Zechariah 6-7

“When you fasted and mourned ... was it really for me that you fasted?” (7:5). When the returned exiles asked the prophet Zechariah about their rituals of fasting, the Lord reminded them of the dangers of empty religion. Earlier generations had sacrificed and fasted but ignored God’s instructions: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor” (7:9-10). Rejecting God’s powerful Word (5:4), they had brought disaster on themselves.

“It is he who will build the temple of the Lord ...” (6:13). The restarting of temple rituals wasn’t enough. God promised to bring a priest-king who would change hearts and show the way to a transformed life.