CHAPTER 5
(519 B.C.)
THE FLYING ROLL
1Then I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. (This signifies a new Vision. The roll was actually a scroll. Inasmuch as this roll was flying, it denotes the speedy arrival of Judgment, which will characterize the coming Great Tribulation, with which this Vision is concerned.)
2And He said unto me, What do you see? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. (This flying roll was thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.)
THIS IS THE CURSE
3Then said He unto me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole Earth: for everyone who steals shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and everyone who swears shall be cut off as on that side according to it. (The first phrase refers to the curse of the Law, which pronounced death upon Lawbreakers. This is its function, hence the word curse, which means sentence of death [Rom. 5:12; Gal. 3:10]. Inasmuch as it covered the whole Earth, escape was impossible. The last three words of this Scripture, according to it, mean that the word of the roll was to be the judge, not mans religious opinions.
The two sins of stealing and swearing stand for all offenses against the Ten Commandments, which form the core of the moral law.)
4I will bring it forth, says the LORD of Hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears 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. (This Passage basically speaks of the coming Great Tribulation, when the Wrath of God will be poured out on a world that has forgotten God days without number. And it shall enter into the house of the thief..., simply has reference to the entirety of the world answering to God in a collective, yet personal, way.
And into the house of him who swears falsely by My Name, speaks of all the false religions of the world, especially the part of Christianity which is apostate. The phrase, And it shall remain in the midst of his house, refers to the evil of the Antichrist, and his sudden and cataclysmic defeat in the Battle of Armageddon by the Coming of the Lord, which will finish him and all such evil.
And shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof, refers to Christ bringing Judgment on the entirety of the world and all that man has built, with the Times of the Gentiles being brought to a sudden and cataclysmic end. This pictures the Stone coming from Heaven and smashing the feet of the statue, as seen by Nebuchadnezzar and interpreted by Daniel [Dan. 2:34-35].)
THE VISION OF AN EPHAH
5Then the Angel Who talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now your eyes, and see what is this that goes forth.
6And I said, What is it? And He said, This is an ephah that goes forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the Earth. (The ephah is a dry measure containing about six gallons. Six is the number of man, therefore, of imperfection and incompleteness; this tells us, consequently, that all idolatrous systems are similar. In fact, this addresses Rev. 17:7.
He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the Earth, has reference to all the religions of the world. Irrespective of what they look like or proclaim, if they are not according to the Bible, they are evil and wicked. They all have the same father, Satan.
The word resemblance actually means their eye, i.e., their evil purpose, that is, the aim to corrupt everything, which religion does!)
7And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman who sits in the midst of the ephah. (This woman is used figuratively in an evil sense; she represents wickedness, fallacy, uncleanness, and unfaithfulness. She represents all false religion [Ezek. 16:15, 22, 26, 28-59; 23:1-49; 36:17; Hos. 1:2; 2:2-17; 3:1; Rev., Chpt. 17].)
8And 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. (And He said, This is wickedness, plainly tells us what all of this represents. It is the culmination of all evil headed up under the Antichrist in the coming Great Tribulation. It is marked by all the false religions of the world, which represent mans rebellion against God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And He cast it into the midst of the ephah, refers to the woman attempting to get out, with the Angel casting the lid of lead back onto the ephah and closing its mouth. All of this proclaims the efforts of the Antichrist in the coming Great Tribulation to take over the world, to do so by declaring himself to be God, and then to declare total war on Israel, hoping to abrogate all the many Prophecies of her Restoration and the setting up the Kingdom Age under Christ. He would succeed but for the Coming of the Lord, evidenced by the casting of the weight of lead on the mouth thereof, which speaks of the Antichrist being totally defeated, with Satan locked away [Rev. 20:1-3].)
9Then lifted I up my 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. (The two women here represent evil; in fact, they portray the false prophet and the Antichrist. And the wind was in their wings, has to do with the speed of the Antichrist and his coming march of world conquest [Rev. 13:2]. For they had wings like the wings of a stork, makes reference to an unclean bird [Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18]. This symbolizes what Daniel saw, as well [Dan. 7:6]. The phrase, And they lifted up the ephah between the Earth and the heaven, represents the coming bold thrust of the Antichrist in his efforts to take over the entirety of the world.
The ephah being between the Earth and the heaven symbolizes that the Antichrists efforts are as much religious as they are military and political.)
10Then said I to the Angel Who talked with me, Where do these bear the ephah? (Even though the efforts of the Antichrist will be to take over the entirety of the world, still, his beginning thrusts will be from the Middle East; consequently, this Passage tells us where the foment of this coming time will begin, hence all the problems in the Middle East at present, which will not get better but will rather worsen.)
11And 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. (Shinar is Babylon. This re-built city, whether a system or the city proper, and no doubt both, will be the center and headquarters of the commercial enterprises and religious activity of the Antichrist. In other words, it all began there, and it all will end there. The excursion of the United States into Iraq has great significance, in that all of this is being prepared for the fulfillment of Bible Prophecy concerning Endtime events. This should tell us how close we are to the Coming of the Lord.
And it shall be established, and set there upon her own base, specifies this area as the headquarters of the Antichrist. As to exactly how the Lord will bring this about, we arent told. However, it is possible that the United States might overcome Muslim terrorism in Iraq, with the area then becoming a great commercial center. In fact, Iraq has one of the greatest deposits of oil in the world, which will undoubtedly help fuel the economic enterprises of the Antichrist, when that time does come.)