Zechariah 7: Celebrate. Cultivate. Curate.

​Key Verse
5 “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? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 
 
​Meditation
Christians respond to God’s grace by living for God’s glory in all of life, even in eating and drinking (1 Corinthians 10:31). Living for the glory of God celebrates God’s presence, cultivates God’s character, and curates God’s purposes.
 
In today’s reading, a delegation had come to Jerusalem to ask if fasting was still appropriate, a religious practice commemorating the destruction of the temple begun during the 70 years of exile (vv. 1-3). Zachariah stewards the moment to expose heart motives, diagnosing that their religious ritual primarily focused on themselves (v. 6). The exiles had not truly repented and returned to the Lord for relationship. Rather, they hardened their hearts like diamond, rejecting God and refusing to pay attention to His word (vv. 11-13). The Israelites hungered for better circumstances more than hungering for God, mixed motives that missed their chief end, to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
 
Hunger for God Himself is the goal of fasting and other spiritual disciplines. Jesus is the full restoration of God’s presence and souls satisfied with Jesus will sanctify motives to live for His glory in all of life. Hunger for Jesus and His kingdom seeks to experience God, evidence God in our lives, and execute the purposes of God in everything.
 
For the exiles, God’s presence was restored upon the completion of the temple and, more than fasting, God wanted their hearts in relationship. A heart transformed by God’s love will put on display God’s character and walk in God’s ways (vv. 8-9), living for God’s glory in all of life!
 
Today’s Reading
In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the Lord, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the Lord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”

4 Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me: 5 “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? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”

8 And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying,9 “Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear.12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, great anger came from the Lord of hosts. 13 “As called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the Lord of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
 
Richly Dwelling
-What stands out in today’s reading, especially Zechariah’s difficult diagnosis of the heart of God’s people?
 
-What does your heart hunger for? This is to ask, what are your motives in life and love? Do you care more about your circumstances or knowing your Savior?
 
-The gospel changes everything. How does satisfaction with God’s presence sanctify our motives to put on display God’s character and walk in God’s purposes?
 
-Jesus is the full picture of the presence of God. How can you focus your hunger more and more on Him and His mercy so that your motives will be more and more for Jesus’ glory? Be specific.
 
Key Verse
5 “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? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?