I have had some weird dreams, but this one by the prophet Zechariah (5:5-11) beats them all! “Look,” said the angel to Zechariah in his vision, “it is a basket for measuring grain,” commonly called an ephah in those days. Zechariah did what the angel said and he saw a plain basket used for purposes of measurement that held a little over a bushel. The container had a heavy lead cover and just then, as he watched, it was lifted up a little way. The prophet could hardly believe what he saw, for there, sitting in the ephah was a woman!

“This woman represents wickedness,” said the angel, and the heavy lid was dropped back in position.

A strange thing then took place. Two women with wings lifted the ephah with its lead cover and the woman sitting inside and flew off with it.

“Where are they taking this measuring basket that has an evil woman hidden in it?”

“They are taking it,” replied the angel, “to the land of Shinar.”

The ephah, like its western counterpart, the bushel, represents business activity and commerce. Today we are inclined to think in terms of how many miles to the gallon. Then, it was how many ephahs to the acre will this field produce? The entire economy was built around the ephah in Zechariah’s day.

Zechariah’s strange vision has been an enigma to Bible students for centuries. However, in the light of recent world economic events, it suddenly takes on new meaning.

The ephah no longer is at Wall street, the one time financial capital of the world, nor is it in London or Zurich or other familiar money and trade centers of the world. Through a series of events, both sinister and supernatural, the ephah has quietly taken wings.

And where did it go? To the land of Shinar, once known as Babylonia, and which now comprises the oil producing countries of Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the surrounding small states. If the reader is so inclined, take a look at the wealthiest cities of the world, such as Dubai and Riyadh which have sprung up in the “land of Shinar.” The engineering marvels alone are astounding. And for some strange reason, I feel I am personally helping to fund the most aggressive building projects in the world worth thousands of billions of dollars (Today I noticed the price of diesel fuel in my neighborhood is running $5.07 per gallon).

Some have suggested that Mystery, Babylon the Great, described in the Revelation, represents the world’s money system and that Revelation 17 and 18 foretell its end. Babylon The Great is fallen! The result will be a world-wide depression that will make all past financial panics look like a picnic. All commerce between nations will cease (Rev. 18:11). Runaway inflation will wipe out all savings accounts and those who were rich will in one hour become poor (Rev. 18:17)! Death, sorrow and famine will sweep the globe (Rev. 18:8).

But in the scriptures Babylon is not only portrayed as a city or a system to be destroyed. In Revelation 17 she is pictured as a woman, an evil woman! This person is called BABYLON, THE GREAT, not only because she represents something that began in ancient Babylonia, but because in the last days she will also be geographically located in the land of Shinar!

Zechariah, in his vision about 550 B.C., saw the financial center of the world move to Babylonia. And in the past few years we have seen the ephah, not just in vision but in reality, fly to the Arabian peninsula.

The enormous wealth flowing from the world’s greatest concentration of oil is bringing startling changes to the Persian Gulf countries. Almost overnight the Arab oil producing bloc has become the world’s banker! The staggering amounts of money building up in the treasuries of the Arabian bloc from their oil sales are mind blowing and are revolutionizing economic and power relationships throughout the world. Some predict that epidemic worldwide inflation will topple governments and produce political chaos, not only in America, but around the globe. And it all began when the ephah took its flight!

What is fascinating is that 25 centuries ago the prophet Zechariah saw what seems to be taking place in our day! As the end time drama unfolds, we will see amazing events begin happen. Mystery Babylon, brought to her own home base by a succession of events which include the energy crisis, will soon step out of the ephah that carried her there. Then she will rapidly move on to fulfill her destiny as described in Revelation 17 and 18.

The building momentum of recent history-making events has brought us closer to the end of this age than most are willing to admit. So I ask my readers a simple but personal question. If Jesus Christ were to return to earth today, would you be ready to meet Him?

Adapted from an article written by my father, L.A. Steller, September 1974 right after the 1973 oil crisis when the retail price of a gallon of gasoline rose from a national average of 38.5 cents in May 1973 to 55.1 cents in June 1974.