Zechariah 5:2 Commentary and Bible Study

Again, Zechariah is asked to report what he sees in the vision, and his answer becomes the record of the vision. He sees a giant flying scroll 20 cubits by 10 cubits, and the meaning becomes apparent from those measurements. This flying scroll is the same dimensions as the porch of the house of God (1 Kings 6:3), from where, Moore says, the law was usually read. It is about holiness, God's holiness, which cannot be violated without judgment; God's law was contained there in the temple, in the holy of holies. The temple taught that you cannot approach Almighty God without atonement, without forgiveness, for he is holy. Scrolls were made of leather or of parchment and were rolled up to be stored, but this one is not rolled up but open and flying, and it is massive. Zechariah intuitively knows its measurements. Books and scrolls are for reading, and the fact that this scroll is unrolled indicates that it is ready to be read, and therefore what is written on it is about to be put into effect. It is a flying scroll because what is written on it is to be implemented rapidly and in far flung regions of the earth. It is so large because so much was written on it; it details the judgments of God in response to the breaking of his law throughout the whole world. But this is not a full and final judgment, for that will only come at the end of the world. It is a token judgment that comes as God governs a fallen world, but does not yet bring it to an end. We learn that God's judgments are measured while on earth.