THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT HYPOCRISY
(Zechariah 7:1-14)
7:1 In the fourth year of King Darius, the word of the LORD came to Zechariah on
the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev.
2 Now the town of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regemmelech and their men to seek
the favor of the LORD,
3 speaking to the priests who belong to the house of the LORD of hosts, and to
the prophets, saying, "Shall I weep in the fifth month and abstain, as I have
done these many years?"
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?'"
8 Then the word of the LORD came to Zechariah saying,
9 "Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and practice kindness
and compassion each to his brother;
10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do
not devise evil in your hearts against one another.'
11 "But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped
their ears from hearing.
12 "They made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and
the words which the LORD of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former
prophets; therefore great wrath came from the LORD of hosts.
13 "And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would
not listen," says the LORD of hosts;
14 "but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have
not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them so that no one went back and
forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate."
To encourage my listeners to stay genuine in their relationship with God
AUDIENCE:
Audience: Youth/young adult
INTRODUCTION:
One of the biggest problems today that many people have is a lack of integrity.
This is usually due to their having two faces. To one group of people they
project one image and to another they project a different image. If you know a
person like this long enough, you can often eventually see through their fake
personality. In Zechariah 7 we find a situation wherein God challenges the
integrity of a group of Israelis who wonder if they should continue keeping a
fast.
I. The Question by the Delegation from Bethel (7:1-3)
Maintaining the Ceremony: Around two years after Zechariah
had the eight visions, he was approached by two priests sent from Bethel. They
asked if they should continue to commemorate the burning of the temple and
several more important buildings. The temple had been completed less than three
years before. Since the reason for this ceremony is no longer in place (the
Temple has been rebuilt), this seems to be a legitimate question (if it asked
for the right reason).
II. The Rebuke by the Lord (7:4-7)
Questioning the Motives: The Lord turns their question on
them. They thought they were being spiritual by offering to continue the
ceremony. The Lord’s response is that their actions do not matter if their
motives are impure. The Lord brings up another of their annual ceremonies. The
seventh month commemorated the assassination of Gedaliah (2 Ki. 25:22-25, Jer.
40:13-41:15), the man appointed governor of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. It was not
out of a desire to worship God that they fasted. They are behaving the same way
that the pre-exilic Israelis did. When Israel prospered they feasted. During the
exile and afterwards they fasted. In both cases they did so for themselves not
for God.
III. The Command to Repent (7:8-14)
A. The Command (7:8-10)
Then the word of the LORD came to
Zechariah saying, 9"Thus has the LORD of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice and
practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10and do not oppress the
widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your
hearts against one another.'
Verses 1-7 presented the problem.
Israel had always behaved hypocritically. The solution is presented here. To
combat hypocrisy, use the weapon of truth. Every man must treat his neighbor
with honesty, must be kind to widows and orphans. The key to human interaction
is genuineness. This is the solution presented to them then and to the Israelis
now.
B. The Past Response (7:11-14)
Their reaction had not been positive.
They were stubborn and would not listen. They treated both God and man with
dishonesty. The consequences had been dire – the tribes of Israel had been
scattered for almost seven decades. And the children of Israel who had returned
could plainly see the consequences of these actions. The implication is that if
they do not heed God’s warning something equally as tragic could happen to them.
CONCLUSION:
The Israel of Zechariah’s present were told they couldn’t live a life of hypocrisy. Sin brings consequences. Even if they looked all right on the outside, if on the inside they were unclean God would know. And having God know you are sinful while the world thinks you’re all right is much worse than having the world believe you a sinner and God knowing you are righteous.
APPLICATION:
Integrity is the key thing. Hypocrisy
will damage your testimony and it dishonors God. Satan is called the father of
lies. Every time you lie whether it’s an outright distruth or only a perceived
bending of it, you dishonor him.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barker,
Kenneth (Gen Ed). The Zondervan NASB Study Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1999.
Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
"Priests
Prone to Partiality are to Receive Recompense" Copyright © 2002 Joseph Short. All rights reserved.
Revised: October 18, 2002.
Placed on site October 18, 2002