December 1, 2011
WORSHIPING THE LORD OR CHECKING OFF YOUR RITUAL TO-DO LIST?
Zechariah 7
Christopher Truax
Central Truth
What are the motives for your actions? Are you being led by the Spirit, listening to the voice of God, guided by the Word, and directed by the counsel of His people? Or have you hardened your heart to go your own way, only giving lip service to God?
Key Verse | Zechariah 7:5
"Say to all the people of the land and to the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted?'" (Zechariah 7:5)
Zechariah 7
A Call for Justice and Mercy
1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. 2 Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men to entreat the favor of the LORD, 3 saying to the priests of the house of the LORD of hosts and the prophets, “Should I weep and abstain in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came to me: 5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? 6 And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves? 7 Were not these the words that the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous, with her cities around her, and the South and the lowland were inhabited?’”
8 And the word of the LORD came to Zechariah, saying, 9 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, 10 do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” 11 But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears that they might not hear. 1 7:11 Hebrew and made their ears too heavy to hear 12 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great anger came from the LORD of hosts. 13 “As I 2 7:13 Hebrew he called, and they would not hear, so they called, and I would not hear,” says the LORD of hosts, 14 “and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and the pleasant land was made desolate.”
Dive Deeper | Zechariah 7
This passage starts promisingly -- the people are coming to Zechariah to ask him to speak to the Lord on their behalf. They want to know if they should weep and fast during the upcoming month as they have always done. Fasting is giving up food or something else to focus better on God, the true sustainer of your life. It is a good thing and something the Lord wants us to do. The Lord saw their hearts, however, and He knew that they were not fasting to focus better on Him. They were fasting for themselves and checking off an item on their "how-to-be-a-good-follower-of-God" checklist.
The Lord lets them know what He is looking for as a "sacrifice of praise." In verses 9 and 10, He lists ways for His people truly to live their lives as an act of worship. Jesus reiterates this point in Matthew 25:35-36, 40: "'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' . . . 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"
Be careful about refusing to pay attention to the Lord's direction because "'just as He called and [you] would not listen, so [you] called and I would not listen,' says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 7:13)
So are you going to "[l]et your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:16), OR are you going to live your life your way, only appearing on the outside to follow God with dead rituals? The choice is yours . . . choose wisely, my friends.
Discussion Questions
1. Compare and contrast Zechariah 7, Isaiah 58, and Proverbs 1:20-33.
2. Does God listen to everyone who prays to Him?
3. In what ways have you hardened your heart like flint by not listening to the Lord's direction? Seek now "a broken and contrite heart" by praying through Psalm 51.
4. If God asked you, "When you worshiped Me this past year, was it actually for Me that you worshiped?," can you answer "yes"? If not, what can you change in your life to make sure your motives are true going forward?
5. Are you looking for ways to serve the Lord with true motives? Check out Watermark's External Focus blog (http://watermarkblogs.org/externalfocus/).
WEEKLY FAMILY ACTIVITY
ZECHARIAH 4-8 (NOVEMBER 28-DECEMBER 2)
Read Zechariah 7.
What were the people doing in verses 5-6? Were they doing it for the Lord or for themselves?
What does the Lord tell the people to do in verses 8-10? What does He say the people before them had done? (see verses 11-12) What does it mean to harden your heart towards something? Have you ever put your fingers in your ears and hardened your heart towards something you were asked to do?
How can you keep your heart soft to God's ways? When we hear the truth of God's love and trust Him, it will soften us to do His will.
ACTIVITY: Look in verses 9-10. Choose one of the groups of people from verse 10 to show kindness to. Talk about different ideas that each of you have and when you are going to do it. Remember to share with them why you are showing kindness, to share the truth of God's love.