^F26, which Grotius has observed, makes an utter destruction of a man's house and family, to be the punishment of the sin of perjury. Moreover, by the house of the thief and swearer may be meant the temple, as in the times of Christ, which was become a den of thieves and perjurers, and for their sins, became desolate, ( Matthew 21:13 ) ( 23:38 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 11.
F26 Erato, sive l. 6. c. 86.

Zechariah 5:4 In-Context

2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide."

3 He said to me, "This is the curse going out across all the land. Anyone stealing will be purged according to what's on one side of the scroll, and anyone swearing lies will be purged according to what's on the other side.

4 I sent it out, says the LORD of heavenly forces. It will come to the house of the thief and the one swearing lies in my name. It will lodge in their house and destroy the wood and stones of that house."

5 Then the messenger speaking with me came forward and said, "Look up and see what's approaching."

6 I said, "What's this?" He said, "This is the basket that is going out. This is how it appears throughout the entire land."