Zechariah 7

Zechariah 7:1-3

CHAPTER XXXVI

TEACHING ABOUT WORSHIP

Chapter seven has been called A Call to Civic Duty. We cannot subscribe to this summary of the prophetic message contained in this chapter, but we mention it to underscore a truth which shines through both Chapter s seven and eight, namely that outward formal religious observances unrelated to present life are an affront to God. His promises are to those whose relationship to Him makes a real difference in their relationship to their fellowmen.

QUESTIONS ABOUT FASTING. Zechariah 7:1-3

RV. And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chislev. Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to entreat the favor of Jehovah, and to speak unto the priests of the house of Jehovah of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these many years?

LXX. And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chaseleu. And Sarasar and Arbeseer the king and his men sent to Baethel, and that to propitiate the Lord, speaking to to the priests that were in the house of the Lord Almighty, and to the prophets, saying, The holy offering has come in hither in the fifth month, as it has done already many years.

COMMENTS

On December 4, 518 B.C., just over two years after the beginning of Zechariah’s prophetic ministry, the Jews who lived in Beth-el sent two envoys, Sharezer and Regem-melech, to inquire of the priests of Jehovah concerning the continuation of the fasts which for seventy years had commemorated the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Beth-el is located east of an imaginary line running north from Jerusalem to Nablus. Beth-el’s ruins were discovered by Robinson and are now identified with the village of Betin. Formerly inhabited by Canaanite kings, it became home to a number of Jews following the captivity. In Zechariah’s day, as in the time of the pre-exilic divided kingdom, Beth-el lay just south of the border that divided Judea and Israel. In New Testament days the boundary between Judea and Samaria ran south of the village. This has led some to the erroneous conclusion that Zechariah’s visitors were Samaritans, while in point of fact they were Jews returned from Babylon. They had settled in the northernmost part of what was originally the land of Benjamin and they had come to Jerusalem for instruction concerning the requirements of worship on the part of the returnees.

(Zechariah 7:3) The question asked is, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself as I have these so many years? The concern is for the facts which related to the captivity.

In the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which marked the nineteenth anniversary of Nebuchadnezzar’s ascending the throne of Babylon, he sent his servant to Jerusalem to burn the temple and main buildings of the city. In the seventh month, apparently of the same year, a member of the Babylonian royal family had assassinated the Jewish governor, Gedaliah, of Judah, and the Jews who were with him. In memory of those two tragic events the Jews had fasted twice a year on the days marking their occurrence. It had been a burdensome experience for a people in captivity. The people of Beth-el now want to know if it is required to continue the practice.

Zechariah 7:4-7

THE FIRST ANSWERING STATEMENT. Zechariah 7:4-7

RV. Then came the word of Jehovah of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and in the seventh month, even these seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me? And when ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? Should ye not hear the words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?

LXX. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though ye fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh months (yea, behold, these seventy years) have ye at all fasted to me? And if ye eat or drink, do ye not eat and drink for yourselves? Are not these words which the Lord spoke by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the hill country and the low country was inhabited?

COMMENTS

(Zechariah 7:4-7) Zechariah’s answer to the question from Beth-el is made in six statements. Each statement is introduced with exact statements which indicate the prophet’s words were actually those of Jehovah.

The first of these statements begins with Zechariah 7:4 and continues through Zechariah 7:7. The second begins with Zechariah 7:8 and concludes the chapter. The third begins at Zechariah 8:1 and runs through Zechariah 8:7. The fourth statement begins with Zechariah 8:9 and continues through Zechariah 8:13. The fifth statement begins at Zechariah 8:14 and ends with Zechariah 8:17. The sixth and final statement in answer to the question from Beth-el begins with Zechariah 8:18 and closes the chapter. It also forms the final paragraph of the first section of Zechariah’s writing.

