By Jay T. Robertson
Assistant Professor, School of Christian Studies, University of Mobile
INTEGRITY
Zechariah 7:1–14
December 7 is an auspicious date for Americans as we reflect on Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. More than 20 American ships were sunk or severely damaged. More than 150 aircraft were destroyed. And more than 2,000 lives were lost in one morning of two quick bombing raids. But did you know that something else happened Dec. 7? Based on information in their books, we can actually decipher the exact days on which God revealed His words to the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. And the content of Zechariah 7 was given to Zechariah on Dec. 7, 518 B.C. Chapter 7 looks back and explains why God sent the people of Judah into exile. It theologically interprets their history and points to their disobedience to God’s demands. Zechariah sought to impress on the people their need to live righteously and with integrity.
Check Your Motives (1–7)
A delegation came from Bethel to Jerusalem and asked the temple priests and divinely appointed prophets if they should continue to fast in the fifth month as it had done for 70 years. The fasts had been observed in exile, but should they be continued in these better times back in the homeland? Now that the temple was nearly rebuilt, it would seem that they were no longer necessary. The question posed here concerned a fast day instituted by the Jews in exile in commemoration of the destruction of Jerusalem. In the beginning, there was sincere observance of the fast, but it had become a mere ritual.
The Lord of Hosts strongly rebuked the attitude behind the question of verse 3. In a series of rhetorical questions, the Lord cast doubt on the people’s sincerity when they had previously observed the fasts. They had turned a time that should have convicted them of their past and present sins into an empty ritual devoid of its divinely intended purpose — prayer and repentance. They had turned the fast into a time of self-pity over their physical hardship. Their observance of the fast had not caused them to be broken over their sin, leading them to repentance and restored fellowship with the Lord.
Although the question was raised by people from Bethel, the issue applied to the whole nation; therefore Zechariah addressed these words to “all the people,” not just the people of Bethel. The Lord cut right to the heart of the matter when He asked, “did you really fast for Me?” Seventy years of religious observance, but was it offered with sincerity and integrity of heart? Their fasting had become habitual, ritual and anything but spiritual.
There is strong inference in Zechariah’s words that just as feasting was enjoyed in self-interest, so fasting could similarly be pursued for motives other than those for which self-denial was originally designed. Believers today must check their motives as they worship. The Lord asks us, “Did you really do that for Me?”
Express Your Integrity (8–10)
With a solemn, authoritative message from God, Zechariah focused on the covenantal unfaithfulness and disobedience that precipitated the Babylonian captivity. The Lord gave the people four tests to help them determine their spiritual integrity. First, they were to “render true justice.” God’s people then and now are to make right all aspects and phases of human existence, whether moral, religious, political, social or economic. Second, they were to “show faithful love and compassion to one another.” Third, the covenant people were not to oppress the needy and unprotected people. Fourth, they were not to plot evil against anyone. The people of the restored community needed to repent and to begin living with integrity; otherwise their fasting was mere ritualism, legalism and hypocrisy.
Learn From the Past (11–14)
The Lord instructed the people to obey the four commands but they refused. Their disobedience turned “a pleasant land into a desolation.” The lesson to the Jews of the restoration period was clear: do not be like your unrepentant, unfaithful, disobedient, covenant-breaking forefathers, or you will experience the judgment of God.
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