XXI. The Vision of the Mystic Woman
“Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah. And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.” Verses 5-8. In the interpretation of any parable, it is possible to be too exacting in delineating all the features of the picture. If we follow the clear interpretation, however, set down in the Scriptures, we are safe. We are told plainly, in this vision itself, that we have here a representation of wickedness. The ephah—or what we would now call a bushel measure, the largest dry measure among the Jewish people—the woman sitting in it, and the leaden cover shutting her in with a weight of guilt and condemnation,—this all is a picture of wickedness. And it has the same appearance everywhere; for the Word reads, “This is their resemblance [look, or appearance] through all the earth.” Throughout the Word a corrupt woman represents a corrupt church. Rev. 17:1-8. Lead, as a base metal, and a weighty one as well, represents sin. Eze. 22:18-22. The ephah, or measure, on God's side represents the full measure of the corruption. The woman filled the measure, and had to be crowded down, cast down, into it; and the cover of condemnation and guilt shut up the measure and filled it full. This would seem enough. It ought to be the end of it, and the judgment would await to render sentence and execution. But this wickedness is so arrant, so bold, that it is to be perpetuated and established and become a permanent institution. Just when we thought we had seen the end of sin, its measuring up to its full attainments, and the judgment of condemnation shutting it up when it had attained the fulness of the measure,—just then appears something that changes materially the future. This wickedness is to be perpetuated. It is to be established. “Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork; and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven. Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it a house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.” Verses 9-11. As we read the words “in the land of Shinar,” we are reminded at once of that other older rebellion that took place in the same locality, “in the land of Shinar.” Gen. 11:2. There men found a plain in those old days; and there, in rebellion and distrust of God, they built their tower in defiance of their Maker. That became historic Babylon. And now there is a new form of rebellion, and it is spiritual, or mystic Babylon. In the picture of the apostate woman as given in Rev. 17:5, the woman rode upon a beast representing the kingly power that made possible her existence and influence. In the vision of Zechariah there is also a power that uplifts and establishes her and makes the perpetuation possible. Two women with wings like those of a stork exalt, elevate the ephah, carry it to the land of rebellion, that there it may be established. By the representation of the seven heads and the ten horns we know that the vision of John refers the mystic Babylon to the Christian age. But the women with wings of a stork show that the vision of Zechariah applies this mystic Babylon to the time before that age. The ephah was lifted up between heaven and earth. The Babylonian idolatrous religion placed heaven or “ocean of heaven” at the top of the genealogical tree, calling it Nun, or Anun, or Anum. Then came Bel, lord of the air as his son, and Ea, or En-ki, lord of the earth as his grandson. And the ephah, tho derived from Egypt, was first of all derived from Babylon, where it had the name of pitu. The vision is plain enough. The corrupt church sat tranquil in her commercialism, denoted by the ephah. God dealt with her long and patiently; and when her iniquity had filled full the measure of divine forbearance, He pronounced condemnation. For seventy years now the light of truth from such of God's children as Daniel and his associates and their faithful descendants, had shone at Babylon. But men had refused the light. The weight of their sin or guilt, in short, their condemnation, rested upon them and shut them in. But they rose in rebellion above God's dealings with them, and made of their iniquity a system of religion, that men might still continue in evil and be devoid of conscience. Using the power of Babylonian idolatrous practises, and the rays of light that especially suited their purposes, they framed the institution that in various outward forms was to continue the same in spirit to the end of time. As the angel said, “It shall be established, and set there upon her own base.” But this is not forever. The beast is to be taken at last, and his body given to the burning flame. The woman will be made desolate, her flesh eaten, she herself burned with fire. Rev. 17:16. But from the time of the prophet to the end of the controversy, sin and righteousness are to be separated in fact and in name. Sin in its religious form is to be called by the name of the old city of rebellion; namely, Babylon. But the true church is to be called by the city of the great King. Those who enter into its walls are to have the name of that city written upon their foreheads. Rev. 3:12. It is to be the mother of all the free-born saints of God. Gal. 4:26. The two women, as we have seen, in those early days of Zechariah, represented the corruption of the light and truth which God had given by His faithful servants, blended with the Babylonian idolatry; just as in Christ's time it was a blending of the apostasy of Christianity with paganism, and as now in our time it is to be a union of Spiritualism and apostate Protestantism. The woman would be shut up in her measure of sin and rebellion, were it not that these unite to give her their power and authority. Then, too, there could be no Babylon, mystic Babylon, until the truth had been preached by the captive exiles sent there by the Lord to give the light. Rejecting that light, came the first phase of Babylon. Later, in Christ's time, the Gospel must be preached and rejected before the second phase could appear. And now at last in our day, the third angel's message must do its work before the third phase can appear. The old form inheres until the new form takes its place. Soon the third and last form will appear, the great hour of temptation take the world, and then Christ will come. The wind was in the stork's wings. Yes, and winds mean war, commotion, strife; fit symbol, too, it is of the progress of Babylon. She is carried between heaven and earth, she accomplishes all her victories by the power of earthly combats. By force she puts down those who by the power of the truth threaten to destroy her. Yes, the wind is in their wings. She is known and has been known for ages by the title God gave her, that of “Babylon.” She still sits on a firm base. And she has the same appearance now as then, and everywhere through all the earth. God gave the vision to His people then because they had come out of the city of Babylon, and He was seeking in every good way to lead them out of spiritual Babylon. He gives them a picture of the apostate church. He shows them how to know it when they meet it. He wanted them out of Babylon and into Zion. He still leads the selfsame way. Out of Babylon He calls us to-day. And into His city He now invites. The Spirit and the city call. Whosoever will, let him come.