Return to the Heart of God

The Minor Prophets  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  51:20
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Zechariah 7:1–14

Chapters 7 and 8 of Zechariah deal with empty ritualism and true spirituality. It is a question posed by representative Israelites that provide this opportunity for God, through His servant Zechariah,to give four messages, two of them negative (chapter 7) and two positive (chapter 8).

1. Purpose in Practices, vs. 1-7.

The first verse gives us the timeline for these messages. The fourth year of King Darius is 518 B.C., almost two years after the multiple visions recorded in Zechariah 1-6, as well as about halfway through the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. The times mentioned points to a particular era in God’s redemptive history where the focus is not defined by the Davidic dynasty, but by the ‘time of the Gentiles’ where a foreign king is in charge.
The specific date that is given in verse 1 and the actions in the verses following relate closely to the actions of the prophet Jeremiah as seen in Jer. 36. Baruch was sent to the temple on a day of fasting to warn of God’s impending judgment, Jer 36:1
Jeremiah 36:1 NASB95
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying,
Jeremiah 36:9 NASB95
Now in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, in the ninth month, all the people in Jerusalem and all the people who came from the cities of Judah to Jerusalem proclaimed a fast before the Lord.
Jeremiah 36:22 NASB95
Now the king was sitting in the winter house in the ninth month, with a fire burning in the brazier before him.
Zechariah’s message echoes the message of the former prophets, those before the exile.
Verse 2-3 give us the setting of the messages comes as messengers come from Bethel to seek the favor of the LORD. Two of the men named possess Babylonian names, probably indicating they were a part of those who were exiled.
Bethel was 10 miles north of Jerusalem, previously associated with apostate worship, being one of two worship centers in the kingdom of Israel before 722 B.C. Now the messengers have come to inquire from Jerusalem’s priests, being carefully concerned with orthodox practice, and the prophets, presumably at least Haggai and Zechariah.
Their question was whether they needed to continue to weep and abstain, or fast, in the fifth month. This fast, one of four that began during the time of exile, commemorates the destruction of the temple in 586 B.C. on 9th of Ab. But now, with the people back in the land and the temple soon to be completed and worship reestablished, Jer 25:11-12
Jeremiah 25:11–12 NASB95
‘This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation.
After all, it has been almost 70 years since the destruction of the temple.
Was this a question of piety or of posturing to impress the prophet?
Verses 4-7 is a rebuke. This word of the LORD of hosts is not just for the messengers from Bethel but for all the people in the land and the priests.
The Lord asks a question. He refers to two different fasts: the first one was the day of the destruction of the temple; the second date was in the seventh month (2 Tishri) the date of the assassination of Gedaliah and his associates at Mitzpah, 2 Kings 25:25; Jer. 41:2.
2 Kings 25:25 NASB95
But it came about in the seventh month, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, of the royal family, came with ten men and struck Gedaliah down so that he died along with the Jews and the Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
Jeremiah 41:2 NASB95
Ishmael the son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him arose and struck down Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword and put to death the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed over the land.
This had been going on for about seventy years, rounded up.
Apparently these fasts became an occasion for self pity— ‘Woe is me… woe are we’— over their physical condition rather than engaging in prayer and genuine spiritual repentance.
Verse 6 . . .  the people were perpetuating the same actions which the former prophets had rebuked their ancestors. Without obedience and application, religious observance is meaningless.
Verse 7 . . . Before the exile, see Isa. 58:3-9.
Isaiah 58:3–9 NASB95
‘Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice?’ Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers. “Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist. You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high. “Is it a fast like this which I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it for bowing one’s head like a reed And for spreading out sackcloth and ashes as a bed? Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord? “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,
The Negev is S. Of Beersheba; the foothills refer to the Shephelah, the land toward the Mediterranean coast. These grazing and agricultural land areas were not yet resettled at this time.
Note this — God does not give a direct answer here. However, the attitude revealed receives exhaustive treatment here and in chapter 8.

2. Pursue Justice and Mercy, vs. 8-10.

Zechariah 7:8-10
Verse 8f . . . This word of the LORD is the same as that from the former prophets. The people were guilty of legalism, the external adherence to the letter of the law while disregarding the internal spirit, the true divine intent of the law.
“Morality is certainly not piety, but the piety which does not include morality is a mere delusion, which mocks God and insults man.” — T. W. Chambers.
Here is a test of true spirituality:
Dispense true justice - Heb. word mishpat, the right ordering of society, where the rights for all are safeguarded.
Practice kindness and compassion - Kindness is Heb. hesed, faithful love and loyalty to each party of the covenant; compassion is from Heb. rehamim, having a tender, maternal kind of love, each one to his brother.
Do not oppress the widow (the Heb. means a widow without financial support), the orphan, the stranger, the poor. These are the weak and most vulnerable in the society; they are also those with the fewest legal rights.
Do not devise evil in your hearts speaking of the very attitudes against one another. This has the idea of plotting, of coming up with a plan to do evil, sourced in our thoughts and attitudes.
These are the things that the LORD said then through the former prophets and He has not changed His mind.
From these verses, it is inferred that the restored community need to change their way of thinking and living (i.e. repent) and to begin practicing this ethical teaching; otherwise their fasting is mere formalism and is rejected by the LORD.

