Zechariah7

In the fourth year of King Darius, a delegation from Bethel inquired whether they should continue their traditional fasts. The Lord, through Zechariah, questioned the sincerity of their past fasting, stating it was not truly for Him but for themselves. He reminded them of His earlier commands for justice and mercy, which they had historically rejected, leading to their scattering and the desolation of the land.

Delegation Asks About Continuing the Fasts

1
In the fourth year of King Daryavesh, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, a message from ADONAI came to Z'kharyah. ​
2
He sent Sar'etzer and Regem-Melekh with his men to Beit-El in order to ask ADONAI's favor, ​
3
as they inquired of the cohanim of the house of ADONAI-Tzva'ot and the prophets, "Should we go into mourning and abstain from pleasure during the fifth month, as we have been doing for all these years?" ​

God Challenges the Motivation for Fasting

4
It was then that this message came to me from ADONAI-Tzva'ot:
5
"Speak to all the people of the land and to the cohanim. Tell them, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months throughout these seventy years, were you really fasting for me? Was it for me? ​
6
Rather, when you eat and drink, it's just to please yourselves, isn't it? ​
7
Isn't this just what ADONAI proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Yerushalayim was inhabited and prosperous, as were the cities around her; and the Negev and the Sh'felah were inhabited?'" ​

The Requirement of True Justice

8
Then this message from ADONAI came to Z'kharyah:
9
"In the past ADONAI-Tzva'ot said, 'Administer true justice. Let everyone show mercy and compassion to his brother. ​
10
Don't oppress widows, orphans, foreigners or poor people. Don't plot evil against each other.' ​

Past Rebellion and Divine Judgment

11
But they wouldn't listen, they stubbornly turned their shoulder away and stopped up their ears, so that they wouldn't have to hear it. ​
12
Yes, they made their hearts as hard as a diamond, so that they wouldn't hear the Torah and the messages that ADONAI-Tzva'ot had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. This is why great anger came from ADONAI-Tzva'ot; ​
13
and it came about that just as they hadn't listened when he called, so ADONAI-Tzva'ot said, 'I won't listen when they call; ​
14
but with the power of a whirlwind I will disperse them among all the nations which they have not known.' Thus the land was left desolate after them, so that no one came or went. They had turned a pleasant land into a desert." ​

Study Notes for Zechariah 7

Verse 1

This chapter is precisely dated to the fourth year of Darius (518 BC), two years after Zechariah’s visions (Ch. 1–6), indicating that the rebuilding efforts are now established.

Verse 2

Sherezer and Regemmelech were representatives sent from the Jewish community, likely from Bethel or even Babylon, to consult the priests and prophets in Jerusalem regarding appropriate ritual practice.

Verse 3

The fast of the fifth month (Av) commemorated the destruction of the First Temple (586 BC). With the Second Temple reconstruction underway, the people questioned whether this traditional mourning fast was still necessary.

Verse 5

The seventy years of fasting aligns with the duration of the Babylonian exile. God questions their motive, implying their mourning was centered on self-pity rather than genuine repentance or devotion to Him.

Verse 6

This rhetorical question emphasizes that their eating and drinking (both feasting and fasting) were self-serving. True worship requires a heart focused on God, not merely external ritual performance.

Verse 7

The 'former prophets' (e.g., Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos) consistently warned that ritual without ethical obedience was meaningless, a message Israel ignored when the land was prosperous.

Verse 9

God shifts the focus from ritual questions (fasting) to ethical requirements, summarizing the core of covenant law: true judgment (justice) and practical compassion (mercy) toward one’s neighbor.

Verse 10

This list identifies the most vulnerable groups in society (widow, orphan, stranger, poor), emphasizing that ethical religion is demonstrated by protecting the marginalized.

Verse 11

The people’s historical response to God’s commands was willful rejection, symbolized by the refusal to 'hearken' (listen obediently) and pulling away the shoulder (like oxen refusing the yoke).

Verse 12

They made their hearts like an 'adamant stone' (Heb. *shamir*, a very hard substance like diamond), illustrating their deliberate spiritual stubbornness against the Law and the Spirit-inspired message of the prophets.

Verse 13

This verse establishes the principle of reciprocal judgment: because Israel refused to hear God when He spoke, God refused to hear their desperate cries when judgment finally came (the exile).

Verse 14

The scattering was executed 'with a whirlwind,' symbolizing the violent, chaotic, and forceful nature of the judgment and exile, which left the once 'pleasant land' utterly desolate.

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