Zechariah 07
Zechariah 07:1 In King Darius’ fourth year, on the fourth day of Kislev, the ninth month, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah.
Jehovah gave Zechariah a prophecy two years after the eight visions. This was also two years before the completion of the temple.
2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech and their companions to seek the Lord’s favor
Sharezer and Regem-Melech were Babylonian names. These were Jews who were born into captivity. They returned to Israel possibly during Ezra’s returns. These men and their companions were sent to ask Zechariah a question.
3 by asking both the priests of the temple of the Lord who rules over all and the prophets, “Should we weep in the fifth month, fasting as we have done over the years?”
The fifth month was the Ninth of Av. On the ninth of Av, the city of Jerusalem and its temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. The Romans would also destroy the Jewish temple on the ninth of Av. After the temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, the Jews declared a yearly fast on the ninth of Av. They had been observing this ritual for the last 69 years. They asked Zechariah if they should continue this national fast.
4 The word of the Lord who rules over all then came to me,
Jehovah answered this question, but He did not tickle the ears of His listeners.
5 “Speak to all the people and priests of the land as follows: ‘When you fasted and lamented in the fifth and seventh months through all these seventy years, did you truly fast for me—for me, indeed?
Jehovah asked Zechariah to proclaim His message to these men, but also to all of Israel. Israel was fasting during two different months. They fasted in the fifth month, because the temple and city was destroyed on the ninth of Av. They fasted in the seventh month, because the Jewish leader Gedeliah was assassinated during this month. These fasts were not proclaimed by Jehovah. These were man-made fasts created by the Jewish people after they went into the Babylonian Captivity. Jehovah asked the people if this fasting was for themselves or for the glory of God.
6 And now when you eat and drink, are you not doing so for yourselves?’ ”
When the Jews were feasting, were they eating and drinking for the glory of God or for themselves? Everyone eats to either serve God or serve Satan.
7 Should you not have obeyed the words that the Lord cried out through the former prophets when Jerusalem was peacefully inhabited and her surrounding cities, the Negev, and the Shephelah were also populated?
Instead of asking about these man-made feasts, Israel should have kept the Mosaic Law. If they had kept the Mosaic Law, then the temple would not have been destroyed. Gedeliah would not have been assassinated. They would not be asking these questions.
8 Again the word of the Lord came to Zechariah:
Jehovah gave Zechariah another prophecy.
9 “The Lord who rules over all said, ‘Exercise true judgment and show brotherhood and compassion to each other.
Jehovah rules over all things. He commanded Israel to judge in righteousness, because many of the Israeli judges were taking bribes. He asked the Jews to show brotherhood and compassion to each other.
10 You must not oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor, nor should anyone secretly plot evil against his fellow human being.’
Jehovah commanded the Jews not to oppress four different types of people. They are not to oppress the widow, the orphan, the foreigner, or the poor. Neither should one plan evil against another human being.
11 “But they refused to pay attention, turning away stubbornly and stopping their ears so they could not hear.
Israel refused to obey the Mosaic Law. They refused to listen to the prophets which God sent to them.
12 Indeed, they made their heart as hard as diamond, so that they could not obey the Torah and the other words the Lord who rules over all had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, the Lord who rules over all had poured out great wrath.
When the Jews rejected the Word of God, their hearts were hardened. Jehovah sent prophets who were led by the Spirit of God, but Israel rejected their message.
13 “It then came about that just as I cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord who rules over all had said.
Since Israel refused to listen to the Holy Spirit which God sent them through the prophets, then God refused to listen to their cries of help when they were being crushed by their enemies.
14 ‘Rather, I will sweep them away in a storm into all the nations they are not familiar with.’ Thus the land had become desolate because of them, with no one crossing through or returning, for they had made the fruitful land a waste.”
Since Israel hardened their heart against the teachings of the Holy Spirit through the prophets, God would send them away in a storm. The storm will scatter the Jews into all nations of the world. The land will become desolate. The Jews were scattered into all nations of the world in 70 A.D. The land became desolate after the Babylon Captivity.