3. Problems of Hardness, vs. 11-14.

Zechariah 7:11-14
The warnings of the LORD were unheeded by the people prior to the exile. Their actions:
They refused to pay attention.
“One indispensible ingredient in true spirituality is a dogged attentiveness to familiar truths, but [Israel] did not ‘pay attention.’ — K. L. Barker
2. [they] turned a stubborn shoulder.
The word picture is that of a rebellious ox.
3. [they] stopped their ears from hearing.
They put their fingers in their ears so they would not hear the word of the LORD.
They were active, not passive in their reactions, Isaiah 6:10
Isaiah 6:10 NASB95
“Render the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes dim, Otherwise they might see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”
Verse 12 reveals they chose to make their hearts like flint. The Heb. word shamir is uncertain, but has the idea that their hearts were made as hard as a diamond. This is their attitude.
As a result they could not hear the law and the words of The LORD.
Then we have a clear teaching of one of the roles of the Holy Spirit. He is seen here as the heavenly mediator of God’s word from the LORD to the prophets, who are the earthly mediators to the people of what God says.
But the results of verses 11-12a is ‘great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.’ It is seen in the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, followed by exile to Babylon.
Verse 13 . . . this was just retribution. Jeremiah warned them of this, Jer. 11:11-14
Jeremiah 11:11–14 NASB95
Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them. “Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they surely will not save them in the time of their disaster. “For your gods are as many as your cities, O Judah; and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to the shameful thing, altars to burn incense to Baal. “Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not listen when they call to Me because of their disaster.
Verse 14 . . . the covenantal cursings of Deut. 28 saw them scattered and exiled, Deut. 28:36-37
Deuteronomy 28:36–37 NASB95
“The Lord will bring you and your king, whom you set over you, to a nation which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone. “You shall become a horror, a proverb, and a taunt among all the people where the Lord drives you.
Deuteronomy 28:64–68 NASB95
“Moreover, the Lord will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone, which you or your fathers have not known. “Among those nations you shall find no rest, and there will be no resting place for the sole of your foot; but there the Lord will give you a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and despair of soul. “So your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you will be in dread night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life. “In the morning you shall say, ‘Would that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Would that it were morning!’ because of the dread of your heart which you dread, and for the sight of your eyes which you will see. “The Lord will bring you back to Egypt in ships, by the way about which I spoke to you, ‘You will never see it again!’ And there you will offer yourselves for sale to your enemies as male and female slaves, but there will be no buyer.”
The land was desolated, Deut 28:41-42
Deuteronomy 28:41–42 NASB95
“You shall have sons and daughters but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. “The cricket shall possess all your trees and the produce of your ground.
Deuteronomy 28:45–52 NASB95
“So all these curses shall come on you and pursue you and overtake you until you are destroyed, because you would not obey the Lord your God by keeping His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. “They shall become a sign and a wonder on you and your descendants forever. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart, for the abundance of all things; therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you. “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation whose language you shall not understand, a nation of fierce countenance who will have no respect for the old, nor show favor to the young. “Moreover, it shall eat the offspring of your herd and the produce of your ground until you are destroyed, who also leaves you no grain, new wine, or oil, nor the increase of your herd or the young of your flock until they have caused you to perish. “It shall besiege you in all your towns until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout your land, and it shall besiege you in all your towns throughout your land which the Lord your God has given you.
This illustrates the principle of prophecy’s progressive fulfillment. What came upon Israel before has come upon them again following A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.
Zechariah is concerned about the spiritual status of his people. His message from the LORD points out that outward forms of religious activity is useless and lifeless without an accompanying spirit of obedience, confession, and repentance.
Israel’s refusal to heed God’s call and their ensuing consequences illustrate the importance of maintaining a soft heart towards God’s guidance. We must remain open and responsive to the Holy Spirit, guarding against complacency in our lives. Highlight how Jesus calls us to continuous repentance and alignment with God's will, ensuring our hearts reflect true devotion and worship.
Earn an accredited degree from Redemption Seminary with Logos.