Questions That Rescue From Ruin | Zechariah 7:1-14 | Richard Caldwell

Scripture

• Zechariah 7:1–14

About this sermon

Introduction: Two years after Zechariah received 8 visions in a single night (compare 1:1 with 7:1) — the 8 visions that we have studied. When the temple was about halfway finished. The Word of the Lord came to the prophet in connection with a question brought to him by a delegation from Bethel (about 10-12 miles north of Jerusalem). The delegation brought a question — seeking the Lord’s answer regarding a religious practice that had taken place for 70 years (vs.5). Their question TO GOD was answered by some questions FROM GOD. And the questions given by God provided for them, and for us, TRUTHS THAT WILL RESCUE FROM RUIN. That’s what we think about tonight as we look at this 7th chapter of the book of Zechariah. We consider an approach to religion that leads to ruin. And we compare that with what God truly desires and sets before His people as the way to truly honor Him. The way we recognize the difference, and choose the right course, is by some honest questioning — some honest self-examination — that the Lord guides us through by His Spirit. Tonight, we will think about four questions that will rescue us from ruin. I. WHAT SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO DO? (vs.1-3) A delegation of Jewish men from the town Bethel had a question about fasting. Their fasting had to do with the destruction of Jerusalem. James Montgomery Boice — “The Mosaic Law had established only one fast for Israel—the fast of the Day of Atonement, and even then the fast was only a part of that day’s observance. But since the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the Jews of the exile had been observing a series of fasts designed around significant moments in the siege of Jerusalem. On the seventeenth day of the fourth month, Thammuz (which corresponds roughly to our month of July), they mourned the capture of the city. On the ninth day of the fifth month, Ab (which corresponds to our August), they remembered the burning of the city and the destruction of the beautiful temple by Nebuchadnezzar. On the third of the seventh month, Tishri (October), they commemorated the assassination of Gedaliah and massacre of the eighty men from Shechem, Shiloh, and Samaria, as recorded in Jeremiah 41:1–10. On the tenth day of the tenth month, Tebeth (January), they fasted in memory of the day Nebuchadnezzar began his siege of the embattled city. The fasts were appropriate during the exile as a device for keeping the memory of the people’s past alive. But now that the temple was on its way to being rebuilt, it was a valid question as to whether a fast marking the destruction of the temple was appropriate. Unfortunately, the people of Bethel had failed to see that in God’s sight the matter was far more important than simply whether or not a traditional fast should be celebrated. This fast (and the others like it) had been perverted into what was by this time merely an empty and superstitious formalism, just as had happened earlier in Israel’s history and has happened since in many religious communions. The reply of God was to move the people away from mere formalism toward seeking God.” Now, as Boice points out, these fasts were never mandated by God, but they originally served a meaningful purpose. God used observances like this, to keep the history of the Jewish people alive in their minds while they were in captivity, and to give expression to their sorrow over sin and to remind them of their hope for God’s mercy. But the question this delegation asks is whether such a thing was still necessary? IN ONE SENSE, THE VERY QUESTION MIGHT INDICATE A PROBLEM. They are ENTREATING THE FAVOR OF GOD. They are ASKING THE PRIESTS AND THE PROPHETS. It indicates that they felt a sense of their conscience being bound by an observance that the Word of God NEVER MANDATED. They were afraid that they might forfeit God’s blessing if they made the wrong decision. They had taken something that ORIGINALLY represented a sincere looking to God — a sincere sorrow, and a sincere hope — and over 70 years turned it into a ritualistic observance THAT THEY FEARED WAS NECESSARY FOR GOD’S FAVOR. NOTE: RITUTALISTIC RELIGION IS RUINOUS RELIGION BECAUSE IT IS SUPERSTITIOUS RELIGION. It is a kind of religion that imagines it is EARNING God’s favor by what it does or doesn’t do. IT IS BASED ON BELIEFS THAT AREN’T TRUE. To invest activity never mandated by God with a superstitious sense of blessing from God is to substitute imagination for reality. AND WE WOULD LOVE TO SAY THAT THIS NEVER HAPPENS TO PEOPLE IN OUR WORLD, BUT IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME.