TRADITIONS OF MEN OR TRUE WORSHIP (Zechariah 7:1-14)
INTRODUCTION:
When we were going through the Gospel of Mark we saw that Jesus often confronted the Pharisees for elevating the traditions of men above the Word of God. The Pharisees believed that if they kept all the rules and regulations that they had made that this would earn them favor with God. The Lord Jesus often exposed their self-righteousness and called them to repent and believe in Him and live in obedience to the Word of God and not the traditions of men. This was not just a problem in Jesus’ day but has always been a problem since sin entered into the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It was a problem that Moses warned against in the Law, it was a problem that the prophets repeatedly warned the people about and then telling them what it was the Lord considered true worship. It was a problem in Zechariah’s day and in this morning’s passage he confronts it head-on with messages given to him from the LORD of hosts. This chapter begins a new section of Zechariah’s book; we have moved away from his initial call of repentance and the eight-night visions to comfort the people in their efforts to rebuild the temple and to assure them that God remembers all His promises to them and that He will fulfill them through the Messiah. The style of the book now changes to direct revelation from the Lord through Zechariah. The rest of the book is mostly an elaboration of that which we have already looked at, with a number of striking parallels. Let’s pray and get into our passage for this morning.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Zechariah chapter 7. I know that you will be shocked, but we are going to try and do the whole chapter this morning, verses 1-14. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Zechariah 7:1-14,
“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. Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek the favor of the Lord, speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, ‘Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have done these many years?’ Then the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, ‘Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, “When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves? Are not these the words which the Lord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?” ’ Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, ‘Thus has the Lord of hosts said, “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,’ says the Lord of hosts; ‘but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate.’ ” (Zechariah 7:1–14, NASB95)[1]
SELF-RIGHTEOUS RITUALS (Zechariah 7:1-3)
Zechariah begins this chapter by giving us a time stamp of the fourth year of King Darius, on the fourth day of the ninth month, the month of Chislev. If we compare this with the time stamps given to us in chapter one we see that what is about to be recorded is two years after the eight-night visions that Zechariah had witnessed. At this time, in the fourth year of Darius the people were about halfway done with the rebuilding of the temple, this project would be completed within another two years and three months. To witness the rebuilding to see it moving forward and the walls beginning to rise must have thrilled the people, who would have seen it as evidence of God’s blessing.
There was a danger, however, that would come with the completion of the temple and then the beginning of ceremonies and holidays that revolved around the temple. The people could begin to view the rituals as a means to an end. Much like the Pharisees believed that by keeping all the traditions of men would earn them God’s favor, the ritualism of the temple ceremonies might also cause the people to be lulled into a sense of safety, that these rituals give them favor with God. Zechariah says that the word of the LORD or the word of Yahweh came to him at this time to address this issue.
This seems to have come about because of a delegation of men who had come from the city of Bethel. The Scripture says that they came to seek the favor of the LORD and to speak to the priests who belonged to the house of Yahweh of hosts and to the prophets, which would have included Zechariah and Haggai. They came to speak to them because they considered them to be authorities in the things of God, and in this case they had come to the right place. We are given the names of the two leaders of this delegation, they both had foreign names yet because of their inquiry they certainly were Israelites, most likely returned exiles. Ezra tells us in his book that there was a group from Bethel that had returned when the first wave of exiles had returned. Their names were Sharezer and Regemmelech, the meaning of their names are uncertain, the first has something to do with treasure and the second has something to do with a king, the second half of his name is the word for king. This delegation came to worship the Lord and make an inquiry about a certain fast that was observed annually. They came sincerely seeking answers, but their question was flawed. They asked, “Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain as I have done these many years?” (Zechariah 7:3, NASB95)[2] The question may appear to be honest and pure, but it carried the marks of ritualism. This question makes the assumption that a person observing this day could prompt a response from God. This fast is not a requirement in the Law or commanded by God. During Nebuchadnezzar’s siege on Jerusalem, the city was broken into and fell into his hands in the fifth month. In the years following this event the people wept in mourning on that date and abstained from routine practices and even from eating to show their grief. There was nothing inherently wrong with this commemoration but over the years the practice had become rote tradition and did not produce repentance. The spokesmen for the delegation even said, “…as I have done these many years,” emphasizing the routine nature of this yearly practice. The clear assumption was that such external traditions would earn God’s favor, receiving His favor and kindness through religious rituals and ceremonial works. This fast and others mentioned in this chapter and the next had been instituted by the nation and had not been commanded from the LORD. This delegation wanted to know from the Lord whether they should continue the fasts or abolish them, they did not want to lose God’s favor. Men are always looking for ways to please God, but the Lord was about to show these men that this self-righteous ritualism is not what pleases Him.
