OUT OF THE CHAOS: A study in the book of Zechariah
Chapter 7: Religion… what’s the point?
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Shalom and welcome to our class today. We are continuing in this prophetic book written by a young Jewish man living in Jerusalem about 500 BCE as he writes to his people, those living there in Judah and also to those living in Babylon. To each of those groups, he has some clear words and I trust that those words he spoke 2500 years ago will speak to you and to me as we will consider what God meant as he used that young man. And we will try to learn what God has to say to us as 21st Century people.
Our overall theme in this book is “out of the chaos” and there was plenty of chaos around young Zechariah in those days, and dare I say, around us in our days as well. How we find its opposite, whether you title it control or comfort or pleasure or ease… that’s the goal of my studies in this book with you.
If you don’t mind, please read the chapter before you come to the class live, and if you are watching YouTube, pause your playback, read chapter 7 and then re-join us.
Sometimes we read a chapter in the Bible and it’s full of good things, promises of life and abundance, situations of surprise, thoughtful insights into pleasures and comfortable considerations. Today, this is not one of those. Oh, certainly there are instructions about life and some conditional actions set down as reminders of godly living. But there is a serious rebuke in the midst of this chapter, and I want to welcome it. Let me explain. The conditions that caused the Jewish people to be exiled from Jerusalem, the warnings that God gave us, are still in effect. If we keep Torah, if we listen to the Lord with our whole heart, if we serve him with gladness for the abundance of all things (Dt. 28), then we will be blessed. If we don’t, and we didn’t 70 years before Zechariah wrote, and we didn’t under the Judges, and we often didn’t at the beginning of the 20th century, whenever we don’t follow God’s commands and we turn away from listening to his voice… those warnings are still in effect. And what is God’s response to those rejections of his love? He has no other option but to punish us, to judge us, to cause problems among our people. Chapter 7 introduces the 2nd section of Zechariah’s prophecies--- the instructions for godly living. The 1st section began like ours today begins, with a call to repentance, then immediately showcased 8 visions Zechariah had, perhaps all on the same night, with hopeful presentations from heaven, and a call to trust the Lord in all circumstances with and without Babylon and Persia.
Now the 2nd section begins with similar language. Let’s jump in.
Verse 1. The calendar is opened and it’s 2 years after the first section. The Temple is still a construction site. Darius is still king. The word of the Lord comes to our prophet. On a particular day. Kislev the 4th. That means it’s winter.
Verse 2. Emissaries are sent from Bethel, the town about 20 km north of Jerusalem. Sharezer sounds like a Babylonian name and Regemelech, more Babylonian. Along with ‘their men’, an entourage of ranking men, seek favour. The word for seek is ‘chalah’ and usually relates to ‘being sick.’ In this case when the word ‘face’ (et p’nei Adonai) is added, in this case, face of the Lord, it means to entreat. To stroke, to appease. They really wanted answers. And what prompted the question?
Verse 3. During the 70 years, Jewish people began fasting to remember various times in the breakdown of the Temple and our history. Memorials. Reminders of our failings. Some say the five poems in Lamentations, written by Jeremiah, were to be read on those times. Fasting was introduced. We were not to forget. The 9th of Av (Tisha b’av) was the one that was the most memorable, but not the only one observed. On that day, ‘the fast of the 5th month’), we observed and ‘abstained.’ Nezer like Nazarite. The vow of self-sacrifice.
Why is this a question anyway?
If the memorial is to represent the loss of the Temple, and now we are rebuilding the same building, then the loss should be subjugated to the new gain. In other words, why mourn what you don’t have, when you have it? It’s a reasonable question. The Talmud gives some answers later; we’ll mention them then.
In verse 4, we see God’s word coming to Zechariah. He is not simply thinking this one through. He is not having a staff meeting to make such a determination. He is asked a deep question and God’s answer is forthcoming. We don’t know how long he waited. What we do know is that Zechariah only spoke what the Lord told him to say.
I’m reminded of Yeshua.
John 12:49 For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”
Back to verse 5. What did God say? Say to all the people of the land (Am ha’aretz) and to the priests the following. Note, in modern vernacular, amei ha’aretz are common people, the prost, and the priests are the elite.[1] I’m not sure it was so in those days, but it can make sense. Pass this information on to everyone, to the least and to the greatest.
Now the Lord mentions two fasts. The one of the 5th (Tisha B’av) and the 7th. That could be Tsom Gedaliah (3 Tishri) or Yom Kippur (10 Tishri). But in light of the change in chapter 8, it’s likely to rep Gedaliah. Who was he? Gedaliah was the governor of Judea appointed by Nebuchadnezzar after the exile. In Jeremiah 41 (1-3) he was murdered (also 2 King 25.25) during the 7th month. Hence a fast day was established. And that’s the fast referenced here in verse e5.
But the end of verse 5 is the kicker today.
Remember the reason for our exile was threefold, adultery, murder and idolatry. Those sins caused the exile. When we established fast days to highlight our sadness about the loss of Jerusalem and Temple, God replies that he did not decide they should fast. They had to fast because of the disaster. But they ignored the exhortations of the prophets when the nation was still secure, when repentance could have saved them. Radak says, ‘If they would put an end to their sins, they would have no reason to fast.”
Two other fasts are mentioned in chapter 8, and again those are related to the ending of the Temple’s reign. Fourth month the wall was breached (Jeremiah 39.2, Zech. 8.19) and in the 10th month the siege of Jerusalem began. (Zech. 8.19, Jer. 39.1)
So, in verse 5, God asks us a question. What is our motivation? What was the purpose of our fasting? Was it ‘for me?”
צוֹם צמתני אני a qal inf abs followed by a finite verb, “fasting did you fast for me?” This is the strongest way of asking, “Did you really do it for me or for yourself?”
Check your heart. What’s your purpose in fasting anyway? Honestly, I hear the echoes of many prophets, most notably Isaiah in chapter 58 of his prophecy. “Why have we fasted,’ they say, “and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ ‘In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, and exploit all your laborers. (Is 58.3)
Friends, immediately after class today, please re-read Isa. 58.
Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul?
Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush,
And to spread out sackcloth and ashes?
Would you call this a fast,
And an acceptable day to the LORD? (Isa. 58.5)
What is God’s purpose for our fasting? What should attend a godly fast? The ‘former prophet’ (Zech. 7.7) spoke when Jerusalem was prosperous and settled. What accompanies a godly fast? It’s in what follows in Zech. 7.8 about true justice and kindness, the widow and orphan and stranger. It echoes the Sabbath laws and the Levitical iterations of justice among neighbours. It sounds like Isaiah who says,
“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loosen the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out.
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isa. 58.6-7)
In other words, religion works when it’s communal. It’s not only you fasting and being with communal fasters. It’s when you fast, listen, learn, and share with the people around you that life is for living. Temples and traditions, prayers and godly living are all great, as long as they are part of a man’s life. When traditions replace care and love for neighbour, it’s blinding.
Yeshua had much to say about religion and traditions. And I hear him almost quoting Isaiah T"hen the Lord said,
“Because this people draw near with their words.
And honour Me with their lip service,
But they remove their hearts far from Me,
And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote, (29.13)
29.13) when he chided the people about designated funds and thus the inability of children to care for their parents. (Matt. 15.6)
Traditions are great, they keep us, they point us in the right direction. If we are listening. No wonder back in Zechariah we read in verse 11.
But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint, so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets, therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.
Verse 13. And just as he called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen, “says the Lord of hosts. Loss is coming. The land became desolate.
What am I saying? That traditions have great roles, but when they replace what they were intended to support, it’s time to dump them. Weirsbe quotes a theologian about whom I know nothing. But I like the quote.
“Tradition is the living faith of the dead.” “Traditionalism is the dead faith of the living.” (Jaroslav Pelikan) (Weirsbe page 142).
I really like that. Let traditions grow. Why you use grass on your New Year table if you are Persian, why you listen to 100 sounds of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, why you place your hand over your heart at the Pledge of allegiance or the National Anthem in the USA…all good. Kissing a mezuzah. Great. On entry or exit.
But when the tradition replaces what it was intended to enhance, it’s time to dump it.
So here the tradition of the annual fasts was established. The Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 18b) explains that when the Temple is functioning then if the land is under oppressive foreign domination, all the fasts remain in force. If the land is under benign foreign domination, the 9th of Av remains a fast day, but the other fasts are voluntary, and 3) if the land is free of foreign domination, the former fast days are to become feasts. (Zech. 8)
I love traditions. Kippah. Tie. But native peoples who never wore a tie associated tie-wearing with religion and eventually tossed it and religion aside.
Listen, there is a tradition in the Jewish people that Jesus is not for us. That’s the traditional answer. And it’s one that some thought through back in the 1st century. But others considered and knocked that back right away. Many Jewish people took Jesus as their Saviour and Lord and set new traditions.
Just because some say ‘no’ and others say ‘yes’ does not make it so or not so. Listen to God, turn your flint-hard heart towards him and listen.
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Remember, you who are watching today, if you are not yet a follower of Yeshua, and see his love for you, his kindness extended, his offer of forgiveness available, right where you are, submit to him, to his lordship, to his care, and your life will take on new meaning, new substance, and you will have mates on this call, and in your neighbourhood and wherever you travel… the Kingdom is advancing under the King. Chaos is subjugated, life is available.
Would you like that? Pray with me just now. (Prayer Sample)
Shabbat shalom!
Resource on video
To see a fun video overview of the book of Zechariah see this from Bible Project:
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/zechariah/
Bibliography:
Ryken, Leland (and others), Dictionary of Biblical Imagery, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, 1998.
Smith, Ralph, Micah to Malachi: Word Biblical Commentary (Volume 32), Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, 1984.
Stead, Michael, Zechariah: The Lord Returns, Aquila Press, Sydney, 2015.
Webb, Barry, The Message of Zechariah: Your Kingdom Come, Intervarsity Press, Nottingham, 2003.
Wiersbe, Warren, Be Heroic: Demonstrating Bravery by your Walk, David C. Cook Press, Colorado Springs, 1997.
ACTUAL TEXT
Zech. 7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favour of the LORD, 3 speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?” 4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, 5 “Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? 6 ‘When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves, and do you not drink for yourselves? 7 ‘Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’”
Zech. 7:8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying, 9 “Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’ 11 “But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. 12 “They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore, great wrath came from the LORD of hosts. 13 “And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the LORD of hosts; 14 “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus, the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.”
[1] …unlearned rural masses known as ʿamme ha-aretz (“people of the land”), who were found among both the Pharisees and the Sadducees and even among the Samaritans. The ʿamme ha-aretz did not give the prescribed tithes, did not observe the laws of purity, and were neglectful of the laws of prayer;(Brittanica.com)
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