Zechariah
Zechariah 7
Chapter VII · Vol. III, pp. 1490–1492
1 The captives inquire of fasting. 4 Zechariah reproveth their fasting. 8 Sin the cause of their captivity.
1 And it came to pass ain the fourth year1 of king Darius, that bthe word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month; even in Chisleu;
2 When they2 had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,3
2 The Jews remaining in Chaldea, ch.6.10. Ezr.8.
3 Heb. to entreat the face of the LORD.
3 And to speak cunto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I dweep in the efifth month, gseparating myself, as I have done these so many years?4
c Mal.2.7. De.33.10; 17.9-11. 1 Pe.4.11.
d Joel 2.15. ver.5; ch.8.19.
e 2 Ki.25.8,9. Je.52.12,14. ver.5; ch.8.19.
A.M. cir. 3487. B.C. cir. 517.
g Joel 2.15. 1 Co.7.5. ch.12.12-14. Mat.6.16.
4 In the fifth month the temple and city were destroyed by fire, Je.52.12,13. During the whole period of the captivity the Jews were accustomed to fast annually on that month in commemoration of the destruction of the temple. But now that it was rebuilt, and the worship of God in it restored, they were in doubt whether they should fast or not. Hence the question put to the priests. The reply is a long one, extending over the remaining part of this chapter and the whole of ch. viii. It is divided into two parts.—P.
4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth5 and hseventh month,6 even those iseventy years, jdid ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
5 In the fifth month for the temple, in the seventh for Gedaliah, 2 Ki.25.8,25.—C.
h Je.41.1,2. 2 Ki.25.25. ch.8.19.
6 According to Jewish tradition the fast in the seventh month here referred to was on account of the governor Gedaliah, who was murdered with numerous others, Je.41.1.—P.
i ch.1.12. Da.9.3.
j Mat.6.16-18. Is.58.5; 1.11,12. Ro.14.6. ver.6. Da.9.13.
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, kdid not ye7 eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
7 Should1 ye not hear the words8 which the LORD hath ncried by9 the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the osouth and the plain?1
8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Executep true judgment,2 and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
p Is.58.6,7. Je.7.22-24. Mi.6.8. Mat.23.23.
2 Heb. Judge judgment of truth.
10 And qoppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and rlet none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
11 Buts they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,3 and stopped4 their ears, that they should not hear.
12 Yea, tthey made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent inu his spirit by5 the former prophets: therefore came va great wrath from the LORD of hosts.
13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as xhe cried, and they would not hear; so ythey cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:
Notes
Ver. 5, 6. In the fast of the fifth month they lamented the burning of the city and temple by the Chaldeans. In the fast of the seventh they bewailed the murder of Gedaliah, whom the Chaldeans made governor over their poor brethren which were left in Judea. But in neither did they fast in a right manner, or with a view to God's glory; and so their fasts were no more acceptable to God than their common eating and drinking to gratify their own sensual appetites. 11, 12. Like unruly bullocks, they refused to be under the yoke of God's laws, and obstinately rebelled against all his warnings, and would not even patiently hear his messages; yea, by a course of presumptuous sinning, they rendered their hearts quite obdurate and impenetrable to conviction, neither regarding the law of Moses, nor the instructions of the prophets which succeeded him in Israel.
Ver. 3. Should I weep? Now that the captivity has been restored, and the temple likely to be soon completed, 'should I (continue to) weep?' The question being uttered upon the assumption that they had wept in contrition of spirit—a self-flattering assumption, which the prophet proceeds to rebuke, on the authority of Him who searches and 'tries the reins and the heart.' C.
Reflections.—It is an honour for great as well as small to reverence the messengers and ordinances of God, to supplicate his favours, and to ask his directions. Every man ought to be employed answerably to his station and gifts; and in cases of conscience, none ought to be more able and ready than God's ministers, whose daily business it is to search his Word. And if God afflict, it is time for us to humble ourselves under his mighty hand. Religious customs should neither be introduced nor altered without serious and mature deliberation; and never ought we to inquire into our duty, without being willing to hear our faults charged home on our consciences. But, alas! it is too common to make our own inclination, and not God's law, our rule: our pleasure, profit, or honour, not his glory, our end in our actions, whether natural, civil, or religious. All the faithful messengers of God, in every age, remarkably harmonize in the leading truths and duties of religion. And in practical religion, strict equity, tender compassion, and brotherly kindness, are ingredients of the highest importance. Yet, alas! how obstinately many professors neglect them, and practise the opposite vices! 'And fatal and answerable are the punishments which they incur thereby.