Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?
The prophet is asking the angel that talked with him where the bearers are carrying the ephah that holds wickedness and the woman, lifted and borne by two winged women. They are carrying it to the land of Shinar, to Chaldea centered on Babylon where Babylon stood, where a house will be built for it and it will be set and permanently established on its own base. The woman inside is the Jewish nation carried captive to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, and the two women carrying her are the Babylonians and Assyrians united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and deport the Jews with the speed, reach, and triumph of conquering nations. The ephah containing wickedness is a corrupt religious system and false standard of iniquity marked by commercialism and Babylonian idolatry, intended to be perpetuated and permanently established. Its lifting and transport by the winged women is the raising up and establishing of mystic Babylon by a power that makes its continued influence possible, and the wind in their stork-like wings is war, commotion, and strife by which Babylon advances through earthly conflict.
Question and Destination
The prophet asks the angel who is speaking with him where the bearers are carrying the ephah containing wickedness and the woman inside it. The question concerns the two winged women who lift and bear the ephah, and where those two women are taking it. The asking introduces the explanation of its destination and establishment that follows.
The answer is to the land of Shinar, which is Chaldea centered on Babylon where Babylon stood. There a house is to be built for it, prepared for it, and it is to be set there on its own base and its own place. There it will be established and permanently established, marking the intended perpetuation and establishment of what the ephah represents. Unlike the helpless captive confined in the ephah, her captors bear wings signifying the speed, reach, and triumph of conquering nations in carrying her away, for the winged women are the Babylonian and Assyrian nations united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and deport the Jewish nation taken captive after Jerusalem was destroyed. The measure thus carried to the land of Babylon represents a false standard of iniquity that will be established there.
Historical Captivity Meaning
The woman shut inside the ephah is the Jewish nation carried captive to Babylon after Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. When the prophet asks where the bearers are carrying the ephah, the answer is to Shinar, where Babylon stood. The two women bearing it are the Babylonians and Assyrians united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer the Jews and deport them. In contrast to the helpless captive confined in the vessel, her captors have wings, signifying the speed and far reach of conquering nations and their triumph in carrying her away. The narrow compass of the ephah and the woman crushed beneath the lead show that only a few thousand out of a nation of millions were left to be taken as a diminished remnant, including members of the royal family and the priesthood, while the surviving vessels of the sanctuary were also carried to Babylon.
The vision looks back to the first destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity, and warned against sin so that a later destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion might be avoided. Because the warning was not heeded, Jerusalem was afterward destroyed and the Jews dispersed by the Romans under Titus in A.D. 70. The ephah itself is a just measure, like the sanctuary shekel kept as a standard under the priest's care, and as it goes forth it acts as God's eye condemning fraud in weights and measures. In this it supplements the vision of the roll, for both condemn thieves and false swearers, whose theft and false swearing are accompanied by dishonest measures.
Mystic Babylon Established
The question where the ephah containing wickedness is being carried is answered that it is taken to the land of Shinar, that is Babylon, where a house is built and prepared for it and it is set and established permanently on its own base. The measure so carried is a false standard of iniquity, a corrupt religious system marked by commercialism and Babylonian idolatry, intended to be perpetuated and permanently established. The lifting and transport of the ephah by the winged women carrying it to the land of rebellion, where it will be established, represent a power that raises up and establishes mystic Babylon and makes its continued influence possible.
The wind in their stork-like wings represents war, commotion, and strife, by which Babylon advances through earthly conflict and uses force against those who threaten her through the truth. The ephah is carried between heaven and earth and remains established on a firm base. Babylon had received the light of truth for seventy years but rejected that light, and guilt brought condemnation, while rebellion turned iniquity into an organized religion that enabled people to persist in evil without conscience. This system was established to continue in different outward forms, but it will ultimately be destroyed.
The ephah lifted between heaven and earth belongs to mystic Babylon before the Christian age in connection with Babylonian idolatrous religion, and its name is traced through Egypt to Babylon where it was called pitu, with its destination the land of rebellion. The two women represent corruption of the light and truth given through faithful servants blended with Babylonian idolatry. That pattern is seen in Christianity's blending with paganism in Christ's time and in a future union of Spiritualism and apostate Protestantism, which give the woman power and authority to continue in rebellion.
The ephah is a common measure, about a bushel in ancient times and later about half a bushel, representing a standard of measure sent throughout the earth. The woman symbolizes a church identified as the Roman Catholic Church, which surrounds itself with and spreads a standard different from God's standard represented by the flying roll. The false religious standard is lifted up by Catholics and Protestants as they unite, and they seek to establish it permanently in law, including laws enforcing Sunday observance.
