Zechariah 7

Justice and Mercy, Not Fasting

1 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.

2 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the LORD

3 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?”

4 Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me:

5 “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?

6 And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?

7 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?’ ”

8 And the word of the LORD came again to Zechariah:

9 “This is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

10 Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’

11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears.

12 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.

13 “ ‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the LORD Almighty.

14 ‘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.’ ”

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Zechariah 7 Commentary

Chapter 7

The captives' inquiry respecting fasting. (1-7) Sin the cause of their captivity. (8-14)

Verses 1-7 If we truly desire to know the will of God in doubtful matters, we must not only consult his word and ministers, but seek his direction by fervent prayer. Those who would know God's mind should consult God's ministers; and, in doubtful cases, ask advice of those whose special business it is to search the Scriptures. The Jews seemed to question whether they ought to continue their fasts, seeing that the city and temple were likely to be finished. The first answer to their inquiry is a sharp reproof of hypocrisy. These fasts were not acceptable to God, unless observed in a better manner, and to better purpose. There was the form of duty, but no life, or soul, or power in it. Holy exercises are to be done to God, looking to his word as our rule, and his glory as our end, seeking to please him and obtain his favour; but self was the centre of all their actions. And it was not enough to weep on fast days; they should have searched the Scriptures of the prophets, that they might have seen what was the ground of God's controversy with their fathers. Whether people are in prosperity or adversity, they must be called upon to leave their sins, and to do their duty.

Verses 8-14 God's judgements upon Israel of old for their sins, were written to warn Christians. The duties required are, not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but doing justly and loving mercy, which tend to the public welfare and peace. The law of God lays restraint upon the heart. But they filled their minds with prejudices against the word of God. Nothing is harder than the heart of a presumptuous sinner. See the fatal consequences of this to their fathers. Great sins against the Lord of hosts, bring great wrath from his power, which cannot be resisted. Sin, if regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the success of prayer. The Lord always hears the cry of the broken-hearted penitent; yet all who die impenitent and unbelieving, will find no remedy or refuge from miseries which while here they despised and defied, but which they then will not be able to bear.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)

Cross References 33

1. S Ezra 5:1
2. Nehemiah 1:1
3. Jeremiah 26:19; Zechariah 8:21
4. Haggai 2:10-14
5. Zechariah 12:12-14
6. 2 Kings 25:9; Jeremiah 52:12-14; Zechariah 8:19
7. Isaiah 58:5
8. 2 Kings 25:25
9. S Daniel 9:2
10. S Isaiah 43:23
11. Isaiah 1:11-20; Zechariah 1:4
12. Jeremiah 22:21
13. S Jeremiah 17:26
14. Jeremiah 44:4-5
15. S Jeremiah 22:3; Jeremiah 42:5; Zechariah 8:16
16. S Deuteronomy 22:1
17. Jeremiah 49:11
18. S Exodus 22:21
19. S Leviticus 25:17; Isaiah 1:23
20. S Exodus 22:22; S Job 35:8; S Isaiah 1:17; S Ezekiel 45:9; S Micah 6:8
21. S Isaiah 9:9
22. S Jeremiah 32:33
23. S Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 8:5; Jeremiah 11:10; S Jeremiah 17:23; S Ezekiel 5:6
24. S Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 17:1; S Ezekiel 11:19
25. S Nehemiah 9:29
26. S Jeremiah 42:21; S Daniel 9:12
27. S Jeremiah 7:27; Proverbs 1:24
28. Isaiah 1:15; S Jeremiah 11:11; Jeremiah 14:12; S Micah 3:4
29. S Proverbs 1:28; S Lamentations 3:44; S Ezekiel 20:31
30. S Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:64-67; S Psalms 44:11
31. Jeremiah 23:19
32. S Isaiah 33:8
33. S Jeremiah 7:34; S Jeremiah 44:6; S Ezekiel 12:19

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ZECHARIAH 7

This chapter treats concerning the nature and use of certain fasts kept by the Jews, on account of the destruction of the temple, and other things; and concerning the message of the former prophets to them, and the effects of it. The occasion of the former was an embassy sent by the Jews to the priests and prophets, to know whether they should continue the fast of the fifth month; upon which the prophet was sent by the Lord unto them. The time of the prophecy is noted, Zec 7:1. An account of the embassy is given, of the persons that were sent, and to whom, and upon what account, Zec 7:2,3. The answer of the Lord to it by the prophet, showing the usefulness of fasts to him, and putting them upon hearkening to his voice by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was in great prosperity, Zec 7:4-7 and then they are exhorted by him, in the ministry of the present prophet, to acts of righteousness, several species of which are mentioned; and which were the same they had been exhorted to by the former prophets, but had neglected, and hardened their hearts against all exhortations and instructions, Zec 7:8-12 and were the reason of their captivity and desolation, Zec 7:13,14.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible