“And he said, ‘This is Wickedness.’  And he thrust her back into the basket and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening.”   -Zechariah 5: 8, ESV

The contrast that Zechariah paints here is stark.  While wickedness in the land both then and now is not small, for it is a great stench that rises up from the idolatry of our land, it shows the comparative smallness of wickedness in comparison to God’s goodness, holiness, love, and righteousness.  We are also reminded that no matter how bad things get, God is always in control for he wrote the book in the first place.  The lead weight on the lid to the basket is also a reminder to us of the weight of the law when brought to bear on sin.  While sin may seem great, it is nothing, and those consumed by sin are simply being kept for the final judgment and punishment in the lake of fire.

We must be faithful in our witness to the world that there is hope and redemption, but that it is not in the basket, rather it is in him who controls the outcome of that basket.  There is hope in Jesus and in Jesus alone.