ZECHARIAH LESSON 7


     We will begin this lesson in Zechariah 7:1 "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;"

     The ninth month would be about December on our calendar. This is
about 2 years after Zechariah had his visions. This is a Word from
God.

     Zechariah 7:2 "When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer
and Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,"

     It appears, that Sherezer and Regem-melech came to Jerusalem to
the house of God to pray before the LORD. They had retained their
Assyrian names, when they came back from captivity. They seemed to be
the leaders and were accompanied by other men. They thought of
Jerusalem as being the center of worship.

     Zechariah 7:3 "[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?"

     It seemed, they had set aside the 5th month to mourn their
captivity. This was a time of fasting and praying. They were
inquiring, if they should continue with this, now that they are no
longer captives. The priests in the house of the LORD could give them
answers from God, because God spoke through the priests and the
prophets to the people.

     Zechariah 7:4  "Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me,
saying,"

     This is saying, that God answered them through words that came
from Zechariah's mouth.

     Zechariah 7:5 "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?"

     Why had they fasted?  Notice, God added the fast of the seventh
month, which had been done because of the murder of Gedaliah, a Jewish
governor of Mizpeh. Certainly, the 7th month fast was not for God. The
fifth month fast was, also, for themselves, and not for God. They
fasted and prayed that God would take them out of captivity. They
should have been repenting and fasting, because of the sorrow they had
brought to God. These fasts were not for God at all.

     Zechariah 7:6 "And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did
not ye eat [for yourselves], and drink [for yourselves]?"
     Even their eating and drinking was for themselves. They did not
observe God's dietary laws. They ate the food of the heathen nation.
This food was for self.

     Zechariah 7:7 "[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?"

     God never would accept ceremonies that were ritualistic in nature
without their hearts being in it. God would not accept sacrifices that
were done of obligation. If their hearts were not in it, God did not
want their sacrifices. God wanted their love and obedience, not a
formal carrying out of the law. I Samuel 15:22 "And Samuel said, Hath
the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in
obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than
sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams."

     Zechariah 7:8  "And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah,
saying,"

     This is a break from the past Word of God.

     Zechariah 7:9 "Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute
true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his
brother:"

     This is saying, that God's commandments have never changed. Most
of the Ten Commandments are speaking of doing what is right to your
neighbors. Jesus gave a good explanation of this in the following.
Matthew 22:39 "And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself."  Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you.

     Zechariah 7:10 "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."

     The one thing that separates God's people from the rest of the
world, is the law of God. God teaches compassion for others. He helped
everyone, when He was on the earth. He expects all Christians to do
the same things He did, when He was here. A Christian is a follower
of, and a believer in, the Lord Jesus Christ. God is telling these
Israelites, if they are to be counted as His, they must treat others
as God treats them. He especially wants them to help the widows and
the orphans.

     Zechariah 7:11 "But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the
shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear."

     These were rebellious people who did not want to be instructed of
God, and that was what was always getting them into trouble. The
pulling away the shoulders is like a horse that does not want to be
harnessed.
They did not want God to have control of them.

     Zechariah 7:12 "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 by the former prophets: therefore came a
great wrath from the LORD of hosts."

     "Adamant" means diamond. This is saying, their hearts were so
hard it was like a diamond. Their hearts could not be touched by God.
If they would soften their hearts, and listen to the law of God, they
could have been saved from the wrath of God. They did not listen, and
the wrath of the LORD of hosts came upon them. He sent judges and
prophets to them with warnings from Him, but they did not listen.

     Zechariah 7:13 "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:"

     If they would not hearken to the voice of God, He would not
hearken unto them. You reap what you sow. God listens to those of His
own who listen to Him.  James 5:16 "Confess [your] faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

     Zechariah 7:14 "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 pleasant
land desolate."

     The chastisement of God came upon them to teach them to reach out
to God. They were scattered to foreign countries, until they realized
their need for God. Jeremiah 9:16 "I will scatter them also among the
heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will
send a sword after them, till I have consumed them."  The wrath of God
scattered them.



















                       Zechariah 7 Questions


1.  The ninth month would be about ________ on our calendar.
2.  This message comes to Zechariah about ____ years after the
    visions.
3.  Sherezer came to Jerusalem for what reason?
4.  Is his name Hebrew?
5.  They thought of Jerusalem as being the center of ________.
6.  What question did they want answered?
7.  Why had they asked the priests and prophets?
8.  What months had they fasted, while they were in captivity?
9.  Why did they fast in the seventh month?
10. What was wrong with their fasting?
11. Besides their fasts, what other complaint did God have?
12. What kind of food had they eaten?
13. God would not accept sacrifice that was done out of __________.
14. Quote 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 22.
15. What did God tell them to do in verse 9.
16. What do most of the Ten Commandments deal with?
17. Quote Matthew chapter 22 verse 39.
18. Oppress not the ________.
19. What separated God's people from the rest of the world?
20. What is a Christian?
21. Verse 11 tells us they reacted how?
22. What were their hearts like?
23. What does "adamant" mean?
24. Who had God sent to warn them?
25. Did they listen to them?
26. Why would God not listen to them?
27. Quote James chapter 5 verse 16.
28. Where had God scattered them to?
29. Quote Jeremiah chapter 9 verse 16?
30. What did you learn from this lesson?