Zechariah # 7

ZECHARIAH

chapter seven
The visions of the first six chapters have been for the purpose of strengthening the hands of Israel for the task ahead

Zech 7:1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
Two years and one month have passed since those visions. The names of the months were changed after the captivity. Chisleu is the now the name of the ninth month.

Vv-2,3. A delegation is sent from Bethel to Jerusalem to inquire of the Lord.
Zech 7:2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
Zech 7:3 And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

A. Jerusalem had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar in the fifth month.
Jer 52:12 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, which served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem,
Jer 52:13 And burned the house of the LORD, and the king's house; and all the houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, burned he with fire:
Jer 52:14 And all the army of the Chaldeans, that were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls of Jerusalem round about.

B. They had been mourning on this date for the past 70 years; shall they continue the mourning?

V-4. God gives the answer. Zech 7:4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

Vv-5,7. They are reminded that their sins had brought on the punishment and that instead of true repentance they had only been feeling self pity for seventy years.
Zech 7:5 Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
Zech 7:6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
Zech 7:7 Should ye not hear the words which the LORD hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and the cities thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain?
Self pity is Not repentance! They are now whining, "How much longer shall we mourn before the Lord will make us happy again?"

Vv- 8-14. Zech 7:8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

Vv 9, 10 He reminds them of what He had ordered them to do when they first entered the land.
Zec 7:9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
Zech 7:10 And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

Vv 11,12 He reminds them of how they had disobeyed and refused to hear.
Zech 7:11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
Zech 7:12 Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

V 13 He reminds them that He had only treated them as they had treated Him.
Zech 7:13 Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:

V 14 He reminds them that His judgment was swift, sure and terrible. God is NOT to be trifled with!
Zech 7:14 But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.
The rest of his answer to their question is in the next chapter.