Zechariah 7:1-14

     In Zechariah chapter seven, God rebuked some Jewish returnees for their religious hypocrisy, calling them to obey His commands rather than continue empty religious practices. This prophecy was given to Zechariah on December 7, 518 B.C. (Zec 7:1). Apparently, some Jewish returnees from Babylon had settled in the town of Bethel, which was located about 10 miles north of Jerusalem. They sent two men, Sharezer and Regemmelech, along with other men, supposedly “to seek the favor of the LORD” (Zec 7:2). They consulted the priests and prophets, asking, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?” (Zec 7:3). The fast they were asking about was practiced in connection with the destruction of the Solomonic temple, seventy years earlier, on August 14, 586 B.C. (see 2 Ki 25:8-9). The fast was not required under the Mosaic Law and had probably become a religious tradition. Since the temple was nearly rebuilt, they wondered if the fast would be inappropriate? Though the question was brought to the priests and prophets, God felt the need to answer them directly through His prophet, Zechariah (Zec 7:4). Though certain men from Bethel came with their question, God’s reply was broader, as He spoke “to all the people of the land and to the priests” (Zec 7:5a). God rebuked them for their religious practices which had replaced true piety, declaring they’d actually done it for themselves rather than for Him (Zec 7:5b-6). The message being delivered through Zechariah was exactly the same as that of God’s former prophets (Zec 7:7-8); a message that exposed their religious hypocrisy and unethical abuses of the vulnerable in society. God summarized the message of His prophets, saying, “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another” (Zec 7:9-10; cf. 1 Sam 15:22; Pro 21:3; Isa 1:10-20; Hos 6:6; Mic 6:6-8). Unfortunately, the record of Israel’s past was that God’s prophets were repeatedly ignored or mistreated and the vulnerable continued to be exploited. God was calling Zechariah’s generation to be different than their forefathers, men who “refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore, great wrath came from the LORD of hosts” (Zec 7:11-12). God repeatedly called for them to obey His commands, but they refused. “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen” (Zec 7:13). The result was that they were judged and scattered among the nations because of their violations of the Law (see Ex 22:21-24; Deu 10:17-18; Jer 21:12; Mal 3:5). By their own sinful choices, “they made the pleasant land desolate” (Zec 7:14).