SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/6/2016 5:00 PM
My Worship Time
Focus: The Reply
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: Zechariah 7:4-7
Message of the verses: “4 Then the word of the LORD of hosts came
to me, saying, 5 "Say to all the
people of the land and to the priests, ’When you fasted and mourned in the
fifth and seventh months these seventy years, was it actually for Me that you fasted? 6 ’When
you eat and drink, do you not eat for yourselves and do you not drink for
yourselves? 7 ’Are not these the words which the LORD proclaimed by the former prophets,
when Jerusalem was inhabited and prosperous along with its cities around it,
and the Negev and the foothills were inhabited?’’”
As we look
at three of these four verses they end with a question mark, and the questions
come from the LORD of hosts. Let us look
at 8:9 to give us a hint as to when Zechariah gave this answer to the
people. “9 "Thus says the LORD of
hosts, ’Let your hands be strong, you who are listening in these days to these
words from the mouth of the prophets, those who spoke in the day that the
foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, to the end that the
temple might be built.” We can see from
this verse that it was later when the Word of the Lord came to Zechariah by the
fact that in verse nine we see that it happened the day that the fountain of
the house of the Lord was laid. Why do
you suppose that the Lord waited to give His answer? Dr. Wiersbe writes “It was necessary first to
deal with the heart attitudes of the people.
After all, our relationship with the Lord isn’t so much a matter of
traditions and rules as it is faith, love, and a desire to please Him. This kind of goes along with our Sunday
school lesson last week which dealt with God being Spirit, as we looked at John
chapter four, the story of the woman at the well where Jesus told her that one
had to worship God in spirit and in truth.
The author of our book talked about how some people had to be in nice
churches to worship the Lord, but I then mentioned that in the book of Acts
when Paul and Silas were in a dungeon after being beaten they began to sing
praises to the Lord, and believe me that was far from any nicely decorated
church building. Dr. Wiersbe goes on “Immature
people require religious regulations to tell them what to do, and these
regulations help them measure their ‘spiritual life.’ But God wants us to mature spiritually and
grow from obeying rules to following principles and cultivating a vital
personal relationship with Him.” “22 "You
worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from
the Jews. 23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks
to be His worshipers. 24 “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship
in spirit and truth’ (John 4:22-24).”
As
mentioned Zechariah answer them by giving the questions to answer, questions
that I think he was hoping that they would look inside and not on the
outside. You can go all the way back to
the book of Samuel to read this “Samuel said, “"Has the LORD as much
delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better
than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.” The problem with the Jews was that they thought
that by keeping the law and a part of it was offering the sacrifices that this
would get them a trip to heaven, but the Law and the sacrifices were something
that was to lead them to the Lord as Paul told the Galatians. “Ga 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our
tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.” It is not that the truth of this was not
found in the Old Testament, and in fact the older prophets who were alive when
Jerusalem was about to be destroyed, including Jeremiah were telling the truth
to the Jews, but they did not believe them.
Let us look at one more OT section to show that God wanted and still
wants our obedience “6 With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before
the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling
calves? 7 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand
rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit
of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of
you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”
Dr. Wiersbe
writes “Zechariah wasn’t condemning traditions as such. He was emphasizing the fact that the true
spiritual life can’t be turned on and off at our convenience, so that we serve
God one minute and forget Him the next.
If we feast we must do it to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31); if we fast, we
must do it to honor Him. The Lord must
be the center of our lives and the reason for our actions. If we keep a fast (or any reason other religious
tradition) just to please ourselves and win the admiration and approval of
others, then God was not pleased and the activity was wasted.”
God’s answer is found in 8:19 “19 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ’The fast
of the fourth, the fast of the fifth, the fast of the seventh and the fast of
the tenth months will become joy, gladness, and cheerful feasts for the house
of Judah; so love truth and peace.’”
This will happen in the future during the Kingdom Age when Messiah will
sit on the throne, judging with justice and truth. Dr. Wiersbe concludes “So instead of living
in the past tense and mourning over calamities, why not live in the future
tense and rejoice over what God has promised to do for His people.”
7/6/2016 5:32 PM
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