Zechariah 7-8 is a necessary correction for every religious person. The people ask about fasting, but the Lord asks about mercy, truth, and justice. Then He promises a Zion so restored that old and young are safe in the streets and nations come seeking the Lord.
Placement in the Book and Grouping Rationale
These chapters belong together. Chapter 7 asks whether inherited fasting should continue; chapter 8 answers by showing what true restoration looks like. Fasting without mercy is rejected, but fasting purified by repentance becomes joy, truth, and peace.
The Question About Fasting (Zechariah 7:1-7)
1 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Darius the king, that the word of the Lord came to Zacharias on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chaseleu. 2 And Sarasar and Arbeseer the king and his men sent to Bæthel, and that to propitiate the Lord, 3 speaking to the priests that were in the house of the Lord Almighty, and to the prophets, saying, The holy offering has come in hither in the fifth month, as it has done already many years.
4 And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, 5 Speak to the whole people of the land, and to the priests, saying, Though ye fasted or lamented in the fifth or seventh months (yea, behold, these seventy years) have ye at all fasted to me? 6 And if ye eat or drink, do ye not eat and drink for yourselves? 7 Are not these the words which the Lord spoke by the former prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and in prosperity, and her cities round about her, and the hill country and the low country was inhabited?
The people ask a religious question: should they continue mourning and fasting as before? The Lord answers by exposing the hidden question: for whom were they fasting?
This is not an attack on fasting. It is a rescue of fasting from self-centered religion. Fasting can become a way to preserve grief, identity, or control while avoiding obedience. The Lord turns the question from ritual habit to the heart.
Mercy, Truth, and the Refusal to Hear (Zechariah 7:8-14)
8 And the word of the Lord came to Zacharias, saying, 9 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Judge righteous judgment, and deal mercifully and compassionately every one with his brother:
10 and oppress not the widow, or the fatherless, or the stranger, or the poor; and let not one of you remember in his heart the injury of his brother.
11 But they refused to attend, and madly turned their back, and made their ears heavy, so that they should not hear. 12 And they made their heart disobedient, so as not to hearken to my law, and the words which the Lord Almighty sent forth by his Spirit by the former prophets: so there was great wrath from the Lord Almighty. 13 And it shall come to pass, that as he spoke, and they hearkened not, so they shall cry, and I will not hearken, saith the Lord Almighty. 14 And I will cast them out among all the nations, whom they know not; and the land behind them shall be made utterly destitute of any going through or returning: yea they have made the choice land a desolation.
The Lord names what He wanted all along: righteous judgment, mercy, compassion, protection of the widow, orphan, stranger, and poor, and no evil in the heart against a brother. Their fathers refused to hear, and their refusal became scattering.
This passage is especially important for Lent. A fast that does not teach mercy is not biblical fasting. The stomach may be restrained while the heart remains hard. Zechariah says that true fasting must become justice and compassion.
Zion Restored, Old and Young in the Streets (Zechariah 8:1-13)
1 And the word of the Lord Almighty came, saying, 2 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; I have been jealous for Jerusalem and for Sion with great jealousy, and I have been jealous for her with great fury.
3 Thus saith the Lord; I will return to Sion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a true city, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty a holy mountain.
4 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; There shall yet dwell old men and old women in the streets of Jerusalem, every one holding his staff in his hand for age. 5 And the broad places of the city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.
6 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; If it shall be impossible in the sight of the remnant of this people in those days, shall it also be impossible in my sight? saith the Lord Almighty.
7 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and the west country; 8 and I will bring them in, and cause them to dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God, in truth and in righteousness.
9 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words out of the mouth of the prophets, from the day that the house of the Lord Almighty was founded, and from the time that the temple was built. 10 For before those days the wages of men could not be profitable, and there could be no hire of cattle, and there could be no peace by reason of the affliction to him that went out or to him that came in: for I would have let loose all men, every one against his neighbour. 11 But now I will not do to the remnant of this people according to the former days, saith the Lord Almighty. 12 But I will shew peace: the vine shall yield her fruit, and the land shall yield her produce, and the heaven shall give its dew: and I will give as an inheritance all these things to the remnant of my people. 13 And it shall come to pass, as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Juda, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: be of good courage, and strengthen your hands.
