Old Testament - Zechariah 7-8 - December 7, 2022

12/7/2022 – Zachariah 7-8

The student manual gives us a briefing as to what these two chapters tell us” “Because of the Israelites’ [continued] hypocrisy and oppression of the poor, the Lord scattered them among the nations. In the latter days, He will restore Jerusalem and gather Judah; and many gentiles with gather with them to worship the Lord.”

If we go to chapter 7’s synopsis, we find this: “The Lord reproves hypocrisy in fasts—He calls upon the people to show mercy and compassion and live godly lives.”

In v 5 the Lord begins to explain where the people have fallen short: “…When ye fasted and mourned in the firth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?”  They had missed the entire purpose of the fast. They only went through the motions. We can certainly learn from them. All we have to do is to ask ourselves some questions…and then answer them truthfully to ourselves:

I go to the church in order to:

I pray in order to:

I fast in order to:

I go to the temple in order to:

I serve others in order to:

In v 3 the people had asked Zechariah if they really needed to continue their ‘required’ fasts even though they had come back to Jerusalem and they were working to rebuild the temple. It seems to me, that they were just trying to mark off items on a to-do list. When we fast, we need to fast with a purpose, and keep our minds focused on the things we are fasting for, instead of focusing only on the clock. 

When I go to church to worship, do I make my worship more focused on the Lord, than focused completely on me?

In v’s 9-10 the Lord explains how Zechariah needed to teach the Israelites: “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts saying, execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassion every man to his brother. And oppress not the widow, not the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.” 

V 11-12 plainly shows us their problems: “But they refused to hearken and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone…”

I wonder: they had spent many decades as slaves in Babylon, and now the Lord has brought them back to Jerusalem, and now they are thinking ONLY of themselves and their needs. They hadn’t realized that the Lord had allowed them to be taken to Babylon in order that those hard times would bring them back to Him. And now, back in Jerusalem—yes, they are rebuilding their houses, and they did finally start rebuilding the temple, but they have not made a step forward in rebuilding their relationship with the Lord. 

And that’s when the Lord renewed His efforts to teach them that they should work to come unto Him—that’s the goal. He did this by “scattering them with a whirlwind among all the nations” (v 14) with the desire that they would finally begin to turn unto Him instead of refusing to follow any of His commandments.

Chapter 8 focuses on the future, the last days, the time when “Jerusalem shall be restored, when Judah shall be gathered, and when the Lord will bless his people beyond anything of the past.” Then in the chapter 8, He assures us that this will be a joyful day when the relationship between Him and the people of Judah will be restored. V 3 tells us that the Jerusalem of that time “shall be called a city of truth”. He describes the marvelous feeling of that city. At that time “they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” (v 8)

In v 9 He explains to us how this works! “…Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the Lord of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.”  And then in v 16, He tells them what their part of this should be: “These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:  And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are thing that I hate.”

He then tells how this ‘new’ Jerusalem will come together. People will come together saying: “Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts…many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord…and people will say “We will go with you for we have heard that God is with you.” (v’s 21-23)

During our difficult times, we need to take comfort in that the Lord knows exactly how His promises will come to us, and He assures us always that if we come unto Him, He will come unto us—and that makes all the difference!