He asked me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.” – Zechariah 5:2

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 20, 2014): Zechariah 5

Aboriginal Elder Elsie Yanik recently commented during a convocation speech that at 97 years of age, the one thing you notice is that everything becomes familiar – there just are not that many things have the ability to surprise anymore. As we grow older, we become familiar with even the strangeness of life. Having said that, this passage is strange. And I am willing to bet that even Elder Yanik has probably never seen a large flying scrolls.

Scholars have struggled a bit with regard to the meaning of the scrolls. There is no doubt about what the message of the scrolls. Judgment is on its way for the nation of Judah and those who refused to follow the directives of God were going to find themselves removed from the nation that God claimed for his own. But why this message came in the form of large flying scrolls is a bit of a mystery.

Following Elder Yanik’s feelings about what is strange in life, some have argued that there is nothing special about large scrolls. Many ancient cultures have gathered their wisdom in mammoth scrolls, so a story about large scrolls would have been very familiar to hearers of the vision (although we have to admit that the flying part is something new.) Others have argued that there is something significant about the size of the scroll – the measurements given for the scroll make it very close to the size of the Holy of Holies in the temple. But these scholars have resisted the temptation to argue that the flying scrolls have any meaning other than a way to attract the attention of Zechariah.

Admittedly, a flying scroll would be a great way to get someone’s attention, but I wonder if we aren’t making a mistake by ignoring the flying scrolls. So let me argue that there is meaning in the scrolls beyond just getting Zechariah’s attention. Solomon’s temple had been destroyed and for a time Judah existed without a temple. The significance is that the Temple, and especially the Holy of Holies, was supposed to be the place where God resided on the earth. The question that the exiles had asked all through the Babylonian Captivity was where is God? And if God is no more, if God has no place to reside on the earth, then does God’s law still apply to his people.  By the time of Zechariah, Zerubbabel’s temple had been built or at least was nearing completion. But the truth was that God did not need the Holy of Holies to minister in this world. The law was never dependent on the existence of the Temple. In fact, the law actually predates not only Solomon’s Temple, but the tabernacle that existed before Solomon.

Enter the flying scroll that just happens to be the size of the Holy of Holies. And on the scrolls apparently were written the laws of Moses. And the message seems to be clear. God’s law does not require a temple to be valid. And a Holy of Holies sized flying scroll gets that across well. But we might be able to go even another step forward. The time was coming when the word of God would be made to live in the form of a man. And in that day, the Messiah would forever replace the need for a temple – and a Holy of Holies.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Zechariah 6