Homilist Zechariah 5:1-4 Then I turned, and lifted up my eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.… I. AS FOLLOWING SIN. 1. The particular sins which retribution pursues. (1) Theft and sacrilege. (2) Perjury and false swearing.The sins here mentioned are not mere specimens, but root or fountain sins. The "flying roll" of Divine retribution followed sin with its curses. There is a curse to every sin, and this is not vengeance, but benevolence. It is the arrangement of love. 2. The way in which just retribution pursues them. (1) Openly. The roll is spread open, and is written in characters that are legible to all Divine retribution is no secret to man. It is not some intangible, hidden, occult thing. It is open to all eyes. Every man must see the "riving roll," not only in the history of nations and communities, but in his own domestic and individual life. The "flying roll" hovers over every sin. (2) Rapidly. Retribution is swift. It is a "flying roll." Retribution follows sins swifter than the sound of the swiftest thunder peal follows the lightning flash. (3) Penetratingly. "I 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." Wherever the sinner is, it will find him out. No mountain so high, no cavern so deep, no forest so intricate and shadowy as to protect him from His visitation. It serves to illustrate retribution. II. As ABIDING WITH SIN. "It shall remain in the midst of his house." Not only does it rule the house of the sinner, "it remains in the midst of it" like a leprosy, infecting, wasting, consuming, destroying. It abides in the house to curse everything, even the timber and the stones. Guilt, not only, like a ravenous beast, crouches at the door of the sinner, but rather, like a blasting mildew, spreads its baneful influence over the whole dwelling. The sin of one member of a family brings its curse on the others. The sins of the parents bring a curse upon the children. (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.WEB: Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. |
    |