Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—December 2024

East Tallassee Church of Christ

December 24, Zechariah 7

Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me: "Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?"

- Zechariah 7:4-6

Good teachers sometimes help their students learn when they respond to a student’s question with another question for the student to answer. Jesus did that during his personal ministry. God has been asking human beings questions since the garden of Eden. He did not ask questions to learn something he didn't know from his creatures. He asked question to teach them something they needed to learn.

The men who went with Zechariah for the symbolic coronation of Joshua all had God-honoring names. But the members of this delegation who came to entreat the favor of the LORD had names that showed the corrupting influence of paganism.

The people who had returned to the land and settled near Bethel in the north had a question about one of their religious traditions. They wanted to know if they should continue to fast in the seventh month to mark the destruction of the temple, as they had been doing for decades.

Zechariah received an answer from God that went far beyond a simple yes or no. God responded to their question with an answer that spans this and the following chapter in Zechariah's prophecy. He asked them if the fast was for him. Did they want to honor and obey him, or to please themselves? These Jews had been commemorating the destruction of the temple with a fast for seventy years. Now that the returning exiles had rebuilt the temple, these people wanted to know if the fast should continue.

God never commanded any fast but the annual one on the Day of Atonement. So they didn’t fast to obey him, and he did not accept it as for him. He told them they ate and drank to satisfy themselves. It didn't matter that the leaders had instituted the fast, and it didn't matter how long they had observed it. It was not the will of God, but their own will that they fasted to remember the destruction of the temple.

Next, God told them that he had sent his faithful prophets to call them to repentance and remind them of what God required from them. God told them to be just, kind and merciful. He warned them not to take advantage of the weak among them, and to stop making evil plans against each other. They would please God more by everyday obedience than by an unauthorized fast. Their sacrifices were supposed to complement their acts of worship.

Israel's sad history was a story of willful rejection and obstinate disobedience to God. The Lord sad he had scattered them and made their land desolate because of their stubborn refusal to hear and obey him.

The answer from God continues in the next chapter. But let's make sure to take from this one the principles we need to apply to our own lives today. It is good to examine what we do and why we do it when we worship God. The familiar ritual observance of man-made religion is not right, regardless of who started it and how long it's been done. We should never fool ourselves to believe that how we worship on Sunday can be separated from how we live the rest of the week. If we persist in that, we may get to the place God described to these people — calling out in desperation when he is no longer listening.

We should be careful to keep our hearts soft and receptive to God's word. We want to do what God tells us to do. God's people may forfeit God's blessings when they refuse to do God's will.

We should never confuse our long-standing traditions and our personal preferences with authority from God to do what we please in religion. God help us not to make the same spiritual mistakes that the ancient Jews made.

Copyright © 2024 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.