Zechariah 7

Hearts like Flint

1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is ¹Chislev.

2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to ²seek the favor of the LORD,

3 speaking to the ³priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, "Shall I weep in the ⁴fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?"

4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,

5 "Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these ⁵seventy years, was it actually for ⁶Me that you fasted?

6 'When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?

7 'Are not these the words which the LORD ⁷proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and ⁸prosperous along with its cities around it, and the ⁹Negev and the foothills were inhabited?' "

8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying,

9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, '¹⁰Dispense true justice and practice ¹¹kindness and compassion each to his brother;

10 and ¹²do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do ¹³not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'

11 "But they ¹⁴refused to pay attention and ¹⁵turned a stubborn shoulder and ¹⁶stopped their ears from hearing.

12 "They made their ¹⁷hearts like ¹⁸flint so that they could not hear the law and the ¹⁹words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the ²⁰former prophets; therefore great ²¹wrath came from the LORD of hosts.

13 "And just as ²²He called and they would not listen, so ²³they called and I would not listen," says the LORD of hosts;

14 "but I ²⁴scattered them with a ²⁵storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is ²⁶desolated behind them so that ²⁷no one went back and forth, for they ²⁸made the pleasant land desolate."

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.

Cross References

• 1. Nehemiah 1:1
• 2. 1 Kings 13:6; Jeremiah 26:19; Zechariah 8:21
• 3. Ezra 3:10-12
• 4. Zechariah 8:19
• 5. Zechariah 1:12
• 6. Isaiah 1:11, 12; Isaiah 58:5
• 7. Isaiah 1:16-20; Jeremiah 7:5, 23; Zechariah 1:4
• 8. Jeremiah 22:21
• 9. Jeremiah 13:19; Jeremiah 32:44
• 10. Ezekiel 18:8; Ezekiel 45:9; Zechariah 8:16
• 11. 2 Samuel 9:7; Job 6:14; Micah 6:8
• 12. Exodus 22:22; Psalms 72:4; Jeremiah 7:6
• 13. Psalms 21:11; Micah 2:1; Zechariah 8:17
• 14. Jeremiah 5:3; Jeremiah 8:5; Jeremiah 11:10
• 15. Jeremiah 7:26; Jeremiah 17:23
• 16. Psalms 58:4; Jeremiah 5:21
• 17. 2 Chronicles 36:13; Ezekiel 2:4; Ezekiel 3:7-9
• 18. Jeremiah 17:1; Ezekiel 3:9
• 19. Zechariah 7:7
• 20. Nehemiah 9:30
• 21. 2 Chronicles 36:16; Daniel 9:11, 12
• 22. Jeremiah 11:10, 14; Jeremiah 14:12
• 23. Proverbs 1:24-28; Isaiah 1:15
• 24. Deuteronomy 4:27; Deuteronomy 28:64
• 25. Jeremiah 23:19
• 26. Jeremiah 44:6
• 27. Isaiah 60:15
• 28. Jeremiah 12:10

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "his"
• [b]. Lit "soften the face of"
• [c]. Lit "abstaining;" or "dedicating myself"
• [d]. Lit "and these"
• [e]. Lit "is it not you who eat and you who drink"
• [f]. Or "at ease"
• [g]. I.e. South country
• [h]. Heb "Shephelah"
• [i]. Or "fatherless"
• [j]. Or "resident alien"
• [k]. Lit "gave"
• [l]. Lit "made heavy"
• [m]. Lit "corundum"
• [n]. Lit "from hearing"
• [o]. Lit "stormed them away upon all"
• [p]. Lit "from passing and from returning"

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.