Zechariah 7:4-14
[4]This is the message of the Lord that came to me.
[5]He said, “Tell the people of the land and the priests that when they fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months during these seventy years, it was not in honour of me.
[6]And when they ate and drank, it was for their own satisfaction.”
[7]This is what the Lord said through the earlier prophets at the time when Jerusalem was prosperous and filled with people and when there were many people living not only in the towns round the city but also in the southern region and in the western foothills.
[8]The Lord gave this message to Zechariah:
[9]“Long ago I gave these commands to my people: ‘You must see that justice is done, and must show kindness and mercy to one another.
[10]Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners who live among you, or anyone else in need. And do not plan ways of harming one another.’
[11]“But my people stubbornly refused to listen. They closed their minds
[12]and made their hearts as hard as rock. Because they would not listen to the teaching which I sent through the prophets who lived long ago, I became very angry.
[13]Because they did not listen when I spoke, I did not answer when they prayed.
[14]Like a storm I swept them away to live in foreign countries. This good land was left a desolate place, with no one living in it.”
Summary:
1. Heart not with God, fasting for themselves vs 5;
2. God’s will on behavior: a) administer true justice vs 9; b) Show mercy and compassion to one another vs 9; c) Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor vs 10;
d) In your heart, do not think of evil of each other vs 10;
3. Not listening-stubborn and hardened heart vs 11-12;
Consequences: 1. God would not listen to their prayers;
2. God’s punishment – a) scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations vs 14;
b) the land left desolate.