Lessons From Ezra – Lesson 8
Zechariah’s first vision was a long one. He saw horses and angels and myrtle trees and horns and carpenters.
Zechariah’s second vision was also a long one. He saw a candlestick with 7 lamps, so it matches the description of the lamp in the Tabernacle. He saw a bowl above it and pipes that automatically delivered the oil to the lamps and he saw two olive trees and then he saw two mountains of brass and chariots coming from between the two mountains.
And he saw a flying roll. This roll went everywhere and judged people based on the Ten Commandments.
And he saw an Epah. An Epah was a piece of clothing that the high priest wore. It is a religious item. But this one God calls wicked and it is carried away to around where current day Iraq is and God says it will be established there.
His visions are full of vivid imagery. Visual aids are helpful in teaching and communicating truth and God sure used a lot of them with Zechariah.
God had a purpose for visions in times past.
Hebrews 1:1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
One of those divers manners that God spoke thru the prophets was visions. That was only in time past, or in other words the Old Testament times.
And along with the vivid objects Zechariah’s messages were filled with promises.
In his second vision he is given a message for Zerubbabel the Jewish governor over Jerusalem.
Zec 4:6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.
The Temple will be finished but not by might. Not by your power Zerubbabel. No. It will be finished by my spirit saith the Lord.
Zec 4:9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you.
That the temple will be finished was a guaranteed promise.
It is a repeating pattern we see in Zechariah’s messages. They have calls for them to fix sin, and calls to walk with God. And right along with those there are promises that God is with them, that the Temple will be finished which is a promise that will come to pass soon.
And then promises that are further out such as the Lord coming as a servant and the Lord coming as a man.
After 70 years of captivity and God’s displeasure being upon them, this was all encouraging.
During the 70 years some of the Jews had a tradition about fasting. And it is going to come up in the scripture we are looking at today.
We have learned that after Jesus went back to heaven and after most of the Jews rejected Him and after they rejected the New Testament scriptures. Then they really built up their traditions. Big Time. They already had many, but they exploded after the rejection of Jesus.
I think one reason why is that they had to have something else to stand on and something else to rule their lives by. Why. They rejected the New Testament so they can’t use that.
And too much of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus who they rejected. So they ended up keeping the Old Testament but put their traditions over it and built up a system of loopholes in those traditions.
Now they can either explain away or flat out ignore the parts of the Old Testament that points to Jesus.
So in 2023 traditions rule large to the Jews. Way more than in Zechariah’s day. However, they have always been susceptible to traditions. And it is easy to do something for the traditions sake and not for the truth’s sake.
A huge problem with religion is that you can go thru the motions and do all the stuff and think that because of that you are doing good that you are on good standing with God. When in fact you are doing it just to do it or doing for the wrong reasons.
I have said it a thousand times and you already know what I am going to say. It really is a heart matter.
So in Zecahriah’s day they had people involved in this tradition of and religion of fasting. And they were doing it often for 70 years because God’s displeasure was upon them.
Now they are hearing over and over that God is with them, and that the temple will be finished and are even getting promises that they know will come true way in the future.
I think you can see why they now might want to know, do we keep our fasting tradition. I mean since we did that because God was not with us and since now God is saying he is with us and since we now have all these promises. Should we keep doing our fasting tradition?
So the people send a few men to ask that question. Understanding that I think helps when going over chapter 7 and 8.
Chapter 7
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;
Haggai and Zechariah walked on the scene in the 2nd year. It is now the 4th year. The temple will not be finished until the 6th year. So we are right in the middle of the project. Half way there.
During the first two years of the project they have had several short messages from Haggai, one short message from Zechariah and 2 really long visions from Zechariah. They have had time to really study and digest those messages and they as a people have fixed at least a few things.
Exactly what and how much we don’t know, but God changed the filthy garments of the High Priest and started accepting their worship again.
So the people sent some men to ask their question.
Zec 7:2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
Zec 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?
What do you think they are expecting to hear as an answer?
Maybe they expected to hear no. I am so pleased that there is no need. Or maybe they expected to hear yes. I am so pleased with what you have been doing please continue.
We have no way to know exactly what they expected for an answer, but I think we can say with confidence that what they are going to hear is no doubt not what they expected.
It is going to be hard for them to hear. The answer starts with a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question is one with an obvious implied answer.
When someone gets hit with one of these it is kind of like a slap in the face a little bit.
These men asked the priests their question. God of course heard it and God responds thru His prophet Zechariah.
Zec 7:4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
Zec 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?
The implied answer is no.
Zec 7:6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
The implied answer is yes. So the answer is you did not fast unto God you fasted for yourselves. And when you had your feasts, you also did not do that unto God but for yourselves.
So all those 70 years they were completely missing the point. They were doing pointless religion and none of it counted for anything with God.
But did not God give instructions for them to fast and to have the feasts. Yes. But they were supposed to be just outward expressions of what was going on in the heart.
God wanted the feasts done but with the right heart. What heart is that? Well we don’t have to guess we are plainly told in the next verses.
Zec 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?
Zec 7:8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
Zec 7:9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:
Zec 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.
