The Pulpit Commentary — Zechariah — Section 59

Ye are cursed with the curse, even this whole nation" (Ma.I. iii. 8). This is the worst of all robberies. In fa.et, it embrnces all robberies, the applying to our own selfish purposes what belongs to God. (2) Perjwry and false swearing. Their sa.crilegious conduct nppenrs to have been sustained by false oaths, which increased the heinousness of their offence. 'l'he sins here noted are not mere specimens, but root or fountain sins. The "flying roll" of Divine retribution followed sin with its curses, There is a curse to every sin, and this is not vengeance, but benevolence. It is the arrangement of love. 2. The way in which juBt retribution pursues them. (1) Openly. The roll is spread open, and is written in characters that are legible to all. Divine retribution is no secret to man. It is not some intangible, hidden, occult thing. It is open to all eyes. Every ma.n must see the "flying roll," not only in the history of nations and commu- nities, but in his own domestic and individual life. The "flying roll" hovers over every sin. (2) Rapidly. Retribution is swift. It is a "flying roll." No sooner does a man commit a sin than he suffers in some form or other. 'fhe Nemesi8 is at the heels of the criminal. Retribution follows sins swifter than the sound of the swiftest thunder-pea.\ follows the lightning-flash. (3) Penetratingly. "I will bring it forth, sa.ith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the hquse of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my Name." Wherever the sinner is, it will find him out. No mountain so high, no cavern so deep,.no forest so intricate and shadowy, as to protect him from his visitation. "The flying roll" will reach the sinner everywhere. "There is no darkness or shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide them8elves." II. .As ABIDING WITH SIN. "It shall remain in the midst of his house." Not only does it rule the house of the sinner, "it remains in the midst of it," like a. leprosy, infecting, wasting, consuming, destroying. It is a curse that embitters every sweet, and gives more than twofold intensity to every bitter, It dooms to destruction the man and all his possessions. .And from this world it must accompany and follow him to another, and settle with him there for ever. "The special reference made to their houses, with the • stones thereof and the timber thereof,' forcibly points to the care which they had been taking of their own accommodation, in comfort and elegance, while Jehovah's was neglected" (Wardlaw). It abides in the house to curse every- thing, even the timber and the stones. Guilt, not only, like a ravenous beast, crouches at the door of the sinner, but rather, like a blasting mildew, spreads its baneful i11fl.11ence over the whole dwelling. .The sin of one member of a family brings its curse on the others. The sins of the parents bring a curse upon the children. "Between parents and children," says Jeremy Taylor, "there is so great a society of nature and of manners, of blessing and of cursing, that an evil parent cannot perish in a single death; and holy parents never eat their meal of blessing alone; but they make the room sh'ne like the fire of a holy sacrifice; and a father's or a mother's piety makes all the house festival, and full of joy from generation to generation." CoNoLUSION. Sinner, wouldst thou escape the tremendous curses which Heaven has written on this "flying roll," this book of Divine retribution? Then abandon a sinful life, exorcise the sinful temper, inhale the spirit of him who came to put away sin from humanity and to destroy the works of the devil.-D. T. Vers. 5-11.-.A materialistic community. "Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goetb forth. .And I said, What is it? .And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth," etc. Here is another (the seventh) vision in the wonderful series of visions which the prophet had that night. This is one of the strangest of the whole, one, perhaps, admitting of no certain interpretation-a " woman in the ephah." We know what au " ephah" was. It was the·greatest measure of capacity which the Hebrews had for dry goods, and was about the size of a cubic foot. It contained about an English bushel. The woman is generally.regarded, and with probable accuracy used, as the symbol of a Jewish com- munity-a commnnity that had become by this time most mercenary. Mammon was their god. The interpreting angel oaid, "This is wickedness. .Aud he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof." "Because it was wickedness or abhorrent worldliness that this woman symbolized, the angel threw her down in the midst of the ephab, and threw the weight of lead on the mouth of it" (Henderson). Utter mercenariness is an abhorrent object  'l'H:E l300'.K OF ZECHARIAlt. [01t. v. 1........11.