Zechariah 7

Zec 7:1-14.

II. DIDACTIC

PART,

SEVENTH AND

EIGHTH CHAPTERS.

OBEDIENCE,

RATHER THAN

FASTING,

ENJOINED:

ITS

REWARD.

1. fourth year of . . . Darius--two years after the

previous prophecies

(Zec 1:1,

&c.).

Chisleu--meaning "torpidity," the state in which nature is in November,

answering to this month.

2. they . . . sent unto . . . house of

God--The Jews of the country sent to the house of God or

congregation at Jerusalem. The altar was long since reared

(Ezr 3:3),

though the temple was not completed till two years afterwards

(Ezr 6:15).

The priests' duty was to give decision on points of the law

(De 17:9;

Mt 2:4).

Beth-el is here used instead of Beth-Jehovah, because the

religious authorities, rather than the house itself (designated

"Beth-Jehovah" in

Zec 7:3),

are intended. The old Beth-el had long ceased to be the seat of

idol-worship, so that the name had lost its opprobrious meaning. "The

house of the Lord" is used for the congregation of worshippers headed

(Zec 3:7;

Ho 8:1).

MAURER

makes the "house of God" nominative to "sent."

HENDERSON

makes "Beth-el" so.

Sherezer--an Assyrian name meaning, "Prefect of the treasury."

Regemmelech--meaning, "The king's official." These names perhaps

intimate the semi-heathen character of the inquirers, which may also be

implied in the name "Beth-el" (Hebrew for "house of God"), so notorious

once for its calf-worship. They sent to Jehovah's house as their

forefathers sent to old Beth-el, not in the spirit of true

obedience.

pray before the Lord--literally, "to entreat the face of," that is,

to offer sacrifices, the accompaniment of prayers, to conciliate His

favor

(1Sa 13:12).

3. Should I weep in the fifth month--"I" represents here the people

of God (compare

Zec 8:21).

This rather favors MAURER'S view, taking "the

house of God," the congregation, as nominative to "sent." Their

hypocrisy appeared because they showed more concern about a ceremony of

human institution (not improper in itself) than about moral obedience.

If, too, they had trusted God's promise as to the restoration of Church

and State, the fast would have now given place to joy, for which there

was more cause than for grief [PEMBELLUS].

to the prophets--Haggai and Zechariah especially.

The tenth day of the fifth month was kept a fast, being the

anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem

(Jer 52:12-14).

They ask, Should the fast be continued, now that the temple and

city are being restored?

separating myself--sanctifying myself by separation, not only from

food, but from all defilements (compare

Joe 2:16)

as was usual in a solemn fast.

5. Speak unto all--The question had been asked in the name of the

people in general by Sherezer and Regemmelech. The self-imposed fast

they were tired of, not having observed it in the spirit of true

religion.

seventh month--This fast was in memory of the murder of Gedaliah and

those with him at Mizpah, issuing in the dispersion of the Jews

(2Ki 25:25, 26;

Jer 41:1-3).

did ye . . . fast unto me?--No; it was to gratify yourselves in

hypocritical will-worship. If it had been "unto Me," ye would have

"separated yourselves" not only from food, but from your sins

(Isa 58:3-7).

They falsely made the fast an end intrinsically meritorious in itself,

not a means towards God's glory in their sanctification. The true

principle of piety, reference to God, was wanting: hence the

emphatic repetition of "unto Me." Before settling questions as to the

outward forms of piety (however proper, as in this case), the great

question was as to piety itself; that being once settled, all their

outward observances become sanctified, being "unto the Lord"

(Ro 14:6).

6. did not ye eat for yourselves?--literally, "Is it not

ye who eat?" that is, it is not unto Me and My glory. It tends

no more to My glory, your feasting than your fasting.

7. Should ye not hear the words--rather, "Should

ye not do the words," as their question naturally was as

to what they should do

(Zec 7:3);

"hearing" is not mentioned till

Zec 7:12.

The sense is, It is not fasts that Jehovah requires of you, but that ye

should keep His precepts given to you at the time when Jerusalem was in

its integrity. Had ye done so then, ye would have had no occasion to

institute fasts to commemorate its destruction, for it would never have

been destroyed

(Zec 7:9-14)

[MAURER].

Or, as the Margin, "Are not these the words" of

the older prophets

(Isa 58:3;

Jer 14:12)

which threatened a curse for disobedience, which the event has so

awfully confirmed. If ye follow them in sin, ye must follow them in

suffering. English Version is good sense: Ye inquire anxiously

about the fasts, whereas ye ought to be anxious about hearing

the lesson taught by the former prophets and verified in the nation's

punishment; penitence and obedience are required rather than fasts.

the plain--southwest of Jerusalem. They then inhabited securely the

region most unguarded.

9. speaketh--implying that these precepts addressed to their ancestors

were the requirements of Jehovah not merely then, but now. We must

not only not hurt, but we must help our fellow men. God is pleased with

such loving obedience, rather than with empty ceremonies.

10. imagine evil--that is, devise evil. The Septuagint takes it,

Harbor not the desire of revenge

(Le 19:18).

"Devise evil against one another" is simpler

(Ps 36:4;

Mic 2:1).

11. pulled away the shoulder--literally, "presented a refractory

shoulder"; an image from beasts refusing to bear the yoke

(Ne 9:29,

Margin).

stopped . . . ears--

(Isa 6:10;

Jer 7:26;

Ac 7:57).

12. hearts . . . adamant--

(Eze 3:9; 11:19).

Lord . . . sent in Spirit by . . . prophets--that is, sent by the

former prophets inspired with His Spirit.

therefore . . . great wrath--

(2Ch 36:16).

As they pushed from them the yoke of obedience, God laid on them the

yoke of oppression. As they made their heart hard as adamant, God brake

their hard hearts with judgments. Hard hearts must expect hard

treatment. The harder the stone, the harder the blow of the hammer to

break it.

13. he cried--by His prophets.

they cried--in their calamities.

I . . . not hear--retribution in kind

(Pr 1:24-26;

Isa 1:15;

Mic 3:4).

14. whirlwind--of wrath

(Na 1:3).

nations whom they knew not--foreign and barbarous.

desolate after them--after their expulsion and exile. It was ordered

remarkably by God's providence, that no occupants took possession of it,

but that during the Jews' absence it was reserved for them against their

return after seventy years.

they laid . . . desolate--The Jews did so by their sins. The blame of

their destruction lay with themselves, rather than with the Babylonians

(2Ch 36:21).

pleasant land--Canaan. Literally, "the land of desire"

(Jer 3:19).