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Hypocritical Fasting Condemned

In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the L ord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev. ²Now the people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-melech and their men, to entreat the favor of the L ord, ³and to ask the priests of the house of the L ord of hosts and the prophets, “Should I mourn and practice abstinence in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?” ⁴Then the word of the L ord of hosts came to me: ⁵Say to all the people of the land and the priests: When you fasted and lamented in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? ⁶And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat and drink only for yourselves? ⁷Were not these the words that the L ord proclaimed by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, along with the towns around it, and when the Negeb and the Shephelah were inhabited?

Punishment for Rejecting God’s Demands

⁸ The word of the L ord came to Zechariah, saying: ⁹Thus says the L ord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; ¹⁰do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another. ¹¹But they refused to listen, and turned a stubborn shoulder, and stopped their ears in order not to hear. ¹²They made their hearts adamant in order not to hear the law and the words that the L ord of hosts had sent by his spirit through the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from the L ord of hosts. ¹³Just as, when I called, they would not hear, so, when they called, I would not hear, says the L ord of hosts, ¹⁴and I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations that they had not known. Thus the land they left was desolate, so that no one went to and fro, and a pleasant land was made desolate.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Prophet here by referring to the fathers more sharply reproves the Jews of his age; for he saw that they differed but little from their fathers. The sum of what he says is, that the Jews in all ages dealt unfaithfully and perversely with God; for how much soever they boasted of their care and zeal for religion they yet sought to satisfy God only by vain trifles. This then was the Prophet’s object. For it is certain that there ever had been some pretense to religion in that nation but it was mere dissimulation for they were in the mean time intent on their ceremonies and when God seriously remonstrated with them their obstinacy and perverseness before concealed instantly appeared.

He therefore says that they refused to hear. He does not now accuse the dead except for this purpose to teach the people of his acre. He saw that they were solicitous about fasting at appointed seasons, while at the same time they regarded almost as nothing the main requirements of the law, even mercy, and justice, and uprightness. These are indeed the three things, which Christ mentions. (Matthew 23:23.) He then intimates that this doctrine was not new, and that their fathers had been sufficiently warned and instructed, but that they wilfully, and as it were designedly rebelled against God. In short, he pulls off their mask of ignorance; for as men for the most part seek to extenuate their sins by the plea, that they had not been clearly or seasonably taught, the Prophet declares that there was not any excuse of this kind, because they had been refractory and untameable, they had refused to hear

To set forth more fully this perverseness, he afterwards says, that the shoulder of withdrawing had been presented by them. The Hebrews say that men serve with the shoulder, when they are submissive, and tractable, and willingly undergo the burden laid on them, according to what we have seen in Zephaniah 3:1. The Prophet now, on the contrary, says that the Jews had a refractory shoulder, as they refused to bear the yoke, but shook off every fear of God. The reason for the metaphor is this — that as burdens are carried on the shoulder, so the Lord lays the law on our shoulders, that the flesh may not lasciviate at pleasure, but be kept under restraint. He hence says, that they had presented a rebellious shoulder. The word סררת, sarret, is properly rendered declining; but some render it perverse, and others contumacious: since the meaning is the same, I contend not about the word. It is enough to know that the contumacy of the Jews is what is here condemned; for they had been wholly unteachable, and had refused to submit to God and to his word. ⁷⁴⁷⁴
   And withdraw the shoulder,—Newcome.
   He adds, “The line occurs in Nehemiah 9:29. The metaphor is taken from beasts that decline the yoke. See Hosea 4:16.”
   And turned their back rebelliously,—Henderson
   He observes that “to turn the shoulder is equivalent to turning the back upon any one. The cause of such action is traced to a refractory, rebellious, and intractable disposition.”
   Literally it is—
   And gave (or presented) the shoulder of turning away.
   It is a metaphor taken, as some say, from refractory children or servants, who being admonished, despise and reject what is commanded them, as Drusius observes, by turning their backs. This is the most suitable view according to the context. Non-attendance to God’s word, and not insubordination, is the subject. They refused to hear, turned their backs, and pretended deafness, or conducted themselves as though they were deaf. Then the source of this conduct is mentioned; the heart was made as hard as adamant, so that they would not hear the law and the words sent by the Prophets. The want of attention is throughout the subject; and the evident fact is first referred to, in the various ways in which it displayed itself; and then it is traced up to an adamantine heart. This is often the way in which things are stated by the Prophets — the most palpable acts are first stated, then the most hidden participles. — Ed.

He afterwards mentions their ears, They made heavy their ears, lest they should hear. In short, the Prophet sought by all means to prove the Jews guilty, that they might not adduce anything to extenuate their sin: for they had in every way, with the most determined wickedness, refused to obey God, when his teaching was sufficiently clear and intelligible.

⁷⁴ And withdraw the shoulder,—Newcome. He adds, “The line occurs in Nehemiah 9:29. The metaphor is taken from beasts that decline the yoke. See Hosea 4:16.” And turned their back rebelliously,—Henderson He observes that “to turn the shoulder is equivalent to turning the back upon any one. The cause of such action is traced to a refractory, rebellious, and intractable disposition.” Literally it is— And gave (or presented) the shoulder of turning away. It is a metaphor taken, as some say, from refractory children or servants, who being admonished, despise and reject what is commanded them, as Drusius observes, by turning their backs. This is the most suitable view according to the context. Non-attendance to God’s word, and not insubordination, is the subject. They refused to hear, turned their backs, and pretended deafness, or conducted themselves as though they were deaf. Then the source of this conduct is mentioned; the heart was made as hard as adamant, so that they would not hear the law and the words sent by the Prophets. The want of attention is throughout the subject; and the evident fact is first referred to, in the various ways in which it displayed itself; and then it is traced up to an adamantine heart. This is often the way in which things are stated by the Prophets — the most palpable acts are first stated, then the most hidden participles. — Ed.