Alright - big claim. But I think it’s self-supporting. I think this book of the bible talks about nuclear weapons and even details who launches the ones that start the "time of trouble" detailed in Revelation.
Zechariah was an Old Testament prophet. In this book, he dates the time of his writing to between 520-518 BC, when the Jewish people were captives in Babylon. Zechariah is given visions of things to come in the last days. And perhaps this is why it’s so cryptic. I’ve been reading the bible for years now, and at first glance, the book was almost nonsensical to me. But after some digging, I think what it depicts is beyond curious.
Zechariah chapter 5 is where the prophecy starts. In most versions of the bible, Zechariah 5 talks about a flying scroll. We’ll use the NKJV (New King James Version) predominately here since it’s one of the most read and taught translations today.
Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”
Zechariah 5:1-2
Right off the bat, we have translation issues. Though this is only mildly important descriptively, more than likely the word “scroll” should read “roll.” The Hebrew word “megillah” is the word in question here. We’ll be using the Strong’s Concordance (a giant book that is used widely to detail the history and translation of biblical words from their original languages) to get more correct translations of Hebrew words. In the Strong’s megillah means roll (H4039 – the Strong’s reference number).
Bear with me here; it gets better the deeper you go...
So, we have a flying roll that is 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide. Cubits are two different dimensions in the bible. In Ezekiel cubits are roughly the size of a hand. However, according to Issac Newton, in most of the Old Testament (as with Noah’s ark) the size of a cubit is just under 24 inches. As such, we’ll assume these rolls are around 40 feet long and 20 feet wide (12 meters by 6 meters). From my vast experience with missiles (I have none) this seems to be about proper nuclear missile size. But moving on…
We can also assume these rolls have wings. Not only are wings mentioned later on in Zechariah, the Hebrew word for flying in the passage above is “uph” (with some fancy symbols above some of the letters). It is defined like this in the Strong’s:
“A primitive root; to cover, with wings, hence to fly; also by implication of dimness to faint, from the darkness of swooning” (H5774)
Here’s the next verse of Zechariah:
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
(Zechariah 5:3)
A snippet of The Vision of Zechariah, a painting from an unknown artist that dates back to around 1300 A.D.
It’s a stretch, but since it’s not the most important part of this prophecy nor is it entirely clear, let’s assume that the curse that goes over the whole face of the earth is something like the fact that every first world nation, and many third world nations, are armed with nuclear weapons. Not a great situation (or a guarantee that’s what’s being referenced). But stick with me.
4 “I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts;
“It shall enter the house of the thief
And the house of the one who swears falsely by My name.
It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume it, with its timber and stones.”
Zechariah 5:4
In these verses we learn that not only will the people hit by these "rolls" be destroyed, so will their houses, regardless of what they’re made from. It’s also worth noting that this like other judgements in the biblical end times could safely be described as broad.
And the next verses are where things start to get good? But we also have some pretty severe translational problems to deal with…
5 Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a basket that is going forth.”
He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: 7 Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; 8 then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. 9 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
Zechariah 5:5-9
Ok? We had the scroll with wings, that part tracks. Where did the woman come from? There’s a “wicked woman” in the book of Revelation… Maybe looking at that would clear things up?
Nope. That’s not going to clear things up.
What happened here is that at some point over the centuries someone translating this went with the wrong word. The word “woman” in the passage above should read “fire.” Not only would this make infinitely more sense, it’s the same word in Hebrew. Strong’s associates the Hebrew word in this passage, אֶשָּׁה, with “woman” (H802) when it should actually be “fire” (H800). They are exactly the same spelling in Hebrew.
Zechariah was written 2500 years ago, and now we have two scrolls flying between the earth and heaven. And these scrolls are carrying fire, which is trapped in a basket of lead. Nuclear warheads on the tips of missiles also happen to be cased in lead to prevent radioactive leakage.
And there’s more.
Where do these weapons come from?
10 So I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”
11 And he said to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
Zechariah 5:10-11
These weapons are set on their bases in Shinar. Old Testament Shinar seems to have been located in modern day Iran/Iraq, though there is some debate. That said, it would seem that, these weapons are put on their bases and then launched from the middle-east.
The red circle indicates the most likely location of Old Testament Shinar
When will this happen?
We’re given more details in the later chapters of Zechariah.
The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling to all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and Jerusalem. 3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it.
Zechariah 12:1-3
This will occur when the nations gather against Israel. Today, Hezbollah, Jordan, and Egypt all have hundreds of thousands of fighters near Israel. Iraq also has an army a hundred thousand strong. And every one of these nations is at least mildly hostile towards Israel. Without a doubt, we’re seeing the Muslim world prepare for a fight of biblical proportions, and Israel is the target.
Whether this goes down sometime "soon," I can’t say. However, we can guess at why the nations that surround Jerusalem might be trembling. Perhaps they know that this attack will absolutely start a nuclear war.
And there’s more.
6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem.
7 The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah.
8 In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12:6-9
Though Jerusalem eventually falls, most there die, and many others are drug away into captivity (see the rest of Zechariah), those that come against Jerusalem are eventually devoured by fire. And verses 10 and 11 talk about how the Jews will come to know Jesus (or, for the sake of argument, if not Jesus then the Messiah the Jews denied, the one they’ve pierced).
Let’s move on and talk about how those hit with these "rolls" die.
This comes from the end of the book of Zechariah:
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
Zechariah 14:12-13
In summation, two 40-foot-long scrolls fly out of Iran between the heavens and the earth. They are part of a plague (curse?) across the whole earth, and they carry fire trapped in lead. Eventually, this plague leads to the nations attacking Israel being consumed with fire. When this fire hits them, their flesh is consumed; their houses are destroyed; their tongues and eyes melt (a nod to Indian Jones I’m pretty sure), and so worldwide fighting begins.
There you have it.
And this conforms to the rest of the bible. Jesus is bound to return again. The first time he tried to bring peace to the earth; he came to set the captives free. But the second time he comes with judgement and a sword. Sure, this prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet. I just think its reference to what sounds like modern technology described through an Old Testament viewpoint is uncanny.
If prophecy scares you, I'd gently suggest it’s likely because you haven’t read enough of the bible. If you know what’s coming, you don’t see the world falling apart, you see what’s been written coming together.
A little spiritual endurance in exchange for eternal life - What’s there to fear?
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