The prophet is asking the angel that talked with him where the bearers are carrying the ephah that holds wickedness and the woman, lifted and borne by two winged women.
They are carrying it to the land of Shinar, to Chaldea centered on Babylon where Babylon stood, where a house will be built for it and it will be set and permanently established on its own base.
The woman inside is the Jewish nation carried captive to Babylon after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, and the two women carrying her are the Babylonians and Assyrians united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and deport the Jews with the speed, reach, and triumph of conquering nations.
The ephah containing wickedness is a corrupt religious system and false standard of iniquity marked by commercialism and Babylonian idolatry, intended to be perpetuated and permanently established.
Its lifting and transport by the winged women is the raising up and establishing of mystic Babylon by a power that makes its continued influence possible, and the wind in their stork-like wings is war, commotion, and strife by which Babylon advances through earthly conflict.
Question and Destination
The prophet asks the angel who is speaking with him where the bearers are carrying the ephah containing wickedness and the woman inside it. The question concerns the two winged women who lift and bear the ephah, and where those two women are taking it. The asking introduces the explanation of its destination and establishment that follows.
The answer is to the land of Shinar, which is Chaldea centered on Babylon where Babylon stood. There a house is to be built for it, prepared for it, and it is to be set there on its own base and its own place. There it will be established and permanently established, marking the intended perpetuation and establishment of what the ephah represents. Unlike the helpless captive confined in the ephah, her captors bear wings signifying the speed, reach, and triumph of conquering nations in carrying her away, for the winged women are the Babylonian and Assyrian nations united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer and deport the Jewish nation taken captive after Jerusalem was destroyed. The measure thus carried to the land of Babylon represents a false standard of iniquity that will be established there.
Historical Captivity Meaning
The woman shut inside the ephah is the Jewish nation carried captive to Babylon after Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. When the prophet asks where the bearers are carrying the ephah, the answer is to Shinar, where Babylon stood. The two women bearing it are the Babylonians and Assyrians united under Nebuchadnezzar to conquer the Jews and deport them. In contrast to the helpless captive confined in the vessel, her captors have wings, signifying the speed and far reach of conquering nations and their triumph in carrying her away. The narrow compass of the ephah and the woman crushed beneath the lead show that only a few thousand out of a nation of millions were left to be taken as a diminished remnant, including members of the royal family and the priesthood, while the surviving vessels of the sanctuary were also carried to Babylon.
The vision looks back to the first destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity, and warned against sin so that a later destruction of Jerusalem and dispersion might be avoided. Because the warning was not heeded, Jerusalem was afterward destroyed and the Jews dispersed by the Romans under Titus in A.D. 70. The ephah itself is a just measure, like the sanctuary shekel kept as a standard under the priest's care, and as it goes forth it acts as God's eye condemning fraud in weights and measures. In this it supplements the vision of the roll, for both condemn thieves and false swearers, whose theft and false swearing are accompanied by dishonest measures.
Mystic Babylon Established
The question where the ephah containing wickedness is being carried is answered that it is taken to the land of Shinar, that is Babylon, where a house is built and prepared for it and it is set and established permanently on its own base. The measure so carried is a false standard of iniquity, a corrupt religious system marked by commercialism and Babylonian idolatry, intended to be perpetuated and permanently established. The lifting and transport of the ephah by the winged women carrying it to the land of rebellion, where it will be established, represent a power that raises up and establishes mystic Babylon and makes its continued influence possible.
The wind in their stork-like wings represents war, commotion, and strife, by which Babylon advances through earthly conflict and uses force against those who threaten her through the truth. The ephah is carried between heaven and earth and remains established on a firm base. Babylon had received the light of truth for seventy years but rejected that light, and guilt brought condemnation, while rebellion turned iniquity into an organized religion that enabled people to persist in evil without conscience. This system was established to continue in different outward forms, but it will ultimately be destroyed.
The ephah lifted between heaven and earth belongs to mystic Babylon before the Christian age in connection with Babylonian idolatrous religion, and its name is traced through Egypt to Babylon where it was called pitu, with its destination the land of rebellion. The two women represent corruption of the light and truth given through faithful servants blended with Babylonian idolatry. That pattern is seen in Christianity's blending with paganism in Christ's time and in a future union of Spiritualism and apostate Protestantism, which give the woman power and authority to continue in rebellion.
The ephah is a common measure, about a bushel in ancient times and later about half a bushel, representing a standard of measure sent throughout the earth. The woman symbolizes a church identified as the Roman Catholic Church, which surrounds itself with and spreads a standard different from God's standard represented by the flying roll. The false religious standard is lifted up by Catholics and Protestants as they unite, and they seek to establish it permanently in law, including laws enforcing Sunday observance.