Bible Commentaries
Zechariah 7

Verse 1

Zec 7:1. This chapter begins two years later than the beginning of the book. Darius in this verse was the first man of that name to reign who was a Persian. It was in the second year of his reign that the work on the temple was resumed after having been stopped for a number of years (Ezr 4:24), and it was in his sixth year that It was completed (Ezr 6:15). Hence, the present chapter starts midway of the great work that was performed after the prophets Haggai and Zechariah aroused the builders with their exhortations and warnings,

Verse 2

Zec 7:2. According to Ezr 3:2 Ezr 3:6 the altar of sacrifices was built, some time before the temple was completed. The interest in the service of the Lord was indicated by sending these men to Jerusalem to pray on behalf of the work.

Verse 3

Zec 7:3. These men seem to have been either confused about the whole situation, notwithstanding they were sent to pray for the work, or they were acting without sincerity after arriving there. Now they protest to the priests and prophets that there is no use that I (meaning the people) should offer these services now. when the same had been done through many years and they had been rejected.

Verse 4

Zec 7:4-5. Then the word of the Lord was revealed to Zechariah in order to explain why the service should be performed now even though it was rejected before, meaning their attempts at such services during the seventy years of the captivity, God had previously predicted that if his people so conducted themselves that they would need to be sent into captivity, they would not be permitted to render service to Him in the strange land, but would he compelled to continue their idolatrous practices while in the heathen country. (See Deu 28:35 Deu 28:64; Jer 16:13; Hos 5:6, Psalms 137). But now since that program has been carried out, the worshipers of God need not hesitate to resume the lawful ser¬vices,

Verse 6

Zec 7:6. Even had the Jews attempted to perform the services while in the strange land, their own personal enjoyments of the body would have been all they would have received from them, for the Lord would not have received them. It would have been a situation very much like that de¬scribed by a familiar saying concern¬ing an unlawful prayer that does not "rise any higher than the head” of the one offering it.

Verse 7

Zec 7:7. This verse is a reminder of the past conduct of the people when the prophets spoke to them the word of the Lord. The prosperity of the country seemed to be overlooked and the warnings of the prophets were Ignored. The force of the pres¬ent verse is that they should now profit by the mistakes of the an¬cestors.

Verse 8

Zec 7:8. The word comes from the Lord but it was to be delivered to the people as a warning and exhortation to deal gently and justly with each other.

Verse 9

Zec 7:9. Lord of hosts means He is Lord of armies or other multitudes. The fathers had suffered through the unjust dealing of the princes and God wished his people to be spared such hardships now that they were back safely in their own land.

Verse 10

Zec 7:10. It is not only wrong to engage In the actual cruel dealings against the helpless, but also to be only thinking about it.

Verse 11

Zec 7:11. They means the former princes and they pulled away the shoulder. That means they backslid from the work or service of the Lord and refused to do their share. The figure is based on a common means of service from the ox in those days, when the beast was required to press his shoulder against the yoke.

Verse 12

Zec 7:12. An adament stone is one of the hardest kind of stones and is used to illustrate the stubbornness of the people against the law of the Lord. When the prophets spoke the words of the Lord it was equivalent to His voice as to authority, hence the rejection of them brought down His wrath.

Verse 13

Zec 7:13. The refusal of the people to hear the call of the Lord resulted in His refusal to hear when they cried out for mercy,

Verse 14

Zec 7:14. A whirlwind not only overthrows what Is in Its path, but picks up and carries it away. The fact is used to illustrate the work of God's wrath in gathering up the unfaithful nation and carrying it into a strange land,