Zechariah 7

In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Kislev. Zechariah 7:1

Apparently, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah in response to some questions related to fast days. These questions were asked by certain visitors to Jerusalem. The time of their visit was in 518 BC on the fourth day of the winter month of Kislev. That month corresponds to our November/December period today. Some scholars have proposed that the date might have been December 7 in 518 BC. [1] Thus, it was about two years after the prophet’s night visions. The month of Kislev still appears on the Hebrew calendar. Like other Hebrew months it continues to maintain its Babylonian name.

“The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the LORD by asking the priests of the house of the LORD Almighty and the prophets, ‘Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?’” (7:2-3). Bible interpreters have had a lot of difficulty trying to identify these questioners. Some feel that they came from Bethel, the cultic center about 12 miles (19 km.) north of Jerusalem. Others feel that they came all the way from Babylon itself. Many of the modern translations opt for the Bethel idea. Some scholars feel that the obvious Babylonian names of these arrivals indicate that they were from that area. This interpretation would see Bethel-Sharezer as a personal name. It would also see that the delegation arrived about three and a half months after the fast in question. That would have provided sufficient travel time from Babylon. [2]

The Babylon idea may be a little far-fetched. Barnes points out that Ezra 2:28 lists 223 men of Bethel who had returned with Zerubbabel to resettle the land. [3] It would have been very natural and even customary in that day for the men to have maintained their Babylonian names.

Bethel was after all an important religious site. Abraham had built an altar there and Jacob had a vision of the ladder to heaven in that same place. Unfortunately, the site became polluted with idolatry during the rule of Jeroboam. One of the two golden calves was placed in Bethel and the false worship led to the ruin of the nation. We can understand why these leaders from Bethel wanted to be clear about their religious practices.

The initial question they asked was whether or not the fast of the fifth month ( Av ) should continue. That fast concerned the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians. Interestingly, that fast still goes on among the Jewish people. It is called Tisha B’Av (Ninth of Av ) and tradition says that both the Babylonians and Romans destroyed temples on the very same day hundreds of years apart (586 BC and AD 70). It is still a day of fasting for the Jews.

Evidently, a lot of other really bad things happened to the Jewish people on this date. For instance, Jewish tradition claims that it was on this day, after their Exodus from Egypt, that the Children of Israel were told they would not be able to enter the Promised Land. Many centuries later, during the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the last Jewish stronghold, called Bethar, fell on the Ninth of Av, AD 135. One year later, also on the Ninth of Av, the Roman Emperor, Hadrian, established a heathen temple on the site of the former Jewish temple. He rebuilt Jerusalem as a pagan city, into which Jews were forbidden to enter. Much later, on the Ninth of Av, 1492, the Christian rulers of Spain expelled all the Jews from that land. Spain had been a great center of Jewish culture. The Jews of Spain had lived in relative peace and had flourished there for centuries.

The question of continued fasting no doubt arose because of the restoration program that was well underway. Many had returned to the land from Babylon. The altar had been erected and the new temple was probably about half completed. All this may have caused them to wonder if they should go on fasting in such a happy time of rebuilding and restoration.

True Fasting

Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?’” Zechariah 7:4-5

It was in the fifth month and the seventh day (586 BC) that the commander Nebuzaradan of Babylon was sent to destroy the city of Jerusalem (2 Ki. 25:8). Tradition says that the Temple was burned on the ninth day of the fifth month ( Av ). Later the Babylonian king appointed Gedaliah as governor. However, the governor was assassinated and the people fled in fear to Egypt (2 Ki. 25:22-26). That fateful day, the third day of the seventh month, also became a day of fasting. There were other related fasts connected with the fourth and fifth months. [4]

Today for the Jews, Tisha b’Av actually marks the end of a three-week period of semi-mourning beginning on the 17th day of the previous month of Tammuz. It was on this date that the wall of Jerusalem was breached by the Romans in AD 70. During this period of semi-mourning, many people abstain from meat and wine; refrain from shaving; refuse to buy new clothes, or participate in various forms of entertainment. We can imagine the great displays of grief that were seen among the people in Zechariah’s time during these fast days.

