Words of rebuke

The people of Bethel asked, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and fast, as I have done these many years?” This question was directed to the priests and the prophets, seeking the will of the Lord. Zechariah first delivers words of rebuke from the Lord: “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?” (v 5). (1) The answer from the Lord was directed to the entire nation, rebuking the selfish and insincere fasting of both the people and the priests. (2) The fast of the seventh month was a fast commemorating the assassination of Gedaliah, the governor of Judah (2 Kings 25:22-25). (3) The expression “these seventy years” is a rounded number, indicating that the seventy-year period of the exile was drawing to a close. (4) “Was it actually for Me that you fasted?” is a rhetorical question that assumes the answer “No.” “When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?” (v 6). (1) This also is a rhetorical question, but in this case, it assumes the answer “Yes.” (2) The fasting practiced by the people was never for God, but for themselves.

The message of the former prophets

“‘Are these not the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and carefree along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’” (v 7) (1) “The former prophets” refers to the prophets before the Babylonian exile. (2) “When Jerusalem was inhabited and carefree along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited” refers to the period before the Babylonian exile. (3) If the people of Israel had listened to the words of the prophets, they would not have had to pass through the tragedy of the Babylonian exile. Nor would there have been any need to ask whether they should fast or not. (4) However, because of their idolatry and hypocritical behavior, they were taken away to Babylon as exiles. Now the people of Israel are committing the same sin they committed before the exile. It is the sin of hypocrisy. We too must not become so absorbed in theological debates or practical questions that we neglect a sincere faith before the Lord. Let us examine ourselves today.