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Matthew Henry |
Z E C H A R I A H.
CHAP. VII.
We have done with the visions, but not with the revelations of this
book; the prophet sees no more such signs as he had seen, but still
“the word of the Lord came to him.” In this chapter we have,
I. A case of conscience proposed to the prophet by the children of the
captivity concerning fasting, whether they should continue their solemn
fasts which they had religiously observed during the seventy years of
their captivity,
II. The answer to this question, which is given in this and the next
chapter; and this answer was given not all at once, but by piece-meal,
and, it should seem, at several times, for here are four distinct
discourses which have all of them reference to this case, each of them
prefaced with “the word of the Lord came,”
and ch. viii. 1, 18.
The method of them is very observable. In this chapter,
1. The prophet sharply reproves them for the mismanagements of their
fasts,
2. He exhorts them to reform their lives, which would be the best way
of fasting, and to take heed of those sins which brought those
judgments upon them which they kept these fasts in memory of,
And then in the next chapter, having searched the wound, he binds it
up, and heals it, with gracious assurances of great mercy God had yet
in store for them, by which he would turn their fasts into feasts.
| An Enquiry Concerning Fasting; Hypocrisy Reproved. | B. C. 520. |
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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;
2 When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and
Regem-melech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
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?
4 Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
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?
6 And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat
for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?
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?
This occasional sermon, which the prophet preached, and which is
recorded in this and the next chapter, was above two years after the
former, in which he gave them an account of his visions, as appears by
comparing the date of this
(v. 1),
in the ninth month of the fourth year of Darius, with the
date of that
(ch. i. 1),
in the eighth month of the second year of Darius; not that Zechariah
was idle all that while (it is expressly said that he and Haggai
continued prophesying till the temple was finished in the sixth
year of Darius;
but during that time he did not preach any sermon that was afterwards
published, and left upon record, as this is. God may be honoured, his
work done, and his interest served, by word of mouth as well as by
writing; and by inculcating and pressing what has been taught, as well
as by advancing something new. Now here we have,
I. A case proposed concerning fasting. Some persons were sent to
enquire of the priests and prophets whether they should continue to
observe their yearly fasts, particularly that in the fifth month, as
they had done. It is uncertain whether the case was put by those that
yet remained in Babylon, who, being deprived of the benefit of the
solemn feasts which God’s ordinance appointed them, made up the want by
the solemn fasts which God’s providences called them to; or by those
that had returned, but lived in the country, as some rather incline to
think, because they are called the people of the land,
v. 5.
But, as to that, the answer given to the messengers of the captive Jews
might be directed, not to them only, but to all the people.
Observe,
1. Who they were that came with this enquiry–Sherezer and
Regem-melech, persons of some rank and figure, for they came
with their men, and did not think it below them, or any
disparagement to them, to be sent on this errand, but rather an
addition to their honour to be,
(1.) Attendants in God’s house, there to do duty and receive orders.
The greatest of men are less than the least of the ordinances of Jesus
Christ.
(2.) Agents for God’s people, to negotiate their affairs. Men of
estates, having more leisure than men of business, ought to employ
their time in the service of the public, and by doing good they make
themselves truly great; the messengers of the churches were the
glory of Christ,
2 Cor. viii. 23.
2. What the errand was upon which they came. They were sent perhaps not
with gold and silver (as those,
or, if they were, that is not mentioned, but upon the two great errands
which should bring us all to the house of God,
(1.) to intercede with God for his mercy. They were sent to pray
before the Lord, and, some think (according to the usage then), to
offer sacrifice, with which they offered up their prayers. The
Jews, in captivity, prayed towards the temple (as appears
but now that it was in a fair way to be rebuilt they sent their
representatives to pray in it, remembering that God had said that his
house should be called a house of prayer for all people,
Isa. lvi. 7.
In prayer we must set ourselves as before the Lord, must see his
eye upon us and have our eye up to him.
(2.) To enquire of God concerning his mind. Note, When we offer up our
requests to God it must be with a readiness to receive instructions
from him; for, if we turn away our ear from hearing his law, we cannot
expect that our prayers should be acceptable to him. We must therefore
desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of our life
that we may enquire there
(Ps. xxvii. 4),
asking, not only, Lord, what wilt thou do for me? but, Lord what
wilt thou have me to do?