Now the Lord asks the big question: “ was it really for me that you fasted?” After all, had God ever commanded these extra fasts? Coffman says, “Now the most important thing about all of these fasts was that God had neither commanded nor authorized any one of them!” [5] In fact, the only fast commanded by God was the Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:16-32). There is a strange thing about us humans. In our zeal we will go to any and all extremes to establish and protect our own traditions while at the same time we ignore the direct commands of God.

“And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?” (7:6). It seems that the Jews of that day were using their invented fasts to throw pity parties and pump up their own pride about keeping their traditions. After all, such false devotion always makes the flesh feel good. It is a sort of will worship that is unacceptable to God. Wiersbe says: “As far back as the ministry of Samuel, God told the people that he wanted their obedience and not their sacrifices (1 Sam. 15:22), and this truth was also taught in the Psalms (50:8-14; 51:16).” [6] Many years before, Isaiah had given this instruction concerning fasting:

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isa. 58:5-7).

God wanted them to separate themselves from their sins and not just from their food. [7] Later in the next chapter Zechariah will give a much fuller answer to their questions.

“Are these not the words the LORD proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?” (7:7). It is not entirely clear to whom Zechariah refers when he mentions the “earlier prophets.” Scholars today name the Former Prophets as the historical books of Joshua, Judges,1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. [8] The Later Prophets would most likely include all those prophets following. It seems that much of the teaching here, including our quote from Isaiah, has come from the Later Prophets. When compared to Zechariah, Haggai and the other contemporary prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the others were, of course, all “earlier.”

The Negev mentioned here is that large desert area of southern Israel running all the way down to the seaport city of Eilat. The western foothills (Heb. Sh-fe-lah ) is still called by its ancient Hebrew name. This is the area of small hills that precedes the higher eastern mountains of Israel. In Israel’s earlier history all these areas were settled. Baldwin remarks: “What is abundantly clear is that the country was desperate for people to rebuild the cities and restore the farms.” [9]

The Lord Speaks Again

And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah: “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.’” Zechariah 7:8-9

Now the prophet gets down to the reality of real religion. Alex Haley once said, “Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.” [10] These early people of Israel had not dealt with the reality of their faith and that reality had dealt with them. They had suffered a terrible military defeat and seventy years of exile in Babylon. Now God by his grace had given them a new beginning in the land. They needed to make sure that they did not mess up again. The religious reality was this: “…fasting as such is religiously inconsequential compared with the Lord’s demand for moral obedience …” [11]

If God is not impressed with our fasting what does impress him? He wants us to administer true justice. In the US we are watching justice rapidly disappear from our society. Rioters and looters are arrested, jailed and without fines or bonds are released the next day so that they can be on the streets rioting and looting the next night. Those who try to protect themselves or their property are often the ones arrested and they have to face fines and long legal proceedings.

God wants us to show mercy and compassion to each other. In the West we now have what is called “Cancel Culture.” It is a form of ostracism or shaming that is done on the web or in person. The canceled person may be humiliated, excluded from social circles and from friendship or business. This strange culture can only arise when biblical teachings are lost, when men and women are no longer seen as being made in God’s image.

The prophet Micah has said, “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Mic. 6:8). John Watts said, “Zechariah shows a knowledge of earlier prophecy at every step in his book…” [12] The Israelites had not listened to their former prophets but now God was giving them another chance to get down to the reality and true requirements of their ancient faith.

“Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other” (7:10). Those the prophet mentions here were the weak and often oppressed in ancient societies. The widow really needed special protection if she had no sons to help her. Women had few rights in Israel and other ancient societies. There was hardly a way that a widow could earn a living. Often, women alone had to resort to prostitution or else starve. God made special provision for widows. Of course the fatherless and foreigner needed help too. God had said: “Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry” (Exo. 22:22-23). God also said: “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isa. 1:17). In Psalm 146:9 we read, “The LORD watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.” My wife and I lived many years as expatriates and we know how difficult life sometimes can be for foreigners.

