THE BOOK OF ZECHARIAH
Don’t Be Stubborn and Not Obey
God
Zechariah 7 SCC 3/27/11
INTRODUCTION
How likely is it that your
religious posturing is a sham? That is a question this passage forces us to ponder.
Religious traditions we participate in can become a vehicle for self-centered
and hypocritical self-fulfilling activity. It can serve my desire to look good
or seem spiritual. It can become a way to be noticed, appreciated, respected,
honored, and elevated. Erecting a façade of religious activity to serve my own
purposes. Religious observance that is only superficial and self-serving. The
danger is I dishonor God and all of my religious activity has no eternal value
whatsoever. Since it is designed to serve my interests, and me there is nothing
for which God can reward me. Lacking a sincere heart of devotion and disobeying
the heart of God, I am left only with His discipline and not His favor. The
previous visions had occurred in one night. The following revelation comes
about 22 months later v 1.
THIS IS NO TIME FOR
HYPOCRITICAL RELIGIOUS SELF-INDULGENCE 1-7
Setting 1
In 1:7 the visions begin the
24th day of the 11th month in the 2nd yr of
King Darius. In 7:1 the messages begin on the 4th day of the 9th
month of the 4th yr of King Darius. The significance of this
timetable is to pinpoint the entrance of the Bethel delegation as the building
of the Temple has been well underway. So the approach of this delegation
prompts the word of the Lord to come to Zechariah in response to their inquiry.
Delegations Purpose 2
Bethel is just north of
Jerusalem on what is called the Central Benjamin Plateau. This plateau extends
from Bethlehem in the south to the Jezreel Valley in the north. It is
essentially a ridge route in the heart of the country. This is where most of
the Israelite population lived. Up in the hills and valleys of the ridges
between the mountains. They had been pushed up into this area because of
pressures from enemies like the Philistines on the western coast and marauding
bands of Transjordan armies from the eastern boundaries. Now that the Exilic
remnant has established itself and rebuilt the Temple, this group of
postexilics from Bethel need what looks like some clarification about their
religious practices from the more religious astute in Jerusalem.
Delegations Approach and
Question 3
First, they inquire of the
Lord through the priests and prophets as a matter of formality and legitimacy.
They have a question that only the priests and prophets can answer for them.
Second, their question is related to a religious practice they have been
observing for many years, namely, that of weeping and fasting in the fifth
month. Most likely this observance was of the destruction of Solomon’s Temple
70 years earlier (2 Kings 25:8). This was on the 7th day of the
fifth month, so the next anniversary was just a few months away.
The problem is that these
fasts were not part of the Mosaic Law, thus the inquiry directed to the priests
and prophets who knew that Law. This practice had no sanction in Israel’s
religious traditions, as did other holy days. Was it appropriate to create holy
days to observe occasions that had arisen in the post-Moses period? No with an
ecclesiastical structure back in place in Jerusalem it is possible to get an
official ruling.
Prophets Answer 4-7
God speaks through His prophet
not only to this delegation but extends it to all the people of the land and to
the priests v 4-5a. So this becomes a teachable moment! What may have appeared
to be an innocent question about the propriety of fasting was instead a
question filled of hypocrisy. Instead of piety they were posturing. It’s likely
this delegation was trying to impress the prophet more than gain instruction
from him. God’s reply is a sharp rebuke.
First,
their fasting and mourning was in the 5th and 7th month
for 70 long years but had only been an empty exercise designed to enhance not
God but an outward show and no inner content to benefit themselves v 5. They
added another holy day to possibly commemorate the death of the 1st
exilic leader, Gedaliah, who was assassinated by rebels (Jer 40:13-14) on the 7th
month of a certain year (Jer 41:1). So for nearly 70 years these twin events of
destruction of the Temple and assassination had been commemorated. The
prophet’s rhetorical question betrays their motive—‘fasting, did you indeed
fast to me, to me, indeed?’ Second, just as they fasted so they ate and
drank for their own benefit and to their own satisfaction v 6. All of this
religious activity failed to comply with or appreciate the demands of a holy
and loving God. Third, this rebuke was also the history of the preexilic
past, a time when Jerusalem, its suburbs, and even more distant parts of the
realm were occupied and at rest v 7. This is not a new message. It was heard
and ignored leading to depopulation and then desolation of the land. The Negev,
now a desert wasteland, was habitable and prosperous then. The foothills or
lowlands now empty and scarred were inhabited and fertile then. The people are
squeezed between these desolations to scratch out a living in the crevices and
mountaintops.
The message: If the mighty and
prosperous Jerusalem and Judah were overthrown for failing to heed the word of
God and follow the heart of God warned by earlier prophets, how much more
important for Zechariahs audience to pay strict attention to his words while
struggling for its very survival. This is not time for hypocritical
self-indulgent religious activity.
