²⁶ “And no more will there be any curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his slaves will render him sacred service; and they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. Also, night will be no more, and they have no need of lamplight nor do they have sunlight, because Jehovah God will shed light upon them, and they will rule as kings forever and ever.”

WICKEDNESS REMOVED TO BABYLON

27. (a) In the seventh vision, what did Zechariah see going forth? (b) What question is raised regarding “their aspect in all the earth”?

²⁷ Since there is to be no curse from God, there is to be no wickedness any longer. That wickedness was to be permitted no longer in and on the property that belongs to the divine Creator, the seventh vision to the prophet Zechariah indicates with interesting symbols. Let us fix our mental eyes on the word picture that Zechariah draws for us: “Then the angel who was speaking with me went forth and said to me: ‘Raise your eyes, please, and see what this is that is going forth.’ So I said: ‘What is it?’ In turn he said: ‘This is the ephah measure that is going forth.’ And he went on to say: ‘This is their aspect in all the earth.’” (Zechariah 5:5, 6) According to the language used by the angel, that is to say, the Hebrew, the expression “their aspect” is literally “their eye.” Similarly to here, in Numbers 11:7 “its eye” (that is, of the newly found manna) is translated as “its look.” However, in the Greek Septuagint Version of Zechariah 5:6 it reads differently: “This is the unrighteousness of them in all the earth.” Will the “aspect” or “look” of them all be unrighteous?

28. What does the fact that the container was a definite measure of volume indicate as regards those “in all the earth”?

²⁸ Well, we shall have to see what is inside that flying ephah measure, which, we are to find, has a leaden lid upon it. An ephah contained more than half a bushel (.62 bushel), or twenty-two liters. Since it measures off what is contained in it, it appears to say that it measures off or takes the measure of what is inside the symbolic ephah and thereby presents the “aspect” or “look” of all those in the land or earth. Is it unrighteous, as the rendering of the Greek Septuagint Version suggests?

29. What was exposed as being inside the ephah, and what was the name given thereto?

²⁹ “And, look!” says Zechariah, “the circular lid of lead was lifted up; and this is a certain woman sitting in the midst of the ephah. So he said: ‘This is Wickedness.’ And he proceeded to throw her back into the midst of the ephah, after which he threw the lead weight upon its mouth.”​—Zechariah 5:7, 8.

30. (a) So what did the “woman” inside picture, and her being confined in the ephah suggest? (b) Did the container’s being an ephah used in commercial affairs limit the kind of wickedness symbolized, but in any case where did it belong?

³⁰ So the wickedness of all the inhabitants of the land is symbolized by a woman. But now this “wickedness” has been confined like the woman inside the ephah measure. It itself has been measured off, and the time for its permission in the land has also been measured off by the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. And to keep it confined, a heavy circular lid of lead has been put upon the ephah measure’s mouth. The ephah in being a measure used in trading might suggest something commercial and, correspondingly, contain commercial wickedness, bad business dealings. But not necessarily so! A measure can be taken also of all fields of human relations and activities, and that appears to be how “wickedness” as symbolized here should be viewed. Wickedness of whatever kind has no place anywhere in the land or spiritual estate of Jehovah’s dedicated people. It should be put in a container and shipped out, in full measure, to where it belongs. It should not be permitted to stay.

31. What did Zechariah see next happen to the ephah measure?

³¹ Such a removal and transfer of “wickedness” is just what this seventh vision to Zechariah portrays. We can rejoice with him as he tells us: “Then I raised my eyes and saw, and here there were two women coming forth, and wind was in their wings. And they had wings like the wings of the stork. And they gradually raised the ephah up between the earth and the heavens. So I said to the angel who was speaking with me: ‘Where are they taking the ephah?’”​—Zechariah 5:9, 10.

32. How are these two women set in contrast with the woman inside the ephah, and what does having the wind in their wings suggest?

³² Two symbolic women are used to transport the confined “wickedness” away posthaste as if by airfreight of modern times. This is a good use of symbolisms. This womankind is used not just to symbolize wickedness; wickedness is not confined to women, but they too can be virtuous and useful in Jehovah’s service. And here in this vision they are used to symbolize agents employed by the Sovereign Lord God, who hates wickedness. Like Him, these two symbolic women hate wickedness and are glad to be used by him to rid the land of it. So here we have a nice balance in the use of women as symbols. And since “wind was in their wings,” it shows they had heavenly help to make speedy riddance of wickedness.

33. What features about the stork made it appropriate for these two symbolic women to have stork wings in this connection?

³³ We observe that their wings are the “wings of the stork.” How appropriate such kind of wings for these two symbolic women, for the Hebrew word for “stork” (hha·si·dahʹ) is evidently derived from the Hebrew word (hheʹsed) that means “loving-kindness” and “loyalty,” qualities that mark womankind. The stork is known to be markedly tender toward its brood of young and also loyal to its mate throughout life. But, of course, there is to be no tenderness in the treatment of “wickedness.” Storks being migratory birds and having an instinctive awareness of the times for their migration, these two symbolic women with stork wings would know Jehovah’s appointed time for the removal of “wickedness.” (Jeremiah 8:7) Since storks have a wingspread of up to seven feet (2.1 meters), they can fly high and also lift heavy loads. With stork wings the two symbolic women should be able to lift and carry off the heavy load of “wickedness.” (Job 39:13; Psalm 104:17) With Zechariah we ask: “Where are they taking the ephah?”