Jehovah’s first answering statement (Zechariah 7:4-7) begins by reminding the questioners that the fasts in question had not been instituted by any divine directive. The reminder is in the form of three questions. Did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? And when ye eat and when ye drink, do not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

To paraphrase these first two questions we might say When you began fasting in memory of the destruction and death, did you ask me?

The obvious conclusion is stated in the third question, Should ye not hear (more accurately have heard) the words which Jehovah cried by the former prophets. ? It would have been better for them to have heard and heeded the former prophets than to have invented fasts for themselves with no divine directive.

The former prophets were those who had preached in the times before the captivity. The practice of what they taught would have been the appropriate response to the captivity rather than self-appointed fasts of mourning. Rather than mourn over what God had brought upon them, they should have corrected the circumstances which caused Him to punish them.

Zechariah 7:8-14

THE SECOND ANSWERING STATEMENT. Zechariah 7:8-14

RV. And the word of Jehovah came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgement, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart. But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts. And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts; but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

LXX. And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Judge righteous judgement, and deal mercifully and compassionately every one with his brother: and oppress not the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor; and let not one of you remember in his heart the injury of his brother. But they refused to attend, and madly turned their back, and made their ears heavy, so that they should not hear. And they made their heart disobedient, so as not to hearken to my law, and the words which the Lord Almighty sent forth by his Spirit by the former prophets: so there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty. And it shall come to pass, that as he spoke, and they hearkened not, so they shall cry, and I will not hearken, saith the Lord Almighty. And I will cast them out among all the nations, whom they know not; and the land behind them shall be made utterly destitute of any going through or returning: yea they have made the choice land a desolation.

COMMENTS

The second answering statement to the questioners from Beth-el is a summary of what was taught by the former prophet. (It would be helpful here to review at least one of the pre-exilic prophets, possibly Micah.)

(Zechariah 7:8-10) The demands of God which, if heeded, would have averted the necessity of the Babylonian exile can by no means be called unreasonable. He asked that the courts execute true judgement. Yet, as we saw in our study of Micah, the courts were in the hands of evil men who used them for their own gain in extorting land and money from the poor and the defenseless.

It seems, looking back across centuries at the iniquities of the courts of another people, that justice for all would have been a matter of simple decency. Yet one cannot but wonder at our own judicial system. Heavy charges have been alleged against our courts to the effect that justice in America is a rich man’s commodity. If this be so, we may be assured that the God Who executes judgement over all nations will not allow it to go unnoticed. This is the sort of thing that destroys nations. Whatever else we learn from the captivity of the Jews by Babylon, this is obvious. The questioners are further reminded that God had, through the former prophets, commanded their fathers to show kindness and compassion, every man to his brother; and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none devise evil against his brother in your heart.

Again these things seem, when viewed objectively, the common customs of any civilized people, particularly a people who claim to be God’s people. Yet, as we saw, Micah described in detail the cruel and often violent violation of each of these practices and he had warned their fathers of the consequences. As in the case of the other evils which brought about Judah’s exile to Babylon, American culture today seems fairly riddled with such cruelty. Most any daily newspaper will supply ample illustrations of the truth of this charge.

(Zechariah 7:11-14) In these verses Zechariah reviews the response of the pre-exilic nation to the warnings of the prophets, and the consequences of that response. They had hardened their hearts, turned away and refused to listen.

Therefore God’s wrath had come, and the people had been driven from the land as chaff is driven before a whirlwind. It was part of this wrath that had brought about the burning and death which they commemorated by their annual fasts of mourning. God’s first answer to the questions about fasting may be summarized like this; the fasts in question were not ordained of God. The events remembered in the fasts were part of God’s just punishment of the wickedness of the people. The people had not only deserved the punishment because of their evil ways, they deserved it doubly because they had refused to hear God’s prophets who were sent to call them to repentance and to warn them of what would happen if they failed to repent. Therefore, those who mourned the just punishment of God upon their fathers had best leave off such meaningless ceremonies and themselves heed the teaching of the former prophets.

As James would have it pure religion and undefiled before our God and father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)