LESSON: Remember
that no religious practice or activity has self-value. There is no eternal
value to anything we do religiously. Bible reading, church attendance, giving
to the needy, being a good parent, abstaining from anything only have eternal
value if and only if they are done with a correct motive of sincerity in my
heart and obedience to God’s heart. What is the Word of God concerning a matter
and am I obeying that. They had the word of the prophets. Where God has not
spoken is my motive sincere before God or is it for my benefit? If it is for
your benefit then don’t seek or expect God’s favor. He has none to give you.
Delay your reward until eternity. Have sincere devotion with an audience of
one. Seek no credit.
GODS DISGUST WITH RELIGIOUS
HYPOCRISY PROVOKES HIS WRATH 8-14
We have been hearing recently
how ‘love wins’ meaning that God is love and God’s love will melt every single
heart toward Him in Christ. This assumes that this is God’s only attribute.
Essentially it hijacks God’s character, dispenses only one redefined aspect of
it, and then says here is God. The trouble with this idea is that God is also
holy, just, truth, omniscient, sovereign and so on. Here we see God’s wrath—his
justice—meted out against his own people.
True Worship 8-10
God lays down the basis of
true worship, which he has reiterated, again and again, to the people. Here are
things to do: Dispense true justice. Practice kindness and compassion. Here are
things not to do: oppress the widow, orphan, stranger, or poor. Nor devise evil
in your hearts against one another (Micah 6:8; Isa 56:1; Eze 18:8; 45:9; Ex
22:22; Mic 2:1). All of these actions are found in Israel’s Law code. None of
this is new or a surprise. These are the same demands God has made on His
people from the beginning. Nothing has changed. In the distant past and recent
history God’s people abandoned these principles and obligations and only
pretended to comply. Their religious hypocritical practices were designed to
mask their disobedience to God. They could look good by fasting and praying and
commemorating, while they hated each other, cheated each other, robbed each
other, killed each other, and sought revenge of one another. True worship was
out of fashion.
Full Blown Rebellion 11-12
The response of earlier
generations to God’s covenant demands was consistent and inflexible
disobedience. The prophet describes it with 3 idioms; (1) a shoulder of
stubbornness—they would not listen to God. (2) Made their ears
heavy—insensitive to response. (3) Made their hearts as flint—unwilling to hear
the truth. They had set themselves up for judgment. Neither Moses nor the
prophets had made an impression v 12b. These words, by the way, were sent by
the Spirit of God through the prophets, which connects their messages to
inspiration v 12c. The former prophets also spoke by means of the Spirit of
God. The result was predictable: God sent great wrath against them. This
pattern was entrenched in Israel and Judah. There is no need for extrapolation
the history is so obvious
Judgment Because of Rebellion
13-14
The practical result is that
just as they would not listen when God called, now God would not listen when
they called in their terror v 13. Instead of deliverance the earlier
generations experienced the whirlwind of God’s wrath—a storm of fury that had
driven them to lands they had never even heard of before v 14a. All had come to
pass as God had prophesied as this post exilic group could attest trying to
recover form the awful effects of their fathers sins. Twice it says the land
had become desolate. It still is today. So desolate in fact that it appeared
uninhabited then. Hardly a soul could be found criss-crossing for any reason.
Commerce was dead. It is a land devoid of life and pleasure v 14b. The
point—unless Zechariahs people, this bethel delegation, and the entire
postexilic community understand how disgusted God is with religious observance
that is only superficial and self-serving, hypocritical and self-indulgent,
they can expect calamity and terror, in the form of God’s judgment as their
forefathers had experienced. Don’t go there!
LESSON: First,
give true worship in the form speaking out with God’s perspective of justice to
all of those around us, in our extended families, friends and disciples. Do it
in casual conversation and formal teaching. Practice kindness and compassion.
Whereas justice is a response based on merit, compassion is a response, which
ignores merit. Compassion is a combination of mercy and pity. Don’t take
advantage of the poor or less fortunate people. Many are uninformed, desperate,
and their life situations force them to live for today, which causes them to
remain unwise. Chaos and survival does not produce wisdom. Wisdom is only
available to those who can think about tomorrow. Never create an evil scenario
in your mind against one another. If they are truly evil then give them God’s
perspective on that not your own! This is true worship and undefiled religion
(James 1:27).
Second,
remember you are accountable to God for your religious observances. Don’t try
to cover up your disobedience with your religious practices. You can attend
Bible studies and hate your neighbor. You can serve in some official capacity
and devise ways to exploit your business competition. You can participate in
missions and ignore the needs of a poorer relative.