Zechariah 5:3

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. THIS IS THE CURSE THAT GOETH FORTH OVER THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH. To those who will not repent of their sins, Christ, at His second advent, shall come, and smite them with a curse (Malachi 4:6). The Gentiles are amenable to the curse of the law, as they have its substance, so far as they have not seared and corrupted conscience, "written on their hearts" (Romans 2:15). The word for "earth" may be translated 'land'-namely, 'over the face of the whole land of Judea.' But the curse on the transgressors, though falling...

The angel then says, that it was _the curse _which _went forth _(55) _over the face of the whole land_. We must remember what I have just said, that God’s judgment is here set forth before the Jews, that they might know how justly both their fathers and themselves have been with so much severity chastised by God, inasmuch as they had procured for themselves such punishments by their sins. From the saying of the angel, that the roll went _through the whole land_, we learn, that not only a few were guilty, or that some corner of the land only had been polluted, but that the wrath of God raged everywhere, as no part of the land was pure or free from wickedness. As then Judea was full of pollutions, it was no wonder that the Lord poured forth his wrath and overwhelmed, as it were with a deluge, the whole land. It afterwards follows, _for every thief_, or every one that steals, shall on this...

1-4 The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are rolls, in which God has written the great things of his law and gospel; they are flying rolls. God's word runs very swiftly, Psalms 147:15. This flying roll contains a declaration of the righteous wrath of God against sinners. Oh that we saw with an eye of faith the flying roll of God's curse hanging over the guilty world as a thick cloud, not only keeping off the sunbeams of God's favour, but big with thunders, lightnings, and storms, ready to destroy them! How welcome then would the tidings of a Saviour be, who came to redeem us from the curse of the law, being himself made a curse for us! Sin is the ruin of houses and families; especially the doing hurt to others and false witness. Who knows the power of God's anger? God's curse cannot be kept out by bars or locks. While one part of the curse of God ruins the substance of the sinner...

Verse Zechariah 5:3. _EVERY ONE THAT STEALETH - AND EVERY ONE THAT SWEARETH_] It seems that the roll was written both on the front and back: _stealing_ and _swearing_ are supposed to be two general heads of crimes; the former, comprising sins against men; the latter, sins against God. It is supposed that the roll contained the sins and punishments of the Chaldeans....

OVER THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH - primarily land, since the perjured persons, upon whom the curse was to fall Zechariah 5:4, were those who swore falsely by the name of God: and this was in Judah only. The reference to the two tables of the law also confines it primarily to those who were under the law. Yet, since the moral law abides under the Gospel, ultimately these visions related to the Christian Church, which was to be spread over the whole earth. The roll apparently was shown, as written on both sides; the commandments of the first table, in which perjury is forbidden, on the one side; those relating to the love of our neighbor, in which stealing is forbidden, on the other. Theodoret: “He calleth curse that vengeance, which goeth through the whole world, and is brought upon the workers of iniquity. But hereby both prophets and people were taught, that th

EXPOSITION ZECHARIAH 5:1 § 8. _The sixth vision: the flying roll._ ZECHARIAH 5:1 THEN I TURNED, AND LIFTED UP MINE EYES; _i.e. _I lifted up mine eyes again, and saw the vision that follows. The prophet had seen, in the fourth vision, how in the new theocracy the priesthood should be pure and holy; in the fifth how the Church should be restored; he is now shown that sinners should be cut off, that no transgression should be left in the kingdom of God. A FLYING ROLL; _volumen volans _(Vulgate): comp. Ezekiel 2:9, Ezekiel 2:10

THEN SAID HE UNTO ME, THIS [IS] THE CURSE,.... So the law of Moses is called, because it has curses written in it, Deuteronomy 27:15 which curse is not causeless, but is according to law and justice; it is from the Lord, and is no other than the wrath of the Almighty; and, wherever it lights, it will remain and continue for ever. Vitringa, on Isaiah 24:6 says, this is the curse which Isaiah there prophesies of, which had its accomplishment in the times of Antiochus; but there the prophet is speaking, not of the land of Judea, but of the antichristian states. THAT GOETH FORTH OVER THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH: over the whole land of Judea, and the inhabitants of it, for their breach of the law, contempt of the Gospel, and the rejection of the Messiah; and which had its a

EARTH Literally, land, that is, Palestine....

CHAPTER 5 _ 1. The sixth vision (Zechariah 5:1) _ 2. The seventh vision (Zechariah 5:5) Zechariah 5:1. The three remaining night visions are of a different character. The first visions the prophet had were visions of comfort for Jerusalem and the dispersed nation, the overthrow of Babylon and all their enemies, divine forgiveness and the theocracy restored. Now follow the last three visions, and these are visions of judgment. Judgment precedes Israel's restoration, and is very prominently connected with it. The sixth night vision is the one of the flying roll. The prophet's eyes seem to have been closed after the fifth vision, for we read, “And I lifted up my eyes again.” The flying ro

A FLYING, _I.E._ UBIQUITOUS ROLL CONTAINING AN EFFECTUAL CURSE AGAINST THIEVES AND PERJURERS. In ZECHARIAH 5:3_ b_ RV does violence to the Heb. Wellhausen with a slight emendation reads: for everyone that stealeth hath for a long time past been held guiltless, and everyone that sweareth falsely hath for a long time past been held guiltless. Zechariah here answers the complaint that, while the righteous suffer, sin is not punished, and affirms that henceforth the Lord's curse will show itself active against all thieves and perjurers. [For the power of self-fulfilment inherent in a curse see Genesis 9:25 *. A. S. P.]...