Main news for 10 November 2026

King James Version (en)

Zechariah, Chapter 7, verse 14

¹⁴But I scattered them with a whirlwind among all the nations whom they knew not. Thus the land was desolate after them, that no man passed through nor returned: for they laid the pleasant land desolate.

NOTES

Today, as throughout history, much is said and has been said about the Jewish people's right to the land God gave them. Indeed, anyone who reads the Bible attentively and without prejudice will see quite clearly that the land of Israel belongs to only one people, God's people, to whom God gave it… to possess? As unconditional property? Here begins the historical conflict discussed at length in those same biblical books. Already the Pentateuch, in effect, denies God's people an unconditional and unlimited right to the land He gave them: the Torah explicitly links that right to observance of the covenant previously made with God. Strictly speaking, what is at issue is not ownership but potentially indefinite use, which can nevertheless be restricted, even to the point of the people's being entirely deprived of the land they received from God if they break the covenant. Yet the paradox is that the land God gave His people to use is designated by God Himself as holy land.

According to the general meaning of the traditional biblical understanding of what is holy, sacred and sanctified, what is holy can belong only to God and to those He has sanctified, as He sanctified His people by His presence. Only a people sanctified by God can possess a land sanctified by God; only such a unity of people and land can be spiritually fitting. That is why no other people can be the true and rightful master of the land God prepared for His people. This does not, of course, in itself mean that it cannot fall under the power of another people, like any other land in a fallen world torn by wars and struggles for territory. Yet this can happen only if God's people violate the terms of their covenant with Him and cease to be God's people to the extent that they violate that covenant. God does not turn away from His people even when the people turn away from their God. But they lose their right to what is holy, and, at its furthest extent, the loss of that right means the destruction of the Temple—God's house, sanctified by God Himself—and the loss of the land, the exile of which the prophet reminds his fellow countrymen.

The land then falls into desolation: for God cannot give it to another people, while His own people prove spiritually unready to become its true master and guardian. The land turns into a wilderness and awaits its time. It waits for the people God intended for it to become worthy of it once more.

Not only individuals, but also the entire era of the restoration of the Temple in a certain sense becomes a prefiguration of the time of the Messiah's coming. Much changes with the onset of the new era, in both cases. But much also remains unchanged, as an eternal ordinance of the Almighty. What the prophet Zechariah conveys to the reader in the seventh chapter marks...

The Judeans remaining in Babylon, ruled by the Persian king Darius who favored them, send envoys to Jerusalem with the question of whether they should observe the fasts of the fifth and seventh months that had become traditional. The first of these was established after 587 BC as a sign of sorrow over the destruction of Jerusalem, and the second appeared around the same time in memory of the last Jewish uprising and the murder of Gedaliah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had left to govern conquered Judea. Now the Temple in Jerusalem is being restored — is it necessary to continue mourning the destruction of the former one? The envoys of the Babylonian Judeans expect, as far as one can tell, one of two answers. Perhaps the priests and prophets will decree that the fast should be canceled, since the cause of sorrow has ceased to exist — but perhaps they will decide that it should be kept as a traditional ordinance marking an important turning point in the history of the people...

But the answer that the Lord gives through Zechariah lies in a completely different dimension and strikes with its bitterness. At almost the same time, the Lord speaks of the very same thing through Deutero-Isaiah; it is even possible that both prophets (Deutero-Isaiah and Zechariah) are answering the very same question. In both cases, the Lord rejects traditional fasts as something done by people not for His sake, but for their own sake. "Did you fast for Me?" Zechariah exclaims on behalf of the Lord. "Behold, on the day of your fast you do your own pleasure and exact hard labor from others," He says through Deutero-Isaiah (Isa 58:3). The traditional ritual ordinance turns out to be empty and meaningless, because the Lord is not its goal. One might wonder what else could be the goal of such a religious phenomenon as fasting? No, says the Lord, not for Him, but for themselves did the Judeans fast, to console their grief, to express their sorrow, "that they may be seen by men to be fasting", as the Lord Jesus Christ would articulate this thought. The deeply personal experience of sorrow and repentance took on a public character among the Babylonian Judeans and became ostentatious and insincere.

And the Lord says through Zechariah and Deutero-Isaiah what the Judeans really needed, what was supposed to express their repentance and sorrow. "Thus the Lord of Hosts spoke then [on the eve of the captivity]: render true judgments, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother," Zechariah reminds them. Deutero-Isaiah says: "Behold, this is the fast that I have chosen: loose the bonds of wickedness, untie the bands of the yoke, and let the oppressed go free, and break every yoke; share your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your house..." (Isa 58:6–7). For God, what is important is not the outward expression of remorse, but, in the words of John the Baptist, "fruit worthy of repentance". The prophet Zechariah exclaims with bitterness that it is precisely to mercy, compassion, and active love for one's neighbor that the Lord calls people, and exactly this could have protected Jerusalem from destruction, because this is precisely where God's righteousness lies. "But the Judeans refused to hearken... therefore great wrath came from the Lord," the prophet recalls what his predecessors had long proclaimed.

It is obvious that with the change of historical conditions it is precisely the demand for mercy and compassion that remains unchanged, it is precisely mercy that is the fruit of repentance and purification which the Lord expects. And traditional ordinances, on the contrary, are not even deemed worthy of discussion, so closely are they linked with specific historical circumstances and spiritual tasks of the time. One cannot fail to notice that absolutely the same thing will be said to the Judeans by Christ when He reminds them of the words of the prophet Hosea: "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings" (Hos 6:6, Mt 9:13). But even then, just as in the times of Deutero-Isaiah and Zechariah, the Judeans will not want to hearken to Him. It is far too convenient for people to replace the fruit of repentance with its outward expression, and this problem is characteristic not only of the Judeans.

People are interested in fasting from the standpoint of rules of conduct, but the Lord reminds them why fasting was established. The Lord’s reproach...

${currentDateString}


	After registering, you can subscribe to any Bible reading plan. Personalized settings and other services for registered users are planned, so we recommend registering now. Registration is free.