Well, shalom and welcome everyone to the Bible classes of the Holy Scriptures and Israel, where we study the Word of God, from, first century Hebrew Messianic perspective. And we are studying together, beloved friends and dear brothers and sisters, the prophecy of Zechariah, and we have arrived to Zechariah chapter seven. I hope you have your Bibles with you. We are going to read the chapter, Zechariah, Zechariah chapter seven. And if you have your Bibles, please open your Bibles, but just let us, the Lord, to bless our meeting, today. Abba, our Father, we ask your blessing upon your Word tonight as we learned it together from the prophecy of Zechariah. We pray in Yeshua, in Jesus' name. Amen, amen.

So here we are in Zechariah chapter seven. Let me read these verses. There are fourteen verses in this seventh chapter. And in actuality, beloved brothers and sisters, Zechariah chapter seven and chapter eight link together, but we will cover chapter seven in this meeting, and Lord willing, in the next meeting, we'll continue with the following chapter. So now the word of the Lord comes again to Zechariah, and we read in Zechariah chapter seven, verse one, And it came to pass in the fourth year of King Darius, that the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Kislev. When they had sent unto the house of God six atzer and regem melech, and their men to pray before the Lord, and to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the Lord of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?

Then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourn in the fifth and the seventh month, even those seventy years, Did ye all at all fast unto me, even unto me? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

Should ye not hear the words which the Lord had cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited in the, in prosperity, and the city thereof round about her, when men inhabited the south and the plain? And the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Execute judgment, true judgment, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother. And oppress not the widows, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor, and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.

And they refused to hearken, and pulled away their shoulders, and they stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent in his spirit by the prophets or by the former prophets. Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass that as he cried and they would not hear, so they cried and I would not hear. Says the Lord of hosts, But I scattered them with 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. And I'm going to stop here with the reading, beloved brothers and sisters. Now you notice that by the time we arrive now to chapter seven and onward, we are moving on, beloved brothers and sisters, in the prophecy of Zechariah from the eight visions that, that Zechariah received at first from the Lord in the year 520 BC.

And we are moving now from the, visions that Zechariah received, now we are moving into the next, portion of the Word of God to Zechariah. You remember that from chapter 1 verse 7 to chapter 6 And all the way to the end of chapter six, actually in seven, chapter six, we have learned that God gave these eight visions, visions of restoration, visions that God had given to Zechariah concerning his dealing with the people of Israel, with the ultimate desire of the Lord to restore his earthly people, the people of Israel. Now it's no longer visions, but now there are four questions that, that to Israel about fasting. We have in this portion, in chapter, seven and chapter eight, that God is challenging his people, Israel, concerning fasting.

And then later on, when we will, when we will arrive to chapter nine and all the way to the end of the, fourteenth chapter, there the portion in the portion of the prophecy of Zechariah, God will give the promises to Israel concerning their restoration and ultimately the messianic age, the millennial kingdom. So, as we are entering now into these, two chapters, chapter seven and chapter eight, we are, going to deal with some questions that God asked Israel to challenge Israel concerning fasting. Now, before we are going to go into this chapter, the question often is being asked, why should people fast?

While in the world, fasting is practiced in order to lose weight, or maybe for health reason, yet for God's people, fasting is a way whereby they express their burden and their concern and sorrow over sin and over issue that they are very much concerned about. They are showing their commitment to the things of the Lord, among other reasons. This is why fasting has been given to us in the Word of God. In fact, there are some reason for biblical fasting that, that we have, in the Word of God. For example, in Ezra chapter eight and verse twenty-three, there is a fasting because to give strength in prayer. When we're praying and fasting, it's a, it's a, you might say, strengthen our prayer before the Lord. Another reason is to seek God's guidance, according to Judges chapter 20 and verse 26.

Another reason is to express grief, 1 Samuel chapter 31 and verse 13. Another reason is to seek deliverance and protection from enemies, 2 Chronicles chapter 20. Another reason is to express repentance and to return to God, 1 Samuel chapter 7. And there are more and more reasons that we have in the Word of God why fasting has been evident in the history of Israel as well as in the history of the church. To express love and to express worship of God, Luke chapter 2. And then to overcome temptation and be dedicated to God as we have it in other passages in the Word of God. Fasting was a giving to us in the Word of God for a reason.

But now as we are entering into Zechariah, chapter 7 and chapter 8, we have these questions concerning the reality of fasting, as God is charging and challenging His earthly people, the people of Israel. And so in chapter 7 now, beloved brothers and sisters, after Israel, through Zechariah, received these amazing visions that God had spoken concerning the restoration of His earthly people of Israel, now God is challenging Israel in these next two chapters, and yet you can see how He does it in a very gracious way. So in chapter seven, really, in this seventh, chapter, we find out, number one, in the first three verses, there was a delegation that came from the city of Bethel to the city of Jerusalem with some questions that they wanted to ask.

Then in verses four to seven, after they asked the questions, this delegation who came from the, from the center of Israel, from Bethel to Jerusalem, when they have arrived to Jerusalem and asked a question, God responded to them, and he gave them an answer, but an answer by questioning them. And then finally, in verses 8 to 14, the expectation of the Lord from his own people is expressed by the Lord through Zechariah to the delegation that came, but in actuality is to all the people of Israel at large. And as might as well, the Lord will speak to you and I as well as we would come with some questions to the Lord. And you notice, first of all, in the, in verses 1, 2, and 3, here's the delegation that came from the, from Beit El to Jerusalem with the question. First of all, the date, the time, when did they come? According to chapter 7 and verse 1, the time that they came, and it came to pass in the fourth year of King Darius.

Then the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, notice that in the fourth day of the ninth month in Kislev, notice it says here, in the fourth years of the king Darius. King Darius, now it was the Medo-Persians who rule in the, after the Jewish people were, were, were able to come back to the land, Cyrus gave them the permission to go back to the land. And about 520 BC, Israel was already in the land for quite a few years, from about 535, 36 BC, some 15 years have passed by. They began to build the temple, but they really stopped the building of the temple because they had so much opposition from their enemies. And so now, two years have passed by since they stopped to build, to rebuild the temple. You notice it says here in the fourth years of King Darius.

You remember that, the, King Cyrus gave the permission to the Jewish people to rebuild the temple. And then after a while that Israel came and began to rebuild, then because the construction stopped because of the opposition, and Haggai and Zechariah, the prophets, were preaching to the Jewish people to help them to resume the construction of the building of the temple. Now already two years passed by since chapter one and verse one. You remember in, in, Zechariah chapter one and verse one, in the, in the eight months, in the second year of Darius. Came the word of the Lord unto Zechariah, that was in 520 BC. Now in chapter 7 and verse 1, in the fourth years of King Darius, now we are at about 518 BC.

In the middle of the time when the construction of the temple continue now was resumed, now, still hasn't been finished, now Zechariah receive a word from the Lord to speak to the people of Israel. And so we notice that it was in 518 BC, when we read in the fourth day of the ninth month, and by the way, the ninth month Is the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. And the month of Av was the, the month where the temple was destroyed by the Babylonian in 586 BC.

So that month, in the month of Av, specifically on the ninth of Av, in Hebrew we call it Tisha B'Av, is where the temple was destroyed by the Babylonian. So the Jewish people that have left the land were taken over by the Babylonian in 586 BC. In fact, they were taken even before already, but when the temple was destroyed, they already at that time, they were mourning the destruction of the temple.

Now in the, in the month of Av, years later, 518 BC, they are already back in the land. Now notice what we read in verse two, that from the city of Bethel, there were delegation sent to the city of Jerusalem in order to ask some questions from the priests and from the prophets. We read in verse two, and verse two is a, a little bit tricky in the King James.

It's not as it is should be written in the Hebrew text, it's written different. He says, when they have sent Unto the house of God, actually it shouldn't be the word unto, is not there in the Hebrew text. When they sent from the house of God, and the word here house of God is not, is not from, from the house of God in Jerusalem, it's from the, from the city of Beit El. When they sent from Beit El, they sent two men, Sar Etzer and Rekem Melech. These are two men, two Jewish men with Babylonian names.

The one was called Sar Etzer, and the other one was called Rekem Melech. When the two men came from Beth, Bethel, they came, notice, they came and their men came with them to pray before the Lord. Now just imagine, beloved brothers and sisters, these two men, two leaders, They are called the Sar Etzer and Regev Melech. They were the heads of the delegation, along with other men from among the people of Israel that are now back in the land. They came to, where did they came? They came to pray before the Lord. In other words, they came to the city of Jerusalem to pray before the Lord while the temple was in rebuilding.

Now, let me just remind you. That Bethel, the first time that we read about Bethel, is found, if you turn with me to, Genesis, 28, please. If you turn with me to Genesis chapter 28, and just to remind you that it was Jacob who was in Bethel when he fled from his brother Esau, when he took away the birthright and he went out of the land of Canaan towards the family of his mother. According to Genesis chapter 28, we read, we can read from verse 10 all the way to verse 19. I'm not going to read everything there, but if we just read in verse 19, I'll read verse 18, And Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took a stone that he had put for his pillow, and set it up for a pillow, and poured oil upon the top of it, and he called the name of that place Bethel.

But the name of the city was called Luz at the first. So Jacob called the name of Luz to Bethel. Why he called it Bethel? Because God spoke to him there. And you remember God spoke to him, and God made a promise to him, and he said to thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. That has, that happened in Beit El, Genesis chapter 28 and verses 10 to 19.

So now the Jewish people who returned back from Babylon, some of them lived in Beit El, some of them lived in Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem was not yet built, but the, but the temple was in rebuilding, and in the middle of the rebuilding of the temple, there was a delegation that was sent from Beit El to Jerusalem to inquire of the Lord.

So who came? Two leaders by the name of Sar-Etser and Rege-Melech, along with other men, with their men, verse 2, they came to pray or to seek Before the Lord. They came all the way from there. Now it is very interesting, beloved brothers and sisters, also to remember that it was in Beit El when Jeroboam, the king of the ten tribes of Israel, do you know what he did? It was in Beit El that he placed a golden calf.

And it was in Beit El that the northern kingdom were worshiping false gods. But now we can see that they've returned back to the land. Now they're sending delegation to Jerusalem to inquire from the Lord, from the city of Jerusalem. Very interesting, because while at first the ten northern kingdoms, the, I should say, the ten northern tribe of the northern kingdom, they did not want to go to Jerusalem, because Jehoboam did not want his Tribes to go to the south where Judah was to worship the Lord in the city of Yerushalayim.

So according to, 1 Kings chapter 12, from verse 25 to 33, we find out that he sat there in Bethel, you might say a strange worship, according to 1 Kings chapter 12. And I just want to read that verse so we'll have this, before us. And we read, listen to that in verse 28 of 1 Kings chapter 12, whereupon the king counsel, and they made two calves of gold, and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, and he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Imagine two golden calves. One was set in Bethel, another one was set in Dan by the wicked king Jeroboam, who did not want that the northern kingdom would come to the city of Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel in the place where he set up his name. But now, at 518 BC, years later, now they are coming with a delegation.

And it's very good that they came, because as they were coming to the city of Jerusalem, at least they showed that they have an interest in worshiping the Lord God of Israel in the place where he set his name, in the city of Jerusalem. And so now notice it. Here is the question that they ask this delegation when they arrive to the city of Jerusalem. It says in verse 3, So they came and they spoke unto the priests, notice plural, priests in plurality, and notice which were in the house of the Lord of hosts. Here now, those priests were preparing to worship and to serve in the house of the Lord. This is Jerusalem, in Jerusalem. And then also they wanted to inquire of the prophets. Here's plural prophets. And these, these prophets were the, were the post-captivity prophets like Haggai and Zechariah. They came to inquire for the mind of the Lord from the priests and from the prophets.

And now as they were coming to the city of Jerusalem from the city of Bethel, They ask this question. Listen to the question that they ask according to Zechariah chapter 7 and verse 3b. Notice what they ask the question that they ask, and they said, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself as I have done, as I have done these so many years? Actually, just to correct myself, the, the ninth month is the month of Kislev, according to verse 1. And the fifth month, according to verse 3, this is the month of Av.

I've said earlier that the month, the, the ninth month of verse 1 is the month of Av, but note, it is the month of Kislev. You can see it in the next statement. But in verse 3, they ask, Should I weep in the fifth month? And that is the month of Av. Separating myself, as I have done these so many years.

