By Andrew Williams – April 6, 2021
Now in the fourth year of King Darius it came to pass that the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, on the fourth day of the ninth month, Chislev, when the people sent Sherezer, with Regem-Melech and his men, to the house of God, to pray before the Lord , and to ask the priests who were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and the prophets, saying, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?” Zechariah 7:1-3 NKJV
Introduction
The children of Israel are now in exile and they are wondering if they should continue with their fasting and prayer the way that they did while they were in the land of Israel. They have sent emissaries to the temple to inquire of the priests and the prophets if they should continue this practice. We know that they are in exile because of their disobedience to the former prophets messages and to the Word of God. It has been Seventy years since the exile and it may be that they have fasted and prayed and they have not seen any results, so now they are wondering if they should continue. God speaks through Zechariah the prophet and gives them His answer.
Should I Fast and Pray at the Usual Prescribed Times ?
The question that needed to be answered was ‘should I continue fasting and praying at the prescribed times’? It has been 70 years since the exile from Jerusalem and there was in Babylon are probably thinking that they need to continue doing things the prescribed way. The answer that they get from Zechariah is probably not the one that they thought they would get.
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 during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me? When you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ” Zechariah 7:4-7 NKJV
Simply put, when you fast and pray are you doing it for Me? Or are you just doing a religious practice without truly seeking Me? Shouldn’t you have obeyed Me when you were in the land and when you were prosperous? THIS IS WHAT GOD SAID TO THEM. These questions speak to our attitude towards God and helps us to see where our focus truly is when we are in fasting and prayer.
The children of Israel were exiled for 70 years and in that time they were continuing with their fasting and prayer, but were they truly seeking God or were they just fulfilling the requirements to do fasting and prayer at the appointed times? In today’s society we fall into this trap sometimes because we attend many fasting services, we fast on our own, and we pray, but at times these are all self-centered and routine.
Our approach to God is not one where we focus on meeting with Him and getting to know Him, but just to tell Him what we need, tell Him what we want or just to tell Him how good we are. What sense is it spending all the time fasting and praying, if we are not being obedient to God’s Word and to His Holy Spirit? We should spend our time in fasting and prayer getting to know God and allowing Him to work in us so that we can become better persons, who will then show love to others in the way that is needed.
God’s Requirement
Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.’ Zechariah 7:8-10 NKJV
God is tired of having us fast and pray to Him when we are not committed to Him. God wants us to show love to others in the prescribed way in this passage: show mercy, compassion, do not oppress others, and do not plan evil against others.
Let me say that there’s nothing wrong with fasting and prayer, the question is where is your Focus and what is your motive? The other thing to consider when we fast and pray is whether we are walking in God’s will and are we being obedient to His Word ?
The Response That Lead To The Exile
“But they refused to heed, shrugged their shoulders, and stopped their ears so that they could not hear. Yes, they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it happened, that just as He proclaimed and they would not hear, so they called out and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts. “But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they had not known. Thus the land became desolate after them, so that no one passed through or returned; for they made the pleasant land desolate.” Zechariah 7:11-14 NKJV
All this is saying is that the people were disobedient to God when they heard His Word. They even refused to hear His Word! So God allowed them to be captured by other persons and exiled them to a foreign land. It was then that some of them started to pray to God, but it was too late.
We need to remember that God had promised that they would live in the land if they would only obey Him, and if they did not He would not keep that promise. So here we see God being faithful to His word because when they continually disobeyed Him, He removed them from the land of promise.
Are we in a similar position today where we are so disobedient that God no longer hears us when we cry out to Him? Have we stopped to listening to His word and to His Holy Spirit, and because of this we are exiled from Him?
Is it too late?
Should you not have obeyed the words which the Lord proclaimed through the former prophets when Jerusalem and the cities around it were inhabited and prosperous, and the South and the Lowland were inhabited?’ ” Zechariah 7:7 NKJV
Was it too late for the Israelites? No it was not! When we look at the prophecy of Jeremiah we see that there was a prescribed 70 years of exile. The people would return to the land, but we see God in this passage reminding them that they need to be obedient to Him, and they need to be focused on Him instead of religious ceremony.
Some of us may be in the situation where we are far away from God, or we are praying but we are not hearing from Him. Is it too late for us? I do not think so! Jesus Christ came so that we could have right relationship and fellowship with God. All we have to do is begin the process by repenting of our sins and turning to God. When we do so His Holy Spirit will teach us and disciple us in a lifestyle of worship and service to God.
Parting Words
We have examined this passage and we see how God’s chosen people refused to obey Him and because of that disobedience they were exiled to a foreign land. Because of their disobedience God stopped listening to their prayers, and even though they continued the religious practices of fasting and prayer they did not feel closer to him and He did not listen to them, all because their focus was on religious practices and NOT On GOD.
It is my prayer today that as we examine this passage we will also examine ourselves to see if our Focus is on God. Are we being obedient to Him and are we seeking Him , truly seeking Him, to know Him and to fellowship with Him?
As we fast and pray let us redirect our Focus to our God, and as we do so may our relationship and fellowship with Him become what He truly desires with us.