During a fast that had become more ritual than obedience, the people inquired of the Lord who made the point of their fast being more self-pity and ritual instead of showing obedience with a heart directed towards God. Making the point that a heart towards God and His law would produce fruit in righteous living. And is God asking for that much?
Zechariah 7:8–14
[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. [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 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.” (ESV)
And this was the remnant that had returned to Jerusalem after 70 years in captivity, longer if you consider when the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered. And the temple was still being rebuilt with the walls of Jerusalem still down. So the people were starting down the path of their ancestors, when the signs of their disobedience was all around them. But God stating that “so they called, and I would not hear” is a powerful and clear message, and a terrible place to end up in life. And this is a warning as no nation or individual can escape this truth further elaborated for us in Romans 1, for which our nation is in the death throes of that very judgement.
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. [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 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.” (ESV)