God’s Word for You

Zechariah 5:5-6 Sin can be removed

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, July 14, 2022

The Seventh Vision

5 Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Lift up your eyes and see what this is that is going forth.” 6 Then I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the ephah that is going forth.” And he added, “This is their guilt in all the land.”

Once again we have a measurement to identify. An ephah was a dry measurement just about equivalent to a bushel, about the size of a laundry basket. Laundry baskets come in different sizes, of course, but the precise amount in an ephah is not as exactly known as the nice, neat chart in the back of your Bible may suggest. It was around five gallons, but some ancient containers (broken and partially destroyed) seem to be more like six all the way up to about ten gallons. In this vision, the precise amount is not the essential point. What is being emphasized is that there was a measurable amount of sin, and God has measured it. Now, all of that guilt was going forth; being sent away.

Putting all of the guilt into a basket suggests something amazing. If it would all go into a basket, then perhaps all of that sin could be picked up and taken somewhere else. This isn’t just an idea based on the basket, but on the text which says, “this is the ephah that is going forth.” It was there in the vision in this form precisely to show that it could be picked up and carried off somewhere.

So this is a meaning we must understand fully: Guilt can be removed. This is what is done in baptism: Baptism removes the guilt of our sin (in an infant, mostly original sin), even though concupiscence or sinful desire remains. The Roman Catholic term for this desire is the “material element” of sin, but the different terms do not affect the theology. St. Augustine explains: “Sin is forgiven in baptism, not that it no longer is, but that it is not imputed.” So sin and the desire to sin remain, but this is not imputed as guilt. We need to recognize that this desire or concupiscence is not a penalty God imposes on us, but the desire itself is a sin. Paul says: “I would not have known what it is to lust if the law had not said, ‘Do not lust’” (Romans 7:7). And then, “I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23). Paul’s inspired words would be enough, but we also have the evidence of our own lives, for what baptized Christian is there on earth who has not coveted, lusted, fibbed, hated, and sinned in a hundred ways in any given day? Our confession says: “No quibbling can overthrow these proofs (from Romans 7). For they clearly call lust sin, by nature worthy of death if it is not forgiven, though it is not imputed to those who are in Christ. This is undoubtedly what the Fathers believe” (Apology II:40). In another place, St. Augustine also argues against and refutes the opinion that human lust is not a fault but a neutral thing like skin color or ill health, as many believed in his time. If every inclination of man’s heart is always neutral, then why would God himself say that every inclination of man’s heart is “only evil all the time” (Genesis 6:5)?

In this verse, we see a vitally important point, an idea which is expressed in other places and which is crucial to our understanding of our salvation: The guilt of our sin can be removed. While our passage here does not say how this is possible, simply expressing that it can be done is a revelation to man. Without the revealed Word of God, the Bible, we would not have known this, and we would still be under the burden of our sins and condemned even in our own eyes.

I have just found out that yesterday was something called “Prime Day” with the online merchant, Amazon. It’s a kind of discount day, what we used to call a “sale.” I missed it, and there was a rather expensive book I was hoping to buy, but I missed the opportunity. Our salvation doesn’t work that way. It isn’t as if most of us have it, and then there’s a special day once in a while where it’s available to others, or else it’s too expensive for you. Salvation is free and available throughout your lifetime. Our salvation was won by Jesus on the cross. We have described his active and passive obedience many times. According to his active obedience, he obeyed the Law completely, without any omission, and without any sin. According to his passive obedience, he was crucified innocently to pay the penalty for the guilt of our sins. This was how our sin could be removed and how it was in fact removed. “God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). This is God saying, “I release you from your chains” (Jeremiah 40:4) to us all, through Christ. Praise God for his love given to us through Jesus. That sin could be removed is marvelous. That it was removed means eternal life.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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