Zechariah 7:8 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.
It is important to remember that God is longsuffering and gracious. As we noted yesterday, the Jews in captivity had decided to set up their own fasts for their own benefit. It was not to draw nigh to God.
God rebuked them for their actions, but He also gave them opportunity to repent and get back to where they needed to be. God is still longsuffering and gracious to all today. We need to be willing to listen to Him and get back to what He says is right.
We are again reminded in these verses that this is the word of the LORD. God has much to say to man. Man would be wise to listen to Him. Once again God refers to Himself as the LORD of hosts. This time He tells Zechariah to execute true judgment. That is important. There is a vast difference between true judgment and judgment. Our country exercises judgment, but most of it is humanistic judgment. Sometimes, by mistake they get things right. That is a mistake on their part, but it is God’s grace that interferes with man’s foolishness.
As we see in our text, true judgment involved mercy and compassion every man to his brother. Verse 10 helps us to understand what this looks like. We ought not to oppress widows. Widows need help in many areas. They should not be taken advantage of just because they may not understand certain things. Oftentimes shops will take advantage of widows and single women because they can. In the Bible the widows were to be looked after by the family. In the New Testament the apostle Paul gave specific instructions for young widows. They should remarry. They need the protection and the guidance of a man. Often there are young children that need a father.
In our text, God further stated that the fatherless need to be protected. Fathers are very important in the family and in society. Today, too many women think they can have a child out of wedlock and if the father is a deadbeat, so be it. Certain segments even of lost society are beginning to realize that a home where there is no father will produce children who are more prone to getting into trouble.
God also stated there needs to be protection for the stranger. The stranger is just passing through and he does not need to be exploited. He needs guidance to a good place to lodge and where to find good food, etc.
The poor also need to be protected. Of course this is not talking about lazy people who believe the world owes them a living. Lazarus was classified as a poor man. He was not well and he had no means of helping himself. He suffered for a time in this life, but at least he knew the Lord. In death he was relieved of his suffering and he has an eternity of rest. The rich man who tried to disregard him is in torment now and will be there for all eternity.
God further warned against imagining evil against a brother in the heart. People with too much time on their hands can come up with all kinds of evil thoughts. People that are not governed by the Word of God will also invent all kinds of evil. We read of that often in the news. That was a problem in Bible times. That has been a problem for man since the fall. Cain developed evil thoughts about his brother Abel. Cain had the problem, but he wrongly assumed his troubles would be over if he got rid of his righteous brother. That did not solve anything. It just made things worse.
Verse 11 of our text tells us that the people refused to listen to wise counsel. Rather than submit, they put on a stance of rebellion. They rejected the truth. They refused to hear the truth. That was why they spent seventy years in exile. Now they were allowed to come back and they needed to see the importance of getting back to the truth. Sadly, the majority of the nation did not do that. They are still in rebellion against the truth today.
This a problem for the Gentile world as well.
There are thousands of professing Christians who refuse to listen to God’s Word. They choose a corruption that sounds good to their itchy ears. They choose a social club where they can interact with likeminded rebels and encourage one another to stick with what they are doing. That does not help.
God directed Solomon to write:
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
The context of that verse is not in a vacuum. A true friend is someone who is willing to speak the truth, even if it is not popular or appreciated.
Hebrews 4:12 declares:
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Rather than choose a social club/church that feeds your rebellion, listen to the drawing of the Holy Spirit and go to a church that will tell you the truth. If you are wise, you will humble yourself and accept the rebuke and turn to the Lord and seek His forgiveness and truth. That is the way of blessing.
God does not beat around the bush as so many would-be spiritual leaders do. In verse 12 God declares that rather than use the captivity as a time to repent and get right with Him, they made their hearts like an adamant stone. Notice, they had a choice. They chose to dig in their heels and refused to learn from the judgment of God upon them.
God is describing the general state of rebels. There are thousands of them today as well. Israel does not have the corner on rebellion. God exposed them here because He loves them. He wanted them to know His peace and His blessing. However, they were not interested.
Notice God says they chose not to hear the law and the words which the LORD of hosts sent in His Spirit by the former prophets. So many people today do their best to avoid the truth. They reject it in print, they refuse to attend a true church that teaches the truth, they try to control any conversation that has to do with spiritual things.
The LORD stated that the rebellion of Judah was the reason for His great wrath upon them. God is always justified in His actions. He does not throw a tantrum.
In verse 13 we see that God reciprocated on the actions of Israel. He had cried to them for decades. He had sent them true prophets, but they chose false prophets instead. He showed them His power in different ways, but they chose to reject that. When they were under His firm judgment, they were crying to Him. However, they had already sealed their doom. God often shows us that you cannot continue to push Him aside and then expect Him to hear you when you think you need Him. The reality is that man is nothing without God. Man would not even exist without God.
At the Davos “economic” forum, Mr. Trump reminded Canada that we would be nothing without the U.S. In a sense he is right. Canada’s military is a joke. Chrétien wasted millions of taxpayer dollars purchasing worthless subs from Britain and then spent millions trying to repair them. It did not help. They are still worthless scrap metal. We cannot agree on which fighter jets to purchase and are flying old, outdated jets that cannot compete on the world stage. We are more concerned with DEI than having men who can actually serve as real soldiers. Canada did not like what Mr. Trump said, but he called them out. The fact that Mr. Trump failed to note is that God allowed Canada to develop. God used the U.S. to help build this country and Canada is now allowing this country to destroy itself through its “woke” ideology.
We could study the Bible and see all of this, but like Israel of old, too many people in Canada are beyond submission to the true Word of God. Defiance is the popular route to take.
In verse 14 we see that God scattered Israel with a whirlwind of nations they did not even know. God gave Israel the land of Canaan. He could remove them from it just as easily. He did that for seventy years. Now they had the opportunity to go back and rebuild that which was most important. The rebuilding of the Temple was symbolic of the need for them to have their own hearts rebuilt through repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. That is still the need of man today. I know there are a few who read these devotionals and appreciate them. There are also some who read them but do not appreciate them. I am not God. My word is not inspired. Take the Word of God in Its context and see what He says. I don’t believe you will be able to justify the rebellion that is so common among those who profess to be Christians. As we see in this text, God was seeking to draw Israel back to Himself. He is still doing that with Israel today and He is also wanting Gentiles to turn to Him. Be sure you don’t block Him out of your life.
Pastor Bartel