Zechariah 8:1-23

RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF MORAL AND CEREMONIAL REQUIREMENTS, Zechariah 7:1 to Zechariah 8:23.

After a silence of nearly two years the voice of Zechariah was heard again. In the fourth year of Darius a deputation came to the prophet inquiring whether the observance of the fasts instituted to commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem was still obligatory (Zechariah 7:1-3). This question would suggest itself to many as the temple neared completion, and as the seventy years since the destruction of Jerusalem were drawing to a close. In reply the prophet points out that fasting is not an end in itself, that it is of value only as a means of increasing devotion and piety in the one who practices it (4-6). Then he turns the attention of the delegation to the ethical character of the divine demands, and points out that by disregarding these their fathers had brought upon themselves awful judgments (7-14). Reaffirming Jehovah’s jealousy for Zion, he pictures the glory and prosperity in store for Judah and Jerusalem (Zechariah 8:1-17). When these glories are realized the question of fasts will solve itself; they will be transformed into seasons of joy and rejoicing, to which multitudes will flock from all parts of the land; even the other nations will gladly join the Jews in their festivities (18-23).