5 Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” 6 He said, “This is the ephah (measuring basket) that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” 7-8 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the ephah! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. 9-11 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.” Zechariah 5:5-11 English Standard Version

Having just seen a vision of a huge flying scroll proclaiming judgments against all who practised falsehood in any way, Zechariah then was shown a stranger vision of a measuring container (ephah) with a leaden cover. Measuring baskets in those days, such as one used to measure out grain, would've been far to small to contain a person inside, so the one he saw, like the scroll earlier, must have been unusually large. The angel then simply declared of the vision that 'This is wickedness.' What comes to your mind concerning such a vision?

Many people in our western world might say it's an example of men's negative and demeaning views of women. But that can't be true, because the vision goes on to speak of two women who carry wickedness to the land of Shinar. So the vision is not anti-women, but must have symbolic implications. Some suggest it might be because women can be seductive. The Old Testament tells of a foolish man who went into the wrong part of town “and a woman came to meet him, dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent, With persuasive words she led him astray; she seduced him with her smooth talk. All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter.” (Proverbs 7:10-21) Others have pointed out that the Hebrew word for wickedness is grammatically feminine.

Personally, the vision made me think of an Old Testament woman named Jezebel who married King Ahab, and led him and the nation of Israel into the worship of the pagan god Baal. The Bible says of them: “There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife. He behaved in the vilest manner by going after idols, like the Amorites the Lord drove out before Israel.” (1 Kings 21:25-26)

Whatever the right meaning might be, the vision showed Zechariah that God was removing wickedness from the land. The people who'd returned from a long exile were being called to holiness. The apostle Paul applied the same for Christians. He wrote: “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving . . . have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.” (Ephesians 5:3-12)

And so the ephah was taken to Shinar and placed on a base inside a house built for it. It's like a picture of a shrine, or a temple. Shinar was the region where the ancient city of Babylon was built. The same people went on to build the city of Nineveh in the land of the Assyrians. Both the Assyrians and Babylonians were well known for wickedness and idol worship. So it was fitting that the ephah should be settled there.

One last thought. In the book of Revelation we're told of a woman dressed in purple and scarlet “who had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries, who was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people who bore testimony to Jesus.” (Revelation 17:3-6) Once again, it isn’t a picture representing women, but a symbolic picture of nations and cities that rebel against God and persecute His people. And, just as Zechariah was shown, so God will remove all wickedness from the whole world at Christ's return. Are we preparing for that day?