FALSE WORSHIP (Zechariah 7:4-7)
The Lord answered this question posed by the delegation from Bethel, but His response was not only for them but all Israel. Zechariah writes, “Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me…” (Zechariah 7:4a, NASB95)[3] God uses the name Yahweh in reference to His personal relationship to Israel and in His powerful character, the Sovereign of all, He is Yahweh of hosts, God in these two roles provides a corrective response to this delegation’s honest but errant inquiry. Yahweh of hosts began, “Say to the people of the land and to all the priests.” (Zechariah 7:4b, NASB95)[4] This response was for all the people of the land, God wanted to warn everyone about the dangers of hypocritical religion and false worship. He singled out the priests because they led the people in worship. In this role they needed to be careful to avoid empty rituals, the kind of worship God rejects. Jesus, hundreds of years later, declared a similar warning to Israel’s leadership in His day. Paul also warned the church against empty ritualism. This warning did not just apply to Zechariah’s time; it is a timely warning for every age.
Yahweh of hosts response begins by mentioning two fasts, one in the fifth month and one in the seventh month. The one in the fifth month commemorated the destruction of Jerusalem, the one in the seventh month commemorated the murder of Gedaliah, the governor Nebuchadnezzar installed after the fall of Jerusalem, he was murdered by a faction of Israelites opposed to the Babylonians not long after he had begun to carry out his role. Yahweh in His answer, indicates that these fasts, which were not specifically commanded by Him, had been carried out as a ritual, and not as an act of repentance. These fasts were dramatic and visible, having the appearance of godliness as the people forfeited comfort and engaged in outward expressions of sorrow. But when true grief over sin and awe of God are absent from these practices, the external actions become superficial and meaningless.
When the people practiced this ritualism they were missing what God requires. Yahweh said that these acts of fasting and mourning had been occurring “these seventy years…” (Zechariah 7:5c, NASB95)[5] This was the number of years that Israel was in captivity in Babylon, a time when God was calling them to repentance, but instead of repenting and seeking the Lord, Israel persisted in superficial ritualism for seventy years. During those years God had witnessed His people perform fast after fast, but none of those ceremonies fulfilled the heartfelt repentance and obedience that God wanted. So, while Israel thought they were accumulating divine favor over the decades, the Lord was counting each year of their disobedience.
God then showed them their hypocrisy and insincerity when He declared, “…was it actually for Me that you fasted?” (Zechariah 7:5d, NASB95)[6] Mourning and fasting have the appearance of devotion, but God knows the heart. True fasting and sorrow take place because man is distraught over his sin and so focused on the Lord that he foregoes even the basic needs in life like eating. Because God knew that this was just empty ritual and knew the insincerity of their hearts when they fasted and mourned, He asked, “…was it actually for Me?” (Zechariah 7:5d, NASB95)[7] This question was meant to pierce their self-righteous shell and reveal that their worship was false and hypocritical. Though their actions appeared noble and even righteous, they were displeasing to God because they were not truly for Him. By contrast, true worship seeks the Lord in spirit and in truth.
