True Fasting
Zechariah 7, verse 1. And it came to pass, in the fourth year of Darius the king, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah on the fourth day of the ninth month, which is Chislev, Zechariah 7, verse 2. when Sharezer and Regem-Melech and his men went to Bethel to propitiate the Lord, Zechariah 7, verse 3. speaking to the priests in the house of the Lord Almighty and to the prophets, saying, “The holy offering has come in here in the fifth month—just as I have done for a considerable number of years.” Zechariah 7, verse 4. And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying, Zechariah 7, verse 5. “Speak to all the people of the land and to the priests, saying, ‘Though you fasted or mourned in the fifth or seventh months, lo these seventy years, did you at all fast for Me? Zechariah 7, verse 6. And if you do eat or drink, do you not eat and drink for yourselves? Zechariah 7, verse 7. Are these not the words the Lord spoke by the hand of the former prophets when Jerusalem was inhabited and thriving, and the cities around her, and the hill country and the plains were inhabited?’” Zechariah 7, verse 8. And the word of the Lord came to Zechariah, saying, Zechariah 7, verse 9. “Thus says the Lord Almighty: ‘Render a just judgment; show mercy and compassion each to his brother. Zechariah 7, verse 10. Do not oppress the widow, or the orphan, or the foreigner, or the poor. And let not one remember in his heart any wrong of his brother.’ Zechariah 7, verse 11. “But they refused to pay attention, and without reason turned their backs and stopped their ears so they should not hear. Zechariah 7, verse 12. And they made their hearts disobedient so as not to heed My Law, nor to hear the words the Lord Almighty sent by His Spirit by the hand of the former prophets. And there came great wrath from the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 7, verse 13. And it shall come to pass as He said, for they did not listen. So they will cry out, but by no means will I listen to their prayers,” says the Lord Almighty. Zechariah 7, verse 14. “And I shall cast them out among all the nations which they did not know, and behind them the land shall become utterly worthless from traveling through or for coming back, for they made the chosen land a desolation.”