7:1ffThe fourth year of King Darius’s reign was 518 B.C. For the previous 70 years, the people had been holding a fast in August to remember the destruction of Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem was being rebuilt, they came to the Temple to ask if they had to continue this annual fast. God did not answer their question directly. Instead, he told them that their acts of justice and mercy were more important than their fasting. What he wanted from his people was true justice in their dealings and mercy and compassion for the weak.
Life Application Study BibleZechariahChapter 7
Zechariah 7
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1508, 1509
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
7Zechariah 7
A Call to Justice and Mercy
17 On December 7* of the fourth year of King Darius’s reign, another message came to Zechariah from the LORD. 2The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech,* along with their attendants, to seek the LORD’s favor. 3They were to ask this question of the prophets and the priests at the Temple of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies: “Should we continue to mourn and fast each summer on the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction,* as we have done for so many years?” 4The LORD of Heaven's Armies sent me this message in reply: 5“Say to all your people and your priests, ‘During these seventy years of exile, when you fasted and mourned in the summer and in early autumn,* was it really for me that you were fasting? 6And even now in your holy festivals, aren't you eating and drinking just to please yourselves? 7Isn’t this the sare message the LORD proclaimed through the prophets in years past when Jerusalem and the towns of Judah were bustling with people, and the Negev and the foothills of Judah* were well populated?’” 8Then this message came to Zechariah from the LORD: 9“ This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and Kindness to one another. 10Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. 11Your ancestors refused to listen to this message. They stubbornly turned away and put their fingers in their ears to keep from hearing. 12They made their hearts as hard as stone, so they could not hear the instructions or the messages that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies had sent them by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. That is why the LORD of Heaven's Armies was so angry with them. 13“Since they refused to listen when I called to them, I would not listen when they called to me, says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. 14As with a whirlwind, I scattered them among the distant nations, where they lived as strangers. Their land became so desolate that no one even traveled through it. They turned their pleasant land into a desert.”
Textual footnotes
- the month of Kislev, of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar. This event occurred on December 7, 518 B.c,; also see
- note on 1:1.
- The Temple had been destroyed in the fifth month of the ancient Hebrew lunar calendar (August 586 B.c.); see 2 Kgs
- 25:8.
- calendar usually occurs within the months of July and August. The seventh month usually occurs within the months
- of September and October; both the Day of Atonement and the Festivat of Shelters were celebrated in the seventh
- month.
- 7:1 Hebrew On the fourth day of the ninth month,
- 7:2 Or Bethel-sharezer had sent Regemmelech.
- 7:3 Hebrew mourn and fast in the fifth month.
- 7:5 Hebrew fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months. The fifth month of the ancient Hebrew lunar
- 7:7 Hebrew the Shephelah.
Life Application Notes 4 notes
7:5-7The Israelites had lost their sincere desire for a loving relationship with God. Zechariah told them that they had been fasting without a proper attitude of repentance or worship. They fasted and mourned during their exile with no thought of God or their sins that had caused it in the first place. When you go to church, pray, or have fellowship with other believers, are you doing these things from habit or for what you can get out of them? God says that an attitude of worship without a sincere desire to know and love him will lead to ruin.
7:7The Negev was the southern part of Judah.
7:11,12Zechariah explained to the people that their ancestors brought God's great wrath on themselves by hardening their hearts. Any sin seems more natural the second time—as we become hardened, each repetition is easier. Ignoring or refusing God’s warning hardens you each time you do wrong. Read God's Word and apply it to your life. Sensitivity and submission to God's Word can soften your heart and allow you to live as you should.