Yahweh continued, “When you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for yourselves?” (Zechariah 7:6, NASB95)[8] Yahweh is saying that their fasting, like their feasting, was done for themselves and not unto Him. So that one had no more effect as far as God was concerned than the other. In other words, do you think that because you go through various formalities of religion that all is well between you and God. Outward formalities and false worship are worthless if the heart is not right toward God. Even as Zechariah spoke to them from Yahweh of hosts, the Israelites had made themselves the object of their worship. Their ritualism and false worship led them into idolatry.
This false worship and ritualism are condemned by God. The Lord reminded them of prior revelation He had given to Israel throughout the nation’s history. “Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets?” (Zechariah 7:7a, NASB95)[9] Zechariah was not the first prophet to confront the wickedness and idolatry of ritualism and false worship. Isaiah, Joel, Jeremiah, and Samuel had all preached against the blasphemy of legalism (ritualism) and hypocrisy (false worship). (Isaiah 1:10-15; Joel 2:12-17; Jeremiah 7:21-23; 1st Samuel 15:22-23) The LORD’s standard had not changed. The people of Zechariah’s day were without excuse.
Persistent false worship and ritualism carry heavy consequences. Yahweh of hosts sent previous warnings to Israel at a time “when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it, and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited.” (Zechariah 7:7b, NASB95)[10] During Israel’s glory days when David and Solomon reigned, the situation was peaceful in Jerusalem and the cities around it. This peace extended across the entire land of Israel, from the Negev, which is the far south of the nation, to the foothills in the west. It was a time when the citizens of the nation inhabited the land, settled down, and were at ease, secure from any significant threat. The land and the people were flourishing. The scene in Zechariah’s time was completely different. The exiles had returned to a devastated Jerusalem that was just beginning to be rebuilt, there were no established cities around it for the most part. The people were in a state of constant alert, rather than at ease. Even more, the Negev and the foothills were essentially empty because only a fraction of Jewish people had returned to the land. What caused such a dramatic change? The answer was directly related to the nation’s history of religious hypocrisy. Israel had been warned by the former prophets, but the people did not heed the warning. Jeremiah described Israel’s attitude this way, ““I spoke to you in your prosperity; But you said, ‘I will not listen!’ This has been your practice from your youth, That you have not obeyed My voice.” (Jeremiah 22:21, NASB95)[11] Israel’s ritualism and false worship brought swift and devastating judgment from God. Zechariah through Yahweh revelation was demonstrating that such empty ritualism and false worship were not harmless, so he called the people of Israel to be on guard against it and instead do all things from the heart for God’s glory. The apostle Paul echoed much the same words, when he wrote in 1st Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, NASB95)[12] And again in Colossians 3:17, “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (Colossians 3:17, NASB95)[13]
CONCLUSION:
I truly planned to finish this whole chapter today, I should have known it was too much. I made it through half of it. As those last two verse show, God’s standard is the same today as it was in Zechariah’s day, the same as it was in Samuel’s day and in Isaiah’s, Jeremiah’s, and Joel’s day. The Lord is immutable, which simply means He does not change, He is still warning us to be on guard against empty ritualism and false worship. I think we sometimes come down a little harsh on the Israelites and their failures, but it is important that when we do think or talk that way, that we stop and examine our own hearts to make sure that we are not doing the very same things that we are criticizing the Israelites for doing. The same is true when we look at brothers and sisters in Christ and begin even in our minds to list their short comings or where they could be more devoted or involved without first looking at our own lives and our own shortcomings or our own lack of devotion or involvement. When we do this with the eyes of our Savior it might or it should drive us to our knees in repentance. We as believers need to be constantly checking our own hearts to make sure that our worship isn’t just going through the motions to get it done and check it off my list for this week, but that it truly is from the heart to the glory of God. The Lord Jesus is our supreme example of One who was so devoted to giving His Father glory that He lived in complete obedience to His Father, even going to the cross and dying for sinful mankind who in no way deserved the salvation and reconciliation that His death and resurrection secured for us.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.