So what do they really say? For many, many years when we were away captives in Babylon, on the ninth day of the month of Av, we were weeping. And we were weeping and mourning the loss of the temple, the loss of the city of Jerusalem. Should I now continue with weeping and mourning and doing what, what we were taught to do when we were in the land of Babel? You remember, beloved brothers and sisters, they said here, should I weep and should I mourn? Why they were saying it? Because when they were in the land of Babel, they were mourning. They were weeping. You remember this? Psalm 137 that we read, I often mention this, in our meetings together. Psalm 137, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and we wept.

We wept as we remembered Zion. We hung our harps upon the willows in amidst the rough. For there, this is in Babylon, they that carried us captive, these are the Babylonian, they required of us a song. And they said to us, sing unto us one of Zion's songs. And you remember they said, how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. In other words, they were mourning and mourning and weeping over the loss of the land, the loss of the city of Jerusalem, the loss of the temple, the destruction of the temple, and they were weeping and mourning in the land of Babel. In fact, just read the, the, the prophet Jeremiah when he was lamenting over the loss and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. You remember when we read the lamentation of Jeremiah in chapter one, we read, beloved brothers and sisters, how does the city, a city desolate that was full of people, how is she become as a widow?

She that was great among the nations. How is it happened to us? Well, Israel disobeyed. God judge his own people. He brought the Babylonian to take them captive to the land of Babylon. So here's a delegation. They are coming now back from Bethel, and they are asking the priests, they are asking the prophets, they came to Yerushalayim, and they asking a question concerning the time when they were mourning the loss of the city of Jerusalem.

And so now, after they ask this question, and I repeat this question, when they ask it, by the way, it is on the, the month of Av, specifically on the ninth of Av, Tisha B'Av. When the temple was destroyed. By the way, not only the first temple was destroyed on the ninth day of the month of Av, also the second temple was destroyed by the Romans on the ninth day of the month of Av. There was destruction and loss to the Jewish people on that month of Av, and the month of Av became a sad month in the among the Jewish people up till today. The the ninth of Av is a mourning time in the history of the Jewish people. Well, now notice that. Now that they ask the question, saying, should I weep in the fifth month? Should I separate myself as I have done this for so many years?

Well, now, beloved brothers and sisters, the Lord is going to give them an answer. And so in verses four, five, six, and seven, the answer of the Lord to them, but when the Lord is answering them, he doesn't only answer them, but he asks Zechariah to speak to all the people of the land. And it's really important for us, because whatever happened to them served for us a great lesson. You remember what the Apostle Paul said in, 1 Corinthians 10, and also Romans 15, for whatsoever things, happened aforetime, they were written for our own learning. Whatever happened to Israel in, in history also apply to you and I today, the lesson that we need to apply to ourselves and learn from the lessons that Israel had to learn from. And so notice that, verses four to seven, the answer of the Lord to the whole nation of Israel.

In verse three, the, the Lord came to speak to Zechariah, we read, I'm sorry, in verse four, then came the word of the Lord of hosts unto me, saying, notice that, it is no longer now that the Lord speaking to Zechariah in visions through the angel, now he speaks to him directly. The word of the Lord come to Zechariah directly, and he's speaking to him directly by divine inspiration. And so he's saying to him now, notice that in verse five, God is really searching the hearts of his people.

And you notice he says, he says, speak unto all the people of the land, not only to Sar Etzer and to Rege Melech, who came with a few people from Beit El. No, no, but speak to all the people of the land. It reminds us, doesn't it, of the book of Revelation, when we read about the seven churches that were, the letters that were written to the seven churches in Asia Minor. You remember at the end of every letter, we do read that the, that the spirit of God, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit, saying unto the churches, on all the assemblies, all the people of God. Now here it is in the same way, the word of the Lord by the Spirit of God through Zechariah is not only to the people in Beit El, but to all the people of the land.

And notice what God does, He is causing everyone, including you and I, to search our hearts, to really ask ourselves a sincere, honest question. And He's saying in verse 5, He said to them, listen to what God is saying, when ye fasted, notice by the way, we don't read about their fasting, they asked, should I weep? Now the Lord is saying, not only is the matter of should you weep, He says, when you fasted, and when you mourn, in the fifth and the seventh month, Even those seventy years did ye at all fast unto me, even unto me? In other words, God is really searching the hearts of all the people of the land. He says, really, Israel, he's saying to them, when you for seventy years fasted, when you were away from the land because I disciplined you and I brought the Babylonian to judge you, to destroy the temple, to burn the temple, to burn the city of Jerusalem, to take the Jewish people captive for seventy years, and then you were mourning and you were weeping, and he asked them the question, did you really mourn and weep and fast because of me?

Did you really do it unto me, or did you only doing it because you felt sorry for yourself? Did you really do it because you wanted my honor and my glory? You know, it is such an amazing thing. You know, sometimes, you know, we feel sorry for certain things, but we don't feel sorry because we dishonor the Lord. We feel sorry because I didn't get my way. We feel sorry because I was punished or disciplined, and why God, you disciplined me, why you are doing this and that and the other to me, but we don't realize that we dishonor the Lord.

And you see what the Lord is really challenging them, and you know, for us, it's very important to search our hearts. You know, as believers today in among the, the, the church, part of the assembly, the ekklesia, many, many time when we even fast and mourn, We do not really mourn because we do so for the glory, for the sake of the glory of God, but we do so because we didn't get our way, and maybe we lost certain privileges and certain blessings that we have had before, but it was not really because we cared so much for the glory of the Lord, and that's why he's really searching them. He's saying to them, and you notice he repeating, in the Hebrew, it's also very interesting, because in the, in Hebrew it is say, it is really repe, repeating that word, did you do it for me? Did you do it for me? Did you really do it, for my sake?

And notice it's repeated twice in the English, it says here, when ye fasted, verse 5b. And when you mourn in the fifth month and the seventh month, and by the way, you notice he says the fifth month, and he add also the seventh month. Apparently in Jewish history, there was another fasting that was, that is customary still to be done today in mourning and fasting. it's called Gedaliahu's fasting. It is the mourning and fasting over a certain man that have, that have died and, and, and in, in the history of Israel. So there was a fasting over the loss of the temple in Jerusalem, and there was also a fasting that happened over another person that have, the important person, Gedaliah, and now God reminding them in the fifth and in the seventh month, you had this fasting and mourning for those seventy years, but he asked them, did you do it really unto me, even unto me?

Have you really done it Because you care for my glory, my honor. And he continued now in verse, six, he continued to challenge them, like he will challenge you and I. you know, the, you think, of the Lord Jesus, of Yeshua the Messiah, when he was reproaching, was reproached here on earth, it, he was reproached for the name of the Lord. When he suffered here on the, on earth, he suffered because of the glory of the Lord.

And how, what a blessing it is when, when, when we seek the mind and the glory of the Lord, when, when we dishonor him, we mourn because we dishonored him. That is what God desire. And so, We find out here, he continued to challenge them, and in verse 6, God continued to challenge his people, not only about the fasting, but also about the feasting. When they had the feast, the celebration, he's saying in verse 6, And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, in other words, at your feasts, and he's speaking about the feast of the Lord, the time when Israel was celebrating, he says, he said to them, Did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves? In other words, even when you celebrated, did you celebrate for me, for my glory, for my honor?

Didn't you not do it for yourself? You drank for yourself, you ate for yourself. Isn't it like us, brothers and sisters, how true it is, this is the human nature that within us. It is even when we go through, whether it is fasting or feasting, it is so natural to us to be occupied with ourselves. It was really not for the Lord. It for our position or our place or our whatever it is, our name, you know.

That's what is in the human nature that we all possess. So he's challenging us, and I think we really, need to be challenged by that because You remember what we read in scripture, whatever we do, do it unto the glory of God. That whatever we do, we should really have in mind the glory of God, that God will be glorified in whatever we do. Unfortunately, and sadly, it is not something that happen all the time in the lives of God's people, whether it is Israel or whether it is in the church. Sadly, things are not always the way God desire them to be. So in verse five, he asked him, when you fasted, did you do it for me? In verse five. In verse six, he said, when you feast, when you had feast, didn't you do it for yourselves? You drank for yourself, you ate for yourself. It was not really for me at all time.

And then he continued. And then in verse seven, God remind Israel how he challenged them and appealed to them in days of old, and he didn't really want to take, to send them away to Babel. It's just because they didn't listen to his word that he had to discipline them and to punish them. Notice it says in verse seven of Zechariah chapter seven, Should ye not hear the words which the Lord hath cried by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited, and in the prosperity and the cities thereof round about her, when the men, when men inhabited the south and the plain? He says, Look, Israel, shouldn't you have listened to the word of the Lord through the prophets in the past?

Had you listened to the voice of the Lord through the prophets in days of old, you would not need to weep and to mourn because I have sent you to Babylon, to Babel. You should have listened to the word of the Lord. And that's what really God is seeking to remind the people of Israel when he is challenging them, beloved brothers and sisters. I want you for a moment to turn with me to 2 Chronicles chapter 36. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. Notice what we read. These are, this is the last, really, actually, in the, in the Hebrew text, it is the last, chapter of the Hebrew, of the Old Testament, of the Hebrew, Bible in the Hebrew text. In Second Chronicles, chapter 36, verses 15 to the end, to verse 21, we read, let me just read these verses to you. And the Lord God, verse 15, Second Chronicles, chapter 36, verse 15, And the Lord God of their fathers, he sent to them by his messengers, rising up bedtimes, and sending, because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place, this is the temple and the Jewish people.

But they mocked the messengers of God, and they despised his words. And they misused his prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the kings of the Chaldeans, and who slew their young men with the swords in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon the young men and maidens and old, old men or him that stooped for age. He gave them all into his hands. We read in verse eighteen and nineteen, very sad. And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his princes, all these he brought to Babylon. Verse 19, And they burned the house of God, and they break down the wall of Jerusalem, and they burn all the palaces thereof with fire, and they destroy all the goodly vessels.

And them that had escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon. Why? Because he sent the messengers. He sent them early bedtime, as he says here. He's sending them because he had compassion upon his people and upon his dwelling place, the temple. But they didn't listen. They mocked the messengers. They despised their words. They misused the prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people until there was no more Remedy. What a sad state. Isn't it reminding us, beloved brothers and sisters, when we just don't listen, when we don't listen to the word of the Lord, and we don't take the counsel of God, we end up bringing upon ourselves really destruction. And that is exactly what we see here, beloved brothers and sisters, that happened here in the reminder to all the people of the land, according to verse five of our chapter, speak unto all the people of the land.

When you fasted on the fifth month, on the seventh month, did you really fast for me? When you, did you really fast for me? When you had the feast, the celebration, did you celebrate for me? Did you eat and drink for my glory, or did you do it for yourself? Why didn't you listen to the former prophets? When Jerusalem was inhabited, verse 7, everything was fine, and you were prospered. There was a prosperity in the city. And round about there were all people in the land of Israel, the Jewish people have enjoyed a marvelous time when they were there in the land.

The inhabitants of the land were there in the south and in the plain. Everything was, you were blessed. You know, I'm sometimes thinking, just to apply this to ourselves, when the Lord gave us his word, When the Lord raised in our life those that counsel us and gave us guidance and taught us the word of the Lord, and when we were enjoying the things of the Lord, it doesn't take too long when we are dissatisfied and when we don't listen to the counsel of the, of godly men. And we want to do our own thing and we go in our own way and at the end we look back and we see, what have we done? What did we benefit from disobedience to the Lord?

You know the king of Israel by the name of Shaul, when God told him to do something and he disobeyed him and God took away the kingdom from him, he said, I have played the fool. I was a fool that I didn't listen to the word of the Lord. And we are not exempt. When we don't adhere to the word of the Lord, we become Fools. Well, so we have the delegation coming in verses one to three. We have the answer of the Lord to the delegation that came from Bethel to Jerusalem, but it's not only to the delegation from Bethel, but it is all to all the people of the land of Israel, challenging the people of Israel, saying to them, when you fasted, did you really fast for me? Was it real?

Or it was merely an outward appearance? When you feasted and you had a celebration, did you really celebrate because you wanted my honor and my glory, or you had it for yourself? If you had done so, you wouldn't have been in the land of Babel for seventy years. And the reason that you were in the land of Babel for seventy years, because you didn't listen to the former prophets.

When you were in Jerusalem, and you were enjoying the land there in the presence, and the Lord was in the presence, no wonder when the Jewish people were in the land of Babel, they would say, by the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down as, and we wept when we remembered Zion. To be too late, but they realized then the day failed the Lord, and they disobeyed him.

Well, now listen, the second half of this seventh chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah, we have the expectation of the Lord from His own people. We'll just go over these verses together. In verse 8, the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah. Notice, and then, and the word of the Lord came unto Zechariah, saying, Notice that the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the word of the Lord coming to Zechariah, not a vision now, but directly the word from the Lord. In verse 9 and 10, there is a call of God to the godly, to a godly and moral conduct in the life of His people. God is not looking only for an outward fasting that give an appearance, and feasting for our own gratification. But God is looking for a call for moral conduct. And so he said to them in verse 9, thus he says, speak as the Lord of hosts saying, look what I want from you, Israel.

Number one, execute judgment, true judgment. Secondly, show mercy and compassion every man to his brother. Here is what I am expecting from you. Thirdly, he says, oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, nor the stranger, nor the poor. And fourthly, verse 10, let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart. Here is what I am expecting from you, Israel. The outward fasting that you do without really doing it unto me does not have any value. Now, yes.

One should fast when he or she have a burden in his or her heart. As I mentioned earlier, why should we fast? Well, to strengthen our prayer, to seek God's guidance, to express grief, to seek deliverance and protection, to express repentance and return to the Lord, to humble oneself before God, to express concern for the work of God, to minister to the needs of others, to overcome temptation and to be dedicated unto God, to express love and worship to God. This is needful, but the behavior of God's people towards one another is evident, not only because one is fasting, but in actuality in our behavior. So he's saying in verse 9 and 10, God is calling to, to have a godly, a moral godly conduct among God's people.

Number one, to execute true judgment. Number two, to show mercy and compassion. Number three, not to oppress the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, and the poor. And number four, to let none of us imagine evil against his brother in our hearts. You see? In other words, what God is really saying to the delegation that came from Beit El, headed up by these two men called Sar Etzer and Rege Melech, and their men that came to ask, Should we continue mourning on these dates, as we have done for these past days in the last seventy years or more?

Well, here is the way. That true fasting is being expressed in our behavior. And that's applied to us today. Imagine if a local church or local assembly where the, the people do not treat each other in a right way, not executing true, true judgment, not showing mercy and compassion, not, and then treating the, the, the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, the poor in a wrong way, or even, or even thinking, imagining evil, thinking evil against others.

That is wrong. And this is exactly what we are called not to do. One can go as much as he or she want with the motion of, of, of fasting, and if he or she do not change their behavior, what value does it have? Colossians chapter three and verse eight, nine, and ten says, he says, but now you also put off these anger and wrath and malice and blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one against another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man which is renewed in the knowledge after the image of him that created him. Verse twelve. Put on, therefore, as elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy and kindness, humbleness of mind and meekness and longsuffering, forbearing one another. Can you imagine? Many times we can't even bear one another, forbearing one another, as he mentioning this here, forgiving one another.

If we are not forgiving our brothers and our sisters, we can go through all the motion of fasting and feasting, and it has no value before the Lord because that is what is called true religion, true relationship with God. It says, And above all, these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness, and let the peace of God rule in your heart, to the which ye are called in one body, and be ye thankful. You see, beloved brothers and sisters, God's people are called to have a change of behavior. So in verses nine and ten, God is calling Israel, He calling you and I, He calling His people to have a transformed behavior, to execute true judgment, to show mercy and compassion, not to oppress the widow, fatherless, strangers, and poor, and to not imagine evil against His brother in your heart.

Amazing. Isn't it? And there are so many verses that we can read as well. There's another verse that I want to read in James chapter one, we read in verse twenty-seven. James chapter one and verse twenty-seven, we read, Pure religion and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. That word for religion, I think it's mentioned only twice in the Word of God. We don't have a religion, we have a relationship with God. But the religion, in a sense of true, true way of living for the believer, is different than the way the religious world is behaving.

The professing religious world, the religion of the world. But it is amazing. Now, notice quickly, we have just a few more minutes. In verses 11 and 12, God remind Israel of their disobedience. In verses 11 and 12, and he said to them, he said, But they refused to hearken, and they pulled away their shoulders, and they stopped their ears, and that they should not hear, yet they made their hearts as an adamant stone, hardening their hearts, lest they should hear the law. And the words which the Lord of hosts has sent in his spirit by the former prophets, therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. In other words, what he's really saying, you see, he says, unfortunately, they did not behave in the way that I was desiring them to behave. They didn't execute true judgment. They didn't show mercy and compassion. They didn't stop to oppress the needy. They had think they were thinking evil against one another, and that's why the judgment came.

That's why the judgment came. Notice, four things he expected from them to do in a right way, well, they did four things that were against the Lord. They refused to listen. They pulled away their shoulders. They said, no, we will not do it. They stopped their ears. They didn't listen to his word, and they made their hearts like a stone. They hardened their hearts.

So God reminded what the people of Israel, what they have done in the history, which brought upon them the judgment of God. This is in verses 11 and 12. Now, just to conclude chapter 7, in the last two verses, verses 13 and 14, we have the judgment of God that fell upon his people. As Israel did not listen to God's call, So he will not listen to theirs.

Listen to verse 13. Therefore, it is, it came to pass that as he cried, notice that, God cried to Israel through the prophets. As I cried for Israel to listen, and they would not hear, so they cried, and I would not hear, says the Lord of hosts. Notice that? They did not listen to the cry of God.

God cried to Israel, return, return unto me, listen to the word of the Lord. But they didn't. And because of this, When they cried, he did not listen. But of course, we know the grace of God. Praise God for his grace. In spite of the fact that he allowed Israel to experience the disciplinary action of a holy and a righteous God, it eventually, he restored them, and he will restore them in the future. We will see it in the next chapter, chapter eight. But yet God had to punish his own people. And this is the last verse of Zechariah chapter seven and verse fourteen. 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 pass through, no return, for they laid the pleasant land desolate. Notice what God is calling the land? He's calling the land the pleasant land. In Hebrew it's called Eretz Chemda, the pleasant land. Why does he call that land the pleasant land? Because it is the land that he have chosen. It is the land that he have chosen to bring his people to this land and to give it to his people whom he wanted to live for him. To be a people that will execute true judgment, a people that will show mercy and compassion towards one another, a people that will never oppress the poor, the widow, the stranger, and the fatherless, a people that will never think evil upon one another.

But when they did so, he had to take them away from the pleasant land and to send them to altogether another land. Listen to, and I'm going to close with that, Psalm 106, Psalm 106, we read, it says, Psalm 106 and verse 24, Yea, They despised the pleasant land. They believed not his word. Israel despised the pleasant land. Eretz Chemda, you know, when we think of someone and we say, you know, this person is such a pleasant person. This place where we stayed was such a pleasant place to stay. Or this family was such a family that is so pleasant to be with them.

Well, that's what God was intending for his people Israel, to be a pleasant people that will dwell in a pleasant land. And as long that they did not behave pleasantly, he removed them from the pleasant land until he will restore them in a future day. And will place them back in the pleasant land. And that's what we are going to cover in the next chapter, as we will go into the second portion of this, question about fasting. That eventually, beloved brothers and sisters, we will see that God will restore his people whom he scattered.

He that scattered Israel will gather Israel, as he had promised this in his word. And so, here's chapter seven of the prophecy of Zechariah. A delegation came from Bethel to ask if they can continue to mourn in the month of Av over the destruction of the Temple in the land of Israel, in the city of Jerusalem. The Lord responded and he said, well, when you fast, did you really do it for me or only for yourself? When you feasted, did you do it for me or for yourself? The reason that you find yourself in Babylon is because you didn't obey the prophets that I sent to you. And now I'm challenge you, Israel, and he's challenging all of us. That is the behavior that I am expecting for my people, to learn from me, to be those that will execute a right judgment, those that will show mercy, those that will not oppress, and those that will have no evil wish in their hearts against one another.

And you know, the only men that live in a perfect way like this Was the blessed Lord Jesus the Messiah, who lived his life here in the face of this earth in a way that he pleased God to the fullest. And how wonderful to learn from the Lord Jesus the Messiah, who said, learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.

Well, my dear friend, God, God bless you, my dear friends, dear brothers and sisters, we will stop here with the end of Zechariah chapter seven, and may the Lord bless his word to us all. I gather now, Father, thank you, thank you for the challenge that you gave us through the seventh chapter of the prophecy of Zechariah. Bless your word to us all, we pray, for we ask it in Yeshua's name. Amen and amen. God bless you, my friend. Until the next time. we say, shalom, shalom.