The Lord’s jealousy becomes restoration. Jerusalem is called a city of truth. Old men and women sit safely in the streets, children play, and the remnant is gathered from east and west.
This is not sentimental city imagery. It is the healing of communal life. When God restores His people, the vulnerable are not pushed to the margins. The elderly, children, and remnant become signs that the Lord is dwelling in the midst.
Fasts Turned to Joy and Nations Seeking God (Zechariah 8:14-23)
14 For thus saith the Lord Almighty; As I took counsel to afflict you when your fathers provoked me, saith the Lord Almighty, and I repented not: 15 so have I prepared and taken counsel in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Juda: be ye of good courage. 16 These are the things which ye shall do; speak truth every one with his neighbour; judge truth and peaceable judgment in your gates: 17 and let none of you devise evil in his heart against his neighbour; and love not a false oath: for all these things I hate, saith the Lord Almighty.
18 And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying,
19 Thus saith the Lord Almighty, The fourth fast, and the fifth fast, and the seventh fast, and the tenth fast, shall be to the house of Juda for joy and gladness, and for good feasts; and ye shall rejoice; and love ye the truth and peace.
20 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; Yet shall many peoples come, and the inhabitants of many cities; 21 and the inhabitants of five cities shall come together to one city, saying, Let us go to make supplication to the Lord, and to seek the face of the Lord Almighty; I will go also. 22 And many peoples and many nations shall come to seek earnestly the face of the Lord Almighty in Jerusalem, and to obtain favour of the Lord.
23 Thus saith the Lord Almighty; In those days my word shall be fulfilled if ten men of all the languages of the nations should take hold-even take hold of the hem of a Jew, saying, We will go with thee; for we have heard that God is with you.
The Lord does not merely cancel mourning. He transforms it. Fasts become joy and gladness when the people love truth and peace. The chapter ends with nations taking hold of the garment of a Jew and saying, “We will go with thee, because we have heard that God is with you.”
This is the missionary fruit of holiness. The nations are not attracted by religious branding, but by the presence of God with His people. Mercy, truth, and peace become evangelistic.
The Church’s Voice in Worship ⛪
Zechariah 8:7-13 and 8:18-23 appear in Great Lent prophecy readings. This placement is spiritually direct: Lent is not only abstaining from food. It is being remade into a truthful and merciful people whose fasting becomes joy.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
Zechariah 7-8 asks whether our religious practices are making us merciful. If fasting, prayer, service, and church activity do not soften the heart toward the vulnerable, then the ritual has been separated from the Lord’s desire. But the promise is hopeful: God can turn mourning into joy and make a truthful community attractive to the nations.
Teaching Notes
The Question About Fasting (Zechariah 7:1-7)
- Ask: What religious habits can hide self-centeredness?
- Emphasize: The Lord asks not only what we do, but for whom we do it.
- Watch for: Do not make this anti-fasting. It is a call to true fasting.
- Connect: Connect to Christ’s teaching on fasting in Matthew 6.
Mercy, Truth, and the Refusal to Hear (Zechariah 7:8-14)
- Ask: How does the passage define the fruit God wanted?
- Emphasize: Mercy toward the vulnerable is not optional social decoration. It is covenant obedience.
- Watch for: Watch for Lent becoming food rules without mercy.
- Connect: Connect to Isaiah 58 and Orthodox fasting as repentance and love.
Zion Restored, Old and Young in the Streets (Zechariah 8:1-13)
- Ask: Why are old people and children central to the restoration picture?
- Emphasize: Restoration heals communal life and protects the vulnerable.
- Watch for: Do not spiritualize away the social texture of the promise.
- Connect: Connect to the Church as a family where the weak are honored.
Fasts Turned to Joy and Nations Seeking God (Zechariah 8:14-23)
Ask: What makes a community spiritually attractive to outsiders?
Emphasize: Truth and peace turn fasting into joy and mission.
Watch for: Avoid triumphalism. The nations come because God is with His people, not because they are impressive.
Connect: Connect to Pentecost and the Church gathered from many nations.
Show: Show the Passion lectionary-flow schematic only if comparing Great Lent and Holy Week Zechariah readings.
Sources
- Embedded Scripture is from Brenton’s English Septuagint (LXX).
- Brief New Testament references are cited by reference.
- Coptic Orthodox lectionary references are from the project’s lectionary reference tables and Holy Pascha reference tables.