Readings:
Zechariah 4-5
1 Timothy 5

Zechariah 4-5

The fifth vision has a golden lamp stand, like the kind found in the temple, with seven lit lamps on it. The angel says these represent the eyes of God. The seven eyes represent Gods omnipotence and omniscience. He sees everything at all times.

The two olive trees are said to represent “the two anointed” which in this context is most likely Zerubbabel and the high priest Joshua. This is because the vision is mostly about the rebuilding of the temple and they’re two key figures in that.

The sixth vision of the flying scroll represents the words of God going out as a curse to enter the homes of anyone who swears falsely on him or on holy things. Apparently people were fond of taking oaths on the temple in Jesus’ day too, and they were condemned for that too.

The seventh vision is much more cryptic than the previous ones and somewhat hard to decipher. The woman is said to represent wickedness, and the basket she is in shows up in many places and usually refers to a measurement and not a type of basket.

She’s sealed in by God and taken away to Shinar, which is another name for Babylonia, or southern Mesopotamia. This might reflect the evil of idolatry being purged from the nation in the time of the second temple.

1 Timothy 5

Paul takes a moment here to instruct Timothy on how to handler different ages and conditions of believers. He reminds him that in all things we are a single family of faith, and so due respect is required and loving care.

When Paul references “real widows” he means widows that have no children to support them or family to rely on. For those widows it is the duty of the church to provide for them. Widows in the ancient world were in a very precarious situation, partly because women generally didn’t work outside the home and partly because savings wasn’t really a thing in most cases. When the bread winner died in the ancient world some other member of the family had to step into that role, and if they’re unable or unwilling then they starve to death. To allow a widow among them to suffer like this is unacceptable.

If these widows are younger then they’re expected to either remarry and have someone to support them, or to support themselves.

Paul closes with some advice on how to deal with persistent sinners and how the good and evil someone does will always come to light, even if it’s a long way off, nothing stays secret forever.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
Zechariah 6-8
1 Timothy 6