Zechariah 7:3
by asking the priests of the house of the LORD of Hosts, as well as the prophets, "Should I weep and fast in the fifth month, as I have done these many years?"
Sermons
Shall We Fast?W. Forsyth Zechariah 7:3
Religious Beliefs and Religious ServicesHomilistZechariah 7:1-3
The Left Ones in CaptivityZechariah 7:1-3
Religious Beliefs that are Right; Religious Services that are WrongD. Thomas Zechariah 7:1-7
God and MenW. Forsyth Zechariah 7:1-14














This question has been often asked down to our own day.

I. There are NATIONAL FASTS. These are rare, and only appointed under very solemn circumstances. In 1853, when cholera prevailed, the Presbytery of Edinburgh (Church of Scotland) suggested to Lord Palmerston, then Home Secretary, the propriety of ordering a national fast. His lordship, in his reply, recommended observance of natural laws rather than fasting. If this were attended to, all would be well. Otherwise pestilence would come, "in spite of all the prayers and lastings of a united but inactive nation. He does not seem to have understood that the two things were quite compatible. Prayer and inaction is folly; but prayer and action is the highest wisdom. Surely there is something grand and beautiful in a whole nation bowed in humility and supplication before the Most High. (Buckle, vol. 2, has a characteristic notice of this, where he falls into the odd mistake that in Scotland fasting" meant abstinence from food!)

II. Then there are CHURCH FASTS. These are only binding on the members of the several Churches that appoint them. In Scotland it has for long been customary to have fast days in connection with the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; but as to this there is now a change. First their enforcement under penalties ceased; then the rigour of their observance was given up; then, from the necessities of modern life, and the knowledge that they were often the occasion of more evil than good, they have come in ninny cases to be discontinued. The question is one of Christian expediency, and requires to be dealt with both with wisdom and gentleness.

III. Besides these there is PRIVATE FASTING. As to this, no rule can be laid down (cf. Romans 14:5, 6). But certain principles should be kept in view, such as that fasting has no virtue in itself; that what may be good for one Christian may not suit another; and that the great end of all such observances is spiritual good, "room to deny ourselves," a path "to bring us daily nearer God." - F.

I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts
I. THE NEGLIGENCE OF MEN.

1. They do not hear the dispensations of God in His providence.

2. They do not hear the invitations of God by His servants.

3. They do not hear the commands of God in His Word.

II. THE JUDGMENT OF GOD.

1. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of regret.

2. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of disappointment.

3. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of fear.

4. He will not hear the cry of the lost, as expressive of despair.

(G. Brooks.)

People
Darius, Melech, Regem, Regemmelech, Sharezer, Sherezer, Zechariah
Places
Bethel, Jerusalem
Topics
Abstain, Almighty, Armies, Belong, Fast, Fifth, Hosts, Month, Mourn, Myself, Past, Priests, Prophets, Saying, Separated, Separating, Speak, Speaking, Weep, Weeping
Outline
1. The captives enquire concerning the set fasts.
4. Zechariah reproves the hypocrisy of their fasting.
8. Sin the cause of their captivity.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Zechariah 7:1-5

     5794   asceticism

Zechariah 7:2-3

     7773   prophets, role

Zechariah 7:2-5

     8430   fasting, nature of

Zechariah 7:2-6

     5773   abstinence, discipline

Library
Sad Fasts Changed to Glad Feasts
"Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth, shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace."--Zechariah 8:19 MY time for discourse upon this subject will be limited, as we shall gather around the communion-table immediately afterwards. So in the former part of my sermon I shall give you an outline of what might be said upon the text if we had
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

"And There is None that Calleth Upon Thy Name, that Stirreth up Himself to Take Hold on Thee,"
Isaiah lxiv. 7.--"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee," &c. They go on in the confession of their sins. Many a man hath soon done with that a general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to. You may see here sin and judgment mixed in thorough other(315) in their complaint. They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolate estate of captivity, as to forget their provocations. Many a man would spend more affection,
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

A Discourse of Mercifulness
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 These verses, like the stairs of Solomon's temple, cause our ascent to the holy of holies. We are now mounting up a step higher. Blessed are the merciful . . '. There was never more need to preach of mercifulness than in these unmerciful times wherein we live. It is reported in the life of Chrysostom that he preached much on this subject of mercifulness, and for his much pressing Christians to mercy, he was called of many, the alms-preacher,
Thomas Watson—The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12

"To what Purpose is the Multitude of Your Sacrifices unto Me? Saith the Lord,"
Isaiah i. 11.--"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord," &c. This is the word he calls them to hear and a strange word. Isaiah asks, What mean your sacrifices? God will not have them. I think the people would say in their own hearts, What means the prophet? What would the Lord be at? Do we anything but what he commanded us? Is he angry at us for obeying him? What means this word? Is he not repealing the statute and ordinance he had made in Israel? If he had reproved
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

"There is Therefore Now no Condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. "
Rom. viii. 1.--"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." There are three things which concur to make man miserable,--sin, condemnation, and affliction. Every one may observe that "man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward," that his days here are few and evil. He possesses "months of vanity, and wearisome nights are appointed" for him. Job v. 6, 7, vii. 3. He "is of few days and full of trouble," Job xiv.
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Extent of Atonement.
VI. For whose benefit the atonement was intended. 1. God does all things for himself; that is, he consults his own glory and happiness, as the supreme and most influential reason for all his conduct. This is wise and right in him, because his own glory and happiness are infinitely the greatest good in and to the universe. He made the atonement to satisfy himself. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

Zechariah
CHAPTERS I-VIII Two months after Haggai had delivered his first address to the people in 520 B.C., and a little over a month after the building of the temple had begun (Hag. i. 15), Zechariah appeared with another message of encouragement. How much it was needed we see from the popular despondency reflected in Hag. ii. 3, Jerusalem is still disconsolate (Zech. i. 17), there has been fasting and mourning, vii. 5, the city is without walls, ii. 5, the population scanty, ii. 4, and most of the people
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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