Zechariah 7:8-14
8 Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,
9 “This is what the Lord of armies has 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 plugged their ears from hearing.
12 They also made their hearts as hard as a diamond so that they could not hear the Law and the words which the Lord of armies had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of armies.
13 And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of armies;
14 “but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate.”
The People Disobedient to the Prophets
The message the prophets proclaimed
Verses 8-9 explain “the message spoken by the former prophets (the prophets before the exile)” mentioned in verse 7. The Lord of armies spoke through Zechariah, saying, “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 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.” (1) Practice true justice. In other words, establish a social order of righteousness (ref. Isa. 42:1, 4; Mic. 6:8). (2) Show faithfulness and compassion toward one another. (3) Do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the stranger, or the poor. These people were often unable to receive the legal protection given to ordinary citizens (ref. Deut. 10:18; Isa. 1:17). In the New Testament, James teaches: “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). (4) Do not devise evil in your hearts. What Zechariah wants to say is this: why are you so devoted to fasting invented by men, while ignoring the clearly revealed commandments of the Lord?
The people who rebel
The people’s rebellion against the prophets gradually became more intense. (1) They refused even to listen to them. (2) They stubbornly turned their shoulders and resisted like an unyielding animal. (3) They stopped their ears and refused to listen. In other words, they deliberately closed their hearts and became spiritually insensitive. (4) Finally, they made their hearts as hard as diamond. They rebelled against the teaching of the prophets, which had been revealed by the Spirit of God. This was the cause of the Babylonian exile (2 Chr. 36:14-16; Jer. 8:18-22). Verse 14 says, “But I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they did not know. So the land was desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, since they made the pleasant land desolate.” The part about the land becoming desolate was fulfilled through the Babylonian exile. However, the part that says they would be “scattered among all the nations whom they have not known” was fulfilled through the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. Let us turn away from hypocritical behavior and walk through this earthly life by practicing the commandments that have been given as God’s revelation.
Today's prayer
Heavenly Father, the people of Israel brought upon themselves the tragedy of the Babylonian exile because they became rebellious against the prophets. Please save me from hypocrisy and lead me into a sincere faith. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.