3. Whom they consulted. They spoke to the priests that were in the
house of the Lord and to the prophets; the former were an oracle
for ordinary cases, the latter for extraordinary; they were blessed
with both, and would try if either could acquaint them with the mind of
God in this case. Note, God having given diversities of gifts to men,
and all to profit with, we should make use of all as there is occasion.
They were not so wedded to the priests, their stated ministers, as to
distrust the prophets, who appeared, by the gifts given them, well
qualified to serve the church; nor yet were they so much enamoured with
the prophets as to despise the priests, but they spoke both to the
priests and to the prophets, and, in consulting both, gave glory to the
God of Israel, and that one Spirit who works all in all. God
might speak to them either by urim or by prophets
and therefore they would not neglect either. The priests and the
prophets were not jealous one of another, nor had any difference among
themselves; let not the people then make differences between them, but
thank God they had both. The prophets did indeed reprove what was amiss
in the priests, but at the same time told the people that the
priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they must
enquire the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the
Lord of hosts,
Mal. ii. 7.
Note, Those that would know God’s mind should consult God’s ministers,
and in doubtful cases ask advice of those whose special business it is
to search the scriptures.
4. What the case was which they desired satisfaction in
(v. 3):
Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done
these so many years. Observe,
(1.) What had been their past practice, not only during the seventy
years of the captivity but to this time, which was twenty years after
the liberty proclaimed them; they kept up solemn stated fasts for
humiliation and prayer, which they religiously observed, according as
their opportunities were, in their closets, families, or such
assemblies for worship as they had. In the case here, they mention only
one, that of the fifth month; but it appears, by
that they observed four anniversary fasts, one in the fourth month
(June 17), in remembrance of the breaking up of the wall of
Jerusalem
(Jer. lii. 6),
another in the fifth month (July 4), in remembrance of the
burning of the temple
another in the seventh month (September 3), in remembrance of
the killing of Gedaliah, which completed their dispersion, and another
in the tenth month (December 10), in remembrance of the
beginning of the siege of Jerusalem,
Now it was very commendable in them to keep those fasts, thus to humble
themselves under those humbling providences, by which God called them
to weeping and mourning, thus to accommodate themselves to their
troubles, and prepare themselves for deliverance. It would likewise be
a means of possessing their children betimes with a due sense of the
hand of the Lord gone out against them.
(2.) What was their present doubt-whether they should continue these
fasts or no. The case is put as by a single person: Should I
weep? But it was the case of many, and the satisfaction of one
would be a satisfaction to the rest. Or perhaps many had left it off,
but the querist will not be determined by the practice of others; if
God will have him continue it, he will, whatever others do. His fasting
is described by his weeping, separating himself. A religious
fast must be solemnized, not only by abstinence, here called a
separating ourselves from the ordinary lawful comforts of life, but by
a godly sorrow for sin, here expressed by weeping. “Should I still keep
such days to afflict the soul as I have done these so many
years?” It is said
(v. 5)
to be seventy years, computed from the last captivity, as before,
The enquiry intimates a readiness to continue it, if God so appoint,
though it be a mortification to the flesh.
[1.] Something is to be said for the continuance of these fasts.
Fasting and praying are good work at any time, and do good; we have
always both cause enough and need enough to humble ourselves before
God. To throw off these fasts would be an evidence of their being too
secure, and a cause of their being more so. They were still in
distress, and under the tokens of God’s displeasure; and it is unwise
for the patient to break off his course of physic while he is sensible
of such remains of his distemper. But,
[2.] There is something to be said for the letting fall of these fasts.
God had changed the method of his providences concerning them, and
returned in ways of mercy to them; and ought not they then to change
the method of their duties? Now that the bridegroom has returned, why
should the children of the bride-chamber fast? Every thing is
beautiful in its season. And as to the fast of the fifth month (which
is that they particularly enquire about), that, being kept in
remembrance of the burning of the temple, might seem to be superseded
rather than any of the other, because the temple was now in a fair way
to be rebuilt. But, having long kept up this fast, they would not leave
it off without advice, and without asking and knowing God’s mind in the
case. Note, A good method of religious services, which we have found
beneficial to ourselves and others, ought not to be altered without
good reason, and therefore not without mature deliberation.
