Summary of Zechariah 5:5-11
In Zechariah’s 7th vision, he sees a woman in a basket who represents all of the sins and evils of the world. Then two women with wings appeared who lifted up the basket to take it to Babylon, where it will sit in a house.
BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 19 Day 3: Zechariah 5:5-11
6) The woman “Wickedness” is sealed in a basket and flown to “Shinar” (Babylon), the original site of rebellion (Genesis 11) and future symbol of worldly corruption (Revelation 17). This symbolizes God permanently deporting idolatry back to its pagan source, ensuring true worship is restored in Jerusalem by physically separating evil from His people.
7a) It encouraged them by visualizing that their struggle against sin wasn’t futile. God showed He was actively removing the “principle” of wickedness from their midst. By sending evil back to Babylon (Shinar), God assured them that their new community wouldn’t be corrupted like the past, but would be a holy sanctuary.
b) It’s comforting to know sin will one day end. Knowing that sin and suffering are “light and momentary” compared to the “eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4) allows us not to lose heart as we waste away. We have the confident hope of a future Holy City where nothing or no one unclean enters (Rev 21), assuring us that evil’s days are numbered and purity will win.
8a) This vision is pretty easy to understand, as you can imagine the sins of the world being taken away by God. Many people are visual, and pictures can be easier to understand for His people.
b) I pray more. I listen for answers. I study more. I rely on faith to help me know that one day, if it’s in God’s will, I will understand it.
Conclusions BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 19, Day 3: Zechariah 5:5-11
Great message of hope here! We all need to keep in mind that one day sin will be no more and be encouraged when we fail that God has got us in His hands!
End Notes BSF Study Questions Exile & Return: A Time to Build Lesson 19, Day 3: Zechariah 5:5-11
Here’s we see how God removes sin from the land.
The basket was an ephah, and it symbolized commerce.
The woman represented all of evil. A woman was used because the Hebrew word for a woman is feminine.
Wings like a stork emphasize that they were large.
Evil began in Babylon (as we see in the Tower of Babel and as it represents here). So, it would be banished there forever.
END NOTES SUMMARIZED
Zechariah 5:5-11 (The Vision of the Woman in the Basket) is a dramatic scene illustrating the removal of wickedness.
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The Container: Zechariah sees an “ephah” (a large measuring basket, about the size of a bushel). This likely represents commerce and the economy, but more broadly, it symbolizes the “measure” of the people’s iniquity being full.
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The Woman: Inside the basket sits a woman identified as “Wickedness” (or Iniquity personified). She tries to rise, but the angel thrusts her back down and seals the basket with a heavy lead lid. This shows that sin is active and dangerous but is being actively restrained by God.
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The Removal: Two winged women (with wings like a stork) lift the basket and fly it away to “the land of Shinar” (Babylon).
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The Destination: Shinar is the archetypal place of rebellion against God (Tower of Babel). The vision signifies that wickedness is being returned to its “home base.”
Conclusion
God is purifying His people by exporting sin. While the previous vision (the scroll) dealt with individual sinners, this vision deals with the principle of sin itself. God is not just managing evil; He is removing it completely from the community, sending idolatry and corruption back to Babylon where it belongs, so His people can be holy.
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