Zechariah 7:1-7
Zechariah 7:1
And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius,
that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth
month, even in Chisleu;
It has now been two years since the last time Zechariah
encouraged the Jerusalem community with his encouraging messages.
Now in this chapter the subject of fasts will be discussed.
The fourth year of king Darius is not Darius the Mede but it is Darius
the son of Hystaspes who succeeded Cambyses II who ruled from 530-522 B.C.
The word of the LORD came to Zechariah in the ninth month Chisleu which
would correspond to our November/December.
Haggai had also prophesied in this month.
Zechariah 7:2
When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and
Regem-melech, and their
men, to pray before the LORD,
A delegation was sent to Jerusalem as the temple was
still being built. As it was being
built they had received many priests.
This delegation may have come to Jerusalem from Babylon or Bethel as not
all came back to the land at the same time.
Regem-melech means “a friend of the king” who came back with a man named
Sherezer and a deputation to question the priests and prophets about a day of
fasting and humiliation commemorating the temple’s destruction by Babylon.
Zechariah 7:3
And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of
the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth
month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
While in exile the Jews had instituted a day of fasting
in the fifth month which was the month of Ab to commemorate the destruction of
Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Since
the new temple was now nearing completion, they wanted to know if they should
still continue the commemoration of the destruction of Solomon’s temple. There
were also other days that the Jews had created as memorials of other events such
as a memorial on the tenth of Tebeth, the tenth month, when the king of Babylon
laid siege to Jerusalem. The “so
many years” in this verse would refer to the full seventy years that they were
in captivity in Babylon.
Zechariah 7:4
Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to Zechariah.
The subject that Zechariah would receive from the LORD would be
concerning the embassy and the question of the fast.
Zechariah 7:5
Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the
priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even
those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
Then the LORD asks a straight question to them.
When they created these fasts and days of commemoration, were they
created for the purpose of just remembering the life they had before the
Babylonian captivity or were they truly days and times of fasting because they
had sinned against the LORD? In
other words, were they lamenting the material goods and lifestyles that were
stanched because of Babylon or were they fasting because they were sincerely
sorry for the sins they committed that earned them the captivity in Babylon.
The seventh month commemoration was to commemorate the slaying of
Gedaliah. Then arose Ishmael the son of
Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of
Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon
had made governor over the land.
(Jeremiah 41:2) Gedaliah was
appointed as the Governor over Mizpah by the king of Babylon.
It is like in Christianity today.
How many are doing ministry to gain some type of notoriety or increase in
wealth? How many are doing it out
of a sincere calling from God?
These are very serious questions which demand an answer.
Zechariah 7:6
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye
eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
The LORD continues to examine them and asks them a
question concerning their motives for the fast days and the feast days.
What they did was turn these fasts into times of self-pity, indulging in
food, and they turned these fasts into a religious ritual which contained no
obedience as did the former fasts proclaimed by the prophets.
(Isaiah 1:11-17) As with
most memorials they start out as legitimate and then degenerated into
celebrations of gluttony and fun.
For example, Memorial Day in the United States was celebrated on May 30 from
1868 to 1970 when it was changed to the last Monday in May for the purpose of a
long weekend. Memorial Day is a day
when people reflect on those who gave their life for this country instead it
became a time of revelry, drinking, barbecues, the unofficial start of summer
and here in New Jersey it is when people head to the shore to start getting
their shore houses ready for summer.
The true meaning of Memorial Day has been lost to good times and fun.
This is what the LORD was asking Judah if the fasted because they were
sorry for their sins or did they fast as a religious ritual which lost its
original meaning and was replaced by a pity party.
Zechariah 7:7
Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by
the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the
cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?