Zechariah’s prophetic ministry took place in the postexilic period, the time of the Jewish restoration from Babylonian captivity. The book is apocalyptic. Zechariah shows behind the curtain to what is going on in the heavens. The conflicts on earth are a result of conflict in the heavens. Satan has access to Heaven but not for much longer. The conflicts on earth are an extension of the battle in the heavens. There are four elements in the passage – Shinar, the wicked woman, the stork and the basket (ephah).

1. Shinar

Shinar means “the tooth of the city”. See Daniel 1:2. Shinar is essentially greater Babylon. It refers to the region. Babylon was where false religion started and has always been synonymous with political and religious corruption. When Babylon fell it relocated to Paramus before moving on to Greece and then Rome. The Bible predicts there is a Babylon the Great to come which will be the footstool of the Antichrist.

2. The Wicked Woman

In the Bible the good women are examples of the bride of Christ while the evil women are known as seductresses. See Revelation 2:20-24. Jezebel was an evil woman who seduced all of the people of the nation to follow Baal. It is this seduction that  is spiritual adultery. It is adultery that is unfaithful to God. See James 4:4. The seductress drips honey but it is not the anointing of the Holy Spirit. The false teachers bring false religion. The tickle the ears of people with what they want to hear. The Word of God is described as like a two-edged sword. The false religions have a counterfeit to the Word of God. The Koran, Book of Mormon, etc. However, the Word of God is supreme. It is sharper than any two-edged sword. See Proverbs 6:23-29 and Proverbs 7:4-27. It is the young who are the main targets. They are the naïve ones. The young Christians or immature are easy to seduce. The mature have more sense and are much harder to seduce. The spiritual seduction is easier when it is dark. The world is getting darker and the seduction is increasing. The idea that a prostitute enjoys their job is a lie. They do it for the money. The wicked woman is false religion.

3. The Stork

See Revelation 28:2 and Leviticus 11:13-19. There was some birds that were used in the sacrificial system. The birds that were considered “clean” were ones that rested transitionally but the unclean birds nested in trees. The clean birds were non-predatory and plant eaters but the unclean birds were predatory and carnivorous. The vultures, ravens and eagles all prey on the dead or weak. They are pictures of the demonic. Yet God can use them like he used the ravens to feed Elijah. The stork was the biggest and most powerful bird in the Middle East. This wicked woman is demonically powered by the wings of this big unclean bird – a powerful demon.

4. The Basket

This is a food basket and big enough that a woman could fit into it! It has a lead cover which is an unclean metal in the Bible. (See Jeremiah 6:29 – God wants precious metal). There is a woman hiding in this basket (the wicked woman) but then it flies thanks to the powerful wings of the stork. The wicked woman is going to take the nation off to captivity in Babylon. How did the woman get into the basket? She gets into it through the food supply (grain). Like Thyatira in Revelation 2:18-29, the poison is in the food supply which is false doctrine. The false doctrine will hide but it is dangerous and will carry you off to Babylon before you know it! Beware! The bimbo is in the basket!

The Church in the Last Days will be seduced by false doctrine which requires false teachers. The bimbo has a two-edged sword and demonically energised to take people away from the faith. The stork knows where to fly to. Today it is a future Babylon the Great. If you understand, then you don’t have to go with her!

Categories: Zechariah