COMMENTARY

Zechariah 7:1-10
Not fasting but justice and compassion Yahweh desires. Zechariah was a contemporary of Haggai. He supported Haggai in his call for re-building the temple. Zechariah preached in Judah to the returned exiles between 520 and 518 B.C. He probably saw the temple completed in 516. While Haggai was primarily concerned with the re-building of the temple, Zechariah called for repentance and social righteousness. In today's passage the question is raised whether weeping and fasting should continue as in past years. The answer from Yahweh was: Your fasting in the past was for yourselves and not for me. I desire justice and compassion for the needy including widows, orphans, strangers, and the poor. It is more pleasing to Yahweh when his people not harbor evil thoughts in …