Lesson #09

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS
ZECHARIAH 7
LESSON #09
WILL THE TRULY RELIGIOUS PLEASE STAND UP!

• MEMORY VERSE: MATTHEW 7:23

• TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE GOD GAVE ZECHARIAH THE EIGHT VISIONS. THE CITY OF JERUSALEM WAS PROSPERING AND GROWING. MANY NEW AND BEAUTIFUL HOUSES WERE CONSTRUCTED. (HAG 1:4) ALL OBSTACLES TO COMPLETING THE TEMPLE WERE GONE. THE FUTURE LOOKED BRIGHT AND ZECHARIAH’S PROPHECIES WERE COMING TRUE. GOD WAS IN THEIR MIDST AND BLESSING THEM.
• READ ZEC 7:1-3 THE BIG QUESTION
• A DELEGATION COMES TO JERUSALEM FROM THE CITY OF BETHEL WITH A QUESTION FOR THE PRIESTS.
• THE MEN WHO HEADED THE DELEGATION:
• THE TWO MEN MENTIONED BY NAME HAVE FOREIGN NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH IDOLATROUS WORSHIP OF PAGAN GODS.
• THEY WERE MEN OF IMPORTANCE AND PROBABLY HELD HIGH POSITIONS IN THE COURT IN BABYLON DURING THE CAPTIVITY.
• THE QUESTION:
• SHOULD THE JEWS WHO WERE NOW PROSPERING CONTINUE TO KEEP THE FAST DAYS (DAYS OF MOURNING) ASSOCIATED WITH THE CALAMITIES OF THE CAPTIVITY PERIOD?
• THE FAST DAYS:

• FASTING IN THE FOURTH MONTH =

THIS FAST COMMEMORATED THE BREACHING OF JERUSALEM’S WALLS BY THE BABYLONIANS.

• FASTING IN THE FIFTH MONTH =

THIS FAST COMMEMORATED THE DESTRUCTION OF SOLOMON’S TEMPLE.

• IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE JEWS STILL OBSERVE THIS FAST TODAY.
• FASTING IN THE SEVENTH MONTH =

THIS FAST COMMEMORATED THE MURDER OF GEDALIAH, THE GOVERNOR OF JERUSALEM.

• FASTING IN THE TENTH MONTH =

THIS FAST COMMEMORATED THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL SIEGE OF THE CITY OF JERUSALEM BY THE BABYLONIANS.

• THESE FAST DAYS WERE ESTABLISHED BY THE JEWS AS THEY ENTERED THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY. THEY CONTINUED TO KEEP THEM THROUGH THE 70 YEARS OF CAPTIVITY AND WERE STILL KEEPING THEM FOR 16 YEARS AFTER RETURN ING TO ISRAEL AFTER THE CAPTIVITY.

• READ ZEC 7:4-7 THE NEGATIVE ANSWER
• GOD DOES NOT DIRECTLY ANSWER THEIR QUESTION BUT INSTEAD THROUGH SARCASTIC NEGATIVISM ASKS THEM A SERIES OF QUESTIONS IN RETURN :
• “DID YE AT ALL FAST UNTO ME?” (5)
• WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM GOD’S QUESTION?
• THE JEWISH PEOPLE OF ZECHARIAH’S DAY AND MANY JEWS TODAY THINK THAT FASTING MERITS FAVOR FROM GOD.
• THE FASTS WERE NOT INITIATED BY GOD BUT BY MEN.
• THE FASTS BECAME EMPTY RITUALS THAT MARKED PAST EVENTS.
• THE FASTS NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED GOD, THEIR SIN THAT TOOK THEM INTO CAPTIVITY, OR A HUMBLE REPENTANCE, OR A FUTURE TRUST IN GOD.
• “WHEN YE DID EAT, AND WHEN YE DID DRINK, DID NOT YE EAT FOR YOURSELVES, AND DRINK FOR YOURSELVES?” (6)
• WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM GOD’S QUESTION?
• GOD WAS NOT REMEMBERED OR ACKNOWLEDGED IN THEIR FASTS.
• AND GOD WAS NOT REMEMBERED OR ACKNOWLEDGED ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS EITHER.
• THIS QUESTION BY GOD IN ZECHARIAH SHOULD REMIND US OF A NEW TESTAMENT DIRECTIVE FROM GOD..
• READ 1COR 10:31
• “SHOULD YE NOT HEAR THE WORDS WHICH THE LORD HATH CRIED BY THE FORMER PROPHETS…?” (7)
• WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM GOD’S QUESTION?
• THE JEWS DID NOT LISTEN TO THEIR PROPHETS BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY. IF THEY HAD, THEY COULD HAVE AVOIDED THE CAPTIVITY PERIOD THEY ARE COMMEMORATING.
• EVIDENTLY THEY WERE NOT NOW LISTENING TO THEIR PROPHETS EITHER.
• READ ZEC 7:8-14 GOD’S DIRECTION TO THE PEOPLE:
• READ ISA 58:5-8 THE NATURE OF GOD’S CHOSEN FAST
• THE PEOPLE EVIDENTLY THOUGHT THAT FASTING PLEASED GOD. IT IS OBVIOUS THROUGH THE QUESTIONS IN ZECHARIAH 7 THAT THIS FASTING DID NOT PLEASE GOD BECAUSE IT WAS EMPTY RITUAL. INSTEAD, GOD TELLS THEM HOW TO PLEASE HIM JUST AS HE TOLD THEIR FOREFATHERS BEFORE THE CAPTIVITY HOW TO PLEASE HIM. THIS, THEREFORE, IS A CALL TO REPENTANCE.
• -1- EXECUTE TRUE JUSTICE.
• -2- SHOW MERCY AND COMPASSION TO OTHERS.
• -3- DON’T OPPRESS THE WIDOWS, THE ORPHANS, THE FOREIGNERS, OR THE POOR.
• -4- DON’T PLOT EVIL AGAINST FELLOW JEWS.
• THESE FOUR POINTS WERE ALSO LISTED IN THE LAW OF MOSES, SO THIS WAS NOT A NEW MESSAGE TO HIS PEOPLE.
• THIS IS ALSO NOT A NEW MESSAGE TO NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIANS.
• READ JAM 1:26-27
• DISCUSSION:

WHY DOES GOD TELL US THESE SAME THINGS WHEN WE ARE NOT UNDER THE MOSAIC LAW TODAY?

• WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FASTING AND VERSES 9-10?
• FASTING IS AN OUTWARD OBSERVANCE THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE HEART.
• THE FOUR THINGS THAT PLEASE GOD COME THROUGH LOVE FOR OTHERS AS A RESULT OF A CHANGED HEART.
• GOD SAYS THAT BECAUSE THEY HAD A HEART OF STONE (12), THEIR FOREFATHERS WOULD NOT LISTEN TO THEIR PROPHETS. THEREFORE, GOD COULD NOT GET THROUGH TO THEM TO CHANGE THEIR HEARTS.
• WHAT WAS GOD’S REACTION? (12-13)
• GOD WAS ANGRY WITH HIS PEOPLE.
• GOD WOULD NOT HEAR THEIR PRAYERS BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN TO HIM.
• WHY DID THE PEOPLE HAVE TO SUFFER THROUGH THE BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY?
• THEY WOULD NOT LISTEN TO GOD AND OBEY HIM.
• DISOBEDIENCE AUTOMATICALLY BRINGS GOD’S JUDGMENT:
• GOD WOULD NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THEIR PRAYERS.
• THEY WERE SCATTERED AMONG THE NATIONS.
• THE PROMISED LAND BECAME DESOLATE.
• APPLICATION AND SUMMARY:
• READ MAT 7:22-23
• FROM ZECHARIAH’S TIME UNTIL THE FIRST COMING OF JESUS, THE JEWISH PEOPLE DID NOT LISTEN TO THEIR PROPHETS. INSTEAD THEY MAJORED IN THE MINOR THINGS SUCH AS FAST DAYS, TITHING, AND KEEPING THE SABBATH; AND THEY MINORED IN THE MAJOR THINGS SUCH AS HELPING THE WIDOWS AND ORPHANS, FEEDING THE POOR, BEING A LIGHT TO THE STRANGER. AS A RESULT, THEY DEVELOPED A HIGHLY DETAILED AND ORGANIZED EMPTY RELIGIOUS SYSTEM THAT DID NOT PLEASE GOD.
• THE CHRISTIAN TODAY IS IN JUST AS MUCH DANGER AS THE PEOPLE IN ZECHARIAH’S DAY. THE CHRISTIAN CAN FAITHFULLY ATTEND CHURCH, SING HYMNS, RECITE THE LORD’S PRAYER AND DEVELOP AN EMPTY RELIGIOUS SYSTEM, THINKING THAT HE IS PLEASING GOD.
• THIS CHAPTER IN ZECHARIAH GIVES US ANOTHER REASON WHY THE JEWS MISSED ACKNOWLEDGING CHRIST AT HIS FIRST COMING.
• THEY WERE COMFORTABLE IN THEIR EMPTY RELIGION WITHOUT GOD. THEY HAD STOPPED LISTENING AND HAD HARDENED THEIR HEARTS TO THE TRUE SPIRIT OF GOD.

• HOMEWORK
  ZECHARIAH 8
  THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FOR CORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF ZEC 7
• EXAMINE YOUR MOTIVES FOR PERFORMING THE FOLLOWING RELIGIOUS ACTS:
• ATTENDANCE AT CHURCH
• SINGING HYMNS AND SONGS
• PRAYER
• BIBLE READING
• TAKING COMMUNION
• HAVE ANY OF THESE ACTIONS BECOME MEANINGLESS AND EMPTY, WITHOUT PASSION AND LOVE TOWARD GOD? WHICH ONES?
• HOW DO YOU PLAN TO REMEDY YOUR ATTITUDES?
• PREPARATION FOR ZEC 8
• READ ZEC 8:1-23
• THE POSITIVE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION ABOUT FASTING IN CHAPTER 7:
• INSTEAD OF LOOKING BACK AT THEIR PAST TRAGEDIES, WHAT ARE THE PEOPLE SUPPOSED TO DO? (2-8)
• WHAT ROLE WILL THE JEWISH PEOPLE PLAY IN THE MILLENNIUM?
• WHY WILL THE FAST DAYS BE TURNED TO FEAST DAYS IN THE FUTURE? (19)
• COUNT THE NUMBER OF TIMES THE WORD TRUTH IS MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER.
• WHAT RELATIONSHIP DOES TRUTH HAVE TO DO WITH THE QUESTION OF FASTING?
• MEMORY VERSE: JOHN 14:6