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Introduction

Zechariah chapter 7 shifts from visions to a direct message concerning fasting and true obedience to God. The chapter begins with representatives from Bethel sending men to ask the priests and prophets whether they should continue observing a traditional fast that commemorated the destruction of the temple. This question prompts a broader message from the Lord about the true meaning and purpose behind religious rituals.

God responds by questioning whether the people’s fasting, both in the past and present, was truly directed toward Him or merely a self serving practice performed out of habit rather than genuine devotion. The message emphasizes that outward religious observance holds little value if it is not accompanied by justice, mercy, and compassion toward others. The prophet reminds the people of the words previously spoken by earlier prophets, urging them to execute true judgment, show kindness, and avoid oppressing the vulnerable, including widows, orphans, strangers, and the poor.

The chapter concludes with a solemn reminder that the failure of earlier generations to heed these instructions led directly to the exile and desolation of the land. Because the ancestors refused to listen and hardened their hearts, the Lord scattered them among the nations, leaving the land desolate. This serves as a warning to the current generation about the seriousness of genuine obedience over empty religious practice.

Chapter 7 (BBE)

1 And it came about in the fourth year of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month Chislev.
2 Now they of Beth-el had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech to make a request for grace from the Lord,
3 And to say to the priests of the house of the Lord of armies and to the prophets, Am I to go on weeping in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done in past years?
4 Then the word of the Lord of armies came to me, saying
5 Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, When you went without food and gave yourselves to grief in the fifth and the seventh months for these seventy years, did you ever do it because of me?
6 And when you are feasting and drinking, are you not doing it only for yourselves?
7 Are not these the words which the Lord said to you by the earlier prophets, when Jerusalem was full of people and wealth, and the towns round about her and the South and the Lowland were peopled?
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,
9 This is what the Lord of armies has said: Let your judging be upright and done in good faith, let every man have mercy and pity for his brother:
10 Do not be hard on the widow, or the child without a father, on the man from a strange country, or on the poor; let there be no evil thought in your heart against your brother.
11 But they would not give attention, turning their backs and stopping their ears from hearing;
12 And they made their hearts like the hardest stone, so that they might not give ear to the law and the words which the Lord of armies had said by the earlier prophets: and there came great wrath from the Lord of armies.
13 And it came about that as they would not give ear to his voice, so I would not give ear to their voice, says the Lord of armies:
14 But with a storm-wind I sent them in flight among all the nations of whom they had no knowledge. So the land was waste after them, so that no man went through or came back: for they had made waste the desired land.

Important Verses

  • Verse 5: God questions the sincerity of the people’s fasting over the years, asking whether it was truly done for Him.
  • Verse 9: A call to execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion toward one another.
  • Verse 10: An instruction not to oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, or the poor, and not to harbor evil intentions in the heart.
  • Verse 12: A description of the ancestors hardening their hearts and refusing to hear the law and the words sent by the prophets.
  • Verse 14: The consequence of disobedience is revealed as the people are scattered among the nations and the land is left desolate.

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