Zechariah 7 Commentary

Zechariah 7 Commentary

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The seventy years of exile are over. Should people continue mourning the destruction of the temple? Should they continue fasting? The answer should be yes or no but it isn’t. The LORD responds by addressing the actual and unasked question.

The LORD puts it this way: humans respond to satisfy their feelings and not exactly the requirements of the LORD. The requirements of the LORD are justice, mercy, and compassion.

Check the list and see that the LORD is asking the people to become like Himself – Just, merciful, and compassionate.

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34 verses 6 and 7.

I created you in my image, so become what you were meant to be. Become like me! The rituals are not exactly the end product!

Israel went into exile not for lack of rituals but for the absence of godliness, or the absence of the likeness of the God of Abraham.

The Christian message isn’t all about a set of rules – more obedient select few preaching to the less obedient masses. It is about the likeness of God as revealed in the man Jesus Christ. Compassion, grace, Love, faithfulness, forgiveness, and Justice. These words underline the sacred name of the God of Abraham. The law tells us how far we are from the likeness of the LORD, God Almighty.

Chapter 7 underlines the core message of the scripture. The LORD won’t listen if apply yourself to a purification process that isn’t ordained by the LORD. There is but one way – the likeness of God. Justice, Mercy, and Compassion. It is a huge ask! Impossible! But the rest of the chapters in this book will tell us how the LORD helps humanity achieve the likeness of God.

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