II. An answer given to this case. It should seem that, though the
question looked plausible enough, those who proposed it were not
conscientious in it, for they were more concerned about the ceremony
than about the substance; they seemed to boast of their fasting, and to
upbraid God Almighty with it, that he had not sooner returned in mercy
to them; “for we have done it these so many years.” As those,
Wherefore have we fasted, and thou seest not? And some think
that unbelief, and distrust of the promises of God, were at the bottom
of their enquiry; for, if they had given them the credit that was due
to them, they needed not to doubt but that their fasts ought to be laid
aside, now that the occasion of them was over. And therefore the first
answer to their enquiry is a very sharp reproof of their hypocrisy,
directed, not only to the people of the land, but to the
priests, who had set up these fasts, and perhaps some of them were
for keeping them up, to serve some purpose of their own. Let them all
take notice that, whereas they thought they had made God very much
their debtor by these fasts, they were much mistaken, for they were not
acceptable to him, unless they had been observed in a better manner and
to better purpose.
1. What they did that was good was not done aright
(v. 5):
You fasted and mourned. They were not chargeable with the
omission or neglect of the duty, though it was displeasing to the body
(thy fasts were continually before me,
Ps. l. 8),
but they had not managed them aright. Note, Those that come to enquire
of their duty must be willing first to be told of their faults. And
those that seem zealous for the outside of a duty ought to examine
themselves faithfully whether they have the regard they ought to have
to the inside of it.
(1.) They had not an eye to God in their fasting: Did you at all
fast unto me, even to me? He appeals to their own consciences; they
will witness against them that they had not been sincere in it, much
more will God, who is greater than the heart and knows all things. You
know very well that you did not at all fast to me; in fasting did
you fast to me? There was the carcase and form of the duty, but
none of the life, and soul, and power of it. Was it to me, even to
me? The repetition intimates what a great deal of stress is laid
upon this as the main matter, in that and other holy exercises, that
they be done to God, even to him, with an eye to his word as our rule,
and his glory as our end, in them, seeking to please him and to obtain
his favour, and studious by the sincerity of our intention to approve
ourselves to him. When this was wanting every fast was but a jest. To
fast, and not fast to God, was to mock him and provoke him, and could
not be pleasing to him. Those that make fasting a cloak for sin, as
Jezebel’s fast, or by it make their court to men for their applause, as
the Pharisees, or that rest in outward expressions of humiliation while
their hearts are unhumbled, as Ahab, do they fast to God, even to
him? Is this the fast that God has chosen?
Isa. lviii. 5.
If the solemnities of our fasting, though frequent, long, and severe,
do not serve to put an edge upon devout affections, to quicken prayer,
to increase godly sorrow, and to alter the temper of our minds and the
course of our lives for the better, they do not at all answer the
intention, and God will not accept them as performed to him, even to
him.
(2.) They had the same eye to themselves in their fasting that they had
in their eating and drinking
(v. 6):
“When you did eat, and when you did drink, on other days (nay,
perhaps on your fast-days, in the observation of which you could, when
you saw cause, dispense with yourselves, and take a liberty to eat and
drink), did you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?
Have you not always done as you had a mind yourselves? Why then do you
now pretend a desire to know the mind of God? In your religious feasts
and thanksgivings you have had no more an eye to God than in your
fasts.” Or, rather, it refers to their common meals; they did no more
design the honour of God in their fasting and praying than they did in
their eating and drinking; but self was still the centre in which the
lines of all their actions, natural, civil, and religious, met. They
needed not be in such care about the continuance of their fasts, unless
they had kept them better. Note, We miss our end in eating and drinking
when we eat to ourselves and drink to ourselves, whereas we should
eat and drink to the glory of God
(1 Cor. x. 31),
that our bodies may be fit to serve our souls in his service.
2. The principal good thing they should have done was left undone
(v. 7):
“Should you not hear the words which the Lord has cried by the
former prophets? Yes, that you should have done on your fast-days;
it was not enough to weep and separate yourselves on your
fast-days, in token of your sorrow for the judgments you were under,
but you should have searched the scriptures of the prophets,
that you might have seen what was the ground of God’s controversy with
your fathers, and might have taken warning by their miseries not to
tread in the steps of their iniquities. You ask, Shall we do as we have
done, in fasting? No, you must do that which you have not yet done; you
must repent of your sins and reform you lives. This is what we now call
you to, and it is the same that the former prophets called your fathers
to.” To affect them the more with the mischief that sin had done them,
that they might be brought to repent of it, he puts them in mind of the
former flourishing state of their country: Jerusalem was then
inhabited and in prosperity, that is now desolate and in
distress. The cities round about, that are now in ruins, were
then inhabited too and in peace. The country likewise was very
populous: Men inhabited the south of the plain, which was not at
all fortified, and yet they lived safely, and which was fruitful, and
so they lived plentifully. But then God by the prophets cried to
them, as one in earnest, and importunate with them, to amend their ways
and doings, or else their prosperity would soon be at an end. “Now,”
says the prophet, “you should have taken notice of that, and have
inferred that what was required of them for the preventing of the
judgments, and which they did not, is required of you for the removal
of the judgments; and, if you do it not, all your fasting and weeping
signify nothing.” Note, The words of the later prophets agree with
those of the former; and, whether people are in prosperity or
adversity, they must be called upon to leave their sins and do their
duty; this must still be the burden of every song.
| Wilful Disobedience of Israel; Consequences of Disobedience. | B. C. 520. |
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8 And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying,
9 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true
judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his
brother:
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.
11 But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder,
and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
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.
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:
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.
What was said
v. 7,
that they should have heard the words of the former prophets, is
here enlarged upon, for warning to these hypocritical enquirers, who
continued their sins when they asked with great preciseness whether
they should continue their fasts. This prophet had before put them in
mind of their fathers’ disobedience to the calls of the prophets, and
what was the consequence of it
(ch. i. 4-6),
and now here again; for others’ harms should be our warnings. God’s
judgments upon Israel of old for their sins were written for admonition
to us Christians
(1 Cor. x. 11),
and the same use we should make of similar providences in our own
day.
I. This prophet here repeats the heads of the sermons which the former
prophets preached to their fathers
(v. 9, 10),
because the very same things were required of them now. “Thus does the
Lord of hosts speak to you now, and thus he did speak to your
fathers, saying, Execute true judgment.” The duties here
required of them, which would have been the lengthening of the
tranquillity of their fathers and must be the restoring of their
tranquillity, are not keeping fasts and offering sacrifices, but
doing justly and loving mercy, duties which they were
bound to by the light and law of nature, though there had been no
prophets sent to insist upon them, duties which had a direct tendency
to the public welfare and peace, and which they themselves would be the
gainers by, and not God.
1. Magistrates must administer justice impartially, according to the
maxims of the law and the merits of the cause, without respect of
persons: “Judge judgment of truth, and execute it when you have
judged it.”
2. Neighbours must have a tender concern for one another, and must not
only do one another no wrong, but must be ready to do one another all
the good offices that lie in their power. They must show mercy and
compassion every man to his brother, as the case called for it. The
infirmities of others, as well as their calamities, are to be looked
upon with compassion. Hanc veniam petimusque damusque
vicissim–This kindness we ask and exercise.
3. They must not bear hard upon those whom they have advantage against,
and who, they know, are not able to help themselves. They must not,
either in commerce or in course of law, oppress the widow, the
fatherless, the stranger, and the poor,
v. 10.
The weakest must not be thrust to the wall because they are weakest. No
thanks to men not to deny right to those who are in a capacity to
demand it and recover it; but we must, not only for wrath, but also for
conscience’ sake, give those their own who have not power to force it
from us. Or it intimates that that which is but exactness with others
is exaction upon the widows and the fatherless; nay, that not relieving
and helping them as we ought is, in effect, oppressing them.
4. They must not only not do wrong to any, but they must not so much as
desire it nor think of it: “Let none of you imagine evil against his
brother in your heart. Do not project it; do not wish it; nay do
not so much as please yourself with the fancy of it.” The law of God
lays a restraint upon the heart, and forbids the entertaining, forbids
the admitting, of a malicious, spiteful, ill-natured thought.
Beware that there be not a thought in thy Belial heart against thy
brother.
II. He describes the wilfulness and disobedience of their fathers, who
persisted in all manner of wickedness and injustice, notwithstanding
these exhortations and admonitions frequently given them in God’s name;
various expressions to this purport are here heaped up
(v. 11, 12),
setting forth the stubbornness of that carnal mind which is enmity
against God, and is not in subjection to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. They were obstinate and refractory, and persisted in their
transgressions of the law purely from a spirit of contradiction to the
law.
1. They would not, if they could help it, come within hearing of the
prophets, but kept at a distance; or, if they could not avoid hearing
what they said, yet they resolved they would not heed it: They
refused to hearken, and looked another way as if they had not been
spoken to.
