Zechariah 7:8 Commentary and Bible Study

Verses 8-10 are a summary of what the prophets who spoke to Judah before the exile had said, and which had been ignored. But they are also what God still says to those who have returned from Babylon. How wonderful is a society governed by the word of God, and how safe and pleasant it is to live in such a society! Israel was meant to be characterised by compassion and kindness, but because they were a mixture of believers and a majority of unbelievers, this was seldom the case. True local churches should be much closer to that perfect society, a colony of heaven. Believers struggle with sin, but they have been given sufficient grace from the Lord to put to death deceit, lies, exaggeration, self-interested conduct, partiality and many other forms of false judgment. Mercy and compassion are lovely in the sight of heaven, and transform us from mere beasts to those made in the image of God. A society is measured not by how it takes care of the strong but the weak, and it should give particular attention to those least able to care for themselves. The conduct that God desires of his people is genuine and comes from the heart. The heart needs to be guarded with particular care, and what is allowed to exist there in secret will certainly find its way out into the open. In spite of these clearly published standards, the pre-exile generation had not listened (verses 11-12). God had needed to follow through with his warnings and bring the threatened judgment on the nation. They had hardened their hearts so many times. In spite of the prophets pleading with them over a long period of time, they refused to hear and persecuted God’s spokesmen. They numbed their consciences and any exhortations from the pulpit, they allowed to go right over their heads and they never took any notice. And that is why they were judged and pruned. These are the same standards which the returnees need to take note of. God’s standards do not change, and when we fail to obey him, after chastising us he will simply call us back to the same conduct all over again. Since the nation had not obeyed previously, and since they had been punished so severely, there was all the more reason why they should now strive more than they had ever striven before to obey God. Completely beyond what they had any right to expect, God had returned them to their land. He had not totally abandoned them; he had sent his prophets to encourage them, but he required them to respond to his word. He expects them to learn from the way he has disciplined them and not to behave in the same way again. If they do, judgment will be even more severe next time.Because they had ignored his word (verses 13-14) God treated them in a way that corresponded to the way they had treated him. They would not listen to him: neither would he listen to them. This is the explanation for all the misery they have been through as a nation. Some of God’s ways are beyond our ability to grasp because of their depth or their complexity, but this was not hard to understand. He brought them into a situation where they faced enemies who were too strong for them. They cried to the Lord, but their cry came too late. They had ignored him too often and now he would not listen. Yes, their sense of alarm was real enough, but if we are to cry to the Lord in a genuine way, it is not just to get help from him when we are in a pinch. If we want his help we must return to him with all our hearts. God knew that their cries for help did not come from true hears, believing hearts, humble hearts. So he scattered them with a whirlwind of trouble and warfare. To mourn and to appoint fasts was the wrong response, for the spirit in which they fasted was not a spirit of repentance, but was done as if to say to God, ‘Why have you done this to us?’ when they should have known.