In our study of Zechariah chapter seven, we look at the fact that God sees our heart in worship. In chapter 6, we saw the restoration of the temple and the priesthood. Now, we will look at the appropriate worship of God.
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In the fourth year of King Daryavesh, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Kislev, a message from ADONAI came to Z'kharyah. He sent Sar'etzer and Regem-Melekh with his men to Beit-El in order to ask ADONAI's favor, as they inquired of the cohanim of the house of ADONAI-Tzva'ot and the prophets, "Should we go into mourning and abstain from pleasure during the fifth month, as we have been doing for all these years?"
Once again, we see the number four and we are reminded that it has to do with the world while the number nine has to do with work and an event. In this we will see that God is working to bring about his kingdom in the world. The people sent their leaders to the temple to ask if they should continue to fast during the fifth month as they had done while they were in exile in Babylon.
It was then that this message came to me from ADONAI-Tzva'ot: "Speak to all the people of the land and to the cohanim. Tell them, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months throughout these seventy years, were you really fasting for me? Was it for me? Rather, when you eat and drink, it's just to please yourselves, isn't it? Isn't this just what ADONAI proclaimed through the earlier prophets, when Yerushalayim was inhabited and prosperous, as were the cities around her; and the Negev and the Sh'felah were inhabited?'"
The Lord's answer to their question was a question and basically God asked them about their heart. God was trying to get them to see that he does not desire half-hearted followers or those who are just going through the motions. When we prepare for worship, we need to ask ourselves whether we are doing so out of obligation or out of true love for God. He knew the hearts of his people then and he knows our hearts now.
Then this message from ADONAI came to Z'kharyah: "In the past ADONAI-Tzva'ot said, 'Administer true justice. Let everyone show mercy and compassion to his brother. Don't oppress widows, orphans, foreigners or poor people. Don't plot evil against each other.'
God's answer to the people is very simple. Worship is not about our rituals or traditions but is a demonstration of our love for him. On the day of our judgment, God will not ask us how many times we showed up to a church building but instead will separate out his children based on their love for him (see Matthew 25:31-46). If we love God, then, we will love all people because he created them and loves them. If we love people, then, we will serve those who are in need of comfort. Our love will not just be words but will indeed be action.
But they wouldn't listen, they stubbornly turned their shoulder away and stopped up their ears, so that they wouldn't have to hear it. Yes, they made their hearts as hard as a diamond, so that they wouldn't hear the Torah and the messages that ADONAI-Tzva'ot had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. This is why great anger came from ADONAI-Tzva'ot;
The people had put into practice the part of the law dealing with their relationship with God (the first four commandments). But, they had ignored the part that deals with the relationship between them and their fellow men (the last six commandments).
and it came about that just as they hadn't listened when he called, so ADONAI-Tzva'ot said, 'I won't listen when they call;
God had sent the prophets to call the people to repentance but they did not and, so when trouble came and they called out to the Lord, God did not listen to their prayers. This is a reminder that our prayer time is not simply a wish list of what we want from God but also a time of listening to what God wants to tell us through the Holy Spirit.
but with the power of a whirlwind I will disperse them among all the nations which they have not known.' Thus the land was left desolate after them, so that no one came or went. They had turned a pleasant land into a desert."
The people had called out to God as they saw their land being made desolate but he knew their hearts and they did not listen to him. Therefore, God's people were scattered throughout other countries and it is that way even today. That is a picture of what is happening today in many countries that will not listen to the Spirit of God. We see how things are getting worse every day but are comforted by the Spirit living in us. We also know that the state of the world today is just as birth pains of the judgment that is coming because this is what Yeshua Messiah told his disciples (see Matthew 24:8).
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