Scripture
Zechariah 5:5-11 (ESV)
Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity in all the land.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.
AI Prompt
An image in the style of German Expressionism, showing a top-down view of a large, plain-surfaced ephah, an ancient grain measuring container. Inside the ephah, place a sinister-looking woman, symbolizing 'Wickedness' from the Book of Zechariah. The ephah is being flown away by two feminine angelic figures with wings. The image should have the dramatic and intense characteristics of German Expressionism, with exaggerated forms and stark contrasts, emphasizing the ominous presence of the woman inside the ephah, set against an ancient biblical backdrop.
Devotional Reflection
The common theme running through all of Zechariah's "Night Visions" is that the Lord is at work to restore, cleanse, and establish a people for himself. The Lord knows all too well the sinful and rebellious tendencies of his people. Now, even having brought them back from their exile in Babylon, the Lord knows that, left to their own devices, they will slide right back into the same corruption, sin, and idolatry for which he brought judgment on them in the first place. These visions are each proclamations that the Lord himself will be the one to remove the wickedness from his people so that they will be preserved in holiness and righteousness. Our Lord, Jesus Christ has done all of this. And today, Christ continues to intervene for his people--to cleanse them and prepare them. He comes to his people with his promise of grace in the waters of baptism, in the word of absolution, in the preaching of the gospel, and in the gift of his body and blood in the Lord's Supper. In all these ways, Christ comes to his people to remove their wickedness and take it far away so that his cleansed and holy people can live with him forever in his kingdom.