Zechariah 7:1-23 - Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible

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Further Prophecies of Zechariah (Zechariah 7:1 to Zechariah 8:23)

These prophecies occur approximately two years after the previous ones demonstrating that Zechariah's ministry continued. It would appear that the Temple is at least partly built and functioning.

ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND SECTION.

This second section (Zechariah 7:1 to Zechariah 8:23) divides up as follows:

· Introduction (Zechariah 7:1-3).

· ‘Then came the word of the LORD of Hosts to me saying ---' (Zechariah 7:4).

· ‘And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying ---' (Zechariah 7:8).

· ‘And the word of the LORD of Hosts came saying ---' (Zechariah 8:1).

· ‘And the word of the LORD of Hosts came to me saying --' (Zechariah 8:18).

IN DEPTH ANALYSIS OF Zechariah 7-8.

a Introduction - the arrival of enquirers about the fasts which were in remembrance of the circumstances connected with the fall of Jerusalem (Zechariah 7:1-3).

a YHWH dismisses their fasts as hypocritical and calls on them to hear the words of the prophets (Zechariah 7:4-7).

b YHWH calls on them rather to live truly with a genuine concern for people's needs, and not to overlook the fact that it was because their fathers failed to hear the prophets and do this that the land had become desolate (Zechariah 7:8-14).

b YHWH declares His deep concern for Jerusalem. He will return and live in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem will be called the city of truth and its mountain the Holy Mountain (compare Isaiah 2:1-4). It will be filled with people dwelling securely and He will bring back the exiles. And because His Temple has been rebuilt they will live in peace and prosper for He now purposes to do good for Jerusalem as long as they live truly with a genuine concern for people's needs and are open and honest with each other (Zechariah 8:1-17).

a YHWH declares that the fasts of the past will become feasts of joy, and the nations will flock to Jerusalem to entreat God's favour because they know that He is with His people (Zechariah 8:18-23).

Note how in ‘a' questions are raised about the fasts and God condemns their keeping of them as hypocritical, and in the parallel the fasts will become feasts and will result in blessing for the nations. In ‘b' the call is to live truly with a genuine concern for people's need, reminding them that the failure to do this had brought desolation, and in the parallel the call is to live truly with a genuine concern for people's needs, and then everything will be restored.

Related Commentaries of Zechariah 7:1

Zechariah 7:1-23

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;

2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to praya before the LORD,

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?

4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,

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?

6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

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?

8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,

9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Executeb true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:

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.

11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.

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 byc the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the LORD of hosts.

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:

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 pleasantd land desolate.