The prophet is intent that people not forget the poor. The Bible says: “…Blessed is he who considers the poor; The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble” (Psa. 41:1 NKJ). There were thousands of poor farmhands in Israel at that time and afterward. These people had a difficult life. In this highly organized and mechanized age of ours we can scarcely imagine the hardships faced by day-laborers in Bible times. As Peter Davids says, “These laborers lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Today’s wage bought tomorrow’s breakfast. When the wage was not paid at the end of the day, the whole family went hungry.” [13]

Because our God is a compassionate God he gave many commands regarding the laboring person. In Deuteronomy 24:14-15 it is commanded, “Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin” (cf. Lev. 19:13; Prov. 3:27-28; Jer. 22:13; Mal. 3:5). As Barclay says, “The Bible is nothing less than the charter of the laboring man.” [14] We see this spelled out most clearly in James 5:1-6.

Here God’s command does not end with the outward but with the inward. Baldwin says, “The fourth precept of Zechariah’s summary is negative in form and forbids the very thought of wronging others.” [15]

Turning A Deaf Ear

But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the LORD Almighty was very angry. Zechariah 7:11-12

Utley describes their actions: “‘they refused to pay attention,’ ‘they turned a stubborn shoulder,’ (cf. Neh. 9:29), ‘they stopped their ears from hearing’ (cf. Jer. 5:21; 6:10), ‘they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear’ also …compare Isa. 6:9-10.” [16] The prophet Hosea once described Israel: “The Israelites are stubborn, like a stubborn heifer. How then can the LORD pasture them like lambs in a meadow?” (Hos. 4:16). We get the picture here of a stubborn calf backing up and straining every muscle to resist the yoke. Coffman notes that this attitude has come down to modern times as people sometimes turn a cold shoulder to those trying to lead them. [17]

Jamieson and company say here: “As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard and adamant, God brake their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to break it.” [18]

We should note here that God sent his Spirit to speak through the earlier prophets (cf. Neh. 9:30). In the times of the Old Testament the Spirit of God came upon people but it never came to stay upon them. That is a big difference from the New Testament where the Holy Spirit comes to stay upon the Lord’s people forever (Jn. 14:16-17).

“‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty” (7:13). The writer Osorius says of them: “They would not bear the burden of the law, whereas they willingly bore that most heavy weight of their sins…Their adamantine heart could be softened neither by promises nor threats.” [19] God is a God of great mercy but at times he can choose to give us exactly what we deserve. When Israel finally called upon him in their grave distress, God would not listen to them.

“I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations, where they were strangers. The land they left behind them was so desolate that no one traveled through it. This is how they made the pleasant land desolate” (7:14). Jerome says: “That which was formerly a pleasant land, and the hospice of the Trinity, is turned into a desert and dwelling-place of dragons.” [20] God scattered them so thoroughly that most all of them would never again set eyes on the pleasant land.

Footnotes

1. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p.141.

2. Ibid., p. 142.

3. Barnes, Notes On The Whole Bible, Zechariah, v. 7:2.

4. Guzik, Enduring Word, Zechariah, vs. 7:1-3.

5. Coffman, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, v. 7:2.

6. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, OT, p. 1511.

7. Jamieson, et al., Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 7:5.

8. https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/17081/Latter-Prophets.htm

9. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 145.

10. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/alex_haley_391560

11. Guthrie, et al., The New Bible Commentary, p. 794.

12. Quoted in Coffman, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, v. 7:8.

13. Peter H. Davids, James (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1983, 1989), p. 116.

14. William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter (Louisville KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1976), p. 119.

15. Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, p. 146.

16. Utley, Free Bible Commentary, vs. 7:11-12.

17. Coffman, Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible, v. 7:11.

18. Jamieson, et al., Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, v. 7:12.

19. Quoted in Barnes, Notes On The Whole Bible, Zechariah, v. 7:12.

20. Barnes, Notes On The Whole Bible, Zechariah, v. 7:14.