Zec 7:11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
What God wanted was known. It was all given in His precious word. Show mercy and have true judgment. Not corrupted judgment. Not judgment based on payoffs or based on favoritism.
And have compassion on people and don’t oppress the widow or the fatherless or the stranger or the poor.
Remember Jesus taught all the law and the prophets could be summed up into two great commands. Love God and Love you neighbor as yourself. That is what God always wanted.
But they refused to hear and they stopped their ears to that. So they are not listening to God on these really important matters. They are not listening to God on what He really wants.
But on some level they want to be considered God’s people and they want to get blessings from Him. So they would do sacrifices and hold fasts and have religious feasts and celebrate rituals and have holy days.
They thought that they could do all of that and it would somehow make up for having a rotten heart and for ignoring the love thy neighbor as thyself business.
Some of them might even have fooled themselves, but they in no way fooled God. Some might even had convinced themselves that it is because of all the religious stuff they did that God is letting them build the temple. Nope. God is not happy with their empty dead religion while at the same time they are being disobedient in judgment and mercy and compassion.
Hard stony hearts do not get anywhere with God.
Zec 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.
Zec 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:
Zec 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.
You could sum this message from God to them up as a serious rebuke. They are informed that they got zero credit from God for any of that stuff they did for 70 years. All of it was nothing but wood hay and stubble.
When people are told that kind of truth it is hard to hear. And different people will react in different ways. Some will get mad and offended. Others will sulk and pout.
However, some will carefully consider it and actually examine their own lives and hearts.
Those that reacted the right way and examined their own hearts and then prayed and got right with God. Those might wonder what now. What if too many of us don’t do what I did? What if too many of us either just pout or get mad?
The next message that comes from God in Chapter 8 has a lot of encouragement and promises.
It should be a pattern that you are noticing thru all of this. Yes they need rebuke. They need to be told where they are wrong with God. But along with that they also need encouragement that God is with them and that He wants their best and they need to hear about God’s promises to them.
People who only get rebuke and nothing else do not get built up. All they get is just torn down and torn down and torn down.
People also need hope and encouragement and positive reinforcement. And those that only get encouragement can get stuck on themselves and will not fix anything. They will not grow closer to God.
God’s ways are always the best. And though out all of this we see God doing both. He is correcting and teaching and also encouraging and giving hope and making promises.
Zec 8:1 Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying,
Zec 8:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
Zec 8:3 Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.
Zec 8:4 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age.
Zec 8:5 And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
That means the streets will be safe for the kids to play in.
Zec 8:6 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 8:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country;
Zec 8:8 And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.
This is a future promise. Many of the Old Testament prophesies had a partial fulfillment that will come true in the shorter term but the ultimate fulfilment will also happen and that is a long way off.
This promise had a limited fulfillment during the great revival of Nehemiah’s day. But this promise is fully pointing to the 1,000 year reign of Christ when He comes back and reigns and rules in Jerusalem.
Zec 8:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
Zec 8:10 For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.
Zec 8:11 But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts.
Zec 8:12 For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things.
This is big. Remember the promises that they would have a land of milk and honey were tied to obedience. That land to those people would not produce much if they did not obey God.
We learned from scripture that even though they were obeying God and not man and building the temple, early on in that process the land was still not producing.
Now after the serious rebuke about all their feasts and fasting for 70 years not counting for anything with God.
A little time after that rebuke comes the promise that the land will produce for them once again. So I believe that at least some of those people took the rebuke and got right.
Zec 8:13 And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.
Zec 8:14 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not:
Zec 8:15 So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.
Now remember in the rebuke was a list of things that God really wanted. He did not want empty religious rituals and feasts.
And now in this message of encouragement God brings some of those same truths up again. He does not bring up the entire list again. This is what God wanted from them.
And by the way this is what God has always wanted and this is what He wants from us today as well.
Zec 8:16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
Zec 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Now God brings up that question that was asked that started these messages.
Zec 8:18 And the word of the LORD of hosts came unto me, saying,
Zec 8:19 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace.
They are told to make those times times of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. And again God points to the heart. Love truth and peace.
And now he ends with some prophecy for the future.
Zec 8:20 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities:
Zec 8:21 And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also.
Zec 8:22 Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.
Zec 8:23 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
We saw that happen in Esther. If you remember they were under a death sentence but given hope with a new law that said on that day they could defend themselves.
And so what did they do, as the news spread from village to village they held a celebration. It was a big display of faith celebrating even while they were still under a death sentence.
They chose to believe in and rejoice in God’s promises and in His provision. And it impacted many. Many people that saw it chose to become Jews.
There is a lot being taught in this section of scripture.
- There is a danger of doing things for the Lord but for the wrong reasons. It is easy to go thru the doing and at the same time ignoring that your heart is wrong about it.
- God is more concerned with the state of your heart.
- God is more concerned with you showing mercy and compassion and doing true judgment than He is with you observing certain days or in fasting.
- People need both correction and encouragement and hope. Correction and building up needs to be properly balanced because we need both.
- Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: 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.
- Keeping our hearts in line with how God wants them is the most important thing.