Page 54 - BV17

54 The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

Then Zechariah was commanded to lift up his eyes, and upon doing so he saw an ephah (a
measure that was covered with a circular lid of lead) going forth, of which the angel said, “This is
their resemblance through all the earth” (5:6). Here is a key to understanding this subject. For the
ephah, or corn measure, has almost the same identical significance as the balance (scales) in the
hand of the rider of the black horse. And the words “this is their resemblance through all the earth”
prophesy the very same thing concerning Israel as the words of Hosea, “He is a merchant” of
YEHOVAH’s truth.

Following this the angel said to Zechariah, “This is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the
ephah” (a woman is the symbol of a church or congregation in the Bible), and he qualified this by
saying, “This is wickedness.” Clearly, then, what we are seeing here is a FALSE CHURCH. Fol-
lowing this there came out two women having the wings of a stork. The wind filled their wings and
they carried forth the ephah. At this Zechariah asked, “whither do these bear the ephah?” The angel
replied, “To build a house in the land of Shinar (that is, BABYLON), and it shall be established, and
set there upon her own base” (verses 7-11). So this false church or religion is transported, in the vi-
sion, to Babylon.

Shinar is, of course, the mystical city Babylon of Revelation 18, “that great city” in which
the ultimate development of false religion is seen -- and which is to be overthrown by Yeshua the
Messiah and YEHOVAH God at their coming. This house is not placed on YEHOVAH’s enduring
foundation of truth but is, as the angel said, “upon her own base” of falsehood and deceit. As a re-
sult, its overthrow will be complete in the day when the word shall go forth, “Babylon is fallen, is
fallen,” and heaven will ring with the praise of the angels.

“Bread By Weight”

In the English Version of the Old Testament issued by the Jewish Publication Society of
America, the word “ephah” in Zechariah 5 is rendered “measure” -- (”This is the measure that goeth
forth”), which brings this vision still closer to that of John’s, who heard a voice in the midst of the
four cherubim say, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny”
(Revelation 6:6). Let us now consider the significance of the words uttered by that voice.

In the Bible the term “bread” can figuratively be both good and bad. In Proverbs 4:14-17 we
read:

Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not
travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done
evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread
of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

In a verse that can apply equally as well to the gospel, we read: “Bread gained by falsehood
[deceit] is pleasurable to a man, but afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel” (Proverbs
20:17).

Isaiah 55:2 shows that YEHOVAH’s spiritual provisions are far more important than mate-
rial things by stating: “Why do you people keep paying out money for what is not bread [false reli-

The Berean Voice September-October 2002