Zechariah 5:1-41Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. 2And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. 3Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. 4I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof. (Zechariah 5:1‑4)
The prophet sees a flying roll. The roll was that on which the Jews of old inscribed their writing, and was made of the skin of animals, or of papyrus.
Its size was great—twenty cubits by ten cubits, that is, the same dimensions as the porch of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 6:33And the porch before the temple of the house, twenty cubits was the length thereof, according to the breadth of the house; and ten cubits was the breadth thereof before the house. (1 Kings 6:3)). There may be some connection between the two, probably an indication that judgment would go forth (flying roll) according to the holiness of God's house.
The prophet is told that this represented the curse that goeth forth into all the earth. Other translations give land for “earth”; the land referring to Palestine, and the context bears this out.
Stealing and swearing are the two sins recorded on the roll—stealing, a sin against one's fellow-man (though all sin is against God); and swearing, a sin exclusively against God. Doubtless these two sins are representative of all sins. In murder, life is stolen; in lying, truth is stolen; in adultery, chastity is stolen, whilst swearing would cover all deliquencies Godward.
God's judgment upon sin is then seen in the flying roll; that is, the curse of God enters the house of the sinner till it is consumed.
Doubtless this vision has reference to the Lord acting in judgment, clearing the land of all defilement, prior to His setting up His kingdom.