Bible Chapter Summary
Zechariah 7 Summary
The True Meaning of Fasting and Judgment Against Evil
In the fourth year of King Darius, the people send to ask the priests and prophets whether they should continue weeping and fasting in the fifth month. The Lord rebukes their fasting as selfish, done for themselves rather than Him. He reminds them that the former prophets cried out for true judgment, mercy, and compassion, calling them to not oppress widows, fatherless, strangers, or the poor. The people refused to hear and their hearts became hardened like adamant stone, so the Lord scattered them among all nations.
Key themes
Key verses
Zechariah 7:5-6
“Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?”
Zechariah 7:9-10
“Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother:”
Zechariah 7:11-12
“But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.”
Zechariah 7:14
“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.”
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