What was the Purpose of Fasting in Zechariah 7?

(By Pastor Mark Fontecchio)

Question: What was the purpose of fasting in Zechariah 7?

Answer: The evening meal is an important part of our family life. But there are times with an active family life (three kids with my wife and I both working) that this evening meal gets delayed or missed altogether so that we may spend our time focused on other things. In much the same way, this is a part of the reason for fasting in the Old Testament. Yet, it goes further. Typically, we see the saints mourning and seeking God under difficult situations in life. It was not done as a ritual, but rather because of a shattered heart before God. Nineveh fasted when Jonah announced God’s judgment (Jon. 3:6-10). David fasted for his dying child (2 Sam. 12:16-18).

The messages regarding fasting that came through the prophet in Zechariah 7:4-14 was the result of a specific circumstance. The Jewish people had been mourning and fasting, “in the fifth month, a reference to the Ninth of Av, the fast day held on the anniversary of the temple’s destruction” (Zech. 7:3).^[1] Efforts were underway to rebuild the temple. This led a delegation of the people to come to the priests asking if they should continue to fast and mourn (vv. 3-4). It had been done for years, leading the people to wonder if it needed to be continued.

The Lord had some questions of His own. Through a number of rhetorical questions, we get to the heart of the matter. During the period of captivity to the Babylonians, God questioned whether the people were truly fasting for Him (v. 5). The people had the wrong motives, they were doing it for themselves as an outward display of religion (v. 6). The prophets had spoken to this issue years before (v. 7). After all that the nation had gone through, the people were acting no better than their ancestors who had been taken into captivity.

God was not simply looking for outward religion. He was looking for the people to live by faith before Him and to live with love for their fellow man. It is for this reason that God exhorted the people through Zechariah to be just in how they dealt with one another. Mercy and compassion were to rule the day (v. 9). Those in most need were to be helped, not taken advantage of (v. 10). The people of Judah who lived before the exile stood as a warning because they had refused to listen to God (v. 11). The words of the former prophets were not obeyed (v. 12). As a result, God scattered the people among the nations (vv. 13-14).

It is quite notable that when the former generation had failed to listen to God, He also would not listen to them, “when they called out” (v. 13). Zechariah 7 stands as dramatic reminder that God is looking for people to depend on Him. Merely performing outward rituals or service to God is of little value. God continues to look for His people to walk by faith in humble submission to Him because of an inner desire to walk in His love and grace.