The First Message
We’ve just finished up a series of visions that Zechariah received
from the Lord about the time that the temple building project was
restarted. After two years – about half
the time that it took Zerubbabel to rebuild the physical temple – Zechariah
receives a series of messages from the Lord.
Note that these are not visions like the chapters before.
The first message is in response to a query that came from some of
the exiles. Be aware of where the question
originates. The people come from Bethel,
which is a city 12 miles north of Jerusalem.
Bethel was one of the two major places of worship for the northern
kingdom that went into exile under the Assyrians. It is in Bethel that things went tragically wrong
as the people of the northern kingdom fell away from God. To put it bluntly, the return from exile is
still in its first stage and … well … here we go again!
These people come from Bethel and ask Zechariah if they need to
continue the fast in the fifth month.
Note that this fast wasn’t a divinely appointed fast from the Law of
Moses. Rather, this fast to which the
people from Bethel are referring is a fast that was instituted to remember the
Ammonite treason with respect to the murder of Gedaliah. Gedaliah was the regent set up by the
Babylonians, and it is the murder of Gedaliah that ultimately brings about
Jeremiah’s kidnapping and his removal to Egypt.
In this way, the Hebrew people were denied both Gedaliah’s leadership
under persecution as well as Jeremiah’s spiritual leadership throughout their
captivity.
Therefore, through the first message to Zechariah God asks the
people who it was that originated the fast.
Was it God’s Law that told them to fast for Gedaliah or was that an
event of human institution? If it was an
event of human institution, then humans have every right to stop it, too! Why does God need to get involved in the
process of breaking things that He did not even ask to establish?
As I read this first message I can’t help but return to the
concept of organized religion. How much
of what we do in our public worship is instituted by God? How much is instituted by mankind? Perhaps the more important question is how
much of the way that we worship is of God and how much is of man? Have we bound ourselves to the traditions of
God and the freedom to fulfill them as we are called? Or have we bound ourselves to obedience of
manmade fulfillment? Are we truly going
through a spiritual process when we gather for worship or are we simply passing
through manmade routine in a rote manner?
I should be clear here that I am not intending to place judgment
on any particular style. I truly believe
that one man’s rote behavior can be another person’s genuine spirituality. What is important to me is not how things are
done but that things are done by all people with a true sense of
spirituality. It is the spirit of the
act that is more important to me than the act itself – and I believe this is
part of God’s first message here in this chapter.
The Second Message
Here is the second half of the chapter we get Zechariah’s second
message from God. God’s point is
blunt. God says that He cares more about
rendering true justice to the poor and the weak that about ritualistic
observances. In a sense, God is saying
that He cares far more about the status of the heart than the physical
act. This is very much kin to Jesus’
teachings on the Law when He says, “You have heard it said that you should not
_____, but I tell you that one who has _____ed in their heart is already
guilty.” {See Matthew 5:21-30 as a great example of this.}
God doesn’t want us to put on a false image. God doesn’t want some public show or
demonstration. As a wise woman that I
have the privilege of discipling continues to bring to the front of many
discussions, God wants us to be the same person in church that I am with my
wife, while watching TV, while shopping at Walmart, etc. The spiritual walk is not about periodic
grand demonstrations of showiness. True
spirituality is about unifying my walk and being true to God in every
circumstance.
The people who have come to Zechariah shut their ears. They just don’t want to hear it. As I said earlier, here we go again. They are simply proving how people need to be
constantly reminded of this point! God
gives us a little success and the next thing you know we are off on some
tangent thinking we are invincible and no longer wanting to be obedient to
God. We constantly need people in our
life to remind us to be not just observant but submissively humble and
obedient. We need people to remind us
just how ridiculous we look when we stop up our ears and refuse to listen to
God.
As I hear of the reaction that these people from Bethel have to
God’s word through Zechariah, I can’t help but think of a few Bible
stories. Proverbs 1:31 tells us that “they
shall eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices.” Revelation 3:20 reminds us that Christ stands
at our door and knocks, but we must open to door and submit to listening to
Him. Matthew 25:1-13 reminds us of the
peril of just going through spiritual motions while not actually preparing
ourselves to truly be spiritual people.
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