2. If they did hear what was said to them, and, as it seemed, inclined
at first to comply with it, yet they flew off when it came to the
setting to, and, like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, they
pulled away the shoulder, and would not submit to the easy yoke
and the light burden of God’s commandments. They gave a
withdrawing shoulder (so the word is); they seemed to lay their
shoulder to the work, but they presently withdrew it again, as those
They were like a deceitful bow, as that son that said, I go, sir,
but went not.
3. They filled their own minds with prejudices against the word of God,
and had some objection or other ready wherewith to fortify themselves
against every sermon they heard. They stopped their ears, that they
should not hear, as the deaf adder
(Ps. lviii. 4),
and none are so deaf as those that will not hear, that make their
own ear heavy, as the word is.
4. They resolved that nothing which was said to them, for the enforcing
of these injunctions, should make any impression upon them: They
made their hearts as an adamant-stone, as a diamond, the
hardest of stones to be wrought upon, or as a flint, which the
mason cannot hew into shape as he can other stone out of the quarry.
Nothing is so hard, so unmalleable, so inflexible, as the heart of a
presumptuous sinner; and those whose hearts are hard may thank
themselves; they are of their own hardening, and it is just with God to
give them over to a reprobate sense, to the hardness and impenitence of
their own hearts. These stubborn sinners hardened their hearts on
purpose lest they should hear what God said to them by the
written word, by the law of Moses, and by the words of the
prophets that preached to them; they had Moses and the
prophets, but resolved they would hear neither, nor would they have
been persuaded though one had been sent to them from the dead. The
words of the prophet were not regarded by them, though they were
words which the Lord of hosts sent and directed to them, though he sent
them immediately by his Spirit in the prophets; so that in
despising them they affronted God himself and resisted the Holy
Ghost. Note, The reason why men are not good is because they will
not be so; they will not consider, will not comply; and therefore,
if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
III. He shows the fatal consequences of it to their fathers:
Therefore came great wrath from the Lord of hosts. God was
highly displeased with them, and justly; he required nothing of them
but what was reasonable in itself and beneficial to them; and yet they
refused, and in a most insolent manner too. What master could bear to
be so abused by his own servant? Such an implacable enmity to the
gospel as this was to the law and the prophets was that which brought
wrath to the uttermost upon the last generation of the Jewish
church,
Great sins against the Lord of hosts, whose authority is
incontestable, bring great wrath from the Lord of hosts, whose
power is irresistible. And the effect was,
1. As they had turned a deaf ear to God’s word, so God turned a deaf
ear to their prayers,
As he cried to them in their prosperity to leave their sins,
and they would not hear, but persisted in their iniquities, so
they cried to him in the day of their trouble to remove his
judgments, and he would not hear, but lengthened out their calamities.
Those that set God at defiance, in the height of their pride, when
pangs came upon them cried unto him. Lord, in trouble have they
visited thee. But God has said it, and will abide by it, He that
turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be an
abomination,
Prov. xxviii. 9; i. 24,
&c. Iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the success
of prayer,
2. As they flew off from their duty and allegiance to God, and were of
desultory and unsettled spirits, so God dissipated them and threw them
about as chaff before a whirlwind: He scattered them among all the
nations whom they knew not, and whom therefore they could not
expect to receive any kindness from,
3. As they violated all the laws of their land, so God took away all
the glories of it: Their land was desolate after them, and no man
passed through or returned. All that country that was the kingdom
of the two tribes, after the dispersion of the remaining Jews, upon the
slaughter of Gedaliah, was left utterly uninhabited; there was not man,
woman, or child, in it, till the Jews returned at the end of seventy
years’ captivity; nay, it should seem, the very roads that lay through
the country were deserted (none passed or repassed), which, as it had
an intimation of mercy in it (though they were cast out of it, yet it
was kept empty for their return), so for the present it made the
judgment appear much the more dismal; for what a horrid wilderness must
a land be that had been so many years uninhabited! And they might thank
themselves; it was they that by their own wickedness laid the
pleasant land desolate. It was not so much the Chaldeans that did
it. No; they did it themselves. The desolations of a land are owing to
the wickedness of its inhabitants,
This came of their wilful disobedience to the law of God. And the
present generation saw how desolate sin had made that pleasant land,
and yet would not take warning.
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