Zechariah 7:5-6 [Did Ye at All Fast unto Me?]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. Although the people of Israel and the priests had consistently fasted in the fifth and seventh months for as long as seventy years, God was not pleased with that fasting. This was because, outwardly, their fasting may have appeared to follow the law of God, but in reality, it was fasting done without properly discerning the will of God who commanded fasting. Thus, we must understand that actions done without rightly discerning the will of God may not be pleasing to God, even if they are outwardly done according to the law of God.

Isaiah 1:11-15 “11To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. 12When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? 13Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. 14Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. 15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.”

2. In this passage also, although keeping God’s holy days and offering sacrifices to God were indeed part of God’s law (Exodus 23:14-15), we can see that God told them not to do those things. This is not because the word of God has “two sides,” but because the word of God had not been rightly understood. The children of Israel had only the outward works of the law, while lacking the important heart. Therefore, God told them to put those things away. The children of Israel were coming out to keep God’s holy days, but because the purpose of their coming was merely to appear before Him or simply to tread His courts, God instead told them not to do it. The same applies to offerings. No matter how expensive a bullock may be, God is not lacking anything. Therefore, an offering that is not offered together with the heart is not received by God.

Ezekiel 33:31 “And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.”

Acts 17:24-25 “24God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”

3. Jesus called this kind of outward action, which appears visible on the outside but has no heart within, “hypocrisy.”

Matthew 23:23 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”

Matthew 23:25-26 “25Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.”

Matthew 23:27-28 “27Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

[Decision and Application]

Therefore, Jesus spoke as follows to those who would fast.

Matthew 6:16-18 “16Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.”

As these words teach, fasting must not be done in order to be seen by people, nor should one fast “for oneself” (verse 6). This problem does not seem to be limited only to fasting. This is because many things done in today’s churches are often done for people and in order to be seen by people. Since God does not look at our outward appearance, but “looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7, Acts 10:34-35), He already knows what kind of heart we have when we do these things. Therefore, all things done in the church must not lean toward formality and ceremony in order to be seen by people (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). And in our personal life of faith also, we must not deceive the Holy Spirit by having one thing outwardly and another inwardly (Acts 5:1-11).

1 Corinthians 11:17-34 “17Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not...”

Acts 5:1-11 “1But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, 2And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? 4Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God. 5And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things...”

Not only when we fast, but even when we eat food, in truth, we must have a heart that seeks to do everything “for Jesus.” This is because all of us exist for God (Isaiah 43:7). Since our gatherings are not gatherings for people, in a life of faith that seeks to live according to the word of God, we must not do things for people or in order to be seen by people. Since the life of faith is lived only “for Jesus,” we must now, as the following words say, whether we eat or do not eat, and whatever we do, do all things for Jesus.

Romans 14:6-8 “6He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 7For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself. 8For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”

Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

Amen.