34. Where did the angel say that the winged women were taking the loaded ephah?

³⁴ The angel who was speaking with Zechariah tells us: “In turn he said to me: ‘In order to build for her a house in the land of Shinar; and it must be firmly established, and she must be deposited there upon her proper place.’”​—Zechariah 5:11.

35. What about the “land of Shinar” made it the fitting location to which to transport “wickedness” and house it on its “proper place”?

³⁵ Why was the depositing of “wickedness” in the “land of Shinar” a putting of it in its own “proper place”? Because it was there, even in the prophet Zechariah’s day, that the city of Babylon was located. It was there that Babylon was founded by Nimrod, the “mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” It was there, with the city of Babylon as its center, that wicked rebellion against the Sovereign Lord Jehovah was organized. There too organized false religion was founded, so that the city of Babylon came to be the world center of false religion. It became the seat for “Babylon the Great,” the world empire of false religion, which religious empire persists to this day. (Genesis 10:8-10; 11:1-9; Revelation 14:8; 17:1-18) So, then, in the “land of Shinar,” symbolizing the location of rebellion against the universal sovereignty of Jehovah God and also the location of false Babylonish religion, there is where “wickedness” should be settled and kept, as in a house firmly established upon its “proper place” as a base.

36. With the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem, the God-given land of Jehovah’s chosen people was not a proper place for what, even as indicated by Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16?

³⁶ The God-given land of Jehovah’s chosen people was, indeed, no place for wickedness of any kind, whether idolatry, stealing, crooked commercial dealings, the swearing of oaths falsely in God’s name, or any other wicked thing. This should be the case especially with the rebuilding of Jehovah’s temple in Jerusalem for his pure, undefiled, whole-souled worship. As the Christian apostle Paul wrote to the congregation in the pagan city of Corinth: “What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have? Or what sharing does light have with darkness? Further, what harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what portion does a faithful person have with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s temple have with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16) None whatsoever! As regards anyone practicing what is wrong within the congregation of Jehovah’s dedicated, baptized people, Paul says: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”​—1 Corinthians 5:13.

37. In this “time of the end,” what should be done with “wickedness” as respects the God-given spiritual estate of Jehovah’s worshipers?

³⁷ During this “time of the end,” during this “conclusion of the system of things,” let wickedness of all kinds be removed from the God-given spiritual estate of Jehovah’s worshipers. Let it be kept out and confined to the realm of Babylon the Great and her political, military and commercial patrons. There let it stay fixed, as if residing in a firmly established house. We want no fellowship and association with this symbolic woman Wickedness. Leave her to her destruction along with Babylon the Great and all rebels against Jehovah’s universal sovereignty “in the land of Shinar.”

38. So since the beginning of the building of pure worship at Jehovah’s temple in 1919 C.E., what removal has been in progress, and how did Jesus foretell such a thing in his parable of the wheat and the weeds?

³⁸ Already since the restoring and rebuilding of Jehovah’s pure worship at his spiritual temple was begun in 1919 C.E., this removal of wickedness as if by the two stork-winged women has been in progress. It is just as Jesus Christ foretold for this “conclusion of the system of things,” saying: “The harvest is a conclusion of a system of things, and the reapers are angels. Therefore, just as the weeds are collected and burned with fire, so it will be in the conclusion of the system of things. The Son of man will send forth his angels, and they will collect out from his kingdom all things that cause stumbling and persons who are doing lawlessness, and they will pitch them into the fiery furnace. There is where their weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.” (Matthew 13:39-42) When Babylon the Great and her worldly paramours are destroyed as with fire in the approaching “great tribulation,” their weeping and gnashing of teeth will cease at their destruction.​—Matthew 24:21, 22; 25:41, 46.

39. What, then, is the course of loyalty for us to persist in, while taking to heart Psalm 145:20?

³⁹ All we who have left Babylon the Great and her worldly paramours in the Babylonish “land of Shinar” have no reason to go back to that “wickedness” that belongs in that place of its inception. Our course of loyalty to Jehovah as the Sovereign Lord and only true God is to persist in his pure, undefiled worship at his spiritual temple under his High Priest, Jesus Christ. We take to heart what his inspired psalmist has written: “Jehovah is guarding all those loving him, but all the wicked ones he will annihilate.”​—Psalm 145:20.

Chapter 13

Chariots of God Safeguard Coronation

1. Are the chariots seen in Zechariah’s eighth vision those brought up from Egypt?

CHARIOTS make their appearance in the eighth and final vision given to the prophet Zechariah. These chariots are not any brought up from Egypt for the protection of the temple builders at Jerusalem in that year of the vision, 519 B.C.E., or the second year of the reign of King Darius I of Persia. The higher source of these more powerful chariots is revealed in the vision. Let us watch with Zechariah as they dash on the scene:

2. From between what did the chariots come forth, how many were there, and by what kind of horses were they drawn?

² “Then I raised my eyes again and saw; and, look! there were four chariots coming forth from between two mountains, and the mountains were copper mountains. In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot, black horses. And in the third chariot there were white horses; and in the fourth chariot, horses speckled, parti-colored.”​—Zechariah 6:1-3.