During the exile a core community of pious Jews observed a fast twice a year, a time of mourning and supplication for God to forgive them and restore them. Now that God had brought them back to Jerusalem the people were wondering whether they should keep observing this fast. God’s answer was that he was not so pleased with their fasting in the first place. They fasted because of their own misfortunes, not because they were genuinely sorry about their sins. They were mourning the absence of God’s blessing rather than the absence of God (due to them having turned away). Isn’t it often the case that we only worry about our relationship with God when we feel like he isn’t blessing us anymore? What should worry us most is the state of the relationship itself rather than what we get out of it. What God really wants from his people is not religious gestures but a real desire to listen to him and change. Zechariah’s countrymen were willing enough to fast as a way of expressing regret over their sins generally. But they seem to have been uninterested in correcting any specific injustices. They were like one who tries to amend some offence by incessantly apologising to the offended person without ever listening to find out what they did wrong. God doesn’t want us to say ‘sorry’ without recognising what we did wrong. Once we recognise where we have gone wrong and are determined to redress this wrong, then we are ready to be sorry with some genuineness. This is where reconciliation begins.
Reflect on how you might have grieved God.
Read Zechariah 7
