The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melek, together with their men, to entreat the Lord by asking the priests of the house of the Lord Almighty and the prophets, “Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?”
Then the word of the Lord Almighty came to me: “Ask all the people of the land and the priests, ‘When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted? And when you were eating and drinking, were you not just feasting for yourselves? Are these not the words the Lord proclaimed through the earlier prophets when Jerusalem and its surrounding towns were at rest and prosperous, and the Negev and the western foothills were settled?’”
And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: “This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:2-10
“The Jews seemed to question whether they ought to continue their fasts, seeing that the city and temple were likely to be finished. The first answer to their inquiry is a sharp reproof of hypocrisy.
These fasts were not acceptable to God, unless observed in a better manner, and to better purpose. There was the form of duty, but no life, or soul, or power in it. Holy exercises are to be done to God, looking to His word as our rule, and His glory as our end, seeking to please Him and obtain His favour; but self was the centre of all their actions.
And it was not enough to weep on fast days; they should have searched the Scriptures of the prophets, that they might have seen what was the ground of God’s controversy with their fathers. Whether people are in prosperity or adversity, they must be called upon to leave their sins, and to do their duty.”
Matthew Henry’s Concise Bible Commentary on Zechariah 7.
Fasting is a powerful tool. It tames our desires to pursue our duty. It sets us on a course of generosity which is the better purpose for our presence on this earth.
This better purpose takes shape as administering justice and showing mercy and compassion.
But our proclivity like the people of Bethel in the text is to abandon these practices. They had prayed for years for the temple to be rebuilt. Now that it was done, they could stop fasting, right?
No way! With the temple rebuilt God fasting would propel them to live out their purpose.
The parallel for us today comes into view. We must fast to set aside our selfishness and pursue God’s purposes: justice, mercy, and compassion for the poor and oppressed. Let’s do this generously!
In fasting we forsake that which does not satisfy for the only thing that does.
To grow in fasting, join the next GTP September-October cohort of Journey of Empowerment (JOE). It’s free and available on demand. Go through it with stewards around the world. Register here.