Taking Heed To God's Word Series

In Zechariah 7 a delegation came from the Jews in Bethel asking the question: “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”i During the 70 years of exile in Babylon, the Jews had been observing four fasts in memory of the destruction of Jerusalem. The most significant one was in the fifth month on the day the Solomon’s temple was destroyed. Now that a new temple was being constructed and the 70 years of captivity prophesied by Jeremiah were approaching completion, the question would naturally come up.

God answered the question in four messages through Zechariah. Each message is introduced by a statement that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah. This divides the answer as follows:

? 7:7-7 Confronts the motive behind their religious activities.

? 7:8-14 Reminds them of what God has already told them to do.

? 8:1-17 Encourages them in God’s faithfulness to His promises.

? 8:18-23 Predicts the day when all mourning will be turned into rejoicing through Messiah

The corrective portion of the answer is in chapter 7, and the comforting portion of the answer is in chapter 8.

Last week we only had time to deal with two of the three rhetorical questions that God asked His people in Zechariah 7:4-7. Zechariah 7:4: “Then the word of the LORD Almighty came to me: 5 “Ask all the people of the land and the priests.” Here are the three questions beginning in verse 5:

? Question #1: ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? 6

? Question #2: “And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves?” Those two questions confront the problem of doing a good thing with the wrong motive. Nothing wrong with fasting. In fact, it can be a very profitable spiritual exercise when done in the right spirit. But God was exposing the fact that these Jews were not pursuing God from their hearts. The motive behind the fasting was self-centered. We dealt with that problem extensively last week. Now in verse 7 we come to the third question that God asks His people.

? Question #3: “Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’” That introduces the remaining verses in the chapter. The “words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets” are summarized in verses 9-10.

The question reminds the inquirers and all the people there in Judah of what God had already told them to do. The NKJV clarifies that implication: “Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?'" You’re asking about the will of God. But you’re not doing the will God has already revealed in His word. You’re not doing what He has already told you to do.ii The implied message is this: Begin by doing what you have already been told to do. This principle is just as relevant today as it was in Zechariah’s day. If you want direction from God, position yourself to receive that guidance by doing what He has already told you to do. Who sets the agenda for what is important, you or God? Who is running the show? Who is in charge? Whose priorities should be followed?

Christians often make the mistake these Jews were making. We can’t understand why God doesn’t tell us whether to sell our stock or buy more? We’re asking God questions about whether to buy a better car or repair the one we have. We’re asking questions about whether to buy a house or rent. All we get is silence. The message behind that silence is the question: Are you doing what I have already told you to do? Are you living according to the instruction in my word? I already told you to stop gossiping. Are you doing that? I told you to stop being stingy and, instead, give to others. Are you doing that? Is there anything God has already told you to do. Attend to that first. Then clarity will come for the next step.

Like the first two questions, the third question confronts the sincerity of their religion.iii The sincere believer will live in the two great commandments. Jesus quoted them in Matthew Matthew 22:37-38: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself' (NKJV).” The first two questions in Zechariah 7:5-6 deal with the first command regarding our inner love toward God. This third question in Zechariah 